The short version
- We collect only what we need to run a fair job-protection service for tradespeople.
- We never sell personal information, never publish customer information to the public, and never give anyone a credit or character score.
- If a trade member records a job about you, you can find out, see it and challenge it, even if you're not a member.
- We keep information only as long as we need it, then delete it.
- You can contact us or the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) about anything here.
Who we are
Check the Customer is run by Gary West and Simeon Paterson on the Isle of Wight. You can contact us at checkthecustomer@hotmail.com or on 07355 420282. Our business details and ICO registration number will be added here before paid plans start.
For data protection questions, write to checkthecustomer@hotmail.com or use our request form.
For some information we decide how and why it's used (we're the "controller"). For job records that trade members create about their own customers, our solicitor is confirming whether we act as controller, joint controller with the member, or processor for the member. This notice will say which before launch.
What we collect
| Who it's about | What | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Trade members | Name, business name, trade, contact details, postcode district, company number, verification results and the date and source of each check, plan and billing status, settings | You, Companies House, our verification provider |
| Customers of trade members | Name or business name, postcode district, job reference, agreed terms, dates, amounts, payment status, dispute status, supporting documents | The trade member who did the job |
| People in disputes and appeals | What each side says, the evidence supplied, the decision and its reasons | The parties to the dispute |
| Message users | Messages and attachments sent through the platform, and any reports or blocks | The sender |
| Advertisers and partners | Business and contact details, agreements, campaign details, invoices | The advertiser or partner |
| Website visitors | What you send us through forms (applications, enquiries, complaints, rights requests) | You |
| Anyone using the site | Error reports: the page, browser type, screen size and what went wrong. Never what you typed into forms. Our host also sees your IP address, like any website. | Your browser, automatically |
We don't ask for dates of birth, ID documents, photographs of people or sensitive information (such as health, religion or ethnicity) to run the service. Our forms block that kind of information from being written into job records.
Why we use it, and the lawful basis
| Purpose | Proposed lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Running member accounts, memberships and billing | Contract |
| Verifying trade members | Legitimate interests (keeping the service trustworthy), with a balancing test |
| Storing members' job records and evidence | To be confirmed by our solicitor, with a documented assessment |
| Handling disputes, appeals and complaints | Legitimate interests, and legal obligations where they apply |
| Moderation, security and fraud prevention on the platform | Legitimate interests |
| Keeping accounts and tax records | Legal obligation |
| Answering rights requests and enquiries | Legal obligation, and legitimate interests |
| Fixing website problems (error reports) | Legitimate interests |
| Marketing emails | Consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
Each purpose has its own written assessment. We don't use consent just because it's convenient, and we don't collect things because they might be useful later.
Customers who aren't members
If you've had work done by a trade member, they may record the job on Check the Customer. That doesn't make you a user of our service. Here's what that means for you:
- The record holds job facts only, in neutral words. No ratings, no opinions about you, and no accusations of crime.
- It isn't published to the public, and advertisers and partners can't see it.
- Not having a record, or not being on the platform, never counts against you.
- No computer decides that you should be refused work or treated differently.
- You can find out what's held, see it, correct it or challenge it on our Your rights page.
How and when we tell people that a record exists is being confirmed with our solicitor. Whether member-to-member sharing of job information can happen at all is also awaiting legal advice, and it's switched off until then.
What we never do
- Sell or rent personal information, or build a business around selling customer histories.
- Give anyone a credit score, credit reference or character rating.
- Make automated decisions about people that have legal or similarly significant effects.
- Publish private customer information to the public.
- Let advertisers or partners see evidence or customer information because they pay us.
- Use advertising or analytics cookies on this website.
Who we share it with
Only the service providers we need, under contracts that require them to keep it secure, confidential and deleted when no longer needed:
- Website hosting: Netlify, Inc. (including form submissions and error reports)
- Member accounts, database and file storage: Supabase
- Payments (when paid plans start): Stripe. We don't store card numbers.
- Email: Brevo (service emails), and Microsoft for our inbox
- Business verification: Companies House public records
- AI helpers, only when a member uses one: Anthropic, which makes the Claude AI. It gets only what the member types or uploads into the helper. We don't keep it, and Anthropic doesn't use it to train its AI.
- A trade partner, only when a member sends them a quote request: the member's business contact details and the job details the member chooses. Never the member's customer's details.
- Our professional advisers (lawyers, accountants, insurers) where needed
- Regulators, courts and the police, only where the law requires it. These requests go to an authorised person, not to support staff.
Some providers may handle information outside the UK. Where they do, we use the safeguards UK law requires, such as UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement.
How long we keep it
Proposed periods, to be confirmed in our written retention schedule:
| Information | Kept until |
|---|---|
| Member account details | The account closes, plus period |
| Job records and evidence | period after the job is completed, or longer if a dispute or legal hold is open |
| Disputes, appeals and moderation decisions | period after the case closes |
| Messages | period, not kept indefinitely just because storage is cheap |
| Billing and accounting records | 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to |
| Security and audit logs | period |
| Website enquiries and applications | 2 years after our last contact, unless you become a member |
| Error reports | 90 days |
| Marketing preferences | Until you unsubscribe, then a suppression record so we don't email you again |
When you close your account, access and billing stop. Records we must keep by law, or that relate to an open dispute, are kept only as long as needed and then deleted. Where we can learn what we need from anonymous or combined figures, we use those instead.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct, delete or restrict your information, object to how we use it, and in some cases take it with you. We'll check who you are first, log your request and answer within one month (or tell you why we need up to two more months for a complex request). It's free in almost all cases. Make a request.
You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113. We'd like the chance to put things right first, but you don't have to come to us before going to the ICO.
Security
We use encrypted connections, secure password handling, two-step sign-in for administrators, role-based access with the least access needed, encryption where appropriate, secure backups, logging and regular vulnerability checks. Exporting evidence, changing moderation outcomes and opening sensitive records need extra permission and are logged. If a breach happens we follow a tested response plan and tell the ICO and affected people when the law requires it.
Cookies, children and changes
Cookies: we don't use advertising or analytics cookies. See our cookie notice for the few things your browser stores.
Children: membership is for businesses and adults aged 18 and over.
Changes: each version of this notice is dated and kept. If we make an important change, such as a new purpose or a new kind of information, we'll review it legally first and tell members before it applies.