Who we are

This website is operated by Lifting, Access, Drone & Steam Limited (company number 16941999), trading as LADS — Lifting, Access, Drone & Steam, of Wickford, Essex. For the purposes of UK data protection law we are the data controller for the information described here.

You can reach us by phone on 0330 043 0961 or by email at info@liftingaccessdronesteam.co.uk. Our data protection contact is {{PLACEHOLDER:named data protection contact}}. ICO registration number: {{PLACEHOLDER:ICO registration number, if registered}}.

What this website collects

Very little, by design. We keep third-party tools to a minimum: there are no advertising pixels, no social media trackers and no embedded maps. The one exception is website analytics, which we use to understand how the site is performing — see below.

Enquiry form — the form on this site does not send anything to us directly. When you press send, it opens your own email application (or WhatsApp, if you choose that route) with the details already written out. Nothing is submitted to or stored on this website. The information reaches us only when you send that message yourself.
Server logs — our hosting provider records standard web server logs, which may include your IP address, the pages requested, the time of the request and your browser's user-agent string. These exist for security and troubleshooting.
Analytics — we use Google Analytics (GA4), together with Google Tag Manager, to see how many people visit, which pages they read and roughly where they come from. This helps us improve the site. Google processes this data on our behalf and may set cookies in your browser to recognise return visits; the information is aggregated and we do not use it to identify you personally. Google's own handling of this data is covered by its privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.
Cookies — aside from the analytics cookies described above, this website sets no advertising or marketing cookies. A session cookie is also used in the private administration area, which is not accessible to visitors.

If you would rather not be included in analytics, you can use your browser's privacy settings or a tracker-blocking extension to opt out, and most browsers let you clear or block cookies entirely.

What we do with information you send us

If you email, call, message or write to us, we use the details you provide to answer your enquiry, prepare a quotation, carry out work you instruct, produce risk assessments and method statements for that work, raise invoices, and keep the records a business is required to keep.

Our lawful bases are: taking steps at your request before entering into a contract and performance of a contract where you go on to instruct us; legitimate interests in responding to enquiries and running the business; and legal obligation for accounting, tax and health and safety records.

Photographs of work

We photograph our work for records and, sometimes, for this website, our gallery or social media. We do not publish images that identify a private residence's address or a person without permission. If a photograph of your property appears here and you would rather it did not, tell us and we will remove it.

Site surveys, drone flights and thermal imagery

Drone inspections capture visual and thermal imagery of the building being surveyed. Flights are planned to capture the property in question, and imagery is used to produce the survey findings for the client who commissioned it. Survey data is retained so that a building's condition can be compared over time, and is not sold or shared for marketing.

Who we share information with

We do not sell personal information. We share it only where it is necessary: with our accountants and professional advisers, with our insurers where a claim or incident arises, with subcontractors or partners engaged on your job (and only what they need to do it), and with public authorities where the law requires it. Our hosting and email providers process data on our behalf as part of running the website and our email.

How long we keep it

Enquiries that do not lead to work are kept only as long as they are useful, and then deleted. Records relating to work carried out — quotations, RAMS, invoices and correspondence — are kept for as long as we may need them for accounting, insurance and legal purposes. Detailed retention periods: {{PLACEHOLDER:confirm retention periods with your accountant and insurer}}.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you; to have inaccurate information corrected; to ask us to delete information where there is no good reason for us to keep it; to object to or restrict certain processing; and, in some circumstances, to have information transferred to another provider. To exercise any of these, email info@liftingaccessdronesteam.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Security

This website is served over HTTPS. The administration area is password-protected, uses hashed passwords, protects its forms against cross-site request forgery and locks out repeated failed logins. No system is perfect, but we take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the information we hold.

Links to other websites

Where we link out — for example to our Facebook page — that site has its own privacy policy, and we are not responsible for how it handles your information.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle personal information, we will update this page and the review date at the top of it.

Privacy policy