How we look after your information.

This policy explains what personal information The Dog Bloke collects when you use our website or become a client, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it. It's written to comply with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Who we are

The Dog Bloke is a dog walking service operated by Steve Williams, based in Atherstone, North Warwickshire. For the purposes of UK data protection law, we are the data controller for the information described in this policy.

Contact for data matters: steve@the-dog-bloke.co.uk

What we collect and when

When you send an enquiry

Whether you fill in the form on our holding page or the main "Book a Walk" page, we ask for:

• Your name
• Your mobile number
• Your postcode
• What kind of walking you're looking for
• Any notes you choose to add about your dog

Our servers also automatically record a one-way hash of your IP address and your browser identifier. We use those only to spot spam and abuse — we can't work backwards from the hash to your address.

When you become a client

After Steve has met you and your dog, we send you a secure onboarding form. That collects more detail, including:

• Full address and preferred contact methods
• Email address
• Emergency contact name and number
• Your vet practice name, phone number and address, so Steve can get your dog treated in an emergency without having to reach you first
• Your dog's name, breed, age or date of birth, sex, whether they are neutered or spayed, and their weight
• Your dog's microchip number, if you give it to us. Optional, and only kept so Steve can identify your dog if somebody else ever finds them
• Your dog's medical notes, allergies, any medication and the dose, and the date of their last vaccination
• Your dog's behavioural notes, feeding and routine
• Your pet insurance provider, and the insurance and care declarations you sign

Your vet's phone number and address are your vet's business contact details rather than anything private, but they are somebody else's information, so we hold them only to arrange treatment for your dog and for nothing else.

All of this is stored securely and only ever used to look after your dog properly.

When Steve calls you back

Steve may make notes during or after the call — where you are, what you asked about, anything about your dog we ought to remember. These sit against your enquiry record.

Why we hold it (lawful bases)

Legitimate interests

For enquiries: you've asked us to get in touch, so it's in our mutual legitimate interest for us to hold your details long enough to call you back and follow up sensibly.

Contract

Once you become a client, we hold your details because we can't provide dog walking safely and responsibly without them — it's necessary to perform our contract with you.

Legal obligation

Some records (invoices, payment records) we keep for six years to comply with UK tax and accounting law.

Who we share it with

Your details never get sold or handed to third parties for marketing. We use three trusted providers to run the service:

Cloudflare

Hosts the website and the database that holds your enquiry and onboarding information. Cloudflare is US-based but operates in the UK/EU under Standard Contractual Clauses and has a UK/EU representative under UK GDPR Article 27.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Sends the automatic email that notifies Steve when you submit an enquiry. Brevo is based in France (an adequate country under UK GDPR) and processes only the minimum needed to deliver that one email — name, mobile, postcode, service interest and message.

Steve

Reads all enquiries and client records so he can look after your dog.

We won't share your details with anyone else without asking you first — the one exception being if we're legally required to (for example, a court order).

How long we keep it

Enquiries that don't become bookings

Deleted after 12 months.

Client records

Kept for six years after your last walk with us, to match HMRC's record-keeping requirements and to hand back to you if your dog comes back to us later.

Meet & Greet notes and status history

Kept with the parent enquiry / client record and follow the same retention.

Email notifications sent to Steve

Brevo retains delivery logs for around 30 days for troubleshooting, then purges them.

Where it's stored

Your data is stored in Cloudflare's UK/EU data centres wherever possible, with fallback to their US infrastructure. All transfers outside the UK are covered by Standard Contractual Clauses (Cloudflare) or an adequacy decision (Brevo, EU).

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• See what we hold about you (subject access request)
• Correct anything that's wrong (rectification)
• Have your data deleted (erasure) — subject to any legal requirement for us to keep certain records
• Restrict how we use it
• Get a copy in a portable format (data portability)
• Object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Complain to the ICO if you think we've handled your data badly (ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint)

To make any of those requests, email steve@the-dog-bloke.co.uk. We'll respond within a month.

Cookies

We only use cookies that are strictly necessary to make the site work — specifically, a signed session cookie that keeps you logged in when you're signed into the admin area or a private preview. We don't use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, or any third-party tracking.

Security

Access to your data is limited to Steve. Passwords are stored as strong hashes, not plain text. All connections to the site are encrypted with HTTPS. Session cookies are signed with a rotating secret so they can't be forged. If we ever discover a data breach that affects you, we'll notify you and the ICO within 72 hours as required by law.

Children

Our services are aimed at adult dog owners. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we've inadvertently collected data about a minor, contact us and we'll delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we materially change this policy — for example, if we start using a new tool that processes your data — we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and, where the change is significant, contact existing clients directly to let them know.

Contact us

Any question about how we handle your data, email steve@the-dog-bloke.co.uk. If you'd rather write, the postal address is available on request.