Privacy Policy

Data controller: Just Starting Out Ltd (Company No. 14946818)

Registered office: Capital Building, 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom

Privacy enquiries: info@juststartingout.co.uk

Safeguarding reports: safeguarding@juststartingout.co.uk

If you contact us about your data, we may ask for information to verify your identity before we act.

This policy applies to:

• Professionals (people/businesses advertising services)
• Customers (people searching for Professionals and viewing contact details / posting requests where available)
• Visitors (people browsing without an account)

The Platform is intended for use in the United Kingdom.

1. Account data

   Professionals and Customers (account):

   • Name
   • Email address and mobile phone number
   • Password (managed by Firebase - see Firebase's terms and privacy policy for details on how passwords are stored)
2. Professional profile data (public-facing)

   If you are a Professional, you may provide:

   • Business/trading name
   • Service type/category
   • Location area (e.g., town/city/region) and travel radius (if applicable)
   • Business description
   • Website link (if provided)
   • Business contact details you choose to publish (e.g., business email/phone)
   • Portfolio images (e.g., photos of work)
   • Self-declared profile documents you choose to upload or record, such as qualification certificates, insurance evidence, and background checks (including DBS or equivalent), together with related metadata (for example certificate numbers, issue dates, and check type)

   Important: Profile documents are provided voluntarily by Professionals to support profile completeness and customer due diligence. We process document images and metadata so they can be stored and displayed (where you make them visible) as part of your Professional profile. We do not independently verify authenticity, completeness, or ongoing validity. Do not upload identity documents that are not required for your profile (for example passports or driving licences used solely as ID). If you upload content that is unlawful, excessive, or unrelated to your Professional listing, we may remove it and may restrict your account if needed for safety/compliance.

   Criminal offence / sensitive document data: Background check certificates (including DBS or equivalent) can contain information relating to criminal convictions and offences. We only process such information where you choose to upload or declare it for your Professional profile. We apply restricted access and process it only as necessary to provide that profile feature and to enforce our Terms and policies. You should avoid including unnecessary sensitive personal data in uploads.

3. Customer activity data

   If you are a Customer, we may collect:

   • Saved preferences (e.g., location area, favourites where available)
   • Searches/filters and interactions on the Platform
   • If job/request posting exists: the content you submit (which may include a location area, timing, budget, description)

   Note: The Platform does not provide direct in-platform messaging between Customers and Professionals. Contact typically occurs via the Professional's published contact details once you choose to view them.

4. Subscription and billing data (Professionals)

   If you subscribe as a Professional:

   • Subscription status, plan type, renewal dates, and billing history
   • Payment confirmation/transaction references from our payment provider

   We do not store full card details.

5. Usage, device and technical data

   For Professionals, Customers and Visitors we may collect:

   • IP address and approximate location (derived from IP)
   • Device/browser/app information (device type, OS, browser type, app version)
   • Log data (pages/screens viewed, time stamps, clicks, error logs)
   • Cookie identifiers and similar technologies
6. Support, complaints and safeguarding
   • Emails/calls with our support team
   • Reports and evidence submitted under our Complaints & Reporting Procedure and Safeguarding Policy (e.g., screenshots, links, photos)
   • External evidence (no in-platform messaging): As the Platform does not host direct messaging, we may collect and process copies of external communications (for example WhatsApp, email, or SMS) that you voluntarily provide to us as evidence in a complaint or safeguarding investigation.

     Redaction request: If you provide external communications or screenshots as evidence, please redact or remove any personal data that is not relevant to the complaint or safeguarding concern (for example unrelated phone numbers, addresses, financial details, or information about other individuals). We will handle evidence sensitively, but we encourage you to minimise any unnecessary personal data you share with us.

7. Special category data

   We do not ask for sensitive personal data (e.g., health information). However, safeguarding reports or complaints may sometimes include information about health, vulnerabilities, or other sensitive details. Where this happens, we handle it with additional care and access controls.

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis. Typical purposes include:

A) Providing the Service (Contract)

• Create and manage accounts
• Provide Platform functionality (profiles, search, viewing contact details, job/request posting where available)
• Provide subscription features to Professionals and manage renewals/access
• Provide support and respond to enquiries

B) Running, securing and improving the Platform (Legitimate Interests)

• Maintain, monitor and improve performance and reliability
• Prevent spam, misuse and unauthorised access
• Analytics to understand how the Platform is used and improve user experience
• Debugging and troubleshooting

C) Safety, safeguarding, fraud prevention and enforcement (Legitimate Interests / Legal obligation / Vital interests where appropriate)

• Investigate reports, complaints and safeguarding concerns (including reviewing evidence you provide)
• Enforce our Terms and policies (Safeguarding, Civil Working, Complaints & Reporting)
• Protect users and the Platform
• Prevent and investigate fraud and other illegal activity

Special category safeguarding data: Where safeguarding reports include Special Category Data (such as health or vulnerability information), we process this because it is necessary for safeguarding and public protection. In these cases we rely on an appropriate special category condition (for example processing necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, including safeguarding of individuals at risk, and/or vital interests where relevant), and we apply additional safeguards and restricted access. Where required, we maintain an appropriate policy document.

