Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026 · High Hounds, Battisford, Suffolk

We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains what personal data High Hounds collects, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights under UK data protection law. If you have any questions, please contact us at betty@highhounds.co.uk.

1. Who We Are

High Hounds is a private dog exercise field business based in Battisford, Suffolk. For the purposes of UK data protection law, High Hounds is the data controller — meