Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Skool of Drool is a doggy daycare based in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, operated by Viviana Victoria. For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018), we are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

Trading address: Unit 1, 11 East Avenue, Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Contact: our contact form  ·  phone shared on enquiry

2. What we collect

We only collect what we genuinely need to look after your dog and run the business well. Depending on how you interact with us, that includes:

Information you give us directly

• Through the contact form — your name, email, phone number (if provided), and the message you send us.
• Through the Pup Fact Sheet — your name, address, contact details, emergency contact, vet details, and information about your dog (breed, age, health, behaviour, food preferences, handling notes).
• Through the Care Agreement — your full name, email, your dog's name, and a typed signature confirming the agreement.
• When you start membership — bank details for Direct Debit setup (handled directly by GoCardless — see below).
• Day-to-day communications — messages you send via WhatsApp, email, Instagram, or our daily-notes form.

Information collected automatically when you visit our website

• Standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited, timestamps) collected by our hosting provider for security and performance.
• Anonymised usage analytics via Google Analytics 4 (see Cookies & analytics).

Information from third parties

• Payment status and Direct Debit information from GoCardless (e.g. whether a payment succeeded or failed).
• Email engagement data (opens, clicks) from MailerLite, our email service provider, if you've signed up to hear from us.

3. How we use it

We use your information to:

• Reply to your enquiries and arrange discovery calls, home visits, and Foundation Weeks.
• Care for your dog properly — knowing about health, behaviour, allergies, vet details, and any sensitivities is essential to keep them safe and happy.
• Run our weekly operation — daily routes, attendance, pickup & drop-off coordination, and group communications.
• Take payment for services via Direct Debit and one-off charges.
• Send service updates, weather/closure notices, and information you'd want to know as a customer.
• Send marketing emails (only if you've signed up — and you can unsubscribe any time).
• Improve our website and understand how people find us.
• Meet our legal and accounting obligations.

4. Legal bases

UK GDPR requires us to have a lawful reason for using your data. We rely on:

Purpose	Lawful basis
Replying to your enquiry	Legitimate interest / steps to enter into a contract
Providing daycare services	Performance of our contract with you
Holding emergency vet contact info	Vital interests (your dog's wellbeing)
Taking payment	Performance of contract
Marketing emails	Consent (you've opted in; you can opt out any time)
Anti-fraud, security, accounting	Legitimate interest / legal obligation
Website analytics	Legitimate interest (anonymised, low-impact)

5. Who we share it with

We do not sell your data, ever. We share limited information with trusted service providers who help us run the business. Each is bound by data-processing agreements and is itself UK/EU GDPR compliant:

Provider	What it does
GoCardless	Direct Debit payments. They receive your name, email, address, and bank details directly through their secure portal.
MailerLite	Email service for newsletters and customer updates. Receives your name and email if you've subscribed.
Resend	Sends transactional emails (form confirmations, reminders) on our behalf.
Vercel & Cloudflare	Website hosting and DNS. Standard server logs only.
Google Analytics	Anonymised website usage statistics.
Our accountant	For annual filings and tax — minimum necessary financial data only.
Your registered vet (or a local vet in an emergency)	If your dog needs urgent treatment and we can't reach you, we'll share what's needed for their care.

We may also share information if we're legally required to (e.g. in response to a court order or to protect our legal rights).

6. Cookies & analytics

This website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies:

• Essential cookies — needed for the site to work (e.g. remembering you've dismissed a message). These don't need consent.
• Google Analytics 4 — used to understand which pages people visit and where they come from. We've configured GA4 with IP anonymisation; we don't collect anything that personally identifies you. You can opt out at any time using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.

7. How long we keep it

We don't keep data longer than we need to:

• Enquiries that don't become customers — kept for up to 12 months in case you come back, then deleted.
• Active customers — kept for as long as you're with us, plus the relevant period required for legal/tax records (typically 6 years after the relationship ends, per HMRC).
• Marketing email subscribers — kept until you unsubscribe.
• Website analytics — automatically expire after 14 months in GA4.

8. How we keep it safe

We take reasonable steps to protect your data:

• HTTPS encryption on every page of our website.
• Two-factor authentication on the accounts that matter (email, GoCardless, MailerLite).
• Limited access — only Viviana and the small team members who need information for their work can see it.
• Regular review of our security practices.

No system is perfectly secure, but if we ever became aware of a breach affecting your personal data, we'd notify you and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) within the timeframes the law requires.

9. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct anything that's inaccurate or out of date.
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten") — subject to any legal retention obligations.
• Restrict how we use your data, in certain circumstances.
• Object to our processing — particularly for marketing.
• Receive a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where we're relying on it (e.g. marketing).

To exercise any of these, just email our contact form. We'll respond within one month.

If you're not happy with how we've handled your data, you have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). We'd appreciate the chance to put things right first if you can speak to us.

10. Children's data

Our services are aimed at adults (dog guardians). We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe we've inadvertently received information about a child, please contact us and we'll delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time as our services or the law evolve. The "last updated" date at the top will always reflect the most recent version. For any significant changes, we'll let active customers know by email.

12. Get in touch

Questions, requests, or concerns about your data? We'd much rather hear from you than not.

Viviana Victoria — Skool of Drool
Unit 1, 11 East Avenue, Blantyre, South Lanarkshire
our contact form
phone shared on enquiry