D) Legal and compliance (Legal obligation / Legitimate Interests)

• Accounting and tax records
• Responding to lawful requests from authorities/regulators
• Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims

E) Marketing (Consent and/or Legitimate Interests depending on channel)

• Send service messages (e.g., security notices, subscription/renewal information, important platform changes) — these are necessary and you cannot opt out of them
• Send marketing messages where permitted, and where required, with your consent
• Measure marketing performance and improve communications

You can opt out of marketing at any time (unsubscribe links or contact us).

1. Public Professional profiles

   Professional profiles are designed to be visible to Customers and may be publicly accessible. This may include:

   • Business/trading name
   • Service type/category
   • Location area (not your home address unless you choose to publish it, which we do not recommend)
   • Business description
   • Profile image and portfolio images
   • Self-declared profile documents you choose to make visible (for example qualification certificates, insurance evidence, or background-check presence/details)
   • Website link (if provided)

   Public pages may be indexed by search engines unless we restrict indexing.

2. Professional contact details viewed by Customers

   If a Customer selects "view contact information" (or equivalent), the Professional's published business contact details (e.g., business email/phone) may be shown to that Customer.

3. Customer information

   Customer account details are not public by default. If you submit a job/request (where available), the information you provide may be shared with relevant Professionals in order to facilitate responses.

We use cookies and similar technologies to make the Platform work, remember preferences, understand usage, and (where enabled) support marketing/advertising. Where required, we ask for consent for non-essential cookies.

We share personal data only as needed to operate the Service:

1. Service providers (processors)

   Depending on your use/configuration, these may include:

   • Hosting/infrastructure providers (e.g., DigitalOcean and/or AWS)
   • Payment processing (e.g., Stripe)
   • Email delivery/communications (e.g., SendGrid)
   • Analytics/platform tools (e.g., Google)
   • App ecosystem providers (e.g., Apple/Google for app distribution and notifications where applicable)

   These providers are required to protect personal data and use it only to provide services to us.

2. Legal, safety and enforcement

   We may disclose information if we reasonably believe it is necessary to comply with law, protect users from harm, prevent/investigate illegal activity or security issues, or establish/defend legal claims.

3. Business transfers

   If we sell, merge or reorganise our business, personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to appropriate safeguards.

   We do not sell your personal data.

Some service providers may process personal data outside the UK. Where UK international transfer rules apply, we use appropriate safeguards (for example adequacy regulations and/or approved contractual mechanisms).

Typical retention periods:

• Account data: while your account is active
• Professional public profile content: while your profile is active; on deletion we remove/anonymise unless we must keep limited records for legal/safety reasons
• Subscription and billing records (Professionals): typically up to 6 years
• Support communications: typically up to 24 months after resolution
• Security logs and technical records: typically up to 12 months
• Complaints/safeguarding/enforcement records: as long as necessary to manage safety, prevent repeat abuse/fraud, and meet legal obligations

Backups may retain copies for a limited period, with restricted access.

We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data (access controls, least-privilege, secure password storage). No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

Depending on your circumstances, you may have rights including:

• access to your personal data
• correction of inaccurate data
• deletion (where applicable)
• restriction of processing
• data portability (where applicable)
• withdrawal of consent (where we rely on consent, e.g., certain marketing/cookie choices)

Objection to processing: You have an absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time. You can also object to other processing based on our legitimate interests unless we have a compelling reason to continue.

You can manage some information via account settings. For rights requests, contact info@juststartingout.co.uk.

You also have the right to complain to the UK data protection regulator (the Information Commissioner's Office).

We may use automated processes to sort/rank search results (distance/filters/relevance) and detect suspicious activity/spam/fraud. We do not aim to make solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects without appropriate safeguards.

The Platform is intended for users aged 18+. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

We may link to third-party websites/services. Their privacy practices are their own.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will be posted on the Platform with an updated effective date. Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify users.

Privacy enquiries: info@juststartingout.co.uk

Safeguarding: safeguarding@juststartingout.co.uk

Phone: 0203 633 0286