01Who I am
1.1The controller
I’m Karl Chevalier, a sole trader based in the United Kingdom. I’m the controller of the personal information described in this policy. That means I decide how it’s used, and I’m responsible for looking after it under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Contact form: karlchevalier.co.uk/contact
- Address: Spring Bank Farm, Tan Yard Brow, Gorton, M18 8UJ
1.2Questions about privacy
I’m not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer, and I haven’t. I deal with privacy questions myself, so send me a message through the contact form about anything in this policy.
1.3Who this policy covers
This policy covers:
- people who visit this website, karlchevalier.co.uk;
- people who contact me or use the website builder;
- my clients, and the people who work with them, such as managers and agents; and
- people and agencies who join my referral programme or partner with me.
It doesn’t cover the websites I build for clients. Section 9 explains those.
02What I collect, and why
Data protection law says I need a lawful reason, called a “lawful basis”, for each way I use personal information. Here’s each situation: what I collect, why, the lawful basis I rely on and how long I keep it.
When you visit this website
- What
- Technical information your browser sends automatically to the servers that deliver this website: your IP address, browser and device type, the page you asked for and the time.
- Why
- To deliver the pages to you, keep the website secure and stop abuse. I don’t use it to identify you.
- Lawful basis
- Legitimate interests: running a website that works and is secure.
- Kept for
- A short period set by my hosting provider, after which it’s deleted automatically.
Analytics, unless you switch it off
- What
- How you use this website: the pages you visit, how you got here, roughly where you are (country and city), your browser and device type, and an ID stored in a cookie so repeat visits can be counted. Google receives your IP address to provide this, and Google Analytics doesn’t log or store it.
- Why
- To see which pages people find useful, so I can keep improving the website. I look at totals and trends, not individual visitors.
- Lawful basis
- Legitimate interests: understanding how the website is used so I can improve it. You can switch analytics off any time with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of any page.
- Kept for
- Up to 14 months in Google Analytics, then deleted automatically. 4.2 has more detail.
When you send an enquiry or ask for a quote
- What
- Your name and email address, your website or social handle, what you’d like to build, your message and anything else you choose to include. If you ask for a quote, that includes your business name and phone number if you give them, what your business does, and your budget and timing. The contact form doesn’t store anything on this website: your message is passed straight to my inbox by email through my hosting provider’s mail server.
- Why
- To reply to you and talk about your project.
- Lawful basis
- Legitimate interests in replying to people who contact me. Where you’re asking about working with me, I also rely on taking steps you’ve asked for before entering into a contract.
- Kept for
- 12 months after we last spoke, unless you become a client (see below). Ask me to delete it sooner and I will.
When you order through the website builder
- What
- Your name, your business, creator or brand name, your email address and, for a business website, your phone number; your social links and existing website; your brand description, design preferences and what you’d like on your website; your domain details; the options and price you chose; any referral code; for a registered charity, its charity number; and your choices at checkout (agreeing to my terms, and whether you asked me to start work straight away).
- Why
- To take your order, check what you need and start your project.
- Lawful basis
- Contract: I need this information to enter into our contract and carry it out. Without it, I can’t take your order.
- Kept for
- If you pay, as for client records, below. If you reach the payment page but don’t pay, your order is deleted automatically after 30 days.
When you’re a client
- What
- Everything above, plus our messages, feedback and approvals; the content and files you send me; access details you share for your accounts; your billing details; and the performance and sales figures I use to report on your website.
- Why
- To build and look after your website, provide Care (Creator Care for creator websites, Website Care for business websites), send reports and bills, keep records of our work together and, unless you ask me not to, show the finished website in my portfolio.
- Lawful basis
- Contract. I also rely on legitimate interests in keeping records of our work, being able to deal with any questions or legal claims about it, and showing my work in my portfolio, which you can object to at any time.
- Kept for
- Project records: six years after our contract ends, which is the time within which legal claims can normally be brought. Access details: deleted or changed as soon as I no longer need them, and at the latest when our contract ends. Copies and backups of your website: deleted within 30 days after Care ends.
When you pay
- What
- Your name, email address and billing address; the amount and date; and limited card details provided by Stripe: the card type, the last four digits and the expiry date. I never see or store your full card number or security code.
- Why
- To take payment, issue receipts and refunds, and keep the financial records the law requires.
- Lawful basis
- Contract, and legal obligation: tax law requires me to keep financial records.
- Kept for
- Seven years after the end of the tax year the payment falls in, which meets HMRC’s record-keeping requirements.
