1.What is this document and why should you read it?
This privacy notice explains how and why Housestars Tech Ltd (also referred to as “housestars.co.uk”, “housestars app”,“we”, “our” and “us”) uses personal data about individual users of our website www.housestars.co.uk (the “Website”) , Housestars Mobile Application ( on Apple Store and Google Play store) and those that access our services through APIs and through third-parties, including website users, buyers and/or professionals (whether prospective, current or past) (together, “you”).
You should read this notice so that you know what we are doing with your personal data.
2.Our data protection responsibilities
“Personal data” is any information that relates to an identifiable natural person. Your name, address and contact details are examples of your personal data, if they identify you.
The term “process” means any activity relating to personal data, including collection, storage, use and transmission.
Whether you are a buyer, a professional or just a website user (or a combination of those) housestars.co.uk is a “controller” of your personal data. This means that we make decisions about how and why we process your personal data and are responsible for making sure it is used in accordance with data protection laws.
3.What types of personal data do we collect and where do we get it from?
If you are reviewing this then you will fall into at least one of the following categories of individuals about whom we process personal data:
(a) prospective, current or past customers of housestars.co.uk who register an account and/or place a buyer request (known as a “customers”, “home owners”, “house owners” , “property owner” or “landlords”) (“Buyers”);
(b) current or past individuals or businesses that register as a tradesmen ( referred as “stars”) on housestars.co.uk to provide a service to Buyers, or businesses who we identify as being of interest to our Buyers and who we may then contact with potential business opportunities relating to our Buyers (“Professionals”); and/or
(c) individuals that access our Website (“Website Users”).
Accordingly, we will collect and process different types of personal data about you depending on which of these categories are relevant to you. The different types of personal data that we collect and the sources we collect it from are summarised below.
4.Personal Data Categories
Depending on how you use our Website and services, we will collect different types of personal data about you. For example, this might include things like your name, contact details, details about your business, our correspondence with you, records of your transactions with us, and how you use our services. We need these details to provide our services to you. We have set out more specific details on the categories of personal data we collect and process on Buyers, Professionals and Website Users – Table A below
We obtain this personal data from a number of different sources. For example, this could be from you, our Website, your business website as well as third party sources such as social media. More details of the sources from which we obtain personal data about on Buyers, Professionals and Website Users can be found Table B below.
5.How we use personal data and why?
We process your personal data for particular purposes, which are relevant to your relationship and engagement with us. We are required by law to always have a “lawful basis” for processing your personal data.
We use the personal data we collect for a number of different reasons, including to provide our services to you or with you, to communicate with you, to verify your identity, to make sure our website and services are functioning properly and provide the best services for you, to keep accurate records and for legal reasons.
We rely on a number of different lawful grounds or ‘bases’ in order to process your personal data. These include that we have your consent to the processing, we need to process your personal data to enter into or perform a contract with you, we need to process your personal data to comply with our legal obligations, and/or the processing is necessary for our legitimate interests (or the legitimate interests of a third party).
More details on the purposes for which we process personal data on Buyers, Professionals and Website Users, and the lawful bases we rely on, can be found Table C below
We may also convert your personal data into statistical or aggregated form to better protect your privacy, or so that you are not identified or identifiable from it. Anonymised data cannot be linked back to you. We may use it to conduct research and analysis, including to produce statistical research and reports. For example, to help us understand and improve the use of our Website.
6.Who do we share your personal data with and why?
We may use certain trusted third party companies and individuals to help us provide, analyse, and improve our services (including but not limited to Buyer/Professional verification, data storage, maintenance services, database management, web analytics, payment processing, and improvement of our services). These third parties will process your personal data on our behalf (as our processor). We will disclose your personal data to these parties so that they can perform those functions necessary functions.
We may also share your information with third parties, who then use your personal data for their own purposes. For example, to process payments from you or where you choose to access our services through such an application. These organisations will also use your personal data for their own, separate purposes (also as a “controller”) – they will have their own privacy notices which you should read, and they have their own responsibilities to comply with applicable data protection laws.
In certain circumstances, where necessary for the purposes set out Table A below, we will also disclose your personal data to:
(a) consultants and professional advisors including legal advisors, auditors and accountants;
(b) business partners and joint ventures;
(c) a prospective seller or buyer of our business and their advisors;
(d) insurers;
(e) courts, court-appointed persons/entities, receivers and liquidators;
(f) third parties where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, to enforce a contract or to protect the rights, property or safety of our employees, customers or others; and
(g) to governmental departments, local government, statutory and regulatory bodies including (in the UK) the Information Commissioner’s Office, the police and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
7.Where is your personal data transferred to?
