Privacy Policy

BookTrades is the data controller for the personal information described here. Controller registration details will be published once confirmed. Privacy requests can be sent to privacy@booktrades.co.uk.

• Account details: name, email address, password (stored hashed by our authentication provider) and account type (homeowner or tradesperson).
• Contact details you choose to add: phone number and profile photo.
• Homeowner details: address and postcode where you ask for work to be done.
• Tradesperson business details: business name, trade, years of experience, description, service area and postcode, working hours, availability, services, project photos, logo and cover image, plus insurance and qualification details you choose to add.
• Enquiries and messages: the job description, preferred date, any photos you upload, and the messages exchanged between you and the other party.
• Reviews you write, including your rating, review text and the first name and surname initial shown publicly.
• Reports you submit about a profile or review, including the reason and any details.
• Notification records and your email notification preferences.
• Technical information needed to run the service securely, such as timestamps of activity and standard server logs held by our hosting and database providers.

We do not run advertising trackers, and we do not currently use third-party analytics or marketing cookies.

• To create and secure your account, and to sign you in — necessary to perform our contract with you.
• To show tradesperson profiles and live availability publicly, and to pass enquiries to the tradesperson you contact — contract.
• To send service messages such as new enquiry, new message, status change and review notifications — contract, with optional email notifications you can switch off.
• To display reviews and calculate ratings — contract and our legitimate interest in a trustworthy marketplace.
• To investigate reports, prevent fraud and abuse, and moderate content — legitimate interests and legal obligations.
• To keep records needed for disputes or legal claims — legitimate interests and legal obligations.

• Public: a published tradesperson's business name, trade, description, service area, availability, services, project photos, badges, contact number if provided, and their reviews (shown as first name and surname initial).
• Private: homeowner names, addresses, postcodes and email addresses. These are only visible to you, to a tradesperson you have actually sent an enquiry to, and to BookTrades administrators.
• Private: enquiry messages and uploaded job photos, visible only to the two people in that conversation and to administrators where needed for moderation.
• Private: insurance and identity information supplied for verification. These are stored in non-public storage and are not shown on public profiles.
• Reports are confidential. We never tell the reported person who reported them.

• The other party in an enquiry — a tradesperson sees the homeowner's name, job details, address information and photos needed to quote for the work.
• Our infrastructure providers, who host the application, database, file storage and authentication on our behalf.
• Our email delivery provider, when transactional emails are enabled.
• Law enforcement, regulators or advisers where we are legally required to, or to establish or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal information.

Data is stored with our hosting and database providers. Some providers may process data outside the UK; where that happens, transfers rely on the safeguards offered by those providers, such as UK approved standard contractual clauses. The exact hosting region will be confirmed before launch.

• Account and profile information: while your account is open.
• Enquiries and messages: while your account is open, and for up to 6 years after a job where records may be needed for a dispute or legal claim.
• Reviews: retained after account deletion in anonymised form, because removing them would misrepresent a tradesperson's rating history.
• Reports and moderation records: up to 2 years, for fraud prevention and safety.
• Job photos and uploaded documents: deleted when the account is deleted, unless needed for an open dispute or investigation.

• Access a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct information that is wrong — most details can be edited directly in your profile.
• Delete your account and personal information, subject to the retention exceptions above.
• Object to or restrict certain processing, and withdraw consent for optional emails at any time in your notification settings.
• Request a portable copy of information you provided to us.
• Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) if you are unhappy with how we handle your data.

To make a request, email privacy@booktrades.co.uk. We aim to respond within one month.

You can delete your account from Account & data in your dashboard. Your login, contact details, profile content, uploaded photos and public listing are removed. Past enquiries and reviews are kept in anonymised form where we need them for safety, fraud prevention or legal reasons, and are no longer linked to your name or contact details.

Access to data is controlled at database level so users can only see their own information and the information of people they are dealing with. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and are never visible to us. BookTrades is an early-stage product: we hold no security certifications and have not completed an independent audit, and we do not claim otherwise.