Data Protection

Last updated: 5 November 2026 

This document outlines our commitment and practises for keeping your data safe.

Data controller: Charlotte Hopper (Sole Trader and Founder of Heartful Home).

Telephone: 07834496625

Email: [email protected] 

1. About this policy

Heartful Home respects your privacy and takes care to protect your personal information. This policy explains what information I collect, how and why I use it, when I may share it, how I keep it secure and what rights you have.

I handle personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, as applicable.

2. Information I may collect

Depending on your enquiry and the service you receive, I may collect:

  • Contact details: your name, email address, telephone number and address.

  • Enquiry and booking information: details of the support you are looking for, your preferences, agreed services, appointments and correspondence.

  • Payment and invoice information: amounts charged, payments received and information needed for accounting and tax records. I do not need your full bank login details or passwords.

  • Photographs and videos: images of the areas of your home that you would like help organising or decluttering.

  • Relevant personal circumstances: information you choose to share that helps me understand your priorities or plan the work safely. This may occasionally include sensitive information, such as bereavement, health-related circumstances or safeguarding concerns.

  • Website information: limited technical information collected through website cookies or similar technologies, depending on the website settings and your cookie choices.

I aim to collect only information that is relevant and necessary for the purposes described in this policy.

3. How I use your information

I may use your information to:

  • Respond to enquiries and arrange consultations.

  • Assess your needs and determine whether I can provide a suitable service.

  • Review photographs and videos so I can understand the space, plan the work and set realistic goals.

  • Confirm bookings, provide the service, communicate with you and manage changes.

  • Prepare invoices, record payments and meet accounting or tax obligations.

  • Respond to questions, concerns or complaints.

  • Protect the safety of clients and others, where a legitimate safeguarding concern arises.

  • Maintain, secure and improve my website and business administration.

I will not use photographs or videos of your home for marketing, social media or publicity without your separate permission.

4. My lawful reasons for using personal information

Data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for using personal information. Depending on the purpose, this may include:

  • Contract: where information is needed to respond to a request to enter into an agreement, arrange a booking or provide the service.

  • Legal obligation: where I need to keep or disclose information to meet legal requirements, including relevant accounting and tax obligations.

  • Legitimate interests: where using information is reasonably necessary for legitimate business purposes, such as managing enquiries, keeping appropriate records, protecting property or addressing concerns, provided those interests do not override your rights.

  • Consent: where consent is the appropriate basis for a particular use, such as using photographs for publicity.

Where information reveals health details or other specially protected information, additional legal requirements may apply. I will seek to avoid collecting or recording such information unless it is relevant and necessary, and will only use it where an appropriate legal basis and condition apply.

Where I rely on consent, you can withdraw it for future use. This does not make earlier processing unlawful, and it does not affect processing that can lawfully continue on another basis.

5. Photographs and videos of your home

Before I can confirm a booking or begin work, I must review clear photographs and short videos of the relevant areas, either supplied by you or taken by me during an agreed in-person visit.

I use these images to assess the work, plan sessions, understand practical challenges and agree realistic goals. They are not a judgement of you or your home.

I handle images sensitively and keep them private. I will not use them in marketing, on social media or in publicity without your separate permission.

My usual practice is to delete photographs and videos within 18 months of your final session, unless there is a legitimate or legal reason to retain them for longer. Please avoid including unnecessary images of other people, personal documents, computer screens or other sensitive information.

6. When information may be shared

I do not sell your personal information. I may share relevant information with trusted service providers where necessary to run my business, such as providers of email, website hosting, file storage, invoicing, accounting or payment services. These providers should only use information as permitted by their role and applicable arrangements. I may also share information:

  • Where you have asked me to or given appropriate permission.

  • Where sharing is necessary to provide an agreed service.

  • Where required by law or a lawful request.

  • Where I reasonably consider sharing necessary and lawful to help protect someone from serious harm or respond to a safeguarding concern.

Where information is shared for safeguarding purposes, I aim to share only what is relevant and proportionate to the concern.

Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, I will take the steps required by applicable data protection law to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

7. How long I keep information
I keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

My usual approach is:

  • Photographs and videos of your home: deleted within 18 months of your final session, unless there is a legitimate or legal reason to retain them.

  • Enquiries that do not lead to a booking: retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to respond, manage follow-up and maintain appropriate business records.

  • Client, booking and correspondence records: retained for as long as reasonably necessary to manage the service, respond to queries or disputes, and meet applicable legal obligations.

  • Invoices and financial records: retained for the period required by relevant tax and accounting rules.

  • Safeguarding records: retained securely for an appropriate period based on the nature of the concern, legal obligations and any need to document the response.

When information is no longer needed, I will delete it securely or otherwise dispose of it appropriately. Retention periods may vary where a legal obligation or genuine dispute requires information to be kept for longer.

8. How I protect your information

I take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

Access to client information is limited to what is needed for my work and business administration. However, no method of electronic storage or communication can be guaranteed completely secure, so I encourage you not to send passwords or unnecessary sensitive information by email or message.

9. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you.

  • Ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

  • Ask for information to be erased where the law allows.

  • Ask me to restrict or object to certain processing.

  • Request a copy of certain information in a portable format.

  • Withdraw consent where I rely on consent.

  • Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions. For example, I may need to retain certain financial records to comply with the law even if you request their deletion.

To exercise a right or ask a question about your information, contact me using the details at the top of this policy. I may need to verify your identity before responding.

10. Complaints

If you have a concern about how I have handled your personal information, please contact me first so I can try to resolve it.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data protection regulator. Information is available at https://ico.org.uk/.

11. Cookies and website technologies

Cookies are small files or similar technologies that websites may use to make a site work, remember preferences, understand how visitors use it or provide other functions.

My website is hosted by Squarespace. Depending on the website features and settings in use, it may use essential cookies and similar technologies, as well as optional analytics or other cookies.

Essential cookies may be needed for the website to function properly. Where non-essential cookies or similar technologies require consent, I will use the website’s cookie controls to seek that consent before they are placed or used. You should be able to make a genuine choice about optional cookies.

You can manage your choices through the cookie controls provided on the website and, where available, through your browser settings. Blocking some cookies may affect how parts of the website work.

The specific cookies used may change as the website or its features change. I will review the website’s cookie information and settings periodically so they accurately reflect the technologies in use.

12. Changes to this policy

I may update this policy when my business practices, website or legal requirements change. The latest version will be published on my website with its updated date.

If you have any questions about this policy or how Heartful Home uses your information, please get in touch using the contact details above.