When we share personal data about you, as set out above, this may include a transfer of your personal data to recipients outside the UK. If any disclosures of personal data mean that your personal data will be transferred outside the European Economic Area, we will only make that transfer in accordance with our obligations under applicable data protection laws.
8.How long do we keep your personal data for?
We will only retain your personal data for a limited period of time and for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which we are processing it for (including as necessary to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements).
9.What are your rights in relation to your personal data and how can you exercise them?
You have certain legal rights in relation to any personal data about you which we hold. If you have any concerns or queries about this notice or how we process your personal data please contact us using the details below. Each of these are subject to certain conditions.
More details on your rights can be found Table D below.
10.General
We may update this notice from time to time to reflect changes to the type of personal data that we process and/or the way in which it is processed. We also encourage you to check this notice on a regular basis.
If you want more information about any of the subjects covered in this privacy notice or if you would like to discuss any issues or concerns with us, you can contact us at privacy@housestars.co.uk.
| Category | Types of Personal Data |
| Basic Data | Basic contact information and identity information |
| Communication Data | Communications we may have with you or other information which you may voluntarily provide, including images, videos or documents you may upload as part of a housestar customer/star request Your contact/marketing preferences |
| Account Data | housestar customer/star profile and details User names, passwords and other log-in information Activity history and referral data Analysis we may undertake on account usage from time to time Billing details, including card details and billing address |
| a housestar customer/star Data | Your draft, actual and suggested search request(s) and any responses received Feedback on housestars.co.uk usage for Buyers and feedback, comments and ratings of Professionals/Sellers |
| Website Data | Information about your device, which may include the device’s IP address, browser type, browsing history, preferences, identification numbers, your mobile carrier, date and time stamps and other interactions with the service Questions raised with us Information you provide us when you visit our Website |
| Geolocation Data | Your device and/or the information you give us might tell us your approximate geographical location |
| Analytics Data | Information to monitor and analyse use of our services, for example for our service’s technical administration, to increase our service’s functionality and user-friendliness, and to verify users have the authorisation needed to process their requests |
| Professional Data | Details about the service(s) you or your employer provide Payment records and bank account details a housestar customer/star a housestar customer/star analysis we may undertake from time to time Account details and activity history User names, passwords and other log-in information |
| Category | Types of Personal Data | Collected from |
| Buyers | Basic Data Communication Data Account Data a housestar customer/star Data Website Data Geolocation Data Analytics Data | You Our Website (including any cookies) Your device Third party sources, including social media, search engines, online maps, online marketplaces, online customer review sites and directories |
| Professionals | Basic Data Communication Data Professional Data Website Data Geolocation Data Analytics Data | You Your employer Our Website (including any cookies) Your website Your device Third party sources, including social media, search engines, online maps, online marketplaces, online customer review sites and directories |
| Website and Mobile App Users | Basic Data Communication Data Website Data Geolocation Data Analytics Data | You Our Website (including any cookies) Our Mobile App (including any cookies) Your device |
| Lawful basis | ||||
| Purposes of processing | Your consent | Contract performance | Legal obligation | Legitimate interests (either ours or a third party’s) |
| Communications with you | ||||
| a) Corresponding with you, responding to your requests, enquiries and/or complaints | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (to respond to you in relation to such matters) | |
| b) Confirming and processing a star that you may make with us | ✓ | ✓ (to process your orders) | ||
| c) Confirming and processing credit purchases that you may make with us | ✓ | ✓ (to process your orders) | ||
| d) Sending you service information (including direct marketing) | ✓ (direct marketing) | ✓ (service updates) | ✓ (to keep you updated on requests with other helpful updates and direct marketing in other cases) | |
| Background and Identity Check Information | ||||
| e) Performing ID, background and verification checks | ✓ | ✓ (to ensure that the contact details of Buyers/Professionals are verified) | ||
| Website Information | ||||
| f) Ensure and improve the operation and performance of the Website | ✓ (to ensure the Website functions correctly and improve its functionality for the benefit of Website users) | |||
| g) To identify your approximate geographical location | ✓ (to provide relevant services to you and to optimise your experience) | |||
| h) To monitor and analyse use of our services | ✓ (to provide relevant services to you and to optimise your experience) | |||
| i) To facilitate set up and use of your account | ✓ | ✓ (to grant you access to your account where you can securely and easily access information relevant to you) | ||
