Privacy Policy
Version 1.0
Effective date: 1 August 2026
1. About this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how The Pet Sitter Hub collects, uses, stores and protects personal information.
The Pet Sitter Hub is operated by Terence James Allington, trading as The Pet Sitter Hub.
For data-protection purposes, Terence James Allington is the controller of personal information collected through The Pet Sitter Hub.
This policy applies to:
People applying to become members.
Approved members.
Pet owners and website visitors.
People who contact The Pet Sitter Hub.
People who submit information through our website forms.
2. Contact details
Questions about this Privacy Policy or the use of your personal information may be sent to:
The Pet Sitter Hub
Operated by: Terence James Allington
Website: https://thepetsitterhub.co.uk
Email: contact@thepetsitterhub.co.uk
3. Personal information we may collect
The information we collect depends on how you use the website and whether you apply for membership.
Membership application information
When you apply to join The Pet Sitter Hub, we may collect:
Your full name.
Your email address.
Your membership type.
Your county or local authority area.
Your town or city.
Your postcode.
The pet-care services you offer.
Your level of pet-care experience.
Written information about your experience.
Your short biography.
Your profile photograph.
Your photo-identification document.
Your DBS certificate and related verification information.
Your declarations and agreement selections.
The date and time of your application.
Relevant technical information connected with the submission.
Member profile information
If your application is approved, we may publish agreed profile information such as:
Your first name or approved display name.
Your profile photograph.
Your short biography.
Your general service area.
The services you offer.
Your relevant pet-care experience.
Approved contact or enquiry information.
Relevant membership or verification indicators.
We will not publish:
Your complete home address.
Your complete postcode unless separately agreed.
Your photo-identification document.
Your DBS certificate.
Your DBS certificate number.
Private application notes.
Information that is not required for your public profile.
Contact and enquiry information
When you contact us, we may collect:
Your name.
Your email address.
The contents of your message.
Information about a complaint, concern or enquiry.
Any documents or evidence you voluntarily provide.
Records of our correspondence with you.
Website and technical information
Our website and its service providers may collect limited technical information, including:
Your internet protocol address.
Browser and device information.
The pages you visit.
The date and time of your visit.
Cookie and consent preferences.
Information needed to protect the website against spam, fraud and misuse.
Further information about cookies may be provided in a separate Cookie Policy or cookie-consent notice.
4. How we collect personal information
We collect personal information:
Directly from you when you complete a form.
When you apply for membership.
When you upload documents.
When you contact us by email or through the website.
When you ask us to update or remove your profile.
Through essential website, hosting and security systems.
From another person where they submit a genuine complaint or concern involving you.
Where information is provided by another person, we will consider its reliability, relevance and fairness before using it to make a membership decision.
5. Why we use personal information
We may use personal information to:
Receive and assess membership applications.
Confirm an applicant’s identity.
Review membership eligibility.
Review a DBS certificate supplied by an applicant.
Contact applicants about missing or unclear information.
Make and record membership decisions.
Create and manage approved member profiles.
Publish profile information with the member’s permission.
Help pet owners discover independent pet-care providers.
Communicate with applicants and members.
Administer Founding Membership.
Respond to enquiries, complaints and concerns.
Investigate possible breaches of Membership Standards.
Protect animals, members, pet owners and the website.
Prevent fraud, impersonation and misuse.
Maintain administrative, legal and security records.
Comply with applicable legal obligations.
Improve the website and membership service.
We will not use photo-identification documents or DBS certificates for unrelated advertising or marketing.
6. Our lawful bases for using personal information
UK data-protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following bases.
Steps before entering into a membership agreement
We may process information because it is necessary to consider your application and take steps at your request before entering into a membership arrangement.
This may include:
Reviewing your application.
Contacting you about your application.
Assessing whether you meet membership requirements.
Preparing an approved member profile.
Performance of a membership agreement
Once membership is approved, we may process information where necessary to provide and administer the membership service.
This may include:
Maintaining your membership record.
Publishing and managing your profile.
Communicating about your membership.
Handling renewals, changes or closure requests.
Legitimate interests
We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of website users, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights.
Our legitimate interests may include:
Operating a trustworthy membership community.
Assessing whether applicants meet published standards.
