Privacy Policy

01 Who we are

Translation Services UK provides professional translation, localization and interpreting services to clients in the United Kingdom and internationally. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller of the personal information described in this policy.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us by email at privacy@translationserviceuk.com or through our contact page.

02 Information we collect

Information you give us

• Contact & enquiry details — your name, email address, phone number, company name and the content of any message or enquiry you send us.
• Documents and content for translation — the files, text and materials you submit so that we can quote for and carry out your project. These may contain personal data about you or third parties.
• Order & account details — the services you request, your project history, correspondence and any preferences or instructions you give us.
• Payment information — billing details needed to process payment. Card payments are handled by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers on our systems.

Information we collect automatically

• Usage and device data — when you visit our website we may collect your IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed and the dates and times of your visit.
• Cookies and similar technologies — small files that help the website function, remember your preferences and measure performance. See section 7.

03 How we use your information and our legal bases

We only use your personal data where the law allows us to. The table below sets out what we use your data for and the lawful basis we rely on.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether those interests are overridden by your rights, and we believe they are not. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time (see section 10).

04 Your documents and confidentiality

Confidentiality is central to what we do. The documents and content you send us are treated as strictly confidential and are used only to quote for and deliver your project.

• Your materials are shared only with the linguists, revisers and project staff assigned to your work, all of whom are bound by confidentiality and non-disclosure obligations.
• We do not sell your documents or use them to train any publicly available artificial intelligence model.
• We retain project files only for as long as set out in section 8, and we will securely delete them sooner on request once your project is complete and any applicable retention period has passed.

05 Sharing your information

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only in the following circumstances:

• Our linguists and interpreters — the qualified professionals assigned to your project, under binding confidentiality agreements.
• Service providers (processors) — trusted suppliers who help us operate, such as secure hosting, our payment provider, email and customer-management tools, and website analytics. They act on our instructions and are contractually required to protect your data.
• Professional advisers — such as our accountants, auditors or lawyers, where necessary.
• Authorities and others — where we are legally required to do so, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
• Business transfers — if our business is reorganised, merged or sold, your data may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

06 International transfers

Because we work with native linguists around the world, your information may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the United Kingdom. Where we do this, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place — such as transfers to countries the UK government considers to provide adequate protection, or the use of the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or Standard Contractual Clauses with additional safeguards where required. You can ask us for more detail using the contact details in section 12.

07 Cookies and analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to function correctly, remember your choices and help us understand how the site is used so we can improve it. Strictly necessary cookies are required for the site to work; other cookies are used only where you allow them. You can control cookies through your browser settings and through any cookie preferences offered on the site. Disabling some cookies may affect how the website works.

08 How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as we need it for the purposes set out above, and to meet our legal obligations.

• Enquiries that do not lead to an order — typically up to 12 months, then deleted or anonymised.
• Project files and translated documents — retained for the period needed to support the project and any follow-up, then securely deleted; deleted sooner on request where no legal obligation requires us to keep them.
• Financial and transaction records — kept for at least 6 years to meet UK tax and accounting requirements.
• Marketing preferences — kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to stop.

09 How we keep your data secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include encryption of data in transit, access controls and staff confidentiality obligations, secure storage, and processes aligned with recognised information-security standards. While no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we work to protect your data and to deal promptly with any issues that arise.

10 Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• be informed about how your data is used (this policy);
• request access to the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• ask us to erase your data in certain circumstances;
• ask us to restrict how we use your data;
• object to processing based on our legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
• ask us to transfer certain data to you or another provider (data portability); and
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@translationserviceuk.com. We will respond within one month. Exercising your rights is free, although we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse a request that is clearly unfounded or excessive. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, though we'd appreciate the chance to put things right first.

11 Children's privacy

Our services and website are intended for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.

12 Changes to this policy and contact

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date at the top of this page, and where changes are significant we will take reasonable steps to bring them to your attention.