Information from other places
- What
- When you get in touch or become a client, I look at information you’ve made public, such as your social media profiles, your content, your audience figures and your existing website. If you use a referral code, I also know who it belongs to, and if an agency introduced you, I know that too. I tell them that you’ve ordered, so that I can pay what they’ve earned, but I won’t share anything else about you or your project with them without your permission.
- Why
- To understand your brand, so that I can recommend and build the right website, and to keep track of referrals.
- Lawful basis
- Legitimate interests in understanding your brand before advising you and building for you.
- Kept for
- As part of your enquiry or client records, above.
When you join the referral programme or partner with me
- What
- Your name and email address; your Instagram, TikTok or website, or your agency’s name, website and roster size; your code; the orders placed with it and the rewards or commission I’ve paid you; and, when a payment is due, your bank details and any invoice you send. When you join, your details and code are saved privately on my server, outside the public website, so that your code works straight away.
- Why
- To give you a code, keep track of who you’ve referred, tell you when your code has been used, pay what you’ve earned and keep the financial records the law requires.
- Lawful basis
- Contract: the referral programme and any partner agreement are agreements between us (section 16 of my Terms & Conditions). Legal obligation, for financial records.
- Kept for
- While your code is in use, then 12 months after we were last in touch. Records of payments: seven years after the end of the tax year they fall in. Bank details: only for as long as I need them to pay you.
03Sensitive information
I don’t ask for sensitive (“special category”) information, such as details about your health, religion, sexual orientation or political opinions. Please don’t include it in messages unless it’s genuinely relevant to your website.
If you do share it, for example because your content is about your health, I’ll use it only for your project and treat it with extra care. I rely on your explicit consent, or on the fact that you’ve made the information public yourself.
04Cookies, analytics and third-party content
4.1Your choice
This website uses cookies to count visits (4.2). The law allows cookies used only to count visits and improve a website without asking first, as long as it’s explained and you can easily switch them off, so there’s no pop-up. To switch analytics off, use “Cookie settings” at the bottom of any page: the website works exactly the same without it. Your choice is remembered in your browser’s local storage, and you can switch it back on the same way. If you said no when this website used to ask, analytics stays off.
The website builder for creators also uses your browser’s session storage to keep your choices while you move between pages. That stays on your device and is cleared when you close the tab.
4.2Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics to count visits and show which pages are useful, only so I can improve the
website. It sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_YWL9GC2QVZ, which tell visits apart and last up
to two years unless you clear them. I look at totals and trends, not individual visitors. I’ve turned off
Google’s advertising features, Google signals and Google’s own use of the data for this website, so
Google handles it only on my behalf and it isn’t used to personalise ads. If you switch analytics off, the
cookies are deleted and nothing more is sent to Google Analytics.
How Google uses information from
websites that use its services explains more.
4.3Fonts
The typefaces on this website are stored on this website itself, so loading them doesn’t involve anyone else and doesn’t use cookies.
4.4Checkout
When you check out, you’re taken to a payment page run by Stripe on Stripe’s own website. Stripe uses cookies and similar technologies there to process your payment and prevent fraud. For those purposes Stripe acts independently of me, and Stripe’s privacy policy explains how it uses your information.
4.5If this changes
If I add anything else that uses cookies, I’ll update this policy first and ask for your consent wherever the law requires it.
05Who I share it with
I only share your information when it’s needed. It may be received by:
- Stripe, my payment provider, to take payments and manage Care subscriptions.
- Service providers who help me run the business: my email and file-storage provider, the hosting provider for this website, and the infrastructure providers I use to host clients’ websites. They handle information only on my instructions, under contracts that require them to keep it secure.
- Google, as the provider of the analytics on this website, unless you’ve switched it off (4.2).
- My accountant, and HMRC or other authorities where the law requires it.
- Professional advisers, such as a lawyer or insurer, if I need their help.
- Companies you’ve asked me to work with for your website, for example when I set up your email provider, newsletter tool or payment account in your name.
- A successor, if the business is ever transferred, for example to a limited company I set up. Your information would pass to it under this policy, and I’d tell you.
I don’t sell your information, use it for advertising, or share it with data brokers or social networks. Ask me and I’ll tell you exactly which providers I use.
