Privacy Policy

Last updated: 10 July 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Rated Local Trades (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information when you use our website at ratedlocaltrades.co.uk (the “Website”) and the services provided through it (the “Service”). It also explains your rights under UK data protection law.

Rated Local Trades operates an online directory that helps customers in the United Kingdom find and contact independent local tradespeople. For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, Rated Local Trades is the “data controller” responsible for the personal data described in this policy.

1. Who we are and how to contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at info@ratedlocaltrades.co.uk.

2. The personal data we collect

Information you give us

• Customer enquiries and quote requests. When you submit an enquiry or quote request, we collect your name, email address, telephone number, postcode or location, the type of trade or service you need, and details of your job or project.
• Tradesperson listings and accounts. If you register or apply to list your business, we collect your name, business name, email address, telephone number, website address, trade categories, service areas, business description and any qualifications, accreditations or other details you choose to provide.
• Reviews. If you leave a review, we collect the content of your review, your rating and the name or display name you provide.
• Correspondence. If you contact us, we keep a record of that correspondence.

Information we collect automatically

• Technical and usage data. When you visit the Website we may collect your IP address, browser type and version, device information, the pages you view and how you interact with the Website.
• Cookies and analytics. We use cookies and similar technologies. Non-essential analytics cookies are only set after you give consent through our cookie banner. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details.

We do not intentionally collect special category data (such as information about health, ethnicity or political opinions). Please do not include such information in your enquiries or reviews.

3. How and why we use your personal data

We use your personal data only where the law allows us to. The purposes for which we use your data, and the lawful bases we rely on under the UK GDPR, are:

• To respond to your enquiry and connect you with relevant tradespeople — taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, and our legitimate interests in operating the Service.
• To create, display and manage business listings and accounts — performance of our agreement with the tradesperson, and our legitimate interests in running the directory.
• To display reviews and operate the review system — our legitimate interests in providing helpful, transparent information to users.
• To operate, maintain, secure and improve the Website — our legitimate interests in running a safe and effective service.
• To measure and analyse how the Website is used — your consent, given through our cookie banner.
• To send service messages or, where you have agreed, marketing — your consent, or our legitimate interests in keeping you informed about the Service.
• To comply with legal obligations and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims — compliance with a legal obligation and our legitimate interests.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether those interests are overridden by your rights. You can object to this processing (see “Your rights” below).

4. Sharing your personal data

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only in the following circumstances:

• With tradespeople you choose to contact. When you submit an enquiry or quote request, the relevant details are made available to the tradesperson(s) you have asked to contact so they can respond to you. Those tradespeople are independent businesses and act as separate data controllers for the information they receive.
• With our service providers. We use trusted third parties to help us run the Website, including our hosting and email provider (Hostinger) and our analytics provider (Google). These providers act as our processors and may only use your data on our instructions.
• Where required by law. We may disclose your data to regulators, law enforcement or other authorities where legally required, or to protect our rights, our users or the public.
• In connection with a business sale or reorganisation. If the Service is transferred to another organisation, your data may be transferred as part of that arrangement, subject to appropriate protections.

5. International transfers

Some of our service providers, including Google, may process personal data outside the United Kingdom. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we take steps to ensure it receives an equivalent level of protection, for example by relying on UK adequacy regulations or on standard data protection clauses approved for use in the UK.

6. How long we keep your personal data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Enquiry and correspondence data is generally retained for as long as needed to deal with your request and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle any follow-up or dispute. Listing and account data is retained while your listing or account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards. When data is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymise it.

7. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge by contacting us:

• the right to be informed about how we use your data;
• the right to access a copy of the data we hold about you;
• the right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data;
• the right to erasure in certain circumstances;
• the right to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
• the right to data portability;
• the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to object to direct marketing at any time;
• the right to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent.

We will respond to any request within one month. If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns first.

8. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. However, no transmission of data over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

9. Other websites

The Website contains links to third-party websites, including the websites of listed tradespeople. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites, and we encourage you to read their own privacy policies.

10. Children

The Service is intended for adults and is not directed at children under the age of 16. 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 delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised “last updated” date. Please check back periodically.

12. Contact us

For any questions or requests relating to this policy or your personal data, please contact us at info@ratedlocaltrades.co.uk.