Davidson Estates Sales & Lettings Ltd
Company number: 15854316
ICO registration number: ZB725117

Registered/business address:
24A Commercial Road
Lower Parkstone
Poole
BH14 0JR

Email: hello@davidsonsestates.com
Telephone: 01202 287606


1. About this Privacy Notice
Davidson Estates Sales & Lettings Ltd (“Davidson Estates”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you: visit or use our website, contact us, enquire about a property, register as a prospective buyer or tenant, instruct us to sell or let a property, buy or sell a property through us, rent or let a property, act as a landlord, tenant, buyer, seller or guarantor, use services arranged or introduced by us, communicate with us by email, telephone, post, social media or other means OR otherwise interact with Davidson Estates.
It also explains your rights under applicable data protection legislation and how you can exercise those rights.
Our principal data protection obligations arise under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (“PECR”), as amended, and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (“DUAA”), together with other legislation applicable to our business. We keep this Privacy Notice under review and will update it when our processing activities or legal obligations change.

2. Who is responsible for your personal information?
Davidson Estates Sales & Lettings Ltd is the data controller for the personal information covered by this Privacy Notice, unless we specifically tell you otherwise.
As the data controller, we determine the purposes for which your personal information is processed and the manner in which it is processed. Davidson Estates is a small business managed by its directors. We do not currently have a separately appointed Data Protection Officer because we do not consider that the statutory requirements for appointing a DPO apply to our organisation.If you have any questions about how we use your personal information, please contact us using the details in section 27.

3. What personal information do we collect?
The information we collect depends on your relationship with us and the services you use. This may include: Identification and contact informatioN: name, title, postal address, email address, telephone number, date of birth where required, identification information, nationality or residency information where required; anD information necessary to distinguish you from other individuals.

Property and transaction information: property address, property ownership information, property preferences, sale or letting requirements, viewing information, offers, rental information, tenancy information, communications and instructions, information about a property's condition or occupation and information relating to buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and other transaction participants.

Financial information Where necessary for a transaction or service, we may process: bank account details, payment information, income information, affordability information, financial circumstances, transaction and payment records, information required for referencing; and information required for fraud prevention or legal compliance.

Identity and anti-money-laundering information: Where required, we may collect information necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including; identity documents, proof of address, ownership information, beneficial ownership information, source-of-funds information, source-of-wealth information where applicable anD records of checks undertaken.

We currently carry out relevant identity and anti-money-laundering checks manually rather than through a dedicated automated AML/ID platform.

Referencing information: Where you apply to rent a property, information may be collected and processed for tenant referencing. We use HomeLet for tenant referencing. This may involve information about; identity, address history, employment, income, affordability, credit history, previous tenancy information, guarantors; and other information required for referencing. HomeLet may obtain information from you and from other sources, including credit-reference and fraud-prevention organisations.

Communications: We may retain; emails, letters, telephone notes, messages, viewing records, instructions, documents and attachments, complaints and other correspondence relating to our relationship with you.

Marketing information: Where applicable, we may process; contact details, marketing preferences, communication preferences, property interests and records of marketing consent or objections.

Website and technical information: Our website is hosted using Framer.
We use Framer's built-in Analytics to understand general website activity and improve our website. We do not currently use Google Analytics.

4. How do we obtain your personal information?
We may obtain personal information; directly from you, from another person involved in a property transaction, from a joint applicant, from a landlord, tenant, buyer or seller, from your authorised representative, from your employer or professional adviser where relevant, from HomeLet, from solicitors and conveyancers, from mortgage or financial advisers, from contractors or other property service providers, from publicly available sources, from fraud-prevention or credit-reference organisations where applicable, from government bodies or regulators where permitted or required anD from other third parties where there is a lawful basis for obtaining the information.
Where we obtain personal information from another source, we will provide the privacy information required by applicable data protection law, including information about the source where required.

5. How do we use your personal information?
We use personal information for purposes including: Estate agency and property services TO; market properties, respond to enquiries, arrange and conduct viewings, communicate with prospective buyers and tenants, receive and communicate offers, progress sales and lettings, manage landlord and tenant relationships, administer tenancies, communicate with solicitors, conveyancers, mortgage advisers and other professionals, arrange property-related services, maintain property records, provide customer support and administer our instructions and transactions.
Referencing
For prospective tenants, we use personal information to facilitate tenant referencing through HomeLet. HomeLet is a separate organisation and may process information as its own data controller in accordance with its own privacy notice. HomeLet may carry out affordability, credit, identity, fraud-prevention and other checks as part of its referencing service. HomeLet may provide an outcome such as; acceptable, acceptable subject to a guarantor or other condition or not acceptable.
HomeLet's systems include automated processing as part of its referencing service, while other applications may be handled by its specialist team. Davidson Estates does not itself make a decision solely by automated means to accept or reject a tenant. A HomeLet referencing outcome does not automatically require the landlord to reject an applicant. The landlord retains the decision whether to proceed with an applicant, including where HomeLet's outcome is not acceptable.
Where a third-party provider uses solely automated processing that has legal or similarly significant effects, the relevant provider's own obligations and privacy information will apply. We will also consider any obligations applicable to our own processing.