06Transfers outside the UK
Some of the providers above, including Stripe and Google, are based in other countries, including the United States, or have staff or systems there. When your information is transferred outside the UK, it’s protected by one of the safeguards the UK GDPR requires:
- UK adequacy regulations, which confirm that a country protects personal information properly. These include the UK–US “data bridge” for US companies certified under it; or
- standard contract terms approved for UK transfers: the International Data Transfer Agreement, or the UK Addendum to the EU’s standard contractual clauses.
Ask me if you’d like more detail about a particular transfer.
07How long I keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that don’t lead to work | 12 months after we last spoke |
| Client project records | 6 years after our contract ends |
| Referral and partner records | While your code is in use, then 12 months after we were last in touch |
| Financial records (invoices and payments) | 7 years after the end of the tax year they relate to |
| Access details for your accounts | Until I no longer need them, and at the latest when our contract ends |
| Copies and backups of your website | Deleted within 30 days after Care ends |
| Server logs for this website | A short period set by the hosting provider, then deleted automatically |
| Analytics | Up to 14 months in Google Analytics, then deleted automatically |
After that, information is securely deleted, or anonymised so that it no longer identifies you. If there’s a legal claim or dispute, I may keep the relevant information until it’s resolved.
08How I keep it safe
I use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including:
- two-factor authentication on the accounts that hold your information;
- encrypted connections (HTTPS) for this website and the websites I host;
- encrypted devices, protected by strong passwords;
- a password manager for any access details you share. Please never send a password in an ordinary email; I’ll give you a secure way to share it;
- giving access only where it’s needed, and removing it when it isn’t; and
- keeping software up to date.
No system is perfectly secure. If something goes wrong that puts your information at risk, I’ll tell you, and I’ll tell the regulator where the law requires it.
09Websites I’ve built for clients
If you’re a visitor, customer, subscriber or member of a website I’ve built and look after for a business or creator, the business or creator who runs it is the controller of your information, not me. I handle it only on their behalf, to host and maintain their website, under a data processing agreement.
Their own privacy policy explains how they use your information, and you should contact them to exercise your rights. If you contact me instead, I’ll pass your request on to them.
10Your rights
10.1What you can ask for
Under data protection law, you have the right to:
- Access: ask for a copy of the information I hold about you.
- Rectification: ask me to correct anything inaccurate or incomplete.
- Erasure: ask me to delete your information.
- Restriction: ask me to limit how I use it, for example while we check whether it’s accurate.
- Objection: object to my using it where I rely on legitimate interests.
- Portability: ask for the information you’ve given me in a machine-readable format, or ask me to send it to someone else, where I use it on the basis of our contract or your consent.
- Withdrawing consent: where I rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
I don’t make decisions about you based solely on automated processing, and I don’t use your information for profiling.
10.2Exceptions
Some rights have exceptions. For example, I can’t delete financial records the law requires me to keep. If an exception applies, I’ll explain it.
10.3How to use your rights
Send me a message through the contact form, or reply to any email I’ve sent you. There’s no charge. I’ll carry out reasonable and proportionate searches and reply within one month. If a request is complex, I may need up to two more months, and I’ll tell you within the first month if so. I may need to confirm your identity first; if I do, the time limit starts once I have.
11Complaints
11.1Complaining to me
If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your information, please tell me first through the contact form, starting your message with “Privacy complaint”. I’ll acknowledge it within five working days, and always within the 30 days the law allows. I’ll look into it without undue delay, keep you updated and tell you the outcome.
11.2Complaining to the regulator
You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commission. It replaced the Information Commissioner’s Office on 30 September 2026 and is still known as the ICO. The ICO will usually expect you to have raised your concern with me first.
- Online: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
- Post: ICO, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
12Marketing
I don’t send marketing emails or newsletters, and I don’t add anyone to a mailing list. If I ever start one, joining it will be your choice. I’ll still email clients about their projects, Care and important changes. Those are service messages, not marketing.
13Children
My services are for adults. If you’re under 18, a parent or guardian needs to place any order (see my terms). If a parent or guardian works with me on a younger creator’s behalf, I’ll use the young person’s information only for their project, and with extra care.
This website isn’t aimed at children, and I don’t knowingly collect information from children under 13 except through their parent or guardian.
14Links to other websites
This website links to other websites, such as social networks. They have their own privacy policies, and I’m not responsible for how they handle your information.
15Changes to this policy
I’ll update this policy whenever anything changes, and the date at the top of the page will show when it was last updated. If a change significantly affects how I use clients’ information, I’ll email you before it takes effect.
Last updated 24 October 2026. Questions about any of this? Send me a message and I’ll explain it in plain English.