Privacy Policy

Data controller: Movesmith Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16634345, registered office 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE. ICO registration reference ZC149218.

Effective date: 26 October 2026.

We take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how and why we collect, store, use and share information relating to you (“personal data”), your rights, and how to contact us or the regulator. Our handling of personal data is regulated by law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (“PECR”).

1. Who we are and what this policy covers

1.1 Movesmith Ltd (“Movesmith”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is the controller of the personal data described in this Policy. Contact us about privacy at hello@movesmith.uk.

1.2 This Policy applies to customers and prospective customers; Operators (suppliers); drivers and crew employed or engaged by Operators; visitors to the Platform; people who interact with our marketing; and people who view, click or request an introduction to an independent Partner.

1.3 The Services may link to independent sites or services with their own privacy information. A Partner that receives your information after a named introduction will normally be an independent controller for its own use. A provider acting only on our instructions is our processor.

2. Personal data we collect about customers and visitors

2.1 We collect: identity and contact data (name, email and phone); Draft Quote data (quote inputs, progress, price shown, capture and abandonment timestamps, status, resume-link or draft identifiers and later actions); move details (pickup and delivery addresses, any Extra Stop addresses with their access answers and the name and phone number of the on-the-day contact you give for each stop, the building location described in clause 2.7 where you pick an address from our address lookup, access notes, date, arrival window, property and floor information, move type, selected extras, packing, storage or furniture-collection requirements, declared value and special notes); payment data (card details tokenized by our payment processor, including a card saved through Apple Pay or Google Pay, the type of payment method used, customer identifier and billing address where provided); account data; operational and evidential data (scope and move photographs, high-risk access flags, requested access-photo categories, access reconfirmation status and timestamps, reported changes, evidence-review decisions, Operator evidence-version acknowledgements, inventory and item-condition evidence, privacy-safe Booking-readiness facts, reported tracking milestones, sign-off PIN events, documented completion reviews, messages, disputes and damage claims, and role-specific support-case references, summaries, ownership, next actions, update targets, evidence, payment and payout states and timeline visibility); review data (ratings, optional on time, care and communication scores, written feedback, Booking verification, public-display consent, customer display name, moderation notes, Operator response or appeal and publication status); communication and preference data (requested quote delivery, service messages, lifecycle communications, quote follow-up emails and your choice about them, channel choices, consent, opt-out and suppression records); marketing data subject to the applicable choice; and partner-link data (the partner code or building link you arrived with and the partner credited on your Booking); technical and experience data (IP address, browser, device, pages and features used, referrer, campaign parameters, email events, feature-test assignment, consented individual-journey or session-recording data, cookies and similar identifiers).

2.2 We also collect Partner interaction data, including Partner and campaign identifiers, placement, impression, click, referral identifier, lead-start, the wording and version of a consent request, consent or refusal, lead transfer, conversion status and commission or revenue attributed to an interaction.

2.3 We do not use exact possessions, declared goods value, precise addresses, claims information, creditworthiness, financial circumstances or inferred wealth to build advertising profiles. Those details may still be used where necessary to quote, book, perform or protect a Move.

2.4 Where session recording or individual experience analytics are enabled, they are used to understand and improve the Platform. Non-essential recording remains off unless the required consent is obtained. We configure recording to exclude or mask contact details, precise addresses, move contents, payment fields, access notes, authentication credentials, sign-off information, claims evidence and free-text fields likely to contain sensitive information.

2.5 Move-day arrival estimate and live location. Where the service is available, when your crew reports that it is on the way to your pickup or delivery address, we show you the van’s latest location on a map, the road route and an estimated arrival time, and we text you when the van is about ten minutes away. The location comes from the crew’s device and is shared only until they arrive at that address. It does not use your location. You see the latest location only, not the route the van has taken. On a Movesmith Business move, the organisation that arranged it and its client see the same. We keep the first estimate with your Booking as evidence if you claim a late-arrival credit.

