1. Who we are
This website is run by David Cooley trading as D C Decorators [CONFIRM: sole trader or limited company + company number], a painting and decorating business based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean D C Decorators.
We are the controller of your personal information. That means we decide how and why it is used, and we are responsible for looking after it under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
| Business | David Cooley trading as D C Decorators |
|---|---|
| Address | 2 Crooksbroom Lane, Edwin Lodge, Hatfield, Doncaster DN7 6HP, United Kingdom |
| jackboyjamie18@icloud.com | |
| Phone | 07424 648041 or 07834 395675 |
| ICO registration | [ICO registration number] |
As a small business we are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. David Cooley is responsible for data protection and is the person to contact about anything in this policy.
2. The short version
- We only collect what we need to give you a quote, carry out your job and run the business properly.
- Your quote request is stored in our customer management system (provided by Clientee) so we can get back to you.
- We never sell your information, and we don’t use it for advertising profiles.
- This website has no advertising pixels, no newsletter and no analytics cookies. We count visits with cookie-free statistics that don’t store your IP address. The only cookies that can be set are from Google Maps – and only if you click “Show map”.
- We will only put photos of your home on our website or social media if you give us separate permission.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete your information at any time – just get in touch.
3. What information we collect
When you fill in our quote request form
- Full name (required)
- Phone number (required)
- Email address (optional)
- Postcode (required – so we know whether you’re in our area and can plan a visit)
- Service needed (required)
- Property type and preferred start date (optional)
- Project details (required) – whatever you choose to tell us about the job. Please don’t include sensitive information such as health details unless it is genuinely relevant (for example, a need to avoid certain paint fumes), in which case we will only use it to plan your job safely.
- The address of the web page you sent the form from, and the date and time you sent it.
The form also contains a hidden “honeypot” field that people can’t see. It is only there to catch automated spam robots, which tend to fill in every box – it does not collect anything about you.
When you phone, text or email us
Your name, phone number and/or email address, and the content of your messages and any notes we make about your enquiry. If you send us photos of your rooms to help us quote, we’ll keep those with your enquiry.
If you become a customer
- Your name, the address of the property we’re working on, and your contact details.
- Job details – what we’ve agreed, quotes, colours and materials, access arrangements (for example, where a key is kept) and notes.
- Photos of the property before, during and after the work (see section 5).
- Invoices, payment records and correspondence. We do not store card details; payments are made by bank transfer [CONFIRM: accepted payment methods, e.g. bank transfer, cash, card reader provider].
When you simply browse this website
We don’t use tracking cookies and we don’t build a profile of who you are. Like every website, some technical information is shared when your browser loads the page:
- Our website provider, Clientee, receives your IP address and basic browser information in its server logs so it can deliver the page and protect against attacks.
- Our fonts are loaded from Google Fonts and some of our images from Unsplash. To send them to you, their servers see your IP address and browser details. Neither sets cookies. See our Cookie Policy for details.
- We count visits with Vercel Web Analytics. It records which page you viewed, the website you came from, your country, and your browser, operating system and device type. It sets no cookies and does not store your IP address; visits are told apart using a code that is discarded within 24 hours. We only see totals, not individual visitors.
- Our website stores a small timestamp in your own browser when you send the quote form, to stop accidental double submissions. It contains no personal information and never leaves your device.
4. How we use your information and our lawful basis
Data protection law says we must have a valid legal reason (a “lawful basis”) for each way we use your information. Here is what we do and why:
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry, arrange a visit and give you a quote | Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) |
| Carry out the work, keep you updated, invoice you and deal with any snagging or guarantee issues | Performance of our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b)) |
| Follow up once if you haven’t replied to a quote, by phone, text or email | Legitimate interests – running our business and making sure you received your quote (Art. 6(1)(f)). We won’t keep chasing you, and you can tell us to stop at any time. |
| Block spam and misuse of our quote form | Legitimate interests – keeping our website and systems secure (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Keep business records, and defend or bring legal claims (for example, about the quality of work) | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Keep accounts, invoices and tax records for HMRC | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
| Use photos of your home on our website or social media | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) – you can withdraw it at any time |
| Load the Google Map on our contact section | Your consent – the map only loads when you click “Show map” |
| Load our website fonts and images from Google Fonts and Unsplash | Legitimate interests – displaying our website properly (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed our interests against yours and are satisfied that the use is limited, expected and fair. You have the right to object – see section 10.
We will not send you marketing messages. Contacting you about your own quote or job is not marketing. If we ever wanted to send you offers or newsletters, we would ask for your permission first.
You don’t have to give us your details, but without your name, a phone number and some idea of the job we can’t reply to you or give you a quote.
5. Photos of your property
We often take photos before, during and after a job. We use them to record the condition of surfaces, to plan the work and as evidence if there is ever a disagreement about the finish. We keep them with your job records.
We will only use photos of your home on our website, blog or social media if you have given us separate, specific permission – saying no will never affect your quote or the job. Even with permission, we will not show your house number, street name, car registration, family photos, people or anything else that could identify you or your address, and we won’t say where the property is beyond the general area (for example, “Doncaster”).