| Buyers and Professionals | ||||
| j) To deal with your request for a service | ✓ | ✓ (to fulfil our contractual obligation where you represent your employer or organisation) | ||
| k) To recommend suggested searches to you | ✓ (to encourage you to use our services) | |||
| l) To understand and analyse how users engage with and use our services | ✓ (to personalize and improve your experience and to better understand your needs and interests) | |||
| m) To take payment from you or the business you represent or to receive services from you or the business you represent, to deal with any complaints | ✓ | ✓ (to perform the contract where you represent your employer or organisation) | ||
| n) To share feedback and statistics on Professionals with potential Buyers | ✓ (to provide guidance for potential Buyers selecting Professionals) | |||
| o) To enable Professionals to provide their services through our website and otherwise to Buyers who have submitted service request to us | ✓ (to enable Professionals to provide their services) | |||
| p) To onboard you as a Buyer and/or Professional (which may also include background and verification checks as referred to above) | ✓ | ✓ (to be able to offer you services and, where applicable, enter into a contract where you represent your employer or organisation) | ||
| All categories | ||||
| q) Establishing and enforcing our legal rights and obligations and monitoring to identify and record fraudulent activity | ✓ | ✓ (to protect our business, other buyers and the public from fraud and crime, and to enable us to deal with legal claims) | ||
| r) Complying with requests, orders and instructions from law enforcement agencies, regulators, any court, parties to proceedings or otherwise deal with obligations required by law or regulators and to ensure good governance and compliance | ✓ | ✓ (where not binding but good governance and in the public interest) | ||
| s) For our general record-keeping and relationship management | ✓ | ✓ (where you represent your employer or organisation) | ||
| t) To keep records required by law or to evidence our compliance with laws, including tax laws, consumer protection laws and data protection laws | ✓ | |||
| u) Managing the proposed sale, restructuring or merging of any or all part(s) of our business, including to respond to queries from the prospective buyer or merging organisation | ✓ (to sell any part of our business) | |||
| v) Resolving any complaints from or disputes with you | ✓ | ✓ (to try and resolve any complaint or dispute you might raise with us and to deal with legal claims) |
| Your right | What does it mean? | Limitations and conditions of your right |
| Right of access | Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to have access to your personal data (this is more commonly known as submitting a “data subject access request”). | If possible, you should specify the type of information you would like to see to ensure that our disclosure is meeting your expectations. We must be able to verify your identity. Your request may not impact the rights and freedoms of other people, eg privacy and confidentiality rights of other staff, Buyers or Professionals. |
| Right to data portability | Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to receive the personal data which you have provided to us and which is processed by us by automated means, in a structured, commonly-used machine readable format. | If you exercise this right, you should specify the type of information you would like to receive (and where we should send it) where possible to ensure that our disclosure is meeting your expectations. This right only applies if the processing is based on your consent or on our contract with you and when the processing is carried out by automated means. It covers only the personal data that has been provided to us by you. |
| Rights in relation to inaccurate personal or incomplete data | You may challenge the accuracy or completeness of your personal data and have it corrected or completed, as applicable. You have a responsibility to help us to keep your personal information accurate and up to date. We encourage you to notify us of any changes regarding your personal data as soon as they occur, including changes to your contact details. | Please always check first whether there are any available self-help tools within your profile on our website to correct the personal data we process about you. This right only applies to your own personal data. When exercising this right, please be as specific as possible. |
| Right to object to or restrict our data processing | Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to object to or ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data. | This right applies where our processing of your personal data is necessary for our legitimate interests. You can also object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. |
| Right to erasure | Subject to certain conditions, you are entitled to have your personal data erased (also known as the “right to be forgotten”), e.g. where your personal data is no longer needed for the purposes it was collected for, or where the relevant processing is unlawful. | We may not be in a position to erase your personal data, if for example, we need it to (i) comply with a legal obligation, or (ii) exercise or defend legal claims. |
| Right to withdrawal of consent | As stated above, where our processing of your personal data is based on your consent you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. | If you withdraw your consent, this will only take effect for future processing. |
If you wish to exercise any of your rights please contact hello@housestars.co.uk in the first instance.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK data protection regulator. More information can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website at https://ico.org.uk/.