Your Data, Your Rights

Trade Assist is fully compliant with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This page explains what data we collect, how we use it, and how you can exercise your rights.

What Data We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to provide the Trade Assist service:

Account information: your name, email address and password (encrypted)
Business information: your business name, address, phone number and logo
Client information: the names, addresses and contact details of your decorating clients
Document data: your quotes, invoices, jobs and expenses
Usage data: how you use the app, to help us improve the service

How We Use Your Data

We use your data only to:

Provide the Trade Assist service — quoting, invoicing, CRM and scheduling
Process subscription payments through our payment provider, Stripe
Send you service-related emails (quotations, invoices, account notifications)
Improve our product based on how decorators use it (aggregated, anonymous)
Provide customer support when you contact us

Your Rights Under GDPR

Right to Access

You can request a copy of all the personal data we hold about you at any time.

Right to Portability

You can export your data in a machine-readable format and take it to another service.

Right to Erasure

You can request that we delete your personal data when you no longer need the service.

Right to Rectification

You can correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we are legally required to retain it (for example, financial records for tax purposes). Document archives are retained permanently as a service feature — you can delete individual documents at any time.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your data to third parties. We share data only with: Stripe (for payment processing), our cloud hosting provider (for data storage), and accounting integration providers (only if you explicitly connect them). Each of these providers has their own GDPR-compliant data processing agreements.

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of your data rights — access, portability, erasure or rectification — simply contact us through the app or by email. We will respond to your request within 30 days, as required by UK GDPR.

Client Data

When you store client information in Trade Assist, you are the data controller and we are the data processor. You are responsible for ensuring you have a lawful basis to store your clients\' personal data (typically, legitimate interest for running your business). We process client data only on your instructions and do not use it for any other purpose.