You can withdraw your permission at any time by contacting us. We will remove the photos from our website and our own social media accounts promptly. Please bear in mind that we can’t control copies other people may already have shared or saved.
6. Who we share your information with
We never sell or rent your information. We only share it with trusted organisations that help us run the business, and only as much as they need:
| Who | Why |
|---|---|
| Clientee (Clientee AI, s.r.o., Příčná 1892/4, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic; company ID 23435186) | Our customer management system and website provider. It hosts this website, receives and stores quote form submissions and may be used to call, text or email you about your enquiry. Clientee uses its own sub-processors, including cloud infrastructure located in the United States. |
| Apple (iCloud Mail) | Our email provider – stores emails you send us and our replies. |
| Google (Google Fonts; Google Maps only if you click “Show map”) | Delivers our website fonts and the optional map. |
| Vercel (Vercel Inc., United States) | Provides our cookie-free visitor statistics (see Cookie Policy). |
| Unsplash | Delivers some of the images shown on our website. |
| Our accountant [Accountant / bookkeeper name, if any] | To prepare our accounts and tax returns. |
| Our bank [CONFIRM: bank / payment provider] | To receive your payments. |
| HMRC, insurers, professional advisers, courts or the police | Only where the law requires it, or where needed to deal with an insurance or legal claim. |
Where these organisations process information on our behalf, they may only use it on our instructions and must keep it secure. If we ever bring in a subcontractor to help with your job, we’ll only give them the details they need (such as the address and job notes) and tell you in advance who they are.
7. Transfers outside the UK
Some of our service providers store or access information outside the UK – in particular our customer management system (provided by Clientee) stores data using cloud infrastructure in the United States, and Google, Apple and Unsplash may also process data in the US or elsewhere.
When your information is transferred outside the UK, we make sure it is protected by appropriate safeguards such as the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (where the provider is certified), the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for more information about the safeguards used by contacting us.
8. How long we keep your information
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Enquiries and quotes that don’t go ahead | 12 months after our last contact with you, then deleted |
| Customer records, job details, invoices and payment records | 6 years after the end of the financial year in which the job was completed (required for tax purposes) |
| Job photos kept as a record of the work | Kept with your customer record (as above) |
| Photos used on our website or social media with your permission | Until you withdraw your permission, or we stop using them |
| Spam-prevention timestamp in your browser | Stays on your device until you clear your browser storage; it is only checked for 60 seconds after sending |
| Website server logs | Normally 1 day, and never more than 30 days |
We may keep information for longer if we need it to deal with a complaint or legal claim, but only for as long as necessary.
9. Keeping your information safe
We take sensible steps to protect your information, including strong passwords (with two-step verification where available) on our accounts, a secure (HTTPS) connection for our quote form, keeping devices locked and up to date, and only keeping paper records in a secure place. Only David Cooley [CONFIRM: anyone else with access, e.g. staff or family member helping with admin] has access to customer records.
If something ever goes wrong and there is a data breach that puts your information at risk, we will deal with it straight away, report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours where the law requires, and tell you directly if there is a high risk to you.
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Access – ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Rectification – ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
- Erasure – ask us to delete your information. We’ll do so unless we have to keep it (for example, invoices we must keep for HMRC).
- Restriction – ask us to pause using your information, for example while we check it is accurate.
- Objection – object to us using your information where we rely on legitimate interests, including asking us not to follow up on a quote.
- Data portability – ask for information you gave us in a common electronic format, or for it to be sent to someone else, where we use it under a contract or your consent.
- Withdraw consent – at any time, where we rely on your consent (for example, photos of your home). This doesn’t affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
- Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (see section 13).
How to use your rights
Just contact us by email at jackboyjamie18@icloud.com, by phone on 07424 648041 or 07834 395675, or by post to 2 Crooksbroom Lane, Edwin Lodge, Hatfield, Doncaster DN7 6HP. You don’t need to fill in a form or use any special wording.
There is normally no charge. We may need to ask for something to confirm who you are (usually just checking details we already hold) before we share or delete anything. We will respond within one month of receiving your request. If a request is particularly complicated, we may extend this by up to two further months, but we’ll let you know why within the first month.
11. Cookies and website technology
This website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. The only cookies that can be set come from Google Maps, and only after you click “Show map”. Full details are in our Cookie Policy.
12. Other things you should know
- No automated decisions. We don’t make any decisions about you using automated processing or profiling. Every quote is prepared by a person.
- No selling of data. We never sell, rent or trade your personal information.
- Children. Our services are not aimed at anyone under 18, and we don’t knowingly collect information from children. If you’re under 18, please ask a parent or guardian to contact us for you.
- Other websites. Links to other websites (for example Google Maps) are covered by those organisations’ own privacy policies.
13. Complaints
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please talk to us first – we’ll do our best to put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the UK regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
- Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
14. Changes to this policy
We’ll update this policy if the way we use personal information changes – for example, if we add new analytics tools, a newsletter or a new service provider. The “Last updated” date at the top of the page shows when it was last changed. If a change significantly affects how we use information we already hold about you, we’ll let you know directly.
This policy is effective from 29 September 2026.