Privacy & Cookie Policy
Last updated: June 2026
GuitarTechFinder ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal data. This policy explains what we collect, why we collect it, and your rights under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Who We Are
GuitarTechFinder is operated as a sole trader business based in the United Kingdom. For data protection enquiries contact us at privacy@guitartechfinder.com.
2. What Data We Collect
Depending on how you use the platform, we may collect:
- Account data — name, email address, password (hashed), postcode, phone number, role (player or tech)
- Tech profile data — business name, profile photo, cover photo, gallery images, bio, location (latitude/longitude derived from postcode), service offerings, travel radius
- Quote & job data — instrument details, work descriptions, photos of instruments, quotes, job status, payment records
- Payment data — deposit and balance amounts, payment timestamps. Card details are handled entirely by Stripe and never stored on our servers
- Messages — in-platform messages between players and techs relating to jobs
- Area interest signups — if you submit your email to be notified when techs join your area, we collect your email address, postcode, and the latitude/longitude derived from that postcode. If you opt in, we also record your consent to receive platform news and announcements
- Usage data — profile view counts (deduplicated daily by user or anonymised IP)
- Technical data — IP address, browser type, session identifiers
3. Lawful Basis for Processing
- Contract performance — processing your account, quotes, jobs and payments
- Legitimate interests — platform security, fraud prevention, analytics, profile views
- Legal obligation — retaining financial records as required by law
- Consent — where we rely on your consent (e.g. marketing communications) you may withdraw it at any time
4. How We Use Your Data
- To provide and operate the GuitarTechFinder platform
- To facilitate quotes, jobs, and payments between players and techs
- To verify tech accounts via Stripe Connect
- To send transactional notifications (quote received, deposit paid, job updates)
- To display tech profiles in search results based on location
- To detect and prevent fraud or abuse
- To notify you by email when a verified guitar tech joins within 20 miles of your postcode, if you have signed up for this service
- To send occasional platform news and announcements, if you have opted in to this
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.
5. Third-Party Services
- Stripe — payment processing and tech account verification (Stripe Connect). Stripe's privacy policy applies to data they process: stripe.com/gb/privacy
- Postcodes.io — used to geocode UK postcodes into coordinates for location-based search. No personal data beyond the postcode itself is sent
- Railway — cloud hosting provider where the application and database are hosted
- Mailchimp — used to manage newsletter and platform announcement emails for users who have opted in. Mailchimp's privacy policy applies to data they process: mailchimp.com/legal/privacy
6. Data Retention
- Active accounts are retained for as long as your account exists
- Job and payment records are retained for 7 years to meet financial/legal obligations
- Deleted accounts: personal data is removed within 30 days; anonymised transaction records may be retained
- Instrument photos and profile images are deleted when you remove them or close your account
- Area interest signups (non-account email notifications) are retained until you request deletion. To unsubscribe or remove your data, contact privacy@guitartechfinder.com
7. Cookies
GuitarTechFinder uses the following cookies:
- Session cookie — keeps you logged in during your visit. Essential for the platform to function. Expires when you close your browser or log out
- CSRF token cookie — protects form submissions from cross-site request forgery attacks. Essential and set automatically
- Remember me cookie — optional, set only if you tick "Remember me" at login. Persists your session for 30 days
We do not use advertising, tracking, or analytics cookies. No third-party cookies are set by us.
8. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data
- Erasure — request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention obligations)
- Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Restriction — ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@guitartechfinder.com. We will respond within 30 days.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
9. Security
All data is transmitted over HTTPS. Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text. Payment card data is never transmitted to or stored on our servers — all card handling is done by Stripe.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email or a notice on the platform. The date at the top of this page reflects when it was last updated.
11. Contact
For any privacy-related questions or requests:
privacy@guitartechfinder.com