Protecting animals and website users.
Preventing fraud and impersonation.
Maintaining accurate member profiles.
Handling complaints and safety concerns.
Securing and improving the website.
Keeping appropriate administrative records.
Consent
We may rely on your consent where you have been given a genuine choice.
This includes permission to publish your approved:
Profile photograph.
Short biography.
Services.
Relevant experience.
General service area.
You may withdraw publication consent by contacting us. Withdrawal will not make earlier lawful use of the information unlawful.
Removing permission to publish essential profile information may mean that we can no longer provide a public membership profile.
We will obtain separate consent before sending optional direct-marketing messages where consent is required.
Legal obligations
We may process information where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, respond to lawful requests, preserve evidence or protect legal rights.
7. Photo-identification documents
Photo identification is collected to help us confirm that an applicant is the person they claim to be.
Identification documents:
Will not be published.
Will not be made available to pet owners.
Will be accessible only where needed for application administration and verification.
Will be stored using access controls provided by our website and hosting systems.
Will be deleted when no longer reasonably required for verification, dispute handling, fraud prevention or legal purposes.
Where possible, we will retain only a record that identity was checked, the date of the check and any limited verification details needed for administration.
Applicants should not upload more information than the form requests.
8. DBS certificate information
A valid DBS certificate is required for Founding Membership approval.
DBS certificate information is used only to:
Assess membership eligibility.
Check that the certificate relates to the applicant.
Record that the certificate was reviewed.
Resolve a relevant complaint, appeal or dispute.
Support appropriate safeguarding and membership decisions.
Access to DBS certificate information will be restricted to the person or people who genuinely need to review it.
DBS certificates and their contents will not be published or provided to pet owners through a public profile.
After the membership decision and any reasonable dispute period have passed, we will securely delete the uploaded copy unless retaining it for longer is required or permitted for a specific lawful reason.
We may retain a limited administrative record containing:
The applicant’s name.
The certificate type.
The certificate issue date.
The certificate reference number.
The date it was reviewed.
The membership decision.
A DBS certificate is only one part of our membership assessment. Its review does not amount to a guarantee of a member’s conduct or suitability for every pet-care assignment.
Criminal-offence information will only be handled where there is an appropriate lawful basis and a condition permitted by UK data-protection law.
9. Public member profiles
If your application is approved and you give permission, selected information may be made publicly available on The Pet Sitter Hub website.
Public profile information may be viewed by:
Pet owners.
Website visitors.
Search engines.
Other members.
People who receive or follow a link to the profile.
Information published openly on the internet may be copied, saved or indexed by third parties outside our control.
We will take reasonable steps to remove profile information from our website when requested or when membership ends. Search engines and third-party services may take additional time to update cached or indexed copies.
We may edit submitted profile text for:
Spelling.
Grammar.
Clarity.
Formatting.
Consistency.
Website presentation.
We will not deliberately change the meaning of a member’s information.
10. Who may receive personal information
We do not sell personal information.
Personal information may be processed or received by service providers that help us operate the website, including:
Website-hosting providers.
Email providers.
WordPress and website-form services.
Website-security, spam-prevention and backup providers.
Technical-support providers.
Payment providers if paid membership is introduced.
Professional advisers where reasonably necessary.
These organisations may process information only for the relevant service and subject to their own contractual and legal responsibilities.
We may also disclose information:
Where required by law.
In response to a valid legal request.
To protect an animal or person from serious harm.
To investigate fraud or criminal activity.
To establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
To an insurer, solicitor, regulator, court, police force, local authority or safeguarding body where appropriate and lawful.
We will not routinely share private application documents with pet owners.
11. International data transfers
Some website, email, analytics, security or technical providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will rely on an appropriate legal mechanism, such as:
UK adequacy regulations.
An approved contractual safeguard.
Another transfer mechanism permitted by UK data-protection law.
Information about the safeguards used by a particular provider may be requested by contacting us.
12. How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably required for the purpose for which it was collected and for relevant legal, security and dispute-handling needs.
Our general retention approach is:
Unsuccessful or withdrawn applications
Ordinary application records may normally be retained for up to 12 months after the final decision or withdrawal, unless a longer period is reasonably needed for a complaint, dispute, safeguarding concern, fraud investigation or legal claim.
