Privacy Policy

Tradely is a UK marketplace that connects customers who need property and home services with vetted, accredited contractors who deliver them. For the purposes of UK data protection law, [Tradely Ltd — registered company name, number and address to be inserted] is the data controller for personal data processed through the platform.

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

We collect the following categories of personal data:

• Account and identity data — name, email address and password, handled for us by our authentication provider, Clerk, when you sign up or log in.
• Profile data — for customers, your postcode; for contractors, your business name, bio, service area, service categories, and the certifications and accreditations you upload for verification.
• Job and booking data — details of jobs you post or quote on, messages exchanged through the platform, booking status, and reviews you write or receive.
• Location data — the postcode you provide is converted into coordinates (via PostcodesIO) so we can match customers with nearby contractors. We do not collect precise GPS location.
• Payment data — we do not store your card details. Payments are processed by Stripe, a PCI DSS-compliant payment provider; we only hold references to transactions (amounts, status, dates) needed to run the escrow and payout system.
• Communications — messages you send us for support, and transactional emails we send you (e.g. booking confirmations), sent via Resend.
• Usage data — aggregated, anonymised page-visit analytics via Vercel Analytics (see Cookies below).

We use your data to:

• Create and manage your account, and verify your identity and role.
• Match customers with suitable contractors, and score and rank matches (distance, rating, completion rate, response time and budget fit).
• Process bookings, hold funds in escrow, and release payouts.
• Send booking, quote and payment notifications by email and in-app.
• Verify contractor certifications and accreditations.
• Investigate disputes, prevent fraud, and enforce our Terms & Conditions.
• Meet our legal and tax obligations (e.g. retaining financial records).

Our legal bases for this processing are: performance of the contract between us (running the marketplace and payments), our legitimate interests (fraud prevention, service improvement), and compliance with legal obligations (tax and accounting records).

We don't sell your personal data. We share it only with the service providers who help us run Tradely, and only to the extent each needs it to do their job:

• Clerk — authentication and account sessions.
• Stripe — payment processing, escrow and contractor payouts (Stripe Connect). Stripe is itself a data controller for the payment data it processes.
• Supabase — our database, and real-time delivery of in-app notifications.
• Vercel — application hosting and privacy-friendly, cookieless usage analytics.
• Resend — sending transactional emails on our behalf.
• PostcodesIO — converting postcodes to coordinates for matching. We only send a postcode, never your name or other identifying details.

Customers and contractors matched to the same job can see limited details about each other (e.g. a contractor's business name and rating, or a customer's postcode area and job description) so they can transact. We may also disclose information where required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Tradely, our users, or the public.

Some of our service providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (as adopted for UK transfers), or the provider's own certified equivalent protections.

Tradely uses a small number of cookies, and no non-essential tracking cookies without your consent:

• Essential session cookies— set by Clerk to keep you signed in and keep your account secure. These are necessary for the platform to work and can't be switched off.
• Analytics — we use Vercel Analytics, which is cookieless: it measures aggregate page traffic without setting a tracking cookie or identifying individual visitors.

We don't use third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. If that changes, we'll update this policy and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

We keep your account and profile data for as long as your account is active. If you ask us to delete your account, we anonymise your personal details (name, email, contact information) rather than deleting your history outright — this is because UK tax and accounting law requires us to retain financial records (bookings, payments, commission) for a minimum retention period even after an account closes. Once anonymised, those records no longer identify you.

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to: access the personal data we hold about you; have inaccurate data corrected; request erasure (subject to the retention requirements described above); restrict or object to certain processing; and receive your data in a portable format. To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@tradelyapp.co.uk.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Tradely is intended for users aged 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect personal data from children.

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encryption in transit (HTTPS), access controls, and processing payment data exclusively through our PCI DSS-compliant provider, Stripe — card details never reach our own servers.

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we'll let you know by email or via an in-app notice before they take effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

Questions about this policy or your data? Email privacy@tradelyapp.co.uk.