6. HomeLet services
In addition to tenant referencing, we may introduce customers to HomeLet for other property-related services. These may include; tenant referencing, rent recovery services, buildings and contents insurance and media services, including broadband and television services. HomeLet is a separate organisation and processes personal information under its own privacy arrangements. Where you choose to use a HomeLet service, information may be passed to HomeLet or collected directly by HomeLet as necessary to provide that service. Davidson Estates may receive a referral fee or commission from HomeLet in relation to certain services.
Further information about our referral arrangements is provided in our separate Referral & Commission Disclosure below:
Referral Fees & Commission Disclosure
Use of these services is optional unless expressly stated otherwise.

7. Our lawful bases for processing
We only process personal information where there is a lawful basis for doing so. Depending on the circumstances, our lawful bases include:
Contract - We may process personal information where this is necessary to; enter into a contract with you, perform a contract with you or take steps at your request before entering into a contract. Examples include acting on a property instruction, progressing a transaction or administering a tenancy.
Legal obligation - We may process information where necessary to comply with a legal obligation. This may include obligations relating to; anti-money laundering, identity verification, taxation, accounting, property and letting requirements, fraud prevention, regulatory requirements, court orders anD lawful requests from government or law-enforcement bodies.
Legitimate interests - We may process personal information where necessary for our legitimate interests, or those of a third party, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. Our legitimate interests may include; operating and administering our business, maintaining customer and property records, providing estate agency services, communicating with customers, maintaining information security, preventing fraud, improving our services, managing supplier relationships, protecting our business, pursuing or defending legal claims and maintaining appropriate business records. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the processing is necessary and whether your rights and interests are adequately protected.
Consent - Where appropriate, we may rely on your consent. This may include certain direct marketing activities or other processing where consent is the appropriate lawful basis. Where we rely on consent; we will ask for consent clearly, consent will not be assumed merely because you use our services, you may withdraw consent at any time and withdrawal will not affect processing that took place lawfully before consent was withdrawn.

8. Special category and criminal offence information
Special category information includes information such as health information, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, biometric information used for identification, genetic information, and information concerning sex life or sexual orientation. We do not routinely seek special category information. However, we may receive or process such information where you provide it to us or where it is necessary for a particular lawful purpose, such as making reasonable adjustments or dealing with a legal matter. Where we process special category information, we will only do so where an appropriate condition under applicable data protection law applies. We may also process information relating to criminal convictions or offences where this is necessary and legally permitted, including for fraud prevention, anti-money-laundering requirements, legal claims or other lawful purposes.

9. Who do we share your personal information with?
Our technology and service providers. Depending on the circumstances, we may use or share personal information with: Alto Software Group (ASG) – our CRM system for sales and lettings, PropertyFile – the customer, landlord and tenant portal associated with our Alto system, Framer – website hosting and website services, Framer Analytics – website analytics, Google Workspace/Gmail – business email and associated services, Google Drive – where business documents or files are downloaded, created or otherwise stored using Google Workspace, Signable – electronic signing of documents, WhatsApp Business – customer communications, Tamar Phone – our business telephone/landline service provider, HomeLet – tenant referencing and other property-related services.
The role of each third party may differ depending on the service being provided. Some organisations may process personal information on our behalf as a processor, while others may process personal information as an independent controller for their own purposes. Where appropriate, we will explain the relevant third party's role and provide information about its privacy practices.
Professional and transaction-related organisations. Where necessary, we may share information with; solicitors, conveyancers, mortgage advisers, financial advisers, landlords, sellers, buyers, tenants, guarantors, contractors, insurers, property service providers, accountants, auditors anD other professional advisers.
Government, regulatory and legal organisations. We may share information with; the Information Commissioner's Office, HM Revenue & Customs, law enforcement agencies, courts, government departments, regulatory bodies and other authorities where we are legally required or permitted to do so.
We only share personal information where there is a lawful basis for doing so.

