Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Hidden Thread is a data insight service for UK small businesses, currently in its founding stage. We are based in Scotland, UK.

For any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, please contact us at: contact@hiddenthread.co.uk

We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number ZC123628.

What information we collect and why

We collect personal information in two ways at this stage.

Through our contact form: when you get in touch directly, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message. We use this to respond to your enquiry. The legal basis for this processing is legitimate interests — specifically, responding to a communication you have initiated.

Through our survey: if you complete our business owner check-in survey, we collect information about your organisation type, size, and the operational pressures you face. If you choose to share your name, email address, or business name at the end of the survey, we collect those too. We use this information to understand the needs of our target market and, where you have asked us to, to follow up with you about our service. The legal basis for processing your survey responses is legitimate interests (market research to inform service design). The legal basis for following up with you directly is your consent, given when you opt in at the end of the survey.

We do not collect any sensitive personal data. We do not collect payment information. We do not use your information for automated decision-making.

How long we keep your information

Contact form messages are retained for up to 12 months, after which they are deleted unless an ongoing relationship has been established.

Survey responses are retained for up to 24 months for the purpose of informing our service design. Where you have asked us to follow up with you, we will retain your contact details until you ask us to remove them or we have concluded that follow-up.

Who we share your information with

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

We use a small number of third-party tools that may process your data as part of delivering this website and collecting your responses:

IONOS — our website host and analytics provider. Your visit data is processed by IONOS in accordance with their privacy policy. Analytics are only activated with your consent via the cookie banner.

Airtable — we use Airtable to collect and store survey responses. Airtable is a US-based service operated by Formagrid Inc., and your survey data is stored on servers located in the United States. This means your information is transferred outside the UK when you submit a response. We have put in place appropriate safeguards for this transfer: Airtable's Data Processing Agreement incorporates the UK Standard Contractual Clauses (UK SCCs), which are pre-approved by the Information Commissioner's Office as a lawful mechanism for transferring personal data from the UK to the US. Airtable is certified to ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and SOC 2 Type II standards, and encrypts all data at rest and in transit. You can read Airtable's privacy policy at airtable.com/privacy and their GDPR documentation at support.airtable.com.

Website Translator — a third-party translation service activated only with your consent.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• request access to the personal information we hold about you; 
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate; 
• ask us to delete your information where there is no longer a legitimate reason for us to hold it; 
• ask us to restrict how we use your information while a concern is being resolved; 
• withdraw consent at any time where consent is the basis for our processing; and object to processing based on legitimate interests where you feel your interests override ours.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@hiddenthread.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.

Cookies

This website uses cookies. Essential cookies are necessary for the site to function and are set automatically. Analytics, maps, and translation cookies are only set with your explicit consent, which you can manage at any time through the privacy settings panel on this site.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection supervisory authority.

ICO website: ico.org.uk ICO helpline: 0303 123 1113

We would always appreciate the opportunity to address a concern directly before you contact the ICO — please do get in touch with us first if you are comfortable doing so.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review it periodically.