Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

This Privacy Policy applies to Rural Exchange (ruralexchange.co.uk), a marketplace platform operated by QA Myriad Ltd ("we", "us", or "our").

2. What Data We Collect

When you use Rural Exchange, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

• Account data: Your name, email address, and password (stored securely and hashed) when you register for an account.
• Listing data: Information you provide when creating a listing, including titles, descriptions, prices, location, category, and any images you upload.
• Enquiry data: Messages and contact details submitted when enquiring about a listing.
• Usage data: Information about how you use the platform, including pages visited, search queries, and interactions with listings.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, operating system, and device information collected automatically by our infrastructure.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

• Provide and operate the Rural Exchange platform, including displaying your listings to other users.
• Facilitate enquiries and communications between buyers and sellers.
• Manage your account and verify your identity.
• Moderate listings to maintain quality and trust on the platform.
• Respond to your support requests and communications.
• Improve and develop the platform based on usage patterns.
• Comply with legal obligations.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we rely on the following legal bases:

• Contract (Article 6(1)(b)): Processing necessary to provide the service you have signed up for, including account management and displaying your listings.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): For platform security, fraud prevention, usage analytics, and improving our services.
• Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): Where we are required to process data to comply with applicable law.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Where you have given explicit consent, such as for optional marketing communications.

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share limited data with the following categories of third parties:

• Supabase: Our database and authentication infrastructure provider, who processes data on our behalf as a data processor under a Data Processing Agreement.
• Hosting and infrastructure providers: Services used to host and deliver the platform.
• Other platform users: Listing information you publish (title, price, location, description, images) is visible to other users of the platform by design. Your email address and private account details are never shared with other users without your consent.
• Legal and regulatory authorities: Where required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights.

6. Cookies

Rural Exchange uses cookies to operate the platform and keep you signed in. See our Cookie Policy for full details of what cookies we use and how to manage them.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. Specifically:

• Account data: Retained until you delete your account. After deletion, we may retain minimal records for legal compliance purposes for up to 6 years.
• Listings: Retained while active; removed or anonymised within 90 days of deletion or expiry.
• Enquiry messages: Retained for up to 2 years to support dispute resolution.
• Server logs: Typically retained for no longer than 90 days.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access: To request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: To request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: To request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restriction: To request that we restrict processing of your data.
• Right to data portability: To receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: To object to processing based on legitimate interests.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@qamyriad.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority:

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “last updated” date at the top of this page indicates when it was most recently revised. Continued use of Rural Exchange following any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact Us

For any questions relating to this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal data: