Privacy policy

1. Who we are

• Trading name: True North Valeting.
• Legal status: sole trader — Michael North, trading as True North Valeting. Michael is the "data controller" responsible for your information.
• Address: 237 Garth Twenty Four, Killingworth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 6DH.
• Telephone / WhatsApp: 07518 854678. Email: michael@truenorthvaleting.co.uk.

2. Information we collect

• When you get in touch — your name, phone number, email address, postcode, vehicle details and anything else you tell us, whether through the enquiry form, by phone, text, WhatsApp or email.
• When you book — the above, plus your service address and appointment details.
• When you accept a quote online — the typed name and drawn signature you provide to confirm acceptance.
• Photographs and video of vehicles before and after work — see section 6.
• Payment details — when you pay by card, your card number and details are entered directly into a secure page provided by our payment processor, Stripe, and never reach our own servers. We only see that a payment was made, and how much.
• We do not buy or collect information about you from any other source.

3. How we use it, and our legal basis

UK data protection law requires a lawful basis for each use of personal information. Ours are:

• Responding to your enquiry and preparing a quote — necessary to take steps you ask for before entering into a contract.
• Booking, delivering and being paid for the Service, and sending confirmations, reminders and invoices — necessary to perform our contract with you.
• Keeping accounting and tax records (invoices, expenses) — necessary to comply with our legal obligations, including to HMRC.
• Using before/after photos for quality records, and — unless you ask us not to — for promotion on our website and social media, with registration plates and other identifying details obscured — our legitimate interest in showing our work, weighed against your right to privacy.
• Sending you offers or marketing messages — only where you have actively agreed to this, and you can withdraw that agreement at any time.

4. Who we share it with

• Stripe — processes card payments. Your card details go straight to Stripe; we never see or store them.
• Intuit QuickBooks Online — our bookkeeping software, which invoices and payment records are synced to.
• Cloudflare — hosts our website, our booking database and any files (such as photos) we store.
• Namecheap — sends booking, quote and invoice emails on our behalf.
• We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with anyone else for their own marketing purposes.
• These providers may process information on servers outside the UK; where that happens, it is done under their own data protection safeguards.

5. How long we keep it

• Invoices and other accounting records — at least 6 years, to meet HMRC record-keeping requirements for a sole trader.
• Enquiries and quotes that don't lead to a booking — kept for a reasonable period and then deleted. If you'd like yours removed sooner, just ask.
• Photographs — kept for as long as they remain useful for quality records or promotion, or until you ask us to remove them.

6. Photographs and social media

• We may photograph or film vehicles before and after work, for quality records and for promotion on our website and social media.
• Registration plates and any other identifying details are obscured. Tell us before we start if you would prefer your vehicle not to be used, and we will not use it.

7. Cookies

• This website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies.
• Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which may log your IP address as part of delivering them.
• Our staff admin system sets one strictly-necessary cookie to keep an authorised user signed in — this is not set for ordinary visitors booking or browsing the site.

8. Keeping your information safe

• Our website and admin system are only accessible over an encrypted (https) connection.
• The admin system is protected by a password and an optional second sign-in step (two-factor authentication).
• Access is limited to Michael and, where used, his approved operatives or subcontractors.

9. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the information we hold about you (access);
• correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete (rectification);
• delete information we no longer have a good reason to keep (erasure);
• stop or limit how we use it (restriction or objection);
• provide certain information in a portable format;
• and, where something relies on your consent (such as marketing), withdraw that consent at any time.
• To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. We aim to respond within one month. If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

10. Children

• Our services are not directed at children. If you believe a child has given us their information, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

• We may update this policy from time to time. The version in force when you dealt with us applies to that booking.