This policy explains how Starlight Tea Chapel collects, uses and protects your personal information when you visit our tea room, book a wake or use our website. It follows the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
Who we are
Starlight Tea Chapel is the data controller for your personal information. This means we decide how and why it is used.
If you have any questions about this policy or your information, please contact us using the details above.
What information we collect
We only collect the information we need. This includes:
- Enquiries: your name, phone number, email address, preferred date and anything you write in your message. This comes from our website enquiry form, phone calls, emails or Facebook messages.
- Wake bookings: the contact person’s details, the date and time, number of guests, chosen package and any dietary requirements.
- Dietary and allergy information: this can sometimes reveal health or religious details. We only use it to prepare food safely, and only with your agreement.
- Payments: when you pay by card in the tea room, your card details are handled by our card payment provider. We do not see or store your full card number.
- Website use: basic technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit. This is collected by the services described under “Cookies and third-party services” below.
We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. Please do not use our enquiry form if you are under 13.
Why we use it and our legal basis
UK law requires a lawful basis for each way we use your information.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|
| Reply to your enquiry and check availability | Legitimate interests (answering people who contact us) |
| Arrange and deliver your wake booking | Contract, or steps you ask us to take before a contract |
| Use dietary or allergy details to prepare food safely | Your explicit consent |
| Keep booking and payment records for tax and accounts | Legal obligation |
| Protect our website from spam and misuse | Legitimate interests (keeping our website secure) |
| Show Google reviews on our website | Legitimate interests |
| Show a Google map of our location | Your consent (the map only loads when you choose to show it) |
We do not sell your information. We do not send marketing emails or texts unless you have asked us to. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
Who we share it with
We only share your information with trusted services that help us run our business. They may only use it to provide their service to us.
| Service | What it does | Information involved |
|---|
| Fasthosts | Hosts our website and its backups | Website data and form messages |
| Fasthosts and Microsoft (Hotmail) | Delivers enquiry emails to our inbox | Your enquiry details |
| WPForms (website form) | Sends your enquiry form to our email | Your enquiry details |
| Google reCAPTCHA | Checks form submissions are not spam | Device and browser information |
| Google Maps | Shows our location on the website, only if you choose to show the map | IP address and device information |
| Trustindex | Displays our Google reviews on the website | IP address when reviews load |
| Takepayments | Processes card payments in the tea room | Card payment details |
We may also share information if the law requires it, for example with HMRC or the police. We never pass your details to funeral directors or anyone else without your permission.
How long we keep it
We keep your information only as long as we need it, then delete it securely.
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|
| Enquiries that do not lead to a booking | 12 months from our last contact |
| Wake booking details | 12 months after the wake |
| Dietary and allergy details | Deleted within 1 month after the wake |
| Invoices and payment records | 6 years, as required by HMRC |
| Website backups | Up to 3 months |
Cookies and third-party services
Cookies are small files stored on your device. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. Our website uses:
- Essential cookies that keep the site working and secure. These do not need your consent.
- Google reCAPTCHA on our enquiry form, which may set cookies and collect device information to stop spam.
- Google Maps, which may set cookies. Our maps only load when you click “Show map”, or you can use the “Get directions” link instead.
- Google reviews via Trustindex, which load reviewer names and photos from Google.
You can delete or block cookies at any time in your browser settings.
Our website links to other sites, such as Facebook and Google. Their own privacy policies apply when you visit them.
Keeping your information safe
We protect your information with password-protected accounts, secure website connections (HTTPS), regular backups and software updates. Only the people who need it to run your booking can see it.
Some of the services we use, such as Google and Microsoft, may store information outside the UK. When this happens, the transfer is protected by UK adequacy regulations or approved contract terms, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Access – ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
- Rectification – ask us to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
- Erasure – ask us to delete your information
- Restriction – ask us to limit how we use your information
- Objection – object to us using your information based on our legitimate interests
- Portability – ask for your information in a format you can pass to someone else
- Withdraw consent – where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time
To use any of these rights, contact us by phone, email or post. It is free, and we will reply within one month.
How to complain
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 (ICO):
- Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Phone: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page. This policy was last updated on 14 November 2026.
