This notice explains what personal data Ground and Gate collects, why we collect it, who we share it with and what your rights are. It covers homeowners who send us an enquiry, tradesmen who receive enquiries from us, and anyone who uses this website.
Last updated: 23 September 2026
Who we are
This notice covers groundandgate.co.uk, operated under the name Ground and Gate by [Company name] Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number [company number]), registered office [registered address].
We are the controller of the personal data described in this notice, and we are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number [ICO registration number].
Ground and Gate is an introducer and advertising service. We don't carry out fencing, driveway, patio or any other work. When you send us an enquiry, we pass it to one local specialist who covers your area and the type of work, so they can contact you with a quote. If that specialist can't take the job (for example they're too busy or it's not work they do), or doesn't respond in time, we may pass it to one other local specialist instead. Your enquiry is only ever with one specialist at a time, and we never sell it or send it to several firms.
For anything about your data, email hello@groundandgate.co.uk.
If you ask us for an estimate
What we collect
When you use the quote form we collect:
- your postcode
- your answers about the job (for example the length and height of a new fence, the size of a driveway or patio, the surface you want, access, timing and whether it's urgent)
- the photos you upload
- your first name, mobile number and email address
- your house number or name, which with your postcode gives your address
- your preferred time to be contacted, if you give one
- the confirmations you tick (that you own the property or have the owner's permission, and your consent to us passing your enquiry to a specialist), with the date and time
- technical data sent by your browser when you submit the form: your IP address and user agent (browser and device type)
If you only enter a postcode that is outside our current area and choose to leave an email address for a launch notice, we keep your postcode and email for that purpose only.
Photos of your property
The photos you upload show your property: often the front of your house, your drive, your garden and the boundary with your neighbours. Together with your address, we treat them as personal data. We use them to work out the estimate and pass them to the one specialist who receives your enquiry, so they can see the job before they call. We don't publish them or use them for advertising.
Please don't include other people's personal details in your answers, and try to keep people, car number plates and house numbers out of your photos where you can.
What we do with it and why
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Work out an indicative estimate from your answers | Legitimate interests: giving you the price range you asked for |
| Pass your details, answers and photos to one local specialist so they can contact you with a quote | Consent, given by the checkbox on the form |
| Send you a confirmation email with your estimate and the name of the specialist | Legitimate interests: telling you what happens next |
| Send you a check-in email a few days later asking whether the specialist got in touch | Legitimate interests: making sure enquiries are followed up and specialists meet our standards |
| If you say they did, send you one email asking if you'd like to leave the specialist a review | Legitimate interests: helping other homeowners judge local specialists. You can opt out using the link in the email |
| Record complaints you make about a specialist against their record with us | Legitimate interests: keeping the service honest and deciding whether a specialist keeps receiving enquiries |
| Keep the service secure: rate limits, spam filtering, logging IP address and user agent | Legitimate interests: preventing fraud, spam and misuse |
| Keep records of what happened to each enquiry (routed, contacted, quoted, won or lost) | Legitimate interests: running the service and billing specialists by enquiry volume |
| Respond to legal claims or regulators | Legal obligation or legitimate interests, as applies |
We don't sell your data, and we never send your enquiry to more than one specialist at a time. If the first specialist can't take the job, we may pass it to one other specialist instead, under the same consent. The first specialist is told to stop using your details. If your job covers both lanes, for example a new patio and a new fence, and the first specialist passes on the fencing part, that part goes to one other specialist who does fencing, under the same consent.
We don't use your details for marketing unless you have separately agreed to it.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed our interests against yours. You can ask us for details of that assessment, and you can object at any time (see "Your rights" below).
The specialist who receives your enquiry
Once a specialist receives your enquiry, they become a separate controller of your data. They use it to contact you, measure up and quote for the job and, if you go ahead, do the work. Their own privacy notice applies to what they do with it from then on, and your contract for the work is with them, not with us. You can ask them directly about their use of your data.
We tell every specialist in writing that your details are for quoting and carrying out your job only, and that they must not sell or pass them on.
Photo assessment
When this feature is switched on, your photos, answers and the estimate are sent to an AI service provided by Anthropic PBC so it can suggest the length or area of the job, the existing surface, any level changes and any hazards, such as manholes, drains, overhead cables or retaining walls. We use the result to check the estimate and to flag enquiries for a person to review. It does not decide whether your enquiry is accepted, and a person reviews any enquiry the tool is unsure about. Anthropic acts as our processor: it processes the data on our instructions and under contract, and does not use it to train its models.
