Introduction

Welcome to Local Buddy (“we”, “us”, “our”). Local Buddy is a mobile and web application designed to connect customers with service professionals (“Service Pros”) who can fulfil their requested services. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, protect, and retain your personal information when you use the Local Buddy app and related services.

By using Local Buddy, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Information we collect

We may collect the following types of information:

A. Personal Information

When you register, book a service, or communicate via the app, we may collect:

• Name, email address, telephone number
• Profile photo (optional)
• Location/address (for service scheduling)
• Payment information (processed through secure third parties)
• Messages between you and Service Pros

B. Usage and Technical Information:

We may collect data about how you use the app and your device, such as:

• IP address
• Device identifiers
• Operating system and app/browser version
• App interaction data

C. Service Pro Profile Information:

Service Pros may choose to provide business details, qualifications, experience, service categories, pricing and availability information.

How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

A. Provide and Improve Services:

• To operate the Local Buddy platform and fulfil user bookings
• To process payments securely
• To communicate booking updates, service confirmations, and support

B. Personalisation and Analytics:

• To customise your app experience
• To analyse app usage and performance trends
• To debug and improve features

C. Legal and Safety Requirements:

• To respond to lawful requests from government or law enforcement
• To protect the rights, safety, or property of Local Buddy, users, or others

Disclosure of your information

We may share your data with:

A. Service Providers:

Third-party partners that assist with payment processing, analytics, hosting, messaging and support.

B. With Your Consent:

Where you explicitly agree to share certain information (e.g., linking profiles to external services).

C. Legal Requirements:

If required to comply with law, enforce app policies, or protect rights and safety.

Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our platform and hold certain information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.

Your Rights (UK GDPR)

Under UK data protection law, you have rights including:

• The right to access your personal data
• The right to correct inaccurate information
• The right to request deletion of your data
• The right to restrict or object to processing
• The right to data portability

To exercise your rights, please contact us (details below). You can also raise a complaint with the UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). (GOV.UK)

Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration.

Data Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.