Privacy Policy

We at Check Your Traders understand that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used and shared online. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits this website www.checkyourtraders.com (“Our Site”) and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the law.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of our Site. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using our Site immediately.

Definitions and Interpretation

In this Policy, the following terms shall have the following meanings:“Cookie” means a small text file placed on your computer or device by our Site when you visit certain parts of our Site and/or when you use certain features of our Site. Details of the Cookies used by our Site are set out in clause 13, and further described in our Cookie Policy“Personal data” means any and all data that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that data. In this case, it means personal data that you give to us via our Site. This definition shall, where applicable, incorporate the definitions provided in the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”) as well as the Data Protection Act (Chapter 586 of the Laws of Malta) (the “Act”), collectively referred to as “Applicable Data Protection Legislation” as may be amended or replaced from time to time; and“We/Us/Our” means Check Your Traders, whose office address is Flat 1, Glenville Apartments, Sammy Bartolo Street, Mellieha, MLH1022.

Information

We own and operate this Site and we can be contacted by email at info@checkyourtraders.com.

What Does This Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of our Site.  Our Site may contain links to other websites.  Please note that we have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites.

Your Rights

As a data subject, you have the following rights under the GDPR, which this Policy and our use of personal data have been designed to uphold:

1. The right to be informed about our collection and use of personal data;
2. The right of access to the personal data we hold about you (see clause 12);
3. The right to rectification if any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete (please contact us using the details in clause 14);
4. The right to be forgotten – i.e. the right to ask us to delete any personal data we hold about you (we only hold your personal data for a limited time, as explained in clause 6 but if you would like us to delete it sooner, please contact us using the details in clause 14);
5. The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data;
6. The right to data portability (obtaining a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or organisation);
7. The right to object to us using your personal data for particular purposes; and
8. Rights with respect to automated decision making and profiling.

If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, please contact us using the details provided in clause 14 and we will do our best to solve the problem for you. If we are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority in Malta.

For further information about your rights, please contact the Office of the Information and Data Protection Commissioner: https://idpc.org.mt/.

What Data Do We Collect?
Depending upon your use of our Site, we may collect some or all of the following personal and non-personal data (please also see clause 13 on our use of Cookies and similar technologies):

1. name;
2. address;
3. contact information such as email addresses and telephone numbers;
4. demographic information such as postcode, preferences, and interests;
5. IP address;
6. web browser type and version;
7. operating system; and/or
8. any other personal details you upload as part of the services.

Should you use our Site on behalf of another person, it shall be your responsibility to ensure you have gained express consent to transfer their personal data to us.

Please note our site may ask you for payment details, such as billing information or credit or debit card information, however, all payments made on our website will go through a third party processor, and as such we shall have no access to this data. A separate contractual relationship shall be created between you and the payment processor on their terms and conditions and we cannot be held liable for any errors, actions, omissions or incorrect charges that may be made by them.

How Do We Use Your Data?

All personal data is processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with our obligations and safeguard your rights under the GDPR and the Act at all times.  For more details on security see clause 7, below.

Our use of your personal data will always have a lawful basis, either because it is necessary for our performance of a contract with you, because you have consented to our use of your personal data (e.g. by subscribing to emails), or because it is in our legitimate interests.

Personal data may be disclosed to third parties for verification purposes since this process is carried out by an external verification company.

Specifically, we may use your data for the following purposes:

1. Providing and managing your access to our Site;
2. Personalising and tailoring your experience on our Site;
3. Replying to emails from you;
4. Supplying you with emails that you have opted into (you may unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of each email or you may opt-out at any time by emailing us directly);
5. Contacting you for the purposes of generating trusted reviews;
6. Analysing your use of our Site to enable us to continually improve our Site and your user experience.
7. Relaying it to third parties for verification purposes.

With your permission and/or where permitted by law, we may also use your data for marketing purposes which may include contacting you by email with information, news and offers on our services. We will not, however, send you any unsolicited marketing or spam and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that we fully protect your rights and comply with our obligations under Applicable Data Protection Legislation.

Third parties whose content appears on our Site may use third-party Cookies, as detailed below in clause 13. Please refer to clause 13 for more information on controlling Cookies. Please note that we do not control the activities of such third parties, nor the data they collect and use, and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such third parties.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to us using your personal data at any time, and to request that we delete it.