2.6 Partner links. If you reach us through a partner’s link, such as an estate agent’s or a building’s link, we record that partner on your Booking so it can be credited under its referral arrangement with us. The link never changes your price. On your device, the partner code is kept for up to 30 days only where your cookie choices allow it; otherwise it is used only for the current visit. Building details that a link fills in, such as the postcode, property type, floor or lift, are a starting point: you can change them, and what you confirm becomes your own answer. Using a link does not by itself give the partner your contact details or your Booking record.

2.7 Address lookup and building location. When you search for an address by postcode, the postcode is sent to our address-lookup provider, Ideal Postcodes, which acts as our processor. If you pick an address from the list, we store the building’s location with your Booking (latitude, longitude and, where available, its Unique Property Reference Number, or UPRN). We use it only to give the assigned Operator an accurate map pin for the building after it accepts your Move. It is never used to set your price, which is calculated from postcodes. An address you type yourself has no stored building location. We may also use the lookup’s address data to ask you to confirm whether an address is a flat or a house.

2.8 Follow-up emails about your quote. The first email with your prices is a service email you asked for. If you get a quote and don’t book, we may send you a few follow-up emails about that move, relying on the soft opt-in in regulation 22(3) of PECR. You can refuse them when you give your email address by ticking “Don’t send me follow-up emails about this move” (the box is not ticked for you), and every follow-up has an unsubscribe link. We send them through Brevo (Sendinblue SAS), our email processor, which receives only your email address, the lowest price quoted, your move date, the outward postcodes of your route (for example SE15 to E14), the service type and a link back to your quote. Follow-ups stop when you book, opt out or the move date passes. If you tell us why you’re not booking today, we keep your answer, any price you say you expected or short note you add, and the price we showed you, and link it to your saved quote if you have one. We use it only to improve our prices and service, never for marketing. Please don’t put personal details in the note.

2.9 Website assistant. If you use the chat on our website, we collect the messages you type and the assistant’s replies, the page you were on and the topic you chose. Replies are written by an AI model, using only information we publish; prices come from our pricing system. We store your messages with phone numbers and email addresses removed, except the name and number you give us if you ask for a call back, which we keep with that request. Your browser keeps a random chat ID for as long as the tab is open, so your conversation stays together. The chat cannot make or change a booking, take payment or make decisions about you. Please don’t share card details, passwords or other sensitive information in the chat.

2.10 Booking links we prepare for you. If we prepare a booking for you after a call, WhatsApp message or email, we send you a link. To open the full booking, we text or email you a one-time code at the number or address you gave us. We keep only a scrambled record of the code and when it was used, never the code itself.

2.11 Quote contact details. If you leave your email or mobile number to save a quote, we use it to send you that quote and up to two reminders about it, and a message if the price drops. These are service messages about your quote, not marketing. Every message has a link to stop them.

2.12 WhatsApp. If you message us on WhatsApp, we see your WhatsApp number and your message. WhatsApp is run by Meta, which handles the message under its own terms.

2.14 Addresses we remember. We remember the pickup and delivery addresses you book with, and the company name and VAT number if you give them, so you can pick them next time. If you are signed in, we keep them on your account. If you are not, we keep them only on your device. You can remove them at any time.

2.15 Signatures at sign-off. If our crew can’t use your Sign-Off PIN, the person receiving your goods may sign on the crew’s device instead. We keep their typed name, signature, the time and, if the device allows, its location and the device’s browser details, as proof that the move was completed.

2.16 Rating your move. After sign-off we ask you to rate your moving operator from 1 to 5 stars, on the page and in one text message with a link. You can add a comment if you want to. We keep your stars and comment with the Booking record, use them to check service quality and to decide how the Operator is treated, and share the stars and comment with that Operator only as part of quality review. If you give 1 or 2 stars we may contact you to put things right. Your comment is not published unless you separately agree. After you rate, we also link to our Google reviews page. That is optional, it is run by Google under Google’s own privacy terms, and we do not know whether you leave a review.

2.17 Your Movesmith account. When you book, we create a Movesmith account for the email address on the booking, so you can see your moves and receipts in one place. There is no sign-up step. If you ask for a sign-in code without booking, we create an account for that email too. To sign in, we email you a one-time code, with a link that does the same. You can add a password in your account settings if you want one. We keep only a scrambled (hashed) form of it, never the password itself. If you booked a move or ordered a Packing Kit before as a guest with the same email, we add those to your account only after you sign in with a code or link sent to that address, which shows the address is yours. Moves an organisation books and pays for through Movesmith Business are not added to a personal account. To delete your account, email hello@movesmith.uk. We then remove your sign-in access and keep your booking records for the periods in section 8. If an account has no bookings, orders or other records linked to it and nobody signs in to it for 12 months, we delete it.

2.18 Your mover: who and what we show you. Once a mover accepts your move, your booking page, and your account if you have one, shows you the moving Operator’s name. Once the Operator names the driver, it can also show the driver’s first name, approved profile photo and verified-driver status, and the colour, make, model and registration of the van assigned to your Move. Where the Operator has at least 3 customer ratings, we may also show its average star rating, worked out from ratings given under clause 2.16. No customer’s name or comment is shown with it. We show these so you know who is coming and can recognise the right crew and van on the day. They are shown to you for your Move, until 7 days after your move is completed, or sooner if the Operator stops working with us. A driver’s photo appears on our public pages only if the driver separately agrees to a public crew profile (clause 3.4). We do not keep a separate copy: they come from the Operator’s records described in section 3. The van’s live location is shown only as clause 2.5 describes: while the crew is on the way to your pickup or delivery address, not while they are loading or unloading.

3. Personal data we collect about Operators

3.1 We collect: business identity data (legal and trading name, Companies House number, registered and operating address); contact and ownership data; vetting and compliance data (Goods in Transit, Public Liability and applicable Employers’ Liability insurance, policy limits and validity dates, Vehicle Compliance Declaration, private photo identification, ULEZ status, driving licence and driver contact details); customer-facing driver identity data (first name, the registration and description of the van, a separate current profile portrait, portrait review status, the exact display-consent wording and version, when and by whom it was recorded, its attributable evidence reference, and any withdrawal); public crew profile data where consent is given (the public-profile consent statement and version, when and by whom it was recorded and any withdrawal, together with the driver’s count of completed Movesmith Moves in an area and average rating); financial data (payment-account identifier and status, bank details held by our payment services provider, payout history, Booking-linked hold reason, owner, review target, release condition, appeal and financial outcome); private offer-planning data (optional vehicle cost per duty mile, crew cost per person-hour, fixed job overhead and waiting buffer, together with calculated private cost and contribution estimates); base location data (the base postcode and, where given, the full base address, whether it was picked from the address lookup or typed, and when it was saved); capacity and capability data (coverage area, vehicle and fleet composition, maximum crew size, suitable job types, specialist capabilities, availability and confirmation date); optional return-work preferences and evidence (opt-in, maximum wait and empty connection, the Operator’s booked corridor, candidate Booking references, outward areas, time compatibility, estimated connection and empty mileage avoided, suggestion status and private paired contribution estimate); and operational and performance data (job-fit outcomes, offers, accept or decline events, completed jobs, cancellation and no-show history, strikes, ratings, moderated review responses, decision-appeal reasons, evidence and outcomes, complaints, upheld claims, trust status and reasons, Admin overrides, messages, evidence, the drivers named for a Booking, move-day location shared while the crew is on the way to an address, the single reading taken when the crew reports it is on the way, and the resulting arrival estimates and how they were calculated, GPS-stamped arrival check-in and audit logs).

3.2 Operators provide most of this information at onboarding or through the Supplier Portal. Further information is generated as Operators receive, accept, decline and perform work. We may also verify public business information and receive information from payment, identity, insurance, communications and fraud-prevention providers.

3.3 Move-day location sharing. Where the Supplier Portal offers it, from when a crew member taps “on my way” until they check in at that address, the device they use shares its location (position, accuracy, direction, speed and time) every 15 seconds or 100 metres. We show the latest location to the Customer, and on a Movesmith Business move to the Partner and its client, and use it with our mapping provider to estimate the arrival time with live traffic. Sharing stops automatically on arrival, completion, cancellation or reassignment, after four hours and at midnight, and the driver can pause it. We delete the location history within 72 hours and clear the latest location on arrival. It is not used to issue or support a Strike, to rank or allocate Operators, or to rate driving or speed. Our lawful basis for drivers is our legitimate interests, and each driver sees a notice before the first share. We also keep the single location reading taken at “on my way” and the resulting estimate with the Booking as move-day evidence for the Customer’s late-arrival credits.

3.4 Public crew profiles. With the consent of both the Operator and the driver, recorded with the statement shown, our public area pages may show a driver’s first name, approved profile portrait, verified-driver badge, number of completed Movesmith Moves in that area and, once enough ratings exist, their average customer rating. We never show a surname, contact details, vehicle registration or licence information. This consent is optional, is separate from the booking-only portrait consent and is not a condition of receiving work. The Operator or the driver can withdraw it at any time in the Supplier Portal or by emailing suppliers@movesmith.uk, and the profile is then removed from public pages as soon as reasonably practicable.

4. How and why we use personal data, and our lawful basis

4.1 Where we rely on legitimate interests, we assess the purpose, necessity and impact on people. Our interests include operating and improving a safe and commercially sustainable removals marketplace, matching each Move to suitable and insured capacity, protecting Customers and Operators, measuring performance, preventing repeated service failures, paying and supporting Operators, verifying reviews and presenting relevant optional services without disclosing identity to a Partner. You can request details of the relevant assessment.

4.2 Consent is requested separately from the Marketplace Terms and from the core Booking flow. It must be specific, informed and affirmative. You can refuse or withdraw consent without losing access to the core Platform. A driver’s refusal or withdrawal prevents their portrait from being used for Customer-visible assignment but does not turn their driving licence into a profile image or automatically remove the Operator’s other eligible drivers. Refusing or withdrawing consent to a public crew profile does not affect offers, allocation or the booking-only portrait. For a Partner lead transfer, the request identifies the Partner, purpose and information categories.

5. Partner services, sponsored content and referral revenue

5.1 We may display optional offers or Sponsored Placements from independent Partners, including providers of insurance, storage, packing materials, property services, utilities, telecommunications or other services relevant to moving or operating a removals business. Movesmith may receive an advertising fee, referral fee, commission or other commercial benefit.

5.2 We may select contextual Partner content using the immediate page or service context, such as whether the page concerns a home move, business move, packing, storage or Operator insurance. Contextual display does not give the Partner your identity.

5.3 Seeing or clicking a Partner placement does not give the Partner your name, contact details or Booking record. If you ask a named Partner to contact you, we show what will be transferred and record your affirmative choice before sending it. The Partner then uses the information under its own privacy policy.

5.4 We do not sell personal data or give Partners our customer or Operator database. Revenue from advertising, referral links or consented introductions is not a sale of the database. Partners receive aggregated campaign reporting wherever possible and access only their own campaigns or consented leads.

6. How we share personal data

6.1 We share personal data with: a named offered Operator, limited before acceptance to the operational scope, a privacy-safe indication that Movesmith holds a Customer contact route, and any approved private access evidence needed to assess and plan that offer; the assigned Operator, limited to information required to perform the Move after assignment, including each Extra Stop’s address and on-the-day contact and, where you picked your address from our lookup, the building location for a map pin; the Customer, limited to the assigned driver’s first name, approved profile portrait, verified-driver status and the registration and description of the van assigned to the Move for that Move; processors that operate the Platform under written contracts; professional advisers, insurers and claims handlers where needed for cover, recovery or a dispute; authorities, courts and regulators where required or necessary to protect rights, property or safety; a successor entity in a sale, merger or reorganisation subject to appropriate safeguards; and a named Partner after a separate, informed request or consent. Before acceptance, the readiness indication does not disclose the Customer’s name, phone number or email address and is not a Customer reputation score. Access evidence shown to an offered Operator is time-limited and must not include credentials or be reused for another purpose. A Customer never receives the driver’s licence image, licence details, full identity or personal contact details through this identity display. Public reviews display only the written feedback and display name covered by the Customer’s recorded public-display choice and any related Operator response that Movesmith has moderated. Optional on time, care and communication scores are published only as anonymous averages for an area, once enough people have answered, and never with a name or review text.

6.1A Booking-linked case visibility. A Customer may see only the Customer-safe case summary, next action, evidence and payment state and timeline events expressly marked for the Customer or both parties. The assigned Operator may see only the Operator-safe summary, next action, evidence and payout state and events expressly marked for the Operator or both parties. Internal notes and the other party’s private data are not displayed through that case view. Access is tied to the Customer’s authenticated account or signed Booking link and the currently assigned Operator’s authenticated portal.

6.1B Private Operator cost planning. Optional Operator cost assumptions and calculated contribution estimates are restricted to that Operator’s authenticated portal and authorised Movesmith staff. They are not shown to Customers or other Operators and are not used to set customer pricing, reduce a fixed payout, rank or match Operators, or determine whether an offer may be accepted.

6.1C Protected Pay records. A Booking-linked payout hold and appeal are restricted to the assigned Operator and authorised Movesmith staff. The Customer may see only the Customer-safe payment and case outcome, not the Operator’s private appeal, Stripe account data or other Booking holds. Movesmith uses these records to protect funds, investigate evidence, explain and review the decision, prevent one resolved case releasing another active hold, and maintain the financial audit trail.

6.1D Return-work minimisation. A return-work suggestion is restricted to the authenticated Operator whose accepted Booking supplies the first corridor and authorised Movesmith staff. Before the second Booking is accepted, the Operator sees only outward postcode areas, route and time estimates, the fixed offer information already permitted on the job board and its own private contribution estimate. The other Customer’s name, exact address and contact details are not disclosed through the suggestion. Suggestion data is not used to lower a fixed payout, set the Customer price or bypass eligibility or ranking.

6.1E Public area pages. Area pages may show consented, moderated reviews, anonymous sub-score averages and consented public crew profiles (clause 3.4). Counts and averages come only from real, completed Moves and are shown only above a minimum number, so that no individual Customer can be identified from them.

6.1F Movesmith Business introductions. Where an estate agent, retailer or other organisation prepares a move for you through Movesmith Business and you pay, you control whether it continues to see operational information about that move. Withdrawing ends its future access through the portal, including documents and photographs, without ending your own access, but cannot recall what it has already seen. Your payment details, private support messages, disputes and completion credentials are never shared with it. Where the organisation itself pays, its authorised staff see the move under its Business Customer Agreement. Where an organisation books and pays for a move for you, it gives us your name and mobile number, and your email address if it chooses. We use them only to coordinate your move: arrival and progress texts, a view-only move page and, if the organisation chooses, the completion PIN so that you can sign off on site. We share them with the assigned Operator only as the move needs, and we do not use them for marketing. The organisation and Movesmith each act as an independent controller of your details.

6.1G Packing Kit delivery. When you order a Packing Kit, we share your name, delivery address and phone number with the supplier that dispatches it to you. The supplier uses them only to deliver your kit (their terms allow nothing else) and keeps them as its own business record; it is an independent controller for that use. We do not name the supplier on our site; ask us if you want to know who it is.

6.1H Packing Kit returns. If you return a Packing Kit, it may go to a returns-handling provider who receives it on our behalf, logs your order or return reference and may photograph the items; they act as our processor.

6.2 Processors may provide payments, database services, authentication, file storage, hosting, transactional and lifecycle communications, SMS, mapping, consent management, address lookup, customer and supplier relationship management, packing-kit returns handling, analytics, feature testing, session recording, review invitations, advertising measurement, security, support and reporting, and AI services that generate replies in our website chat. Processors act under written contracts and may use personal data only on our documented instructions. Independent Partners receiving a requested or consented lead use information under their own privacy information. Before any such transfer, we identify the Partner, purpose and categories of information.

6.3 This Policy generally identifies processors by service category. Where another organization acts as an independent or joint controller, relies on consent collected by Movesmith or receives identifiable information for its own purposes, we identify it through the relevant just-in-time notice, consent request, live Technology Register or other appropriate privacy information before the processing begins. The exception is the Packing Kit supplier in clause 6.1G, which we name on request.

7. Categories of service provider

7.1 Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we use an applicable UK adequacy regulation or approved contractual safeguards with appropriate supplementary measures. Details of key providers and safeguards are available on request.

7.2 Apple Pay and Google Pay. If you save your card with Apple Pay or Google Pay, Apple or Google handles your wallet under its own privacy terms, and we and Stripe receive a payment token rather than your full card number.

8. How long we keep personal data

8.1 We review retention and delete or anonymise personal data when it is no longer needed. A dispute, claim, investigation, legal hold or regulatory requirement may justify longer retention of the relevant records.

8.2 Unless a longer period is needed for a Booking, dispute, legal obligation or suppression record, incomplete Draft Quotes and their resume identifiers are normally deleted or anonymized within 90 days of abandonment. Individual session recordings are normally retained for no more than 30 days. Feature-test assignments and individual analytics records are retained only for the period reasonably required to run, validate and aggregate the relevant test or analysis.

9. Your rights under UK GDPR

9.1 You may have rights to access, correct, erase or restrict personal data; receive data you provided in a structured machine-readable format; object to processing based on legitimate interests; object to direct marketing at any time; and withdraw consent.

9.2 Use the Platform privacy controls or contact hello@movesmith.uk. We may verify identity and normally respond within one month. Rights are not absolute and we may retain financial, tax, audit, dispute and suppression records where lawful.

10. Automated decisions and profiling

10.1 Automated rules calculate Quotes; check declared vehicle and fleet capacity, crew, job type, capabilities, route, availability, Declared Value, insurance validity and approved scope evidence; rank eligible Operators using current performance information; identify optional return-work suggestions from an Operator’s declared preferences and booked corridor after the ordinary visible-job gates; estimate move-day arrival times; calculate live arrival estimates and send the arriving-soon text; broadcast job notifications; rate-limit actions; flag fraud; and, with consent, measure or personalise marketing. A return-work suggestion does not allocate or reserve a Booking. A red trust status may automatically pause new allocation, but it does not by itself terminate the Operator relationship or decide an appeal.

10.2 Operators may request human review of an adverse job-fit, trust or allocation restriction and may also use the Supplier Portal or contact suppliers@movesmith.uk to request review of a Strike or verified review, obtain an explanation of the main recorded reasons, provide relevant evidence and ask us to correct inaccurate data. A pending request does not automatically switch off a safety, payment or allocation control. Admin reviewers record a written outcome and can uphold, remove or apply a reasoned, time-limited override. Only an upheld review appeal excludes that rating from trust-band calculation. We monitor these rules for accuracy, error and unfair impact. We do not make solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects without the safeguards required by law.

10.3 A Partner, not Movesmith, is responsible for its own underwriting, eligibility, credit or pricing decisions. Movesmith does not determine eligibility for a Partner’s regulated product merely by displaying a placement or transmitting a requested lead.

11. How we protect personal data

11.1 Measures include encryption in transit; payment tokenisation; database-level and role-based access controls; restricted service-role access; passwordless authentication where used; audit logging; rate limiting; webhook verification; code and dependency review; data minimisation; consent enforcement; and production access restricted to authorised personnel.

11.2 No system is entirely secure. We maintain an incident process and make notifications required by law, including to the ICO and affected people where the applicable thresholds are met.

12. International transfers

12.1 Some providers may process data outside the UK and EEA. We use applicable adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards with supplementary technical and organisational measures. You may request further details. Our website chat uses an AI model provider and an AI routing service based in the United States. We rely on the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified under it, and otherwise on the International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. The providers act only on our instructions and do not use chat content to train their models.

13. Children

13.1 The Platform is not intended for children under 18 and we do not knowingly collect their personal data. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal data.

14. Cookies and similar technologies

14.1 The Platform uses storage and access technologies as described in our Cookie Policy. Non-essential analytics, advertising, personalisation and advertising measurement remain off unless the required consent is obtained. Where a legal exception is used for qualifying aggregate statistics, clear information and a simple free objection are provided.

15. Changes and how to contact us

15.1 We may update this Policy. Where a change is material, we will provide appropriate notice before it takes effect and request fresh consent where required.

15.2 Contact hello@movesmith.uk, 020 3143 1719, or Movesmith Ltd, 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE.

15.3 You may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113. We would welcome the opportunity to address your concern first.