This document sets out how Janealogy collects and processes personal data relating to enquirers, clients and website users. Janealogy is committed to protecting your privacy and fulfilling data protection requirements including holding data securely.

Janealogy is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office to process personal data.  Registration number is Z3616272.

The information Janealogy collects:

• Your name and contact details (email, telephone, address, as relevant)
• Other information needed for your project.
• Your birth date and place only when they are needed to produce a full family report or family chart. Similarly the name, birthplace and date of a close living family member (eg partner, parent) where they are needed for the same purpose.

How this information is used and stored and for how long

• To process the enquiry, liaise with you during the work and for billing purposes.
• For tax purposes – invoices, receipts, contracts and financial databases with your name and contact details are kept for six or seven years.¹Self-employed people have to keep their records for at least 5 years after the 31 January following the end of the relevant tax year. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC ) may check the records to make sure I am paying the right amount of tax.
• Your email or postal address may also be used for keeping in touch after the end of the project. You can opt out of this at any time.
• In case there are queries Janealogy keeps emails or written correspondence from you for three years (two years for enquiries). The project materials are usually kept for a minimum of three years in case you decide to have more work done. The report may be kept for longer.

Exceptions to project material retention

• Copies of documents where copyright prevents Janealogy from retaining a copy, this includes all documents from ScotlandsPeople
• Details of any living people will be anonymised when the project is complete.

Your personal details (name and contact details) are stored and archived securely in password protected systems and are backed-up regularly.

Disclosing your information

Janealogy will not sell or rent your personal data to third parties or share it with third parties for marketing purposes. Janealogy will only share personal information with others: when it is necessary for the project, and then only with your prior permission; or if required to do so by law, by court order for example.

Requests by you for your personal information

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), you have the right to know what information Janealogy holds about you. There is a small fee (currently £10). Please write to Janealogy, 2 Fowlers Croft, Culbokie, Dingwall, IV7 8FN if you would like a copy of the information held on you.

Making a complaint

If you feel that Janealogy has failed to meet these standards, please contact me first. If things are not resolved things to your satisfaction, you can then complain directly to the Information Commissioner.

Changes to this policy

This policy was last updated on 9/12/2020. If Janealogy changes this privacy policy in future, this web page will be updated.

Janealogy website (https://janealogy.co.uk)

When you fill in the contact form, the site securely processes and stores what you enter, and emails it to me. I use it to respond accordingly, storing correspondence as above.

Visitor comments on Janealogy’s blog are checked through an automated spam detection service.

When you visit this site, the server and site security software may process and store your computer’s IP address (which contains approximate location information) within the scope of the law, to prevent unauthorised access and ensure the site works as intended. The server deletes these logs after 4 weeks.

The site uses a securely encrypted connection to transfer any information you submit, and stores it in a database on the server, which is based in the UK. Janealogy’s website provider takes backups regularly which are stored, encrypted, on his Dropbox for up to 4 weeks. They use secure passwords to protect the data and do not share access with anyone except companies like the server host who are directly responsible for providing the services the site relies on.

The website does not use cookies.

Links to other websites

This privacy notice does not cover other sites that this site may link to. Please read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.