Privacy notice

This is a draft and is being reviewed before launch.

This notice explains what personal information we collect, why, who we share it with and your rights. We've tried to keep it clear and specific.

Who we are

Vetted North is a trading name of Roberto Monerri Ltd, registered in England and Wales (company number 10312351, registered office 16 Fairburn Avenue, Houghton le Spring, Durham DH5 8LA). We are the data controller for the information described in this notice. Our ICO registration number is ZC298126.

You can contact us about privacy at privacy@vettednorth.com.

What we collect and why

When you ask us to find a specialist

What: your answers to our questions about your home and project, your postcode, name, email address and phone number.

Checking your postcode: we check that your postcode exists, and find roughly where it is so we can work out which specialists are within reach, using postcodes.io, a free service that looks postcodes up in official open data. Only the postcode is sent. If you choose "Use my location", your phone or computer shares your position once, we send it to postcodes.io to find the nearest postcode, and then we discard it. We don't store your location.

Why: to identify suitable vetted specialists covering your area, up to the number you choose (one, two or three), to tell you who they are, and to pass your details to them so they can contact you about your project.

Lawful basis: your consent, which you give by ticking the box before you submit. The exact wording you agreed to is stored with your enquiry.

If you ask again: if you ask us about the same kind of work within 12 months, we check your earlier enquiries, matching on your email address or phone number, so we can introduce you to different specialists rather than the same ones again. This is in our legitimate interests and yours.

How long we keep it: 24 months from your enquiry, so we can deal with any questions or complaints, then we delete it.

Asking how it went: about two weeks after we introduce you, we email you once to ask whether each specialist got in touch and how you'd rate them. Answering is optional. We use your answers to check that the specialists we introduce are reliable, which is in our legitimate interests and yours. We only quote a comment on our website if you tick the box giving permission, and then only with your first name and postcode area. Feedback is kept for 24 months.

When you're "just researching" and save your progress

What: your answers and your email address.

Why: so you can carry on later. We don't share saved answers with anyone.

Lawful basis: your consent.

How long we keep it: up to 12 months, or until you delete it using the link in our email, whichever is sooner. If you choose "Don't want to be contacted?", we delete your answers immediately and keep nothing.

When you register interest in a service

What: your first name, email address and, if you give it, your postcode or the start of it.

Why: to email you once when that service becomes available in your area, plus a confirmation with a link to unsubscribe.

Lawful basis: your consent, given separately for each service.

How long we keep it: until we've sent that email or you unsubscribe, and in any case no longer than 24 months.

When you contact us

What: your name, email address and message.

Why: to reply to you.

Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us.

How long we keep it: 24 months.

When a business applies to receive introductions

What: company and contact details, accreditation, guarantee and review information, and anything else you tell us.

Why: to review the business against our requirements and, if it's suitable, to discuss working together.

Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in vetting the businesses we introduce.

How long we keep it: for unsuccessful applications, 24 months. For businesses we accept, for as long as they receive introductions and six years afterwards.

For businesses that receive introductions we also keep records of payments, introductions sent and refunds, for the same period, because they're financial records.

Technical information

Our hosting provider keeps short-term technical logs, such as IP addresses, to keep the site secure and working. We record where you arrived from (for example, the website that linked to us) with enquiries and registrations, so we understand which channels help people.

Who we share it with

• The specialists we introduce, up to the number you chose, and only when you've asked us to put you in touch. Once they receive your details, they are responsible for how they use them and will have their own privacy notice.
• Service providers who help us run the site, such as website hosting, our database, our email provider and postcodes.io for postcode lookups. They act on our instructions and must keep your information secure.
• Authorities, if the law requires us to.

We never sell your personal information, and we never pass an enquiry to more specialists than you chose.

International transfers

Some of our service providers may process information outside the UK. Where they do, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contract terms.

Cookies and browser storage

We don't use advertising or analytics cookies. While you use our site, your browser's session storage remembers your questionnaire progress and where you arrived from. This is cleared when you close the tab. If we add analytics in future, we'll update this notice and ask for your consent first where the law requires it.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• ask for a copy of your information
• ask us to correct it
• ask us to delete it
• ask us to restrict or stop using it
• object to us using it on the basis of legitimate interests
• withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting anything we did before you withdrew it
• ask for your information in a portable format

Email privacy@vettednorth.com and we'll respond within one month.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this notice

We'll update this notice when our practices change. The date it was last updated is shown at the top of the page.