Privacy Notice

Who we are

TradeDocs is a professional certification tool for qualified UK electrical and gas engineers. This service is operated by [CONTROLLER - confirm before launch]. We are the data controller for the limited engineer-account data described below. This notice is governed by the law of England & Wales and the UK GDPR.

The short version

We built TradeDocs so that qualified engineers can complete their statutory paperwork in minutes rather than hours - with AI helping to check and remind, while the engineer stays fully in control and fully responsible for every certificate they issue.

Because of that, we hold as little data as possible, and we do not keep your customers' data at all:

• We do not store the certificates you issue. Each certificate is generated, handed to you on your device, and then discarded by our systems.
• We do not store your customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, or the photos you take on site. Those live only on your device and inside the certificate you download or send.
• We keep only what we need to run your engineer account and to verify that you are a genuine, registered engineer.

What we collect, and why

Your engineer account

Your name, email address and password (passwords are stored only as a secure hash, never in readable form). We use these to create and secure your account and to send you account and verification messages.

Sign-in and verification

Signing in uses your email address and password, together with a 6-digit one-time code sent to your email. We use a third-party email delivery provider to send these codes and other account emails.

For convenience, the app also offers an optional device lock - a short PIN and, if you choose to enable it, your device's own biometric unlock (such as fingerprint or face). This lock exists only to protect the app on your device: your PIN and any biometric are stored only on your device and are never sent to or seen by TradeDocs. You can turn it off at any time.

Engineer verification (KYC)

To confirm you are a registered engineer, we ask for a photograph of your registration or trade card (front and back), which we hold encrypted. We do not ask for or take a selfie. We cross-check your details against the relevant public registers (for example Gas Safe Register, NICEIC or NAPIT), whose entries are already publicly available. Your lawful basis: this processing is necessary for our legitimate interest in preventing fraud and protecting the engineers and members of the public who rely on certificates issued through the platform. Where verification is unsuccessful for an innocent reason, we delete your card images promptly. Where we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or misuse (for example a forged, altered or stolen card), we may retain the images for as long as necessary to investigate, prevent or report that fraud and to defend any related legal claim.

Your wallet and payments

Records of your top-ups and your usage spend, so we can operate your pay-as-you-go balance and meet our tax and accounting obligations.

Your customers' data - we do not hold it

When you produce a certificate, you type in your customer's details and take the site photographs on your device. This information is never sent to us for storage. It is placed straight into the certificate you generate, which is returned to your device for you to keep or send. You - the engineer - are the data controller for your customers' information; TradeDocs is simply the tool you use to produce the document.

How long we keep it

We keep personal data only for as long as we have a genuine reason to, then delete it.

• Engineer account details (name, email, hashed password): while your account is active; deleted within 30 days of you closing your account.
• Registration / trade-card images: while your account is active, and within 30 days of account closure. If verification is unsuccessful for an innocent reason, deleted promptly; if we suspect fraud or misuse, retained only as long as needed to investigate, prevent or report it and defend any claim.
• Wallet and payment records: 6 years, because UK tax law (HMRC) requires us to keep financial records.
• Your customers' data / your certificates: not kept. Never stored on our systems.

Who we share it with

We share your personal data only with the service providers we need to run the platform, and only so far as necessary:

• Cloud hosting and database providers located in the UK and EU, which store your engineer-account and wallet data.
• A third-party email delivery provider, to send your verification codes and account emails.
• An AI vision provider, which reads the consumer-unit and appliance photos you submit to help extract technical details. These images are processed to produce your certificate and are not retained by us afterwards.
• The public UK engineer registers (Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT and similar), which we query to confirm your registration.

We do not sell your data, and we do not use it for advertising.

Where your data is held

Your engineer-account and wallet data are held on secure cloud infrastructure located in the UK and EU, and are encrypted at rest. We do not name individual providers here for security reasons; we can confirm our current providers on request.

Certificate verification

Certificates issued through TradeDocs carry a unique QR code linking to a verification page. That page shows only: the certificate reference, document type, date of issue, outcome, the engineer's name and registration, and the postcode district only (for example "LS6", never the full address). No customer personal details are ever shown.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data, to object to or restrict our processing, and to data portability. You can exercise these rights, or ask us anything about this notice, through the in-app support ticket system (available once your identity is verified) or by emailing [support@tradedocs.co.uk - inbox to be live before launch].

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Cookies and local storage

TradeDocs uses only the browser and device storage needed to run the app - to keep you signed in, and (if you enable the optional device lock) to hold your PIN and biometric credential on your device only. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

Changes to this notice

We may update this notice as the platform develops. The "last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed.