Trade Assistant

Privacy notice

Trade Assistant answers phone calls for local tradespeople, such as plumbers and electricians, when they can't get to the phone. It's run by Harry Talbot, as Make It Real.

Who decides how your details are used

The tradesperson you rang. They're in charge of your information. We run Trade Assistant for them, and we only use your details to pass on your message.

What we collect

• A recording of the call, and a written transcript of it.
• What you tell us on the call: your name, address and postcode, what the job is, and the best time to ring you.
• The number you rang from, and any other number you give us.
• Any photos you send using the link in our text.

What we do with it

We text the tradesperson a summary, with a link to a private page holding your details, so they can ring you back. We text you to say your message is with them. We check your postcode is a real one, so they can find you.

We don't sell your details or use them for marketing.

Who else handles it

• Retell AI answers the call, records it and writes the transcript. Based in the USA.
• Twilio sends the texts, and keeps its own record of them. Based in the USA.
• Cloudflare runs this website and stores the call details and photos, in data centres in the European Union.
• postcodes.io checks the postcode. Only the postcode is sent to it.

Some of these companies are based outside the UK.

How long we keep it

• The recording, and Retell's copy of the transcript: 30 days.
• Our copy of the transcript, and any photos: 90 days.
• Everything else about the call: 12 months.

The tradesperson may keep their own records, for example if they take on the job.

Your rights

You can ask to see the details we hold about you, to have them corrected, or to have them deleted. Email privacy@tradeassistant.uk and say which number you rang from and roughly when.

If you're unhappy with how your details have been handled, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.