Privacy Notice

Virtual Assistant Assignments

Last updated: 01.09.26

This notice explains how Virtual Assistant Assignments collects and uses personal information about clients, enquirers, suppliers and visitors to our website, and the rights you have over it.

1. Who we are

Virtual Assistant Assignments is run by Amanda Smith, a sole trader. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice, which means we decide why and how it is used.

If you have any questions about this notice or your information, please email info@vaassignments.co.uk. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number ZB850022.

2. Who this notice applies to

This notice applies to our clients and prospective clients, our suppliers, substitutes and subcontractors, and anyone who visits our website or contacts us.

It does not apply to personal information we handle for a client as part of the work we do for them. In that case the client decides how the information is used, and their own privacy notice applies. If you are a customer, employee or contact of one of our clients, please contact that organisation about your information. If you contact us instead, we will pass your request on to them promptly.

3. The information we collect

Clients and prospective clients: your name, your organisation, your business contact details, our correspondence with you, details of the services discussed or agreed, and records of the work we carry out and invoice.

Suppliers, substitutes and subcontractors: your name, business name and contact details, evidence of your skills, qualifications, references and insurance, the agreements you sign with us, and your payment details.

Website visitors and enquirers: the information you give us through our enquiry form or by email, and technical information about your visit such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you view.

We do not ask for sensitive information (such as details of your health, ethnicity or religious beliefs), and we ask that you do not send it to us unless we have requested it.

4. Where we get it from

Most of the information we hold comes directly from you, for example when you make an enquiry, speak to us, sign an agreement or work with us. We may also use publicly available sources such as your website, Companies House or a professional networking profile, or receive your details from someone who has recommended us to you.

5. How we use your information and why

Data protection law says we must have a valid reason, known as a lawful basis, for using your personal information. The table below shows what we use it for and the lawful basis we rely on.

What we use it for

• Lawful basis
• Replying to your enquiry and   preparing a quote or proposal
• Taking steps at your request before   entering into a contract; our legitimate interests in responding to enquiries
• Agreeing terms and providing the   services you have asked for
• Performing our contract with you
• Recording our time, sending   invoices and taking payment
• Performing our contract with you;   meeting our legal obligations
• Keeping accounting and tax records
• Meeting our legal obligations,   including HMRC requirements
• Checking, engaging, managing and   paying suppliers, substitutes and subcontractors
• Performing a contract; our   legitimate interests in running the business safely and to a good standard
• Keeping business records, such as  records of complaints and incidents
• Meeting our legal obligations; our   legitimate interests in being able to show that we work properly
• Sending you occasional information   about our services
• Your consent, where consent is required; otherwise our legitimate interests in promoting our business to   other businesses
• Dealing with a complaint, dispute  or insurance claim
• Our legitimate interests in  resolving and defending claims
• Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have checked that our interests are not outweighed by your rights. You can ask us for more details at any time.

6. Do you have to give us your information?

You do not have to give us any personal information. However, we need certain details, such as your name, contact details and information about the work required, to reply to an enquiry, agree terms and provide our services. If you choose not to provide them, we may not be able to work with you. Suppliers and subcontractors must give us the details we need to engage and pay them.

7. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information or share it for anyone else's marketing. We share it only when necessary, and only with:

· our accountant or bookkeeper, and HMRC, for tax and accounting purposes;

· the providers of the software we use to run the business, such as email, cloud storage, accounting and time-recording tools, who hold information on our behalf under contract;

· a substitute or subcontractor carrying out work for us, who must first agree in writing to confidentiality and data protection terms at least as strict as ours;

· our insurers or professional advisers, where we need advice or need to deal with a claim; and

· a regulator, court or other authority, where the law requires us to.

8. Keeping your information safe

We keep your personal information on encrypted devices and in reputable cloud services with appropriate security and contractual protections. Access is limited to those who need it to do their work.

Some of our software providers may store or process information outside the UK. When this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, so your information stays equally protected.

9. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:

•  Enquiries that do not lead to any   work - 12 months from our last contact
• Agreements, invoices, time records   and correspondence about work we have done - Six years from the end of the work
• Supplier, substitute and   subcontractor records - Six years from the end of the   relationship
• Accounting and tax records - Six years, as HMRC requires 
• Complaint and incident records - Six years
• Marketing contact details - Until you ask us to stop, and no   longer than 24 months after our last contact
• At the end of the retention period we securely delete electronic records, including from backups and cloud storage where technically possible, and shred any paper records.

10. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

· ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;

· ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;

· ask us to delete your information when we no longer need it;

· ask us to limit how we use your information;

· object to our using your information where we rely on legitimate interests, and to stop our marketing at any time;

· receive your information in a portable format, where we hold it because of your consent or a contract; and

· withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it.

To use any of these rights, email info@vaassignments.co.uk. We will reply within one month and there is usually no charge. We may ask you to confirm your identity before we release any information.

11. Marketing

If we send you information about our services, every message will include an easy way to opt out, and we will stop as soon as you ask. Opting out will not affect messages we need to send you about work we are doing for you.

12. Cookies and our website

Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website. Our website uses essential cookies that it needs to work properly, and these do not require your consent.

We use  Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website, and only with your consent. When you first visit, a cookie banner lets you accept or decline non-essential cookies, and you can change your choice at any time through [the cookie settings link at the bottom of each page].

Our enquiry form is provided by Godaddy which stores your message on our behalf. Our website may link to other websites; we are not responsible for how they handle your information, so please read their privacy notices.

13. Tools and automated decisions

We do not make any decisions about you by purely automated means. We use AI tools to help with tasks such as drafting, summarising, formatting, research and routine administration. When we do, we remove or minimise personal information first, a person checks everything before it is used, and we only use tools whose providers do not train their models on the information we enter.

14. How to complain

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first at info@vaassignments.co.uk so we can try to put things right. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and let you know the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Helpline: 0303 123 1113. Website: ico.org.uk.

15. Changes to this notice

We review this notice at least once a year and whenever the way we work or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.