How Do We Store Your Data?

1. We only keep your personal data for as long as we need to in order to use it as described above in clause 6, and/or for as long as we have your permission to keep it.
2. Data security is very important to us, and to protect your data we have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure the data collected through our Site.

Do We Share Your Data?

1. When you provide proof of identification and proof of VAT registration, we may send this to a third party company that handles verifications. This third party system will allow us  to mark the trader as verified on the website should the verification process be positive.
2. When you request a quote via our Website your details will be passed on to the tradesperson from whom a quote has been requested. This third party will use this data in order to provide you with the quote as requested.
3. We may sometimes contract with other third parties to supply services to you on our behalf. These may include search engine facilities, delivery couriers and freelancers.  In some cases, these third parties may require access to some or all of your data. Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under the law.
4. We may compile statistics about the use of our Site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers, sales, and other information. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying data, or any anonymised data that can be combined with other data and used to identify you. We may from time to time share such data with third parties such as prospective investors, affiliates, partners, and advertisers. Data will only be shared and used within the bounds of the law.
5. We may sometimes use third party data processors that are located outside of the European Economic Area (“the EEA”). Where we transfer any personal data outside the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the EU and under the GDPR.
6. When your personal data is transferred out of the EEA, we will rely on the adequacy decisions of the European Commission. In case this does not apply, we will use Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission to ensure that your personal data is treated in the same manner as it would be within the EEA.
7. In certain circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain data held by us, which may include your personal data, for example, where we are involved in legal proceedings, where we are complying with legal requirements, a court order, or a governmental authority.

What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?

1. We may, from time to time, expand or reduce our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of our business. Any personal data that you have provided will, where it is relevant to any part of our business that is being transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use that data only for the same purposes for which it was originally collected by us.
2. In the event that any of your data is to be transferred in such a manner, you will not be contacted in advance and informed of the changes.

How Can You Control Your Data?

1. In addition to your rights under all Applicable Data Protection Legislation when you submit personal data to us via email or via our Website, you may be given options to restrict our use of your data. In particular, we aim to give you strong controls on our use of your data for direct marketing purposes (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in our emails, at the point of providing your details and by contacting us).

Your Right to Withhold Information

1. You may access certain areas of our Site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on our Site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.
2. You may restrict our use of Cookies. You can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third-party Cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device. You can choose to delete Cookies on your computer or device at any time, however, you may lose any information that enables you to access our Site more quickly and efficiently.

How Can You Access Your Data?

1. You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by us (where such data is held). Please contact us for more details using the contact details below in clause 14. Alternatively, please refer to our Data Protection Policy.

Our Use of Cookies

1. Our Site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by us and are used only by us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of our Site and to provide and improve our services. All Cookies used by and on our Site are used in accordance with Applicable Data Protection Legislation relating to the use of Cookies.
2. Before Cookies are placed on your computer or device, you will be shown a pop-up requesting your consent to set those Cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of Cookies, you are enabling us to provide the best possible experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of Cookies; however certain features of our Site may not function fully or as intended.
3. Certain features of our Site depend on Cookies to function – these Cookies are deemed to be “strictly necessary” under Applicable Data Protection Legislation. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies, but it is still important that you are aware of them. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below, but please be aware that our Site may not work properly if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.
4. Our Site uses Google Analytics. Website analytics refers to a set of tools used to collect and analyse anonymous usage information, enabling us to better understand how our Site is used. This, in turn, enables us to improve our Site and the services offered through it. You do not have to allow us to use these Cookies, however, whilst our use of them does not pose any risk to your privacy or your safe use of our Site, it does enable us to continually improve our Site, making it a better and more useful experience for you. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/
5. In addition to the controls that we provide, you can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.
6. You can choose to delete Cookies on your computer or device at any time, however, you may lose any information that enables you to access our Site more quickly and efficiently.
7. It is recommended that you keep your internet browser and operating system up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser and manufacturer of your computer or device if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about our Site or this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at support@checkyourtraders.com. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data we hold about you.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time at our discretion. Any changes will be immediately posted on our Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of our Site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.