Privacy policy
Last updated: 14 June 2026
What this policy covers
This explains what personal data Braiders.co.uk collects, why we collect it, what we do with it, and what rights you have over it.
It applies to:
- Visitors browsing the site
- Braiders who appear on the directory (whether you have claimed your listing or not)
- People who register an account or leave a review
- People who sign up for our newsletter
- Anyone who emails us, fills in a form, or otherwise interacts with us
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, email us or write to privacy@braiders.co.uk.
Who is responsible for your data
The data controller for Braiders.co.uk is Len Johnson (trading as Braiders).
We are registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZC169736.
You can contact us at privacy@braiders.co.uk for any privacy-related question, including requests to access, correct, or delete data we hold about you.
A note on sensitive data
Braiding is a hair service used mostly by people with afro and textured hair. We want to be clear: we do not ask for, collect, or infer special-category data about you, such as your ethnicity, race, religion or health. The directory is organised by braid style and area, not by any personal characteristic. Choosing to browse or list on the site is not treated as information about who you are.
What we collect and why
When you visit the site
When you browse Braiders.co.uk, we automatically collect some technical information that is standard for websites:
- Your IP address
- Your browser type and version
- The pages you visit, the order you visit them in, and how long you spend
- The site you came from (if any)
- Your approximate location (city-level, derived from IP; we do not track precise location)
This data is collected through Google Analytics 4, with consent. If you decline analytics cookies, we do not collect this information about you.
We use it to understand how the site is being used, what content is working, and what to improve. We do not use it to identify you personally.
When you sign up for our newsletter
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect:
- Your email address
- The date you subscribed
- The link or page you subscribed from (so we know which content brought you in)
That is it. We do not ask for your name unless you want to give it.
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email. When you unsubscribe, your email is removed from active mailing lists within 24 hours, though we may retain a record that the email previously existed and is now unsubscribed (to prevent accidentally re-adding you).
When you contact us
If you email us or fill in a contact form, we will have:
- Your email address
- Whatever you wrote in your message
- The date and time of contact
We use this only to respond to you and to keep a record in case the conversation needs to continue. We do not add you to marketing lists from contact emails.
When you register an account
To submit, claim or manage a listing, or to leave a review, you create an account. We collect:
- Your name or username
- Your email address
- A password, which is stored encrypted (we never see it in plain text)
We use this to run your account, let you sign in, and link your listing or reviews to you.
When you claim or submit a braider listing
If you are a braider claiming or submitting your listing, we collect:
- Your business or working name and area
- Your contact details (email, phone, social media handles, booking link)
- Photos of your work
- The styles you offer, descriptions and pricing information
- Whether you are mobile, serve men, or offer alopecia-friendly braiding, if you choose to tell us
- Any other content you choose to add to your profile
This information is used to display your listing publicly on the directory and is what makes your profile useful to clients searching for a braider.
When you leave a review
If you review a braider, we collect your name (or display name), your rating and your written review, and the date. Reviews are shown publicly on the braider’s listing. Do not include personal details about yourself or anyone else in a review. You can ask us to remove a review you have written at any time.
When you subscribe to a Featured listing
If you upgrade to a paid Featured listing, we collect:
- Payment information, handled directly by Stripe, our payment processor. We do not see or store your card details
- Your subscription status, billing dates, and amount paid
- VAT information if applicable
We use this only to manage your subscription and to provide you with receipts and tax records.
About braiders who have not claimed their listings
Braiders.co.uk includes listings for some braiders who have not yet claimed their profile. We have gathered this information from publicly available sources: Instagram bios, business websites, existing UK directories, and social media business pages.
The information in unclaimed listings is limited to what is already publicly available: business or working name, area, contact details from public sources, the styles offered, and a small number of photos sourced from public Instagram posts (with the original creator credited where possible).
We do this on a legitimate interests basis (more on that below) so that people searching for a braider can find a complete picture of what is available in their area, and so that braiders benefit from being discoverable on a UK braider directory without having to do anything.
If you are a braider and you would like your listing removed, email us or use the removal form on any listing page. We action removal requests within 3 working days, no questions asked.
