Privacy notice

Who we are

This site is operated by Add-Ventures Ltd, trading as Avouch, a company registered in England and Wales. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice. If you have any question about it, or want to exercise any of the rights below, contact us at steen@add-ventures.co.uk.

What this covers

This notice covers personal information we handle through this website and in the course of our marketing and client work. Where we handle information on behalf of a client, that client is the controller and their own privacy notice applies; we act on their instructions.

Information we collect

Information you give us. If you complete an enquiry or audit request form, or contact us by email, we collect what you choose to send — typically your name, email address, organisation, website and any message. Please do not send us confidential or special-category information through a web form.

Technical information. When you visit, our infrastructure receives limited technical information that your browser sends automatically, such as browser and device type. We use this to keep the site working and secure.

Business contact information. In the course of business development we may hold professional contact details for people at organisations we work with or approach, obtained from them directly or from public and professional sources.

Why we use it, and our lawful basis

• To respond to you and to provide the services or information you have asked for. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, or steps taken at your request before entering one.
• To run and improve our business — operating and securing this site, understanding how it is used, keeping our records, and developing our services. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in running a business, balanced against your interests and rights.
• To send relevant business communications where you have asked for them or where we are permitted to do so. Lawful basis: consent, or our legitimate interests in business development. You can opt out at any time.
• To meet legal and regulatory obligations, including accounting and tax. Lawful basis: compliance with a legal obligation.

Cookies and similar technologies

We keep this site deliberately light. We do not currently use advertising or third-party tracking cookies. Where we or our providers use cookies or similar technologies, they are limited to what is necessary for the site to function and be secure. If we introduce anything non-essential, such as analytics or advertising technologies, we will ask for your consent first where the law requires it. You can also control cookies through your browser settings.

Who we share it with

We do not sell personal information. We share it only where we need to, with:

• service providers who support our business — for example hosting, infrastructure, data storage, email, and analytics or productivity tools — who act on our instructions;
• our professional advisers, such as accountants and lawyers;
• anyone else where you ask us to, or where we are required or permitted to by law.

Some of our providers may process information outside the UK. Where they do, we take steps to ensure an appropriate level of protection, using the safeguards recognised under UK data protection law.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes above, and then delete it or make it anonymous. In practice that means we keep enquiry and client records for as long as we have a relationship with you and for a reasonable period afterwards, and we keep records we need for legal, accounting or tax reasons for as long as the law requires.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to ask us to:

• give you access to the personal information we hold about you;
• correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• erase information where there is no good reason for us to keep it;
• restrict how we use it, in certain circumstances;
• transfer it to you or another organisation in a portable format, in certain circumstances;
• stop using it where we rely on legitimate interests, by objecting; and stop using it for direct marketing at any time, which is an absolute right.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time, without affecting anything we did before you withdrew it. To exercise any of these rights, email steen@add-ventures.co.uk. We will respond within the time limits the law sets, normally one month.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK supervisory authority, at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time as our business or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.