Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how TradeLink App Limited (“TradeLink”, “we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses and protects your personal data when you use our website at tradelinkapp.co.uk and our related services (together, the “Platform”).

TradeLink App Limited is a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16792008, with its registered office at 3 Mason Street, Bolton, BL6 5QP. We are the data controller for personal information processed through the Platform.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at info@tradelinkapp.co.uk.

We collect the following categories of personal data:

• Customer information: Name, email, phone number, postcode or location, and details of the work you need done, provided when you submit a job request or chat with our assistant.
• Tradesperson information: Name, business name, contact details, trade type, service area, service radius, bio, profile photo, gallery images, qualifications, certifications and insurance details provided during registration or profile updates.
• Account credentials: Email and hashed password for authenticated tradesperson accounts.
• Transactional data: Records of introductions, quotes, bookings, reviews, commission invoicing, and communication between customers and tradespeople where facilitated through the Platform.
• Chat transcripts: Conversations with our AI assistant, kept to fulfil your request and improve the quality of matches.
• Usage data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, pages visited, referral source and interaction data collected automatically when you use the Platform.

We process personal data for the following purposes, each with a lawful basis under UK GDPR:

• Delivering the service (contract / legitimate interests) — matching customers with tradespeople, processing quote requests, facilitating introductions, and managing accounts.
• Verifying tradespeople (legitimate interests) — reviewing qualifications, insurance and identity before a tradesperson is approved on the Platform.
• Transactional communications (contract) — sending job confirmations, match notifications, commission invoices, and account updates.
• Platform improvement (legitimate interests) — analytics, error tracking, and performance monitoring.
• Safety and fraud prevention (legitimate interests / legal obligation) — detecting abuse, rate limiting, and responding to complaints.
• Marketing communications (consent) — sending you occasional updates about the Platform where you have opted in. You can opt out at any time.
• Legal and regulatory compliance (legal obligation) — tax, accounting, and responding to lawful requests.

We do not sell your personal data. We share information only in these circumstances:

• With matched tradespeople: When you submit a job request, we share the job details and your location with the tradesperson(s) we match you with so they can assess the work and respond. We only share your direct contact details once you have agreed to be contacted.
• With customers: Tradesperson profile information (name or business name, trade, service area, reviews and photos) is displayed publicly on the Platform.
• Service providers and processors: We use carefully selected providers to operate the Platform, including hosting, database and authentication, AI chat, email delivery, analytics, error tracking and rate limiting. These providers process data on our behalf under written data processing agreements.
• Professional advisers: Accountants, auditors and lawyers, where strictly necessary.
• Legal and regulatory authorities: Where required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, property, or the safety of others.
• Business transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, data may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Typical retention periods are:

• Active tradesperson accounts — for the lifetime of the account, plus up to 12 months after closure.
• Job requests and match records — 24 months after completion.
• Financial and tax records — 6 years, as required by UK law.
• Chat transcripts — up to 12 months.
• Marketing preferences — until you withdraw consent.

You may request earlier deletion of your personal data where we do not have a legal obligation to retain it.

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Request erasure of your data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Restrict or object to processing.
• Data portability.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
• Object to direct marketing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@tradelinkapp.co.uk. We will respond within one month. We may ask for information to verify your identity before actioning a request.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including encryption in transit (TLS), secure authentication, row-level security on our database, role-based access controls, audit logging and regular security reviews. All image uploads are scanned and sanitised before storage. No system is perfectly secure, but we continuously work to protect your information.

We use a small number of essential cookies to keep you signed in and to remember your preferences. We may also use privacy-friendly analytics cookies to understand how the Platform is used. Full details, including how to manage your preferences, are set out in our Cookie Policy.

Some of our service providers process data outside the UK. Where this happens, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — for example the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK addendum) or an adequacy decision recognised by the UK Government.

The Platform is not intended for children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.

We use automated systems to match customers with tradespeople based on trade type, location and service radius. These are not decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you, and a human is always involved where a tradesperson chooses whether to respond. You may contact us to request a human review of any match if you have concerns.

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or how we handle personal data. We will update the “last updated” date above, and notify registered users of material changes by email.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first at info@tradelinkapp.co.uk so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk.