Privacy policy

Grafter Media is a marketing team based in Chelmsford, Essex. We run ads, websites and lead follow-up for service businesses across the UK. We also run our own exterior cleaning business, so we use the same tools on ourselves.

For this policy, we are the controller of the personal data described below. That means we decide how and why it is used.

Email is the quickest way to reach us about your data: [email protected]. You can also message us on WhatsApp or use the contact page.

UK GDPR says we need a lawful reason to use your data. These are ours.

• To answer your enquiry and book your call. Basis: taking steps at your request before a contract, and our legitimate interests in replying to you.
• To provide our services if you become a client. Basis: performing our contract with you.
• To keep our records and accounts. Basis: legal obligation.
• To keep our forms safe from spam. Basis: legitimate interests.
• To measure and improve our own ads and website. Basis: your consent, given through the cookie banner. You can say no and nothing is lost.
• To tell businesses about our marketing services. Basis: legitimate interests. See the section on outreach.

We do not sell your data. We do not use it for automated decisions that affect you.

When you first visit, a banner asks you to accept or reject tracking. Both buttons are equal. If you reject, we do not load the Meta Pixel.

If you accept, the Meta Pixel records page views and when you send an enquiry or book a call. We use this to measure whether our own ads work. With your consent, our server may also send the enquiry to Meta's Conversions API, with a scrambled (hashed) copy of your phone number, your IP address and browser type, so Meta can match it to the ad you saw.

You can change your mind at any time with "Cookie settings" in the footer. The full list of what we use is on our cookies page.

• Enquiries that do not go further: up to 12 months, then deleted.
• Clients: for the length of our work together, then up to 6 years for tax and accounting records.
• Cookie and Pixel data: held by Meta under its own retention rules. Your cookie choice is stored in your browser until you clear it.
• Outreach details: see the outreach section.

If you ask us to delete your data sooner, we will, unless the law says we must keep something.

Under UK GDPR you can ask us to:

• Give you a copy of the data we hold about you
• Correct anything that is wrong
• Delete your data
• Limit how we use it
• Move it to another provider
• Stop using it for our legitimate interests, including outreach

You can also withdraw consent at any time. To use any right, email [email protected]. We reply within one month. There is no fee for ordinary requests.

Questions about your data? Email [email protected], message us on WhatsApp or use the contact page.

If you are not happy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Sometimes we write to a business before they have contacted us. Here is how that works.

What we collect

• Public business details from your Google Business Profile: name, address, phone, website, rating and review count.
• Public details from your website: whether you have a quote form, and a business email address if one is published.
• Whether your business is a registered company, from Companies House.
• Whether your business runs ads, from Meta's public Ad Library.
• When the WhatsApp QR code on our letter is scanned, or you book a call from our letter, with the time and the browser type. No cookies are used for this.

Why, and our lawful basis

To contact you about our marketing services, by post and, for limited companies only, by email. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests. We only contact businesses, and we keep it to a few messages.

Who sees it

Our print-and-post supplier, so they can post your letter, and our hosting and database provider, Cloudflare. We do not sell your data.

How long we keep it

Up to 6 months, unless you become a client. If you ask us to stop, we delete your details and keep only a minimal record so we never contact you again.

Opting out

You can object at any time, and ask for a copy of your data or for it to be deleted. Reply STOP on WhatsApp, or email [email protected]. We reply within one month. You can also complain to the ICO at ico.org.uk.

We may update this policy when our services or the law change. The date at the top of the page shows the latest version. If a change matters to you, we will say so clearly.

Our terms of use explain the rules for using this website and our services.