Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Tracey Andrews Interiors is the data controller responsible for your personal data.

We do not have a statutory Data Protection Officer. For any privacy question or request, please use the contact details above.

2. The information we collect

We only collect information that we need in order to respond to your enquiry and provide our services. This may include:

• Contact details you give us — such as your name, email address, telephone number and postal address when you complete our contact/enquiry form, email us, phone us, or message us via social media or messaging apps.
• Project details — information you choose to share about your home, property or project, including briefs, style preferences, budgets, measurements, floor plans and specifications.
• Photographs, plans and project files — images of your property, drawings, mood boards, product lists and notes from site visits. Photographs may incidentally include personal items or, rarely, identifiable people.
• Correspondence — the content of messages you send us and our replies, including emails, notes of calls and messages sent through third-party platforms.
• Payment and billing information — invoice details, payment records and related accounting information. We do not store full payment card numbers on our own systems.
• Information from other people — for example a referral from a previous client, architect, agent or other professional. If we receive your details this way, we will tell you when we first contact you.
• Technical and usage data — such as your IP address, browser type and how you use our website, collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookies Policy).

Our website and services are not aimed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.

3. How we collect your information

Directly from you, when you contact us, complete a form, send us files or photographs, invite us to your property, or engage us for a project.

From other people, where you have been referred to us or where another professional is working with you on the same project.

Automatically, as you browse the website, through cookies and analytics tools.

You do not have to give us personal data. If you choose not to, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry or provide our services.

4. How we use your information and our lawful basis

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for processing your data. We rely on the following:

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests are running and promoting a professional interior design practice, responding to people who contact us, delivering projects properly, and keeping our records accurate and secure. We only do this where we believe it does not override your rights and interests.

We do not use your information to make solely automated decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on you.

5. Photography and showcasing work

Completing an interior design project often involves photographs, drawings and other records of your home. We use these to design, specify, coordinate and deliver the project.

We will not publish images of your home on our website, social media, printed portfolio or in the press without your permission. You can refuse promotional use, limit how images are used (for example, no exterior shots or no identifying details), or later ask us to remove images from channels we control. We cannot always remove images that have already been printed or published by a third party, such as a magazine.

Where we work with a professional photographer, copyright in the images usually belongs to the photographer unless agreed otherwise. Your permission to us and the photographer’s licence are separate. We will not publish your name or address alongside a project unless you agree.

6. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal data. We only share it with trusted third parties who help us run our business, and only to the extent necessary. These may include:

• our website hosting, email, file-storage and IT providers
• analytics providers, if we use them
• professional advisers such as accountants
• photographers, trades, suppliers, contractors or other design professionals involved in your project, where needed to deliver the work, and we will tell you who is involved
• payment providers, where you pay us through them
• law enforcement, regulators or insurers where we are legally required or entitled to do so

All such providers are required to keep your information secure and to use it only for the purposes we specify.

Our website may also contain links to third-party sites and platforms (for example Instagram or Pinterest). Those services have their own privacy policies and we are not responsible for them. If you contact us through a third-party platform, that platform will also process your information under its own terms.

7. International transfers

Some of our providers may process data outside the UK. Where that happens, we take steps to ensure your data is protected to a standard that is not materially lower than UK law. That may include a UK adequacy regulation or UK-approved standard contractual clauses, together with any extra safeguards needed.

8. How long we keep your information

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out above.

Enquiries that do not lead to a project are typically retained for up to 24 months and then deleted or anonymised.

Records relating to projects, contracts, invoices and payments are kept for at least six years after the end of the project or last transaction, to meet legal, tax and accounting obligations and in case of a later query or claim.

Photographs and project materials used with your permission in our portfolio may be kept for as long as they remain relevant to our business, or until you ask us to stop that promotional use where we can.

Website analytics data is kept in line with the settings described in our Cookies Policy.

We will delete or anonymise information when we no longer need it, unless we must keep it for a legal claim or a legal obligation.

9. Keeping your information secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss or misuse. This includes limiting access to people who need it and using reputable providers for email, hosting and file storage.

While no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, we take reasonable steps to safeguard the information you provide.

10. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

Withdrawing consent does not affect anything we have already done lawfully before you withdrew it. It also does not affect processing that relies on another lawful basis, such as performing our contract with you or keeping records we are legally required to keep.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at tracey@traceyandrewsinteriors.co.uk. We may need to check your identity before we act on a request. We will respond within one month of receiving the request and any information we reasonably need to deal with it. We only need to carry out reasonable and proportionate searches.

11. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Some are needed for the site to work. Others help us understand how the site is used.

Please see our Cookies Policy for full details, including which cookies we use and how to manage your preferences or object to analytics cookies.

12. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first at tracey@traceyandrewsinteriors.co.uk so we can look into it. That is a data protection complaint. We will acknowledge it within 30 days of receiving it and then investigate and respond without undue delay.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority:

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised “last updated” date.

14. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at tracey@traceyandrewsinteriors.co.uk or write to us at 30 Fanshawe Street, Bengeo, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG14 3AT.