Privacy Notice

Our commitment

We do not sell, rent or trade your information, share your private business profile with other customers, or disclose it for unrelated advertising or marketing. We collect and use only information relevant to the purposes explained here. We will not publish your confidential information, testimonial or case study without your approval.

Running the service involves necessary cloud, payment and AI providers. They may process information outside our own systems. This notice explains that processing; it is not a promise that data never leaves Spire Scout or the UK.

Who is responsible

Richard Baker trading as Spire Scout is responsible for the personal information used to run this service. Email spirescout@gmail.com. The postal address for legal correspondence is on our Contact and Business Details page.

Information we use and where it comes from

You provide contact and business details, service scope, locations, capacity, work preferences, relevant qualifications, consent choices, content approvals and reported outcomes through our Forms or correspondence. Stripe supplies payment status and subscription identifiers. We do not need or store full card numbers or card security codes in our customer records.

For opportunity and buyer research we use public procurement notices, buyer and business websites, directories and publicly accessible posts. These may include professional names, roles and business contact routes. We record the source of a prospect or opportunity so its origin can be explained. We do not obtain access to private groups or private records without permission.

Please do not supply identity documents, passwords, medical records, criminal-record details or unrelated personal information. A qualification or DBS question asks about relevant business readiness, not for a copy of a criminal-record certificate. Accessibility requests should describe the adjustment needed rather than a medical history.

Purposes and lawful bases

• Requested assessments, subscriptions and deliverables: taking steps at your request and performing our contract where you are the contracting individual; legitimate interests in serving the business where you are its representative.
• Business contact research, matching, record keeping and service improvement within your account: legitimate interests in providing relevant, accurate research, subject to your rights and reasonable expectations.
• Payments, accounting and legal requests: contract and applicable legal obligations.
• Security, duplicate prevention, support and disputes: legitimate interests in protecting the service and resolving problems.
• Optional Spire Scout marketing: your separate permission where required. Declining it does not prevent service delivery.

Essential profile and payment information is needed to perform the requested service. If you withhold it, we may need clarification or be unable to activate the profile. Optional information and marketing permission are not conditions of purchase.

Necessary providers and limited disclosure

We give providers access only to the information needed for their function. Our current service uses:

• Google: Forms, Sheets, Drive and Gmail for intake, records, files and communication.
• OpenAI / ChatGPT Work: assisted research, matching, drafting and workflow administration; relevant information may be processed in conversations, files and connected tools.
• Airtable: existing operational records during migration and any retained backup until its retention period ends.
• Stripe: payment processing, billing, subscriptions, fraud prevention and relevant financial obligations.
• Website hosting and infrastructure providers: delivering the website, protecting it and handling necessary technical logs.

Some providers also have their own responsibilities and privacy terms for accounts, security, payment processing or legal compliance. Their applicable account settings and contractual terms govern that processing. Provider retention, storage location and any AI model-improvement choices depend on the product and account settings used; ask us for the details relevant to your service.

Other disclosures are limited to your specific approval for an agreed action, necessary professional advice or dispute handling under appropriate confidentiality, or a legal requirement. Your private profile is not supplied to buyers merely because we identify an opportunity.

AI assistance and human decisions

We use service information such as scope, location, capacity and requirements to suggest relevant opportunities and draft content. Automated suggestions can be wrong. A paid profile requires review before activation, and you remain responsible for deciding whether to apply or accept work. We do not use this service to make solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on individuals. Ask us to review a result or correct your profile at any time.

International processing

Our providers operate internationally, so processing may occur outside the UK, including in the EEA and United States. The location and transfer arrangements depend on the provider and account used. UK data-protection rules require an appropriate transfer route where applicable, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards. Contact us for the applicable provider and safeguard information before supplying information with a specific location restriction; we cannot promise UK-only storage.

Keeping information secure and no longer than needed

Operational records are kept in access-controlled accounts rather than public spreadsheets. We limit access to those carrying out the service, minimise personal information in research queries and do not request passwords or card details through Forms. No online system can be guaranteed completely secure.

Retention is based on the continuing service need, the type of record, relevant accounting duties, unresolved complaints or disputes, and the time needed to establish or defend legal claims. Free-assessment information is reviewed after delivery if there is no subscription; customer profiles and working drafts are reviewed when service ends. We retain only the minimum billing, contract, consent and dispute evidence still needed. We may keep a minimal suppression record to honour a request not to receive marketing.

Deletion needs to cover the relevant connected services as well as the main customer record. Backups, provider logs and legally required records may follow different deletion periods. Ask us which records we still hold and why; we will not keep the full profile solely because a financial record must be retained.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction, a portable copy of information, or withdrawal of consent. Withdrawing consent does not invalidate earlier lawful use.

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and you can object to direct marketing at any time. Email spirescout@gmail.com. We may need proportionate identity checks and will explain any legal reason we cannot fulfil a request.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. You do not need to complain to us first.

Website and third-party links

The website links to Google Forms, Stripe checkout and external opportunity sources. Those services have their own privacy and cookie information. We do not add advertising trackers to the site. Hosting providers may keep necessary security and access logs.

Updates

We update this notice when purposes, providers or material practices change and identify the current version above. A new, incompatible purpose would require a fresh assessment and any notice or permission required by law.