Privacy Policy

North East Trades ("we", "us", "our") operates the website www.northeast-trades.co.uk. This privacy policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

North East Trades is an online directory that helps people find trusted local tradesmen across the North East of England. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. You can contact us at hello@northeast-trades.co.uk for any privacy-related questions.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect different data depending on how you use our site:

a) Quote request form

• Your name
• Email address
• Phone number (optional)
• The trade and town you need help with
• A description of your job
• Your preferred timeframe and budget range

b) Add your business form

• Business name
• Contact name, email, and phone number
• Business website URL
• A description of your services
• Trade category and town

c) Claim your listing form

• Your name, email, and phone number
• The business you are claiming
• Proof of ownership or association

d) Business listing data

We display publicly available business information sourced from Google Maps and other public directories. This includes business name, address, phone number, website, Google rating, and review count. This data is already publicly available.

e) Homeowner account registration

• Your name
• Email address
• Password (stored securely via Supabase Auth, never in plain text)

f) Reviews

• Your display name
• Star rating and written review
• The business you are reviewing

Reviews are publicly visible on the site once approved. Your display name will be shown alongside your review.

g) Saved tradespeople

If you save a tradesperson to your account, we store which businesses you have saved. This data is only visible to you and is not shared with the business or anyone else.

h) Business portal accounts

• Email address and password (created during the claim or submission approval process)
• Any profile updates, photos, or service area changes made through the portal

i) Verification documents

• Photo ID (driving licence or passport) uploaded for identity verification
• Insurance certificates (public liability or professional indemnity)

These documents are uploaded voluntarily by business owners through the portal. They are stored in private, encrypted storage and are only accessible to North East Trades administrators for review. They are never displayed publicly or shared with third parties.

j) Automatic data

When you visit our site, we may collect technical data such as your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on pages. This is collected through cookies and analytics tools.

3. Why We Collect Your Data and Our Lawful Basis

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data:

4. How We Use Your Data

• To process and respond to quote requests, business submissions, and listing claims
• To display business listings in our directory for public use
• To manage your homeowner account, including email confirmation and password resets
• To publish reviews you submit (after moderation) alongside your display name
• To store your saved tradespeople preferences within your account
• To provide business owners with a portal to manage their listing
• To review verification documents submitted by business owners and update their verification status
• To improve the website, fix issues, and understand how people use the service
• To communicate with you about your submissions or requests

We will never use your data for purposes unrelated to those described above without notifying you first.

5. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal data to anyone. We may share data with:

• Tradesmen listed in our directory - if you submit a quote request, your job details and contact information (name, email, phone number) are automatically sent via email to tradesmen listed in our directory who match your selected trade and location. This happens immediately when you submit the form. By submitting a quote request, you consent to this sharing
• Email provider (Resend) - we use Resend to send transactional emails such as quote notifications and verification codes. Resend processes recipient email addresses and email content on our behalf
• Hosting provider (Vercel) - our website is hosted on Vercel. They process technical data as part of serving web pages
• Database and authentication provider (Supabase) - form submissions, business data, and user accounts are stored securely in a Supabase database. Supabase also handles account authentication, email confirmation, and password resets
• Analytics (Google Analytics) - we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site. Google may process your IP address, browser information, and pages visited. You can opt out of analytics tracking via the cookie consent banner

We do not share your data with any marketing companies, advertisers, or data brokers.

6. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored securely in our database with access controls and encryption in transit (HTTPS). Only authorised administrators can access personal data submitted through forms. We take reasonable steps to protect your data, but no system is completely secure.

Verification documents (photo ID and insurance certificates) are stored in a private storage bucket with no public access. These files can only be viewed by administrators through time-limited signed URLs that expire after 2 minutes.

7. Cookies

Our site may use cookies for essential functionality and analytics. Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

• Essential cookies - required for the site to function (e.g. session management for admin users)
• Analytics cookies - help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it

You can disable cookies in your browser settings. This will not affect your ability to browse the directory, but may limit some functionality.

8. How Long We Keep Your Data

• Quote requests - retained for up to 12 months, then deleted
• Business submissions and claims - retained for as long as the listing is active, or 12 months after rejection
• Business listing data - retained for as long as the listing is active on the site. Business owners can request removal at any time
• Homeowner accounts - retained for as long as the account is active. You can request account deletion at any time by emailing us
• Reviews - retained for as long as they are published. If your account is deleted, your reviews will be anonymised or removed
• Saved tradespeople - deleted when your account is deleted
• Business portal accounts - retained for as long as the business listing is active
• Verification documents - retained for as long as the business listing is active and the verification status is current. If a document is rejected, it is retained for up to 30 days to allow re-submission. Business owners can request deletion at any time
• Analytics data - aggregated and anonymised, retained indefinitely

9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access - you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification - you can ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Right to erasure - you can ask us to delete your personal data
• Right to restrict processing - you can ask us to limit how we use your data
• Right to object - you can object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interest
• Right to data portability - you can request your data in a machine-readable format

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@northeast-trades.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.

10. Information for Business Owners

Business listings on our site are compiled from publicly available sources including Google Maps. If you are a business owner and would like to update, claim, or remove your listing, you can:

• Use our "Claim Your Listing" page to take ownership of your profile
• Email hello@northeast-trades.co.uk to request changes or removal

We will action removal requests within 48 hours.

11. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have collected data from a child, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "last updated" date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

13. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Phone: 0303 123 1113

We would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first, so please contact us at hello@northeast-trades.co.uk before escalating to the ICO.

14. Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at:

Email: hello@northeast-trades.co.uk