Privacy policy

MyHivekeeper looks after your home: we review its condition, plan and arrange maintenance, and keep a record of its history. To do that we need to hold information about you and your home. This policy explains what we hold, why, who sees it and the choices you have.

We have written it in plain English. If anything is unclear, contact us using the details at the end.

Who we are

MyHivekeeper is a service provided by arcj Ltd, 20-21 Wenlock Road, N1 7GU, United Kingdom (company number [to be added]). In this policy "we", "us" and "our" mean arcj Ltd.

We are the "data controller" for the personal information described here. That means we decide how and why it is used and are responsible for looking after it under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration number [to be added].

What this policy covers

This policy covers the MyHivekeeper portal at www.myhivekeeper.com and the MyHivekeeper service behind it, including Home MOT visits and the work we arrange for you. It applies to homeowners and members of their household who use the service, and to anyone who signs in to the portal.

The information we hold

About you

• Your name and email address.
• Your password. We store this only in a scrambled form (a "hash"), so nobody at MyHivekeeper can read it.
• Contact details you give us so we can arrange visits and work, such as a phone number.

About your home

• The address of your home, and details such as its type, age, construction, number of bedrooms and heating.
• Key systems and appliances, and when they were installed.
• The condition of your home: findings from each Home MOT, your Home Health Score and the score for each area of the home.
• Maintenance: work we recommend, plan, arrange or complete, including what it is for, what it costs, who carries it out and when.
• Improvements made to your home, such as a new kitchen or insulation.

Documents and photos

• Certificates, guarantees, warranties, receipts and invoices relating to your home.
• Photos of your home and of work carried out.
• These may be uploaded by you or added by our team. Please do not upload documents that contain information about other people unless you need to.

How you use the portal

• Decisions you make, such as approving a job and the time you prefer.
• Whether you have switched on sharing for your Home Passport.
• Security records: the internet (IP) address used for failed sign-in attempts, and requests to reset a password. We use these only to protect accounts.

What we do not collect

The portal does not collect card numbers or bank details. If we introduce online payment in future, we will update this policy first and payments will be handled by a specialist payment provider.

We do not ask for, and do not need, sensitive information such as details of your health, ethnicity, religion or political opinions. Please do not include this in documents or messages you send us.

Where the information comes from

• From you, when you join, use the portal, upload documents or contact us.
• From our team, who record what they find at a Home MOT and keep your home's record up to date.
• From contractors we arrange for you, who tell us what work they did and send invoices and photos.
• From an estate agent or other partner, if they introduced you to us with your agreement. [To be confirmed: whether referrals are part of the service.]

How we use it, and our legal reasons

Data protection law says we must have a legal reason (a "lawful basis") for using your information. These are the ones we rely on.

To provide the service you have asked for (contract)

• Creating and running your account and keeping it secure.
• Carrying out Home MOT visits and showing you the results.
• Planning maintenance, asking for your approval and arranging work with contractors.
• Keeping your Home Passport: the record of your home's documents and history.
• Sending you service emails, such as a password reset link or news about a job.

Because we have a legitimate interest in doing so

• Protecting the portal and your account against misuse, for example by limiting repeated sign-in attempts.
• Understanding how the service is working and improving it. Where we can, we use information that does not identify you.
• Dealing with questions, complaints and legal claims.

We only rely on legitimate interests where they are not outweighed by your own interests and rights. You can object to this use: see "Your rights" below.

To meet our legal obligations

• Keeping business and tax records, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

With your consent

• We will ask for your consent before sending you marketing, and before using your home or its photos as an example to show other people. You can withdraw consent at any time.

We do not use your information to make automated decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on you. Your Home Health Score is worked out from what our team records about your home. It is a guide to condition, not a survey or a valuation.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with advertisers.

We share it only as follows.

• Contractors we arrange for you. We give a contractor only what they need to do the job: the address, a description of the work, relevant photos and how to arrange access. They do not see the rest of your home's record.
• Companies that provide the technology we run on. They act on our instructions and may not use your information for their own purposes. At present these are Vercel (hosting the portal and storing uploaded files), Neon (the database) and Resend (sending emails).
• Google, in a limited way: the portal loads its typefaces from Google Fonts, so Google receives the internet (IP) address of your device when a page loads. [To be confirmed: whether to host the typefaces ourselves instead.]
• People you choose to share your Home Passport with. See the next section.
• Our professional advisers, such as lawyers, accountants and insurers, where they need it to advise us.
• Regulators, courts, the police or other authorities, where the law requires it or to protect someone's safety or legal rights.
• A buyer or successor, if the MyHivekeeper business or part of it is sold or reorganised. They would have to keep to this policy, and we would tell you.

Sharing your Home Passport

Your Home Passport is private unless you choose to share it. Sharing is switched off to begin with.

• If you switch sharing on, the portal creates a link. Anyone who has that link can read your Home Passport without signing in, so only give it to people you trust, such as a buyer, their solicitor or your estate agent.
• The shared passport shows your home's address, its Home Health Score, how complete its history is, and a list of its records: Home MOT reports, certificates and guarantees, completed work and improvements.
• It does not let anyone open the documents and photos themselves, and nobody can change it.
• You can switch sharing off at any time. The link stops working straight away. Switching it on again creates a new link.

Where your information is kept

Our technology providers store and process information in data centres in [locations to be confirmed, for example the UK, the European Economic Area and the United States].

Where your information is transferred outside the UK, we make sure it is protected to the standard UK law requires. We do this by using a provider in a country the UK government has decided gives adequate protection, or by putting approved contract terms in place (the International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses). You can ask us for details.

How long we keep it

We keep your information for as long as you are a member, because the value of the service is a complete history of your home.

• If you leave, we delete or anonymise your account, your home's record and your documents within [period to be confirmed] of your membership ending, unless you ask us to do so sooner.
• Before you leave, you can ask for a copy of your records to keep.
• We keep some records for longer where the law requires it, for example financial records, or where we need them to deal with a complaint or legal claim. [Period to be confirmed.]
• Security records, such as failed sign-in attempts, are deleted after a short time. Password reset links expire after one hour.
• Copies held in our providers' backups are overwritten on their normal cycle. [Period to be confirmed.]

How we protect it

• The portal is only available over an encrypted connection (HTTPS).
• Passwords are stored in scrambled form, and sign-in is paused after repeated wrong attempts.
• Each homeowner can see only their own home. Every page and every file checks who is asking before showing anything.
• Uploaded documents and photos are kept in private storage and can be opened only by you and our team.
• Only members of our team who need your information to provide the service can see it.

No system can be guaranteed completely secure. If a security incident puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the ICO where the law requires it. Please help by choosing a strong password, keeping it to yourself, and telling us straight away if you think someone else has used your account.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file that a website saves in your browser.

• The portal uses one cookie, called "mhk_session". It keeps you signed in for up to 14 days and is removed when you sign out. The portal cannot work without it, so we do not ask for your consent to set it.
• We do not use advertising cookies, and we do not use analytics or tracking cookies.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block the sign-in cookie, you will not be able to sign in.

Emails from us

We send emails that are part of the service, such as a link to reset your password or information about your home and the work we are arranging. These are not marketing, so they do not carry an unsubscribe link.

We will only send you marketing emails if you have agreed to receive them, and each one will tell you how to stop them.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your information;
• ask us to stop or limit how we use it, or object to our using it;
• ask for your information in a form you can take to another provider;
• withdraw your consent, where we rely on it.

Some of these rights apply only in certain circumstances, and we will explain if one does not apply to your request.

You can see most of your information in the portal at any time, open and save your own documents, and print your Home Passport. To use any of your rights, including getting a full copy of your records or having your account deleted, email us at info@myhivekeeper.com. We may need to check who you are first. We will reply within one month, and there is normally no charge.

If you are unhappy

Please tell us first, so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Children

MyHivekeeper is a service for adult homeowners. It is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Links to other websites

The portal may link to other websites, such as a contractor's. Those sites have their own privacy policies and we are not responsible for them.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when the service changes, for example if we add online payment. The date at the top shows when it was last changed. If a change affects how we use your information in an important way, we will tell you by email or in the portal before it takes effect.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or about your information, contact us:

• By email: info@myhivekeeper.com
• By post: MyHivekeeper, arcj Ltd, 20-21 Wenlock Road, N1 7GU, United Kingdom