This Privacy Policy explains how The Gas Guide ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, stores and shares personal information when you use our website www.thegasguide.co.uk (the "Service"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
The Gas Guide operates as a UK directory connecting homeowners with Gas Safe registered heating engineers. By using our Service, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
1. Who we are
The Gas Guide is a trading name operating an online directory and lead-generation platform for Gas Safe registered engineers across the United Kingdom. For any privacy-related queries, you can contact us at support@thegasguide.co.uk.
2. Information we collect
We collect different categories of information depending on how you use the Service.
2.1 Information from homeowners / customers
- Postcode searches: When you search for an engineer, we record the postcode you entered, the time of search, and the number of results returned.
- Review submissions: Your name (or display name), email address, rating, and the text of any review you submit.
- Contact form data: Name, email address and message content if you contact us directly.
- Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information and approximate location derived from your postcode lookup.
2.2 Information from engineers
- Identification & trade data: Full name, business name, Gas Safe registration number, ID category, postcode coverage area.
- Contact data: Email address, phone number, business address.
- Marketing assets: Photos of completed work, profile photos and logos uploaded to your listing.
- Account & payment data: Login credentials (passwords are stored hashed), subscription status, trial dates, and Stripe customer/subscription IDs. We do not store full card details — these are handled directly by Stripe.
- Activity data: Login timestamps, profile updates, badge downloads and email open events.
3. How we use your information
We process your personal data for the following purposes:
- To operate the directory and match homeowners with relevant engineers.
- To verify Gas Safe registration and protect users from unvetted tradespeople.
- To process subscriptions, trials and renewals via Stripe.
- To send transactional emails (account creation, trial reminders, password resets, renewal notifications).
- To send service-related communications and, where lawful, marketing emails. You can opt out at any time.
- To monitor demand by area (aggregated postcode searches) so we can recruit engineers in underserved regions.
- To prevent fraud, enforce our Terms of Service, and comply with legal duties.
4. Lawful bases for processing
Under UK GDPR we rely on the following lawful bases:
- Contract: to deliver the Service to engineers and homeowners.
- Legitimate interests: to maintain platform safety, prevent fraud, measure service demand, and improve our directory.
- Consent: for non-essential cookies, marketing emails, and review publication.
- Legal obligation: where we are required to retain or disclose information by law.
5. Cookies & tracking technologies
We use a small number of cookies and similar technologies to operate the Service and understand how it is used. These include:
- Strictly necessary cookies: session tokens that keep engineers and admins logged in to their portals.
- Functional storage: local storage entries that remember your postcode preferences for faster searching.
- Search analytics: we log every postcode entered into our search bar (along with the timestamp and number of matches). This is used internally to identify areas where we need to recruit more engineers and is never sold.
- Email read receipts: emails sent from our admin portal may include a 1×1 transparent tracking pixel that records whether and when the email was opened. This helps us confirm delivery of trial reminders and important account notices. You can block remote images in your email client to prevent this.
We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies. You can control cookies via your browser settings; disabling strictly necessary cookies will prevent the engineer/admin portals from functioning.
6. Sharing your information
We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with:
- Stripe — to process subscription payments. See Stripe's privacy notice at stripe.com/gb/privacy.
- Google Workspace — to deliver transactional and marketing emails from support@thegasguide.co.uk.
- postcodes.io — a public UK postcode lookup service used to derive latitude/longitude for map and distance calculations.
- Map providers (OpenStreetMap / Leaflet) — to render search and admin maps.
- Gas Safe Register — we cross-reference the publicly available Gas Safe Register to verify engineer credentials.
- Law enforcement / regulators — where we are legally required to disclose data.
7. International transfers
Some of our service providers (e.g. Stripe, Google) may process data outside the UK. Where this happens, we rely on UK GDPR-approved transfer mechanisms such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Standard Contractual Clauses.
8. Data retention
- Engineer accounts: kept while the account is active and for up to 6 years after closure to meet UK accounting and tax requirements.
- Customer reviews: kept for as long as the engineer's listing remains live.
- Postcode search logs: kept in aggregated form for service improvement; raw entries are typically deleted after 24 months.
- Email tracking events: kept for up to 12 months.
- Contact form messages: kept for up to 24 months unless an ongoing matter requires longer retention.
9. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten").
- Restrict or object to certain processing activities.
- Request a copy of your data in a portable format.
- Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on it.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, email support@thegasguide.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.
10. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including TLS/HTTPS encryption in transit, hashed passwords, restricted admin access, and use of trusted infrastructure providers. No system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
11. Children
The Gas Guide is not intended for use by children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top will reflect any changes. Material changes will be communicated via email or a prominent notice on the Service.
13. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact:
The Gas Guide
Email: support@thegasguide.co.uk
Website: www.thegasguide.co.uk