Our lawful bases for processing your data
Under UK GDPR, we need a lawful basis for everything we do with your personal data. Here is what we use and when:
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Sending newsletter emails | Consent (you signed up) |
| Running analytics with consent | Consent (cookie banner) |
| Running your account, claimed listing and reviews | Contract (our terms with you) |
| Processing Featured listing payments | Contract |
| Responding to your enquiries | Legitimate interests (you contacted us) |
| Listing public business information for unclaimed braiders | Legitimate interests (helping clients find UK braiders, balanced against the braider’s right to be removed) |
| Site security and fraud prevention | Legitimate interests |
About our legitimate interests basis for unclaimed listings specifically: we have completed a documented Legitimate Interests Assessment (available on request). The information used is already publicly available, the listing creates a genuine benefit for both clients and braiders, and we provide a clear, friction-free way to opt out (request removal). UK regulators have generally accepted this approach for directory businesses (Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, and similar sites operate similarly). If you disagree with our assessment, the removal route is available immediately.
Who we share your data with
We use a small number of third-party service providers to run the site. Each receives only the data they need to do their job:
- Stripe: payment processing for Featured subscriptions. Stripe sees payment information; we do not.
- MailerLite: email newsletter delivery. They store the email addresses of our subscribers.
- Google Analytics 4: website analytics, with your consent. They process IP and browsing data.
- Google (Maps API): geocoding braider addresses for map display. They process address strings.
- 20i: our hosting provider. They store the website’s data on our behalf.
- Cloudflare: security and content delivery (if applicable). They see traffic patterns.
We do not sell your data. We do not share it with advertisers. We do not use it for targeted advertising.
If we ever change service providers, we will update this list. If a change affects your rights significantly, we will notify you directly.
We may share data with law enforcement or regulators if we receive a valid legal request, but we would push back on overbroad requests.
International data transfers
Some of our service providers (notably Google and Stripe) are based in or process data in the US. When data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on:
- The UK’s adequacy decisions (where they exist)
- Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the UK ICO
- The UK-US Data Bridge framework (where applicable)
We do not transfer data to countries with weak privacy protections.
How long we keep your data
| Data type | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Account holders | Until you close your account |
| Newsletter subscribers (active) | Until you unsubscribe |
| Newsletter subscribers (unsubscribed) | 2 years, then deleted |
| Braider claimed listings | Until you ask us to remove the listing |
| Braider unclaimed listings | Until you request removal, or until we have reason to believe the business is no longer trading |
| Reviews | Until you ask us to remove them, or the listing is removed |
| Featured subscription payment records | 7 years (UK tax and accounting requirement) |
| Contact emails | 2 years from last reply, then deleted |
| Analytics data | 14 months (Google Analytics 4 default) |
| Server logs | 30 days |
Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have several rights over the data we hold about you:
Right to be informed: what this policy is for.
Right of access: you can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you. Email privacy@braiders.co.uk and we will respond within one calendar month.
Right to rectification: if anything we hold is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Right to erasure: also called “the right to be forgotten”. You can ask us to delete your data. We will do so unless we have a legal reason to keep it (for example, tax records).
Right to restrict processing: you can ask us to stop using your data while keeping it stored.
Right to data portability: you can ask for your data in a machine-readable format to take to another service.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing. For unclaimed listings specifically, this is the basis for our removal process.
Rights related to automated decision-making: we do not make automated decisions that significantly affect you, so this right does not really come up. But you have it if it ever does.
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@braiders.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.
Complaints
If you are not happy with how we handle your data, we would like the chance to put it right. Email us or write to privacy@braiders.co.uk.
If we cannot resolve it, you have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
- Website: ico.org.uk
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
You do not need to contact us first, but we appreciate the chance to fix things.
Children
Braiders.co.uk is not aimed at children under 16, and accounts are for adults. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you are under 16 and you have given us information, ask a parent or guardian to email us and we will delete it.
Cookies and tracking
This policy covers personal data generally. The specific cookies we use, their purposes, and how to control them are covered in our Cookie Policy.
Security
We take reasonable steps to protect your data. The site uses HTTPS, our database has access controls, payment data is handled by Stripe (which is PCI-DSS compliant), and we run regular security updates and backups.
No website is 100% secure. If we ever have a data breach that affects your rights and freedoms, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and notify affected users directly where required by law.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy occasionally. The “Last updated” date at the top will change. For significant updates (anything that affects your rights or how your data is used), we will notify regular users via the site or email.
Getting in touch
For any privacy-related question or to exercise any of your rights:
Email: privacy@braiders.co.uk, or via our contact form
Subject line tip: “Data request” or “Privacy question” speeds up handling
We respond to most enquiries within 1–2 working days. Formal data subject requests (access, deletion, and similar) we will fully resolve within one calendar month, often much sooner.