10. Alto and PropertyFile
We use Alto Software Group (ASG) as our principal CRM and property-management system. Our use of Alto covers both our sales and lettings activities. Information stored within Alto may include; customer contact details, property information, sales information, tenancy information, correspondence, identity documents, proof-of-address documents, AML information, transaction records, tenancy documentation, referencing information, financial information where relevant and other documents and information required to provide our services.
We also use PropertyFile, the customer portal associated with Alto, where applicable. PropertyFile may allow customers, landlords, tenants or other users to access relevant information and documents associated with their relationship with us. Access is controlled through the applicable account and security arrangements.

11. Google Workspace, Gmail and Google Drive
We use Google Workspace for business email. This means personal information may be contained within emails and attachments that we send or receive. We may also use Google Drive or associated Google Workspace services where documents or files are downloaded, created or otherwise stored as part of our business activities. Google may process personal information as a service provider in accordance with its applicable contractual and privacy arrangements. We use appropriate account security measures and restrict access to business information to authorised users.

12. Signable
We use Signable for electronic signatures and document signing. Where a document contains personal information, that information may be processed by Signable for the purpose of providing its electronic-signature service. This may include; names, email addresses, documents, signatures, signing records, timestamps, IP addresses or other technical information and records relating to the signing process.
We use Signable where electronic signing is appropriate and necessary for our business or transaction processes.

13. Referral services and commissions
We may introduce customers to third-party service providers as part of our property services. These may include providers of; mortgage advice, conveyancing, property services, contractor services, insurance, rent recovery, broadband, television and other property-related services. Some providers pay Davidson Estates a referral fee or commission when a customer chooses to use their services. Not every provider pays us a commission. Referrals are optional unless expressly stated otherwise, and you are free to choose an alternative provider. We will disclose relevant referral fees, commissions or other financial interests where required by applicable law or regulation. Our current provider-by-provider referral arrangements are set out separately in our:
Referral Fees & Commission Disclosure

14. Marketing
We may use personal information to communicate with you about; properties, property services, relevant property-related services, services connected with a transaction and our business. We will comply with applicable electronic marketing requirements, including PECR. Where consent is required for electronic marketing, we will obtain it before sending the relevant marketing. You can object to direct marketing at any time. You can unsubscribe by; using an unsubscribe link included in a marketing email, contacting us or telling us that you no longer wish to receive marketing. If you opt out of marketing, we may still contact you with necessary service, transaction or administrative communications.

15. Website, Analytics and cookies
Our website is hosted using Framer. We currently use Framer's built-in Analytics to understand general website activity and improve our website. Framer states that its built-in Analytics does not use cookies or persistent identifiers and does not require a cookie-consent banner. We do not currently use Google Analytics. Our website may use technologies that are strictly necessary for the operation, security or functionality of the website. We also provide links to external websites and services. For example, our website may display a map image and provide a link to Google Maps. Following the link takes you to Google's website, where Google's own privacy and cookie practices apply. If we introduce third-party services or technologies that use non-essential cookies or similar tracking technologies, we will review whether consent is required and update our cookie arrangements accordingly.

16. Website contact forms
Our website uses a basic Framer contact form. If you submit information through the form, we may receive information such as; our name, contact details, property information and the contents of your enquiry. We use this information to respond to your enquiry and, where relevant, provide our services. We do not ask for more personal information through the form than is reasonably necessary for the purpose of the enquiry.

17. Social media
If you contact Davidson Estates through a social-media platform, the platform may process your information in accordance with its own privacy policy. We may retain the information you send us where it is necessary to respond to your enquiry, manage our relationship with you, maintain records or deal with a complaint or dispute. We do not control how the social-media platform itself processes your information.

18. Telephone and email communications
We use our business telephone services, including our landline service provided by Tamar Phone, and business email services provided through Google Workspace to communicate with customers, prospective customers, landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers and other people involved in our property services. We may retain telephone notes and email correspondence where necessary for; providing our services, confirming instructions, progressing property transactions, maintaining customer records, resolving disputes, dealing with complaints, complying with legal or regulatory requirements, preventing fraud or protecting our legitimate business interests.
Our telephone service provider may process information such as telephone numbers, account information and technical or call-related information as necessary to provide and maintain the service. We do not routinely record telephone calls.
Email and telephone communications are not completely risk-free. You should avoid sending highly sensitive information by ordinary email or telephone unless we have specifically requested it or provided an appropriate secure method.

