Privacy

Privacy notice

Last updated: 6 November 2026

Jez Etherton, a sole trader, operates The Pakistani Wedding Co and is responsible for the personal information described here. Service address: PWCo @ Runaround, 1 Holbrook Rise, Sheffield, S20 3FG. Contact: admin@pakistaniwedding.co.uk.

Information we use

When you follow a sponsored supplier link, a short-lived signed reference identifies that placement for up to 24 hours. If you enquire with that supplier, we can count the enquiry against the advert once email delivery is confirmed. This reference contains the placement, supplier and click time; it does not contain your name or email and uses no advertising cookie. Suppliers see aggregate advertising counts.

You can browse, search, compare suppliers and keep a device-only shortlist without creating an account. A guest shortlist is stored in your browser and is not a The Pakistani Wedding Co account record.

If you create an account, we use your email address, authentication records and database-backed session information to provide and secure sign-in. Session security records can include the IP address and browser user-agent associated with the session. If you choose Google sign-in, we keep the provider account link needed for authentication but do not retain provider access, refresh or ID tokens that The Pakistani Wedding Co does not need. A signed-in shortlist stores the suppliers you save and the category context in which you saved them.

If you send an enquiry, claim, correction or removal request, we store the selected supplier, your name, email address, message, the notice acknowledgement, submission time and review/delivery information. Authenticated supplier requests may also be linked to your account. Please do not include identity documents, passwords, financial information or unnecessary sensitive details.

If a supplier claim is independently verified, the account may receive access to manage that specific supplier. Supplier changes create proposal and audit records containing the proposed fields, decision outcome and review notes where needed. Account identity and supplier ownership verification remain separate.

If supplier media is enabled, an authorised supplier uploader provides the image, alt text and a declaration explaining the copyright, licence or other permission relied on. Uploaded images are re-encoded before storage so original metadata is not intentionally retained. Pending media remains private until approved; approved media is then made public on the supplier listing. We also retain proportionate media review and rights evidence for audit and dispute handling.

Supplier listings contain business information gathered from the supplier or current public business sources. Aggregate totals cover profile views, enquiries and contact-link actions by supplier, day and channel, with a general page source where available. These are interaction counts, not unique visitors or confirmed bookings. Those totals do not store a visitor identifier, cookie, IP address or raw browser identifier.

Memberships, advertising and payments

If you start a paid checkout, we link your account and supplier listing to the chosen service, quoted price, billing period, checkout status and Stripe references needed to confirm payment and provide the service. Subscription, invoice, founding-price expiry, cancellation, advertising order and reminder records support billing, account access, customer support and dispute handling. An unfinished checkout may still leave a limited record needed to reconcile its outcome safely.

Stripe collects payment details directly through its hosted checkout and billing pages. We do not store full card numbers or card security codes in the website database. Stripe also uses payment and technical information for its own security and legal purposes, as explained in its privacy notice.

Email news and offers

At sign-in and in Account settings, you can choose whether to receive email news, offers and membership upgrades from The Pakistani Wedding Co. The box starts unticked. Your choice does not affect your account, free profile or membership. We record the wording, version, time and source of your choice. We do not treat an existing account, claim or listing application as marketing consent.

You can withdraw in Account settings or use the unsubscribe link in a marketing email without signing in. Opening an unsubscribe page alone changes nothing. Essential sign-in, security and billing messages continue. Our consent-based supplier campaign list only includes opted-in, verified account holders with an active public supplier listing.

We keep a separate business contact record so resolving or tidying an old supplier application does not remove our only contact details. Records awaiting a marketing choice are excluded from campaigns. We review inactive prospective contacts after 12 months rather than keeping them indefinitely. If you delete your account, we stop account-based marketing and remove the contact details from this record, retaining a minimal email hash and choice history to honour your opt-out and evidence the decision. Marketing preferences and suppression records have their own review schedule and are not erased by request cleanup.

Purposes and lawful bases

We use account, session and shortlist information to provide the account service you request and to keep it secure. For new enquiries from 26 October 2026, we rely on legitimate interests to receive, record and deliver the enquiry you ask us to send to your selected supplier, track delivery and prevent abuse. The required checkbox confirms that you understand this sharing; it is not marketing consent. We do not retrospectively change the recorded notice or consent history of older enquiries. We rely on legitimate interests to review supplier claims and listing requests, maintain proportionate public business listings, operate supplier-management and media-review workflows, count contact channels, prevent abuse, secure the service and preserve a proportionate audit trail. Those interests are operating a useful and trustworthy supplier directory without tracking individual visitors.

We use support, safety-report, complaint and rights-request information to investigate and respond, protect people and the service, and meet applicable legal duties. We rely on legitimate interests for proportionate support and safety casework and on legal obligations where they apply to privacy rights and complaints. We ask for only the information needed for the concern. We do not use enquiries or reports for promotional mailing.

We use billing information to perform the paid-service contract with an individual purchaser, and rely on legitimate interests to administer purchases made on behalf of a business, reconcile payments, prevent fraud and handle disputes. We rely on legal obligations to retain records required for tax and accounting. Renewal, payment and expiry messages concern the service you bought; they are separate from optional marketing.

Who receives information

Our current service providers include Hostinger for hosting, database and email services, Cloudflare R2 for portfolio storage, Stripe for payments and Google when you choose its sign-in service. These providers may use international infrastructure and sub-processors. Where a restricted transfer requires safeguards, these must be supported by applicable contractual or other lawful transfer arrangements. Contact us for details relevant to your information.

We use research and private cloud storage services to check public business information and keep research records and backups. These providers may process information outside the UK, including in the United States. Their privacy policies describe safeguards such as standard contractual clauses and applicable adequacy arrangements. You can contact us for details or a copy of the safeguards relevant to your information.

Where delivery is available, an enquiry is emailed to the supplier you selected; otherwise it is marked for manual follow-up and the receipt tells you it has not yet been delivered. Claim, supplier-change and media-review details are used by The Pakistani Wedding Co for verification and moderation and are not published as account information. Approved supplier images and the public listing facts they support are public.

Hosting, database, transactional-email and approved object-storage providers may process the limited information needed to run and secure the service. We may also disclose information where the law requires it.

Stripe receives the account, supplier and purchase references needed to process and reconcile membership and advertising payments. Its privacy notice describes its recipients and international processing. Payment information is not added to your public supplier profile.

Retention and account deletion

Ordinary enquiry, correction, removal and unverified claim records become eligible for deletion 90 days after closure or the recorded decision and are handled by the scheduled retention process. New-business listing requests become eligible 180 days after closure or the recorded decision. Cleanup can be paused where information is needed for a rights request, complaint, investigation or legal obligation. For a verified claim, claimant personal fields are redacted after the normal retention period while the minimum business-control verification evidence can remain as an audit record.

We keep relevant business profile information while it remains accurate and useful for our wedding directory. We correct, remove or minimise information that is no longer needed.

We review private researched contact details 12 months after the last substantive check of their accuracy and continued need. We delete or minimise details that are no longer needed; if we retain necessary details, we record why and when we will review them again. We keep only separately justified records needed to handle rights requests or respect objections.

Support and complaint correspondence is kept in the support mailbox and a restricted case record. Our working policy is to review closed case files for deletion or minimisation after 12 months, retaining specific evidence longer only when necessary for a continuing dispute or legal duty. Provider logs, backups and financial records can have separate retention periods; backup copies expire through their own rotation rather than disappearing immediately with a live record.

Saved suppliers are deleted with the account. Account deletion removes the account and its active supplier-dashboard access. If no other authorised account remains for a supplier, its current public claim state returns to unclaimed. Deletion does not remove the supplier's public business listing. Supplier-change and media audit records may remain where needed to preserve the history of changes, permissions, moderation or disputes, with the deleted account link removed where the data model supports that minimisation.

Account deletion does not erase financial records that must be kept. As a sole trader, we keep tax and accounting records for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline for the relevant tax year, and longer where a legal obligation or an unresolved tax enquiry requires it. Other billing references and audit information are reviewed for deletion or minimisation when no longer needed to provide the service, reconcile payments, prevent fraud or handle a dispute.

A payer must resolve unfinished checkout and recurring-membership billing before account deletion can complete. This keeps billing access available while the membership remains active. You can still contact us with a privacy request. Privately retained portfolio media is separate from public visibility; media hidden after a membership change is not automatically deleted or republished when you upgrade.

Cookies, local storage and analytics

Signed-in accounts use an essential session cookie. A guest shortlist uses browser local storage, including a recovery copy if needed. Supplier comparisons use session storage for the suppliers you choose in that browser tab. These features do not track you across websites. You can remove saved suppliers or clear this information in your browser settings. The Pakistani Wedding Co does not currently use advertising cookies or visitor analytics. Essential infrastructure may process technical request logs to deliver and protect the website.

Portfolio videos stay blocked until you choose to allow the named provider and play a video. That choice applies to that player only and is not remembered for future visits. YouTube or Vimeo may use device information and cookies for playback, measurement and personalisation under the provider policy linked beside the player. Choose Stop and block video to remove the player and prevent further loading there. This does not remove cookies already set by the provider; use your browser settings or the provider’s privacy controls for those. You can instead follow the link to watch on the provider’s website.

Information from public business sources

Some unclaimed profiles come from business websites, public business social profiles and other public directories. Where this identifies a sole trader or a person, it can still be personal information. We use relevant business facts to help people find wedding services, record sources and review accuracy. You can ask where your details came from, correct them, object to the listing or request removal. A public source does not give us permission to send marketing emails.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to use of your information, and to withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis. You may also make a data protection complaint to the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

To make a privacy request, email admin@pakistaniwedding.co.uk.

Use our data protection complaints route if you are concerned about how we use your information. We acknowledge privacy complaints within 30 days, investigate without undue delay, keep you informed and explain the outcome. Our privacy rights route explains how to ask for access, correction, deletion or other rights. A rights response is normally due within one calendar month, subject to the applicable rules. You can also contact the ICO directly.