By using our services (posting a job, joining as a homeowner or registering as a tradesperson) you are accepting the practices outlined in this privacy policy.
Below we outline what data we collect and how we store and use your personal information.
Personal data collected
Homeowner Members
When you post a job or register as a homeowner we collect certain personal details in order for us to provide our service to you.
This includes your name, telephone number(s), postcode, town/city, email address, photos/plans of your job along with other technical data (see below).
Trade Members
When you register as a tradesperson we collect certain information about your business as well as personal information as the account holder.
This includes (but is not limited to) your company name, address, name, telephone number(s), email address, identification details, insurance details, qualifications, trade membership/association details, along with other technical data (see below).
For any references from previous customers you provide, we store names and contact numbers so that we may contact them to verify.
Other technical Data
While using our services we also collect data such as your operating system, web browser and IP address in order to track your use of the site to enable us to improve our services. We may also track your use of our website, e.g. the web pages you visited and the order in which they were visited. This information is not used to identify you personally.
How your information is used
Homeowner Members
Your personal contact information is never displayed publicly on the website.
We only share your contact details with up to a maximum of 4 (depending on the job contact number chosen by you) registered tradespeople when they express an interest to contact you to quote on your job.
The description of your job, town/city and any photos or plans uploaded are displayed publicly on the website.
When posting a job we will ask if you would like us to use either your landline number to call you or your mobile number to send you a text, so that we can get you to enter a security code to activate your job. If you prefer not to (or are unable to) do either of these, we will send you an email with an activation link.
Trade Members
Your company contact details are only displayed publicly if you have an active Advert subscription and webpage.
Your company contact details (name, email, telephone number(s)) are provided to homeowners whose job(s) you purchase through the website and to homeowner members who search for tradespeople and view your profile in their logged in account.
General
We use your username and password details to identifiy you so you can access the service.
We analyse the information provided to detect fraudulent use of our services such as duplicate accounts, new accounts of banned users, fake references and fake ratings and feeback.
We may use your contact information to contact you via email, telephone or sms in relation to our services.
We will use any information you have provided us to help assist you use our services and to help resolve any disputes.
Security
All personal details entered on the website are sent to us using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption through https webpages.
We display only the last 4 digits of your card number and the expiry date when confirming your payment method for a transaction.
Your personal data is stored safely using both hardware and software based safeguards as well as company wide security mearsures. These measures are reviewed and updated frequently, however, no system can be 100% safe so we cannot completely guaranatee the security of your personal information.
Your personal details are stored with us for as long as you have an account with us. If you close your account we may store your information for up to 6 years (or longer) to comply with UK tax legislation. We also retain information on all trade accounts in order to help us prevent fraudulent use of our services e.g. creating new accounts after being suspended or banned.
Sharing of information
We do not share, trade or sell your personal details with any other companies or third parties.
Trade profiles are indexed by search engines and if you have an active Advert Plus subscription your profile displays your company contact details.
We may use your information (excluding contact details) to help promote FindaTrade Ltd or the website e.g. use of rating comments or testimonials
We may disclose your personal data if we are required to do so by law, or in response to a valid request by a law enforcement or governmental authority.
Access to Data
You can view and edit some of the information we have about you by logging in to your account.
You have certain rights regarding the personal information we hold about you, subject to local law. These may include the rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of, or receive a portable copy in a usable electronic format of your personal information. You also may have a right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection or privacy regulator.
You can contact us at support@findatrade.com to update or correct your information if it changes or if the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate. Where you have provided your consent to any use of your personal information, you can withdraw this consent at any time.
Please note that we may require additional information (e.g. identity documentation) from you in order to process your request.
Cookies and Javascript
Cookies
Our site uses cookies to provide you with the best experience possible. A cookie is a small text file which is placed on your computer, tablet or mobile phone when you visit a website.
We use a temporary non-tracking session cookie to store your session while browsing our website and to maintain your user state. This cookie is called: PHPSESSID
It contains no personally identifiable information and no tracking information and is deleted after you leave the website.
We also use a number of 3rd party services on our website which include cookies - see below for indiviual details on each 3rd party service.
If your browser is set to accept cookies then we take this and your continued use of the website that you are ok with this.
If you wish to remove or prevent the use of cookies on our site, you will be able to do this within your web browser. Please view your specific web browser's help section for information on how to do this. Please note, that disabling cookies may mean you will be unable to use certain areas of our site.
Third party services we use which use cookies are as follows:
Google Analytics – used to track visits to the website and movement of users around the website - see details here
Google Maps – used to display maps indicating the rough locations of jobs and tradespeople - see details here
Google Adwords - used to track conversions of adverts served in search results and on other websites – see details here
Bing Adwords – used to track conversions of adverts served in search results and on other websites - see details here