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Labora Tradesmen ("we", "us", "our") explains here what personal data we collect when you use the Labora Tradesmen app and website, why, who we share it with and how long we keep it.
1. Who we are
Data Controller: Labora Tradesmen
Supervisory Authority: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), United Kingdom.
Contact Email: support@laboratradesmen.com
2. Information We Collect
We collect information to run the service for tradespeople, contractors, workers and clients:
- Account Details: Name, phone number, email address, trade, company name and the documents you upload for checks.
- Location: The postcode or town you give us and, if you allow it, your device's location while you are using the app (never in the background), to show nearby jobs and tradespeople on the map. We do not sell your location data.
- Date of Birth: Only from an ID check, or typed in by Labora staff from your ID. It is never shown to other members.
- Bank Details: The bank details you add so clients can pay you. Only you and Labora staff can see them in your account. They are printed on the quotes and invoices you send, so the client you send them to sees them.
- Tester Codes: If you use a tester code, we record the attempt (your account, email, the result and the time) and mark your account as a test account.
- Camera and Photos: Used when you choose to take or upload a profile photo, ID photos for an ID check, insurance certificates, trade cards, quotes and job photos.
- NFC (Near Field Communication): Used only for on-site job sign-offs between tradespeople and clients.
- Payment & Billing Data: Card payments to Labora (plans, wallet top-ups and fees) are handled by Stripe. We do not store full card numbers.
- Messages: Chats, quotes, invoices and help-chat messages you send in the app.
- Device & Usage Information: Device identifiers, operating system version, push notification tokens and error logs, to keep the app working.
- Storage on Your Device: The app keeps your sign-in, settings, drafts and messages waiting to send in your browser's or phone's own storage. We do not use analytics or advertising cookies.
What other members can see
People who are not signed in cannot see member profiles. Signed-in members see a tradesperson's first name, trades, town or postcode district (never the street address), photo, description, rates, ratings, checked badges and availability, and the insurer's name and expiry date. Paying members, homeowners and members you have connected with also see your full name, business name and logo. Phone numbers are not shown on profiles: a homeowner can ask to see the phone numbers of up to 10 different tradespeople a day, and each request is recorded. Homeowners show only their first name and photo. ID photos, selfies and insurance documents are never shown to other members.
3. ID and Insurance Checks
To apply for or quote on jobs, tradespeople upload a photo of their ID, a selfie and their insurance certificate. Labora staff look at the uploaded photos and documents and check them by eye. We do not use automated face matching or biometric processing for these checks. While Cloud Storage is not switched on, these photos are kept in your account record. We keep them while your account is open and delete them when it is deleted.
An instant ID check by our payment provider Stripe is not switched on. If we switch it on, we will update this notice before anyone uses it.
4. How We Use Your Data
We process personal information under the following legal bases under UK GDPR:
- Performance of Contract: Running your account, job posts, applications, chat, quotes and invoices, plans and payments to Labora. Labora does not hold or pass on payments for jobs: clients pay tradespeople directly.
- Legitimate Interests: Fraud prevention, checking ID and insurance, handling reports and disputes, platform security and customer support.
- Legal Obligation: Keeping accounting and tax records as UK law requires.
5. Services We Use
We share data only with the services we need to run Labora. Each receives only what it needs for its job:
- Google Cloud and Firebase (Google): Our database, sign-in, website hosting, server functions and Firebase Cloud Messaging for push and browser notifications.
- Anthropic PBC (United States), Claude AI: Reads the receipt photos or text you choose to read, and writes answers in the help chat. It acts as our processor. It is sent the receipt photo or pasted text you choose to read, and your help-chat messages together with a few account details (your name, plan, and the state of your ID and insurance checks). We do not send it job photos, other messages or your documents. Under Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service (anthropic.com/legal/commercial-terms, effective 17 June 2025, section B) Anthropic "may not train models on Customer Content from Services". Receipt photos are not stored by us after they are read. Google Gemini is no longer used.
- Stripe: Card payments to Labora (plans, wallet top-ups and fees). Stripe processes the payment details you enter.
- SendGrid (Twilio): Sends our emails: account emails (welcome, inactivity and deletion notices), job, application, message and quote alerts, quotes, invoices and sign-off links you send, payment, wallet and plan receipts, document expiry and check results, dispute updates, and replies to feedback and reports. Your email address, name and the email content are sent to it.
- Expo (expo.dev): Delivers push notifications to phones. Your device's push token and the notification text are sent to it.
- postcodes.io: Looks up UK postcodes. The postcode you type is sent to it.
- OpenStreetMap: Map pictures. The map area you view is sent to it.
- QR code service (api.qrserver.com, goQR.me): Draws the QR codes for share, invite, referral, prize draw and app download links. The link inside the QR code is sent to it. Secure links to quotes, invoices and sign-offs are never sent to it.
- Code libraries (unpkg.com and cdnjs.cloudflare.com): unpkg.com supplies the map software the app loads; cdnjs.cloudflare.com supplies the screenshot tool used only when you choose "Report a problem". Like any website, they see your device's internet address.
We do not sell personal data.
5a. AI credits, price lists and timecards
AI credits are a balance separate from your Wallet, kept with a record of each use (what it was for, the price and the time). Receipt prices you confirm are kept in a private "My material prices" list that only you can see until you delete them or your account. Worker timecards (clock times, breaks, who approved or changed them) are kept with the job and are visible to the worker and the employer; Labora does not calculate pay from them. If a customer deletes their account, their reviews stay without their name or photo. [To be confirmed with our solicitor: how long AI-use records and timecards are kept.]
6. How Long We Keep Data
Labora staff can see accounts, quotes, invoices, chats and help-chat messages when they need to for support, checks, reports and disputes. We keep personal data while your account is open. Invoices and payment records are kept for 6 years, as UK tax law requires, with your name removed where possible. Other personal data is deleted when your account is deleted, except a scrambled (hashed) form of your email address that cannot be turned back into the address, kept only so the launch offer is given once per person.
7. Your Statutory Rights (UK GDPR)
You have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- The right to access and obtain a copy of your personal data.
- The right to correct inaccurate or incomplete records.
- The right to have your data deleted, subject to the records the law requires us to keep.
- The right to restrict or object to certain processing.
- The right to data portability.
- The right to complain to the ICO (ico.org.uk).
8. Account and Data Deletion
You may ask us to delete your account and personal data at any time:
- In the app: Ask us through Help (the support chat).
- Email: Send a deletion request to support@laboratradesmen.com from your registered email address. Requests are fulfilled within 30 days.
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