Approved-member records
Membership information may be kept throughout active membership and for up to six years after membership ends where needed for administration, disputes, tax records, complaints or legal claims.
Public profiles
Public profile information may be displayed while membership is active and removed after membership ends or publication consent is withdrawn, subject to reasonable processing time and retained backups.
Photo-identification documents
Uploaded identification copies will be deleted after identity verification and any reasonable review or dispute period, unless a longer period is required for a documented fraud, complaint or legal reason.
DBS certificates
Uploaded DBS certificate copies will be retained only as long as necessary to complete the membership decision and address any immediate dispute or complaint.
They will normally be securely deleted within six months of the final membership decision, and sooner where there is no reason to continue holding them.
Limited verification details may be retained separately as described in this policy.
Correspondence and complaints
Correspondence may normally be retained for up to six years where it relates to membership, contractual issues, complaints or legal rights.
Simple enquiries that do not result in membership or a dispute may be deleted sooner.
Website backups and security logs
Information in backups, spam records and security logs may remain for limited rolling periods before being overwritten or securely deleted.
We may retain information for longer where:
A legal obligation requires it.
A complaint or dispute remains unresolved.
It is needed to protect an animal or person.
It is relevant to fraud, safeguarding or legal proceedings.
Deletion is temporarily prevented by secure backup arrangements.
13. How we protect personal information
We take reasonable organisational and technical steps to protect personal information.
These may include:
Password-protected accounts.
Restricted administrative access.
Secure website connections.
Hosting and website-security controls.
Software updates.
Spam and malware protection.
Access restrictions for uploaded documents.
Secure deletion when information is no longer required.
Avoiding publication of identity and DBS documents.
Reviewing who genuinely needs access to sensitive information.
No internet service can guarantee complete security. Applicants should use secure devices and connections when uploading private documents.
14. Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you may have the right to:
Ask for confirmation that we process your information.
Request a copy of your personal information.
Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Ask us to delete information in certain circumstances.
Ask us to restrict how information is used.
Object to certain uses of your information.
Receive certain information in a portable format.
Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.
Complain about how your information is handled.
These rights are not absolute and may be limited by applicable law.
We may need to confirm your identity before responding to a request.
To exercise a right, email:
contact@thepetsitterhub.co.uk
We will respond within the period required by applicable data-protection law.
15. Your right to object
You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
Where you object, we will stop the relevant processing unless we have compelling legitimate reasons to continue or the information is needed for legal claims.
You also have the right to object at any time to the use of personal information for direct marketing.
16. Withdrawing consent
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us.
For example, you may ask us to stop publishing your approved photograph or biography.
Withdrawal will not affect processing that was lawful before consent was withdrawn.
Where the information is essential to providing a public profile, withdrawing consent may require us to remove or close the profile.
17. Automated decision-making
We do not intend to make membership decisions solely through automated processing that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
Membership applications will be subject to human consideration.
Website systems may automatically identify spam, malicious uploads or security threats, but final membership decisions will not be based solely on those systems.
18. Information about children and younger applicants
The membership service is not designed for children under 16.
Applicants aged 16 or 17 may be subject to:
Additional safeguards.
Restrictions on the services they may advertise.
Parental or guardian involvement.
Additional identity or consent checks.
We will not knowingly publish a younger applicant’s profile without completing the safeguards required for that membership arrangement.
19. Links to other websites
The Pet Sitter Hub may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites. Visitors should read the privacy information provided by those organisations.
20. Complaints
Please contact us first if you have concerns about how your personal information has been handled:
contact@thepetsitterhub.co.uk
You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.
Information about making a complaint is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
21. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect:
Changes to the website.
Changes to membership services.
Changes to the information we collect.
New service providers.
Legal or regulatory developments.
Improved security or administrative practices.
The latest version and effective date will be published on this page.
Where a change materially affects members, we will provide reasonable notice where practicable.
22. Contacting The Pet Sitter Hub
Questions, requests and complaints concerning personal information may be sent to:
The Pet Sitter Hub
Operated by: Terence James Allington
Website: https://thepetsitterhub.co.uk
Email: contact@thepetsitterhub.co.uk