Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Edwards Celebrancy ("I", "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect the personal information you provide to us when you use our website at https://www.edwardscelebrancy.co.uk/ (the "Website") and when you engage our celebrancy services.

We are registered in the UK and act as the Data Controller responsible for your personal data.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you, which we have grouped together as follows:

Identity Data: This includes your name, title, and your relationship to the deceased (if applicable).
Contact Data: This includes your postal address, email address, and telephone number.
Service Data: This is information necessary for the funeral or memorial service, including biographical details of the deceased, family history, and personal stories (which is often highly sensitive).
Technical Data: This includes your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, operating system, and other technology on the devices you use to access this Website.
Usage Data: This is information about how you use our Website (e.g., pages visited).
Marketing Data: This includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties.

3. How Your Personal Data is Collected

We use different methods to collect data from and about you, including:

Direct Interactions: You may give us your Identity and Contact Data when you contact us via the "Get in Touch" page, email, phone, or during in-person meetings related to our services.

Third Parties or Publicly Available Sources: We may receive information from funeral directors or other third parties who are acting on your behalf to coordinate our services.

Automated Technologies: As you interact with our Website, we may automatically collect Technical and Usage Data using cookies and other similar technologies.

4. How We Use Your Personal Data and the Legal Basis for Processing

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data for the following purposes and under the stated legal basis:

To provide the celebrancy service: We use Identity, Contact, and Service Data to fulfil the agreed celebrancy service. The lawful basis for this is Performance of a contract.
To respond to enquiries: We use Identity and Contact Data to respond to website enquiries and manage initial client interest. The lawful basis for this is Legitimate Interest.
To manage payments/fees: We use Identity, Contact, and Financial Data for processing payments, and for accounting and tax purposes. The lawful basis for this is Performance of a contract and Legal Obligation.
To maintain website security: We use Technical and Usage Data to ensure the security of our IT systems and improve our website. The lawful basis for this is Legitimate Interest.

Processing of Special Category Data: In the course of providing funeral celebrancy, we will necessarily process highly sensitive Special Category Data (such as details about the deceased's health, religious beliefs, and other intimate personal details). We process this data based on explicit consent provided by you or your legal representative, or where necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (such as a funeral service).

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below:

Funeral Directors: To coordinate the service logistics (e.g., date, time, venue, content).

Third-Party Service Providers: Where required for IT support or hosting.

Professional Advisers: Including lawyers, accountants, and insurers who require the information to provide services to us.

HMRC and regulators: Where we are legally obliged to do so.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

6. Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered, or disclosed. We limit access to your personal data to employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties on a "need-to-know" basis.

7. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Generally, we keep information related to a completed service (such as the final script and contact details) for a period of [Specify Time, e.g., 6 years] to meet UK tax and insurance obligations.

8. Your Legal Rights (UK GDPR)

Under UK data protection law, you have rights including:

The right to be informed about how your data is used.
The right of access to your personal data.
The right to rectification if your data is inaccurate or incomplete.
The right to erasure (the 'right to be forgotten').
The right to restrict processing.
The right to data portability.
The right to object to certain types of processing.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.

9. Contact Details and Complaints

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: jude@edwardscelebrancy.co.uk

Phone Number: 07914 419659

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). We would appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance.