Privacy notice

1. Who is responsible for your data

Sams Smith Traders (“we”, “us”) is the data controller for personal data collected through this website and through commissioned research briefs. We are registered in England & Wales, company number 14556468. You can contact us about anything in this notice at support@smith-traders.support.

2. What we collect

We collect only what is needed to answer an enquiry and deliver a brief: your name, an email address, an optional telephone number, your organisation name where relevant, the content of the messages you send us, and any files you choose to attach. Where you commission work we also hold the brief itself, the criteria agreed and the delivered pack.

We do not collect payment card details, bank details or account credentials. If you send them unprompted we will delete them and ask you not to repeat it.

3. Why we hold it, and on what basis

We process enquiry and client data on the basis of performing a contract with you, or taking steps at your request before a contract is formed. Where we keep records of delivered work, we rely on our legitimate interest in being able to answer questions about work we have carried out and in maintaining accurate business records. We do not rely on consent for any processing that is necessary to deliver a brief you commissioned.

4. What we never do with it

We do not sell personal data. We do not rent, trade or share it for advertising. We do not publish client briefs, and we do not use your enquiry as marketing material. We do not pass your details to any supplier, factory, marketplace or other third party, because we do not act as an intermediary for any transaction.

5. Who else sees it

Limited technical processing is carried out by the providers that host this website and handle our email. Those providers act on our instructions under contract and see data only insofar as it is necessary to run the underlying service. We do not grant them any right to use your data for their own purposes.

6. Transfers outside the United Kingdom

Our hosting and email providers may process data on infrastructure located outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens, we rely on the safeguards those providers put in place for international transfers, and we will provide detail on request.

7. How long we keep it

Enquiries that do not become briefs are deleted within twelve months. Client briefs, the correspondence that shaped them and the delivered packs are kept for six years from the end of the relevant financial year, which reflects the period during which a contractual claim could be brought. Website server logs are kept for a short operational period and then discarded.

8. Your rights

You have the right to be informed about the data we hold, to request a copy of it, to have inaccurate data corrected, to have data erased where we have no continuing reason to hold it, to restrict or object to certain processing, and to receive data you provided in a portable format. Write to support@smith-traders.support and we will respond within one month. There is no charge for a first request.

9. If you are unhappy

Please raise it with us first — most concerns are resolved in one exchange. If you remain dissatisfied you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the United Kingdom’s data protection regulator. We will never treat a complaint as a reason to withdraw service you have already commissioned.

10. Changes to this notice

If we change how we handle personal data we will update this page and revise the date below. Material changes affecting briefs already in progress will be communicated to the client directly rather than only posted here.

Last reviewed: September 2026.