If you are a tradesman or business we work with
What we collect
- business name, contact name, phone number, email address, WhatsApp number, website and business address
- publicly available information such as your Google rating and review count
- compliance information: public liability insurance details and expiry date, waste carrier registration number where you remove waste from site, and the evidence we use to confirm your identity and trading name
- any installer scheme membership you tell us about, noted for our own information only
- the enquiries we send you and the outcomes you log (contacted, quoted, won, lost, and job values if you give them)
- notes of our calls and correspondence, including when you agreed to receive enquiries or emails from us
- payment and subscription records, once you are a paying partner (card and bank details are handled by our payment provider, not stored by us)
We find most of this information from public sources such as Google Maps listings and your own website, or you give it to us on the phone or through the register your interest form.
Why we use it
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Contact you to ask whether you'd like to receive enquiries | Legitimate interests: building a network of local specialists |
| Send you enquiries, reminders and weekly summaries | Contract, or steps before entering one |
| Check and record your insurance, waste carrier registration, identity and trading name | Legitimate interests: making sure homeowners are introduced to properly insured, identifiable businesses |
| Bill you for your subscription | Contract and legal obligation (tax and accounting records) |
If you are a sole trader or in a partnership, the law treats your email address as belonging to an individual. We will only send you marketing emails if you have agreed to them, or if you have already been in touch with us about our service and we have given you a simple way to opt out, which we do in every email. We record when and how you agreed. We call before we email, and we check the Telephone Preference Service and Corporate Telephone Preference Service before calling.
If you just browse the website
We use strictly necessary cookies and browser storage to make the site and quote form work. We only use Google Analytics if you accept analytics cookies. It is off until you choose to switch it on, and your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage (gg_consent). See our cookie policy for the detail.
Who we share data with
We use these service providers (processors). They only handle your data on our instructions and under contract:
| Provider | What they do | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Hostinger | Website hosting, database and email sending | Everything held by the website and the emails we send |
| Anthropic PBC | Photo assessment, when switched on | Photos, job answers and estimate. We don't send your name or contact details |
| Google (Google Analytics 4) | Website usage statistics, only if you accept analytics cookies | Cookie identifiers, pages visited, form steps reached, approximate location, device type |
| postcodes.io | Looks up your postcode to check it and find your area | Your postcode only |
| [PAYMENT PROVIDER, e.g. Stripe] | Subscription payments from tradesmen (once paid subscriptions start) | Tradesman billing details |
We also share your enquiry with one local specialist, as explained above. We may disclose data if the law requires it, to protect our legal rights, or to a buyer if the business is sold (they would have to use it in line with this notice).
International transfers
Some of our providers are based in, or use staff or servers in, the United States, including Anthropic and Google. Where your data leaves the UK, we make sure it is protected by one of the safeguards allowed under UK data protection law: the UK-US data bridge where the provider has signed up to it, or the ICO's International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses. You can ask us for a copy of the relevant safeguard.
How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Photos | 12 months from your enquiry, then deleted |
| Enquiry records (answers, contact details, estimate, outcome) | 24 months from your enquiry, then deleted or anonymised so you can no longer be identified |
| Out-of-area launch notice emails | Until we launch in your area and email you, or 24 months, whichever is sooner |
| Security logs (IP address, user agent) | Kept with the enquiry record, as above |
| Tradesman records | For as long as we work together, then 24 months, except billing records kept for 6 years for tax purposes |
| Google Analytics data | [14 months], set in our Google Analytics account |
Photo links sent to a specialist stop working after 30 days. The specialist's own copies are their responsibility as a separate controller.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy
- rectification: ask us to correct data that is wrong or incomplete
- erasure: ask us to delete your data
- restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data
- object to our use of your data where we rely on legitimate interests, and to stop direct marketing at any time
- data portability: ask for data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format, where we rely on consent or contract
- withdraw consent at any time. This stops us passing your enquiry on in future, but doesn't undo a transfer that has already happened. We will tell the specialist you've withdrawn, but you may also need to contact them directly.
Some rights have conditions or exceptions. To use any of them, email hello@groundandgate.co.uk. We don't charge, and we will reply within one month. We may need to confirm your identity first.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first at hello@groundandgate.co.uk and we will try to put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection:
- online: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- by phone: 0303 123 1113
- by post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Keeping your data safe
Photos are stored outside the public part of the website and can only be opened through time-limited links. Our admin area needs a password and a second login step. Only the people who run Ground and Gate can see your enquiry.
Changes to this notice
We will update this page if the way we use data changes, and change the date at the top. If a change affects you significantly, we will tell you by email.
If you're still working out a budget, the fence cost per metre and driveway cost per m² guides don't ask for any personal details.