Privacy Policy

Introduction

Ballpark provides AI assisted cost estimates for home improvement work in the United Kingdom and connects customers with contractors who can quote for that work. Protecting the information you share with us is central to how we build the service.

This policy applies to the Ballpark website and app, to the accounts held by customers and contractors, and to any messages, photographs, quotes and invoices exchanged through the platform. By using Ballpark you agree to the practices described here.

Who We Are

Ballpark is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. We operate solely in the United Kingdom and process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you have a question about this policy, or wish to exercise any of your rights, write to us at info@ballparkapp.co.uk and we will respond within one month.

Information We Collect

Account information: your name, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash) and whether you registered as a customer or a contractor.

Business information for contractors: business name, trading address, telephone number, company logo, trades offered, service area postcode and radius, VAT registration number, invoice numbering preferences and payment details you choose to display on invoices.

Project information: project descriptions, measurements, postcodes, timescales, budget expectations, photographs you upload, the estimates our system produces, the quotes contractors submit and the jobs that are awarded.

Communications: messages sent between customers and contractors about a job, and any correspondence with our support team.

Financial records: invoices and credit notes raised through Ballpark, including amounts, dates, payment terms and delivery status of invoice emails.

Technical information: log data such as the pages you visit, error reports, approximate location derived from the postcode you provide, and the device and browser you use.

How We Use Information

We use your information to create and secure your account, to produce estimates, to publish jobs to the marketplace, to allow contractors to bid, to enable messaging between the parties to a job, to schedule work, to raise and send invoices, and to provide customer support.

We also use aggregated and anonymised information to improve the accuracy of our pricing engine, to detect misuse of the platform and to keep the service reliable and secure.

Our lawful bases are: performance of a contract with you, our legitimate interests in operating and improving a safe marketplace, compliance with legal obligations such as record keeping, and your consent where we ask for it.

AI Generated Estimates

Ballpark uses automated pricing rules together with artificial intelligence models to produce indicative cost ranges. The project details, measurements, postcode and photographs you submit are sent to our AI provider for the sole purpose of generating that estimate.

We do not permit our AI providers to use your content to train their models. Estimates are indicative only, are not a contractual offer, and no legally significant decision about you is made by automated means. A contractor's written quote always takes precedence over an estimate.

Photos and Uploaded Content

Photographs you upload are stored securely and are used to improve the accuracy of your estimate and to help contractors understand the job. When you publish a job to the marketplace, the photographs attached to that job become visible to contractors who can view the listing.

Please do not upload images that show people, documents, vehicle registrations or other personal details you would not want a contractor to see. You can remove photographs from a job at any time before it is published, and deleting a job removes its photographs.

Messages

Messages sent through Ballpark are visible to the customer and contractor connected to that job, and are retained so both parties have a record of what was agreed.

We do not read messages routinely. We may access them where it is necessary to investigate a report of abuse, fraud or a breach of our terms, or where we are required to do so by law.

Cookies

Ballpark uses a small number of strictly necessary cookies and similar browser storage to keep you signed in, to remember your marketplace filters and to keep the service secure. These are required for the platform to function.

We do not use advertising cookies and we do not sell your browsing behaviour. You can clear cookies through your browser at any time, though doing so will sign you out.

Sharing Information

When you post a job, contractors can see the job details, photographs and approximate location. When a quote is shortlisted or accepted, the customer and contractor can see each other's name and contact details so the work can be arranged.

We share information with service providers who help us run Ballpark, including our cloud hosting and database provider, our AI model provider and our transactional email provider. They act on our instructions and may not use your data for their own purposes.

We may disclose information where required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect the rights, property or safety of our users. We never sell your personal information.

Data Security

Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Access to personal data within the database is restricted by row level security so that you can only read the records that belong to you. Uploaded photographs and invoice documents are held in private storage and served through short lived, signed links.

Passwords are stored using industry standard one way hashing and are never visible to us. Despite these measures no online service can be guaranteed completely secure, so please choose a strong, unique password and tell us immediately if you suspect unauthorised access.

Data Retention

We keep your account information for as long as your account is open. Job, quote and message records are retained while the job is live and for a reasonable period afterwards so both parties can refer back to what was agreed.

Invoices and related financial records are retained for six years to meet UK accounting and tax obligations. Log and diagnostic data is kept for a short period and then deleted or anonymised.

Your Rights

You have the right to access a copy of your personal data, to have inaccurate data corrected, to request erasure, to restrict or object to certain processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, email info@ballparkapp.co.uk. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Account Deletion

You can delete your account at any time from the Account page. We ask you to confirm your password first, then permanently remove your profile and personal details, your posted jobs and estimates, your quotes and bids, your messages, your calendar entries and your uploaded photographs.

Where we are legally required to keep a record, for example invoice and tax records, we retain the minimum necessary information and remove or anonymise the personal details attached to it. Deletion is immediate and cannot be reversed.

Children's Privacy

Ballpark is intended for people aged 18 and over and is not designed for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this Policy

We may update this policy as the service develops or as the law changes. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last revised, and we will tell you about significant changes by email or through a notice in the app before they take effect.

Contact Us

Questions, requests and complaints about privacy should be sent to info@ballparkapp.co.uk. We aim to reply within two working days and to resolve formal data protection requests within one month.