18A. WhatsApp Business communications
We use WhatsApp Business to communicate with customers, prospective customers, landlords, tenants, buyers, sellers and other people involved in our property services. WhatsApp Business is currently operated by authorised Davidson Estates personnel using a business account on a personal mobile device. Where you communicate with us using WhatsApp Business, we may process and retain information contained in those communications where this is necessary for providing our services, managing a property transaction, maintaining appropriate business records, dealing with enquiries or complaints, or protecting our legitimate business interests. This may include; your name, telephone number, messages, photographs, documents and attachments, property information, records of communications anD other information that you choose to provide to us through WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp is operated by a third party and may process personal information in accordance with its own terms, privacy policy and applicable service arrangements. We do not control how WhatsApp processes personal information within its service. Where appropriate, information received through WhatsApp Business may be transferred to or recorded within our other business systems, including our CRM, where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice. We take reasonable steps to protect business information accessed through WhatsApp Business, including appropriate device security and access controls. You are not required to use WhatsApp to communicate with us. If you prefer not to communicate through WhatsApp, you can contact us by email, telephone or post using the details provided in this Privacy Notice.

19. International transfers
Some of our suppliers or technology providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where personal information is transferred to a country outside the UK and the transfer is restricted under applicable data protection law, we will ensure that an appropriate legal transfer mechanism is used. This may include; UK adequacy regulations, appropriate contractual safeguards, including the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum where applicable or another lawful transfer mechanism.
Where required, we will carry out the appropriate assessment of the transfer and implement suitable safeguards.

20. How we protect your information
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against; unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, misusE and other unlawful processing. Access to personal information is restricted to the directors/MDs and authorised service providers who need access for legitimate business purposes. We use security measures provided by our technology providers, together with appropriate internal controls. No electronic storage or transmission system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take reasonable measures appropriate to the risks associated with the information we process.

21. Personal data breaches
If we become aware of a personal data breach, we will assess the incident and take appropriate action. This may include; containing the breach, assessing what personal information is affected, assessing the risks to individuals, taking steps to prevent further unauthorised access, recording the incident, notifying the ICO where legally required and notifying affected individuals where required by law. We maintain procedures for responding to personal data incidents.

22. How long do we keep personal information?
We do not keep personal information indefinitely. The length of time we retain information depends on; the type of information, why we collected it, whether we have an ongoing relationship with you, legal and regulatory requirements, tax and accounting requirements, contractual requirements, applicable limitation periods, complaints or disputes, potential legal claims and legitimate business requirements. Our normal retention periods are as follows:
General website enquiries - We normally retain information from general website enquiries for up to 2 years after the last meaningful contact, unless there is an ongoing relationship with you or another lawful reason requires us to retain it for longer.
Unsuccessful sales or letting enquiries - We normally retain information relating to unsuccessful sales or letting enquiries for up to 2 years after the matter ends, subject to any legal, regulatory or legitimate business requirement to retain it for longer.
Property instruction records - We normally retain property instruction records for 6 years after the relevant relationship ends, subject to legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or dispute requirements.
Completed sales transaction records - We normally retain records relating to completed sales transactions for 6 years after completion, subject to legal, tax, regulatory and dispute requirements.
Tenancy and landlord/tenant records - We normally retain tenancy and landlord/tenant records for 6 years after the relevant tenancy or relationship ends, subject to legal, regulatory, tax, accounting and dispute requirements.
Referencing information - We retain tenant referencing information for as long as reasonably necessary for the application and transaction.
Once it is no longer required for the relevant application, tenancy, legal, regulatory, fraud-prevention or dispute purpose, it will be securely deleted or otherwise disposed of in accordance with our retention procedures.
AML and customer due-diligence records - Where applicable, we normally retain anti-money-laundering and customer due-diligence records for 5 years from the end of the relevant business relationship or transaction, where this is required by applicable anti-money-laundering legislation.
Financial and accounting records - We normally retain financial and accounting records for at least 6 years where required by applicable tax and accounting legislation. Some records may need to be retained for longer depending on the circumstances.
Complaints - We normally retain records of complaints and related correspondence for 6 years after the complaint has been closed, subject to any ongoing dispute, legal claim, regulatory investigation or other lawful reason for longer retention.
Legal claims and disputes - Where information relates to an actual or potential legal claim or dispute, we retain it for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the matter and for an appropriate period afterwards. This may mean retaining information for longer than our normal retention periods.
Marketing information - We retain marketing information while there is a lawful reason for us to use it. If you unsubscribe or object to marketing, we will stop sending you marketing communications in accordance with applicable law. We may retain a limited record of your objection or unsubscribe request so that we can ensure your preference is respected and do not send you further marketing.
Marketing consent and preferences - We may retain records of consent, withdrawal of consent and marketing preferences for as long as reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable marketing and data protection requirements.
Website and security information - We retain website, technical and security information only for as long as reasonably necessary for security, technical, operational and legitimate business purposes.
Telephone and email communications - We retain telephone notes and email correspondence for as long as reasonably necessary for the relevant transaction, customer relationship, complaint, dispute, legal requirement or legitimate business purpose.
WhatsApp Business communications - We retain relevant information received through WhatsApp Business for as long as reasonably necessary for the relevant transaction, customer relationship, complaint, dispute, legal requirement or legitimate business purpose.
Where information from WhatsApp is needed as part of a business or transaction record, we may transfer or record it within our CRM or other appropriate business systems.
We will delete or otherwise securely dispose of WhatsApp messages, documents and other information when they are no longer required, subject to any legal, regulatory or other lawful requirement to retain them.
Deletion and review - These are our normal retention periods and do not mean that we automatically retain every piece of information for the entire period stated. We periodically review the personal information we hold. Where information is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy or anonymise it where appropriate. Where information needs to be retained because of a legal obligation, regulatory requirement, complaint, investigation, dispute, legal claim or other lawful reason, it may be retained for longer than the normal period stated above.

23. Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the following rights.
Right to access - You can ask us for a copy of personal information we hold about you.
This is commonly known as a Subject Access Request (SAR).
Right to rectification - You can ask us to correct inaccurate personal information or complete information that is incomplete.
Right to erasure - You can ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances. This right is not absolute. For example, we may need to retain information to comply with a legal obligation or establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Right to restrict processing - You may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Right to object - You may object to certain processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests. You have an absolute right to object to direct marketing.
Right to data portability - In certain circumstances, you may have the right to receive personal information you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to have it transferred to another organisation.
Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling - You have rights relating to certain decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, where those decisions have legal or similarly significant effects. Davidson Estates does not itself currently make solely automated decisions of this type. Where a third-party provider is involved in automated processing, such as aspects of tenant referencing, the provider's own obligations and privacy information may also apply.

24. How to exercise your rights
To exercise your data protection rights, contact:
Davidson Estates Sales & Lettings Ltd
24A Commercial Road
Lower Parkstone
Poole
BH14 0JR
Email: hello@davidsonsestates.com
Telephone: 01202 287606

Please provide enough information for us to identify you and understand your request.
We may need to verify your identity before providing personal information or making changes to prevent information being disclosed to the wrong person.
We will normally respond within the applicable statutory timeframe.
We will not normally charge a fee for exercising your rights. Where permitted by law, we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse to act where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

25. Data protection complaints
We take complaints about the handling of personal information seriously. If you believe we have processed your personal information incorrectly, please contact us in the first instance.
You can complain by:
Email: hello@davidsonsestates.com
or by writing to:
Davidson Estates Sales & Lettings Ltd
24A Commercial Road
Lower Parkstone
Poole
BH14 0JR

Please explain; what you believe has gone wrong, what information or processing your complaint concerns, when the issue occurred, if known anD what outcome you are seeking, where applicable.
How we deal with complaints
We will; acknowledge your complaint, review the information and circumstances involved, investigate the issue, contact you if further information is required, take corrective action where appropriate, consider whether any regulatory notification or other action is required anD provide you with the outcome of our investigation.
We will deal with complaints without undue delay and within any applicable statutory or regulatory timescales.

Complaining to the ICO
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent data protection regulator.
ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/
You do not have to complain to us first. However, we would appreciate the opportunity to investigate and resolve your concern where possible.

26. Third-party websites
Our website contains links to third-party websites and services.
These may include; Google Maps, property-related services, professional organisations, service providers and other websites.
This Privacy Notice does not apply to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy, security or content of those websites. You should review the privacy and cookie information provided by the relevant third party when you visit another website.

27. Children
Our services are generally intended for adults involved in property transactions. We do not knowingly seek to collect children's personal information unnecessarily. Where information concerning a child is required for a legitimate property or legal purpose, we will process it only where there is an appropriate lawful basis. If you believe that we have collected information about a child unnecessarily, please contact us.

28. Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect; changes to our services, changes to our suppliers, changes in technology, changes in how we process personal information, changes in legal or regulatory requirements or improvements to our privacy practices. The most recent version will be published on our website.

29. Contact us
If you have questions about this Privacy Notice or how Davidson Estates processes personal information, please contact us.

Davidson Estates Sales & Lettings Ltd
24A Commercial Road
Lower Parkstone
Poole
BH14 0JR
Email: hello@davidsonsestates.com
Telephone: 01202 287606
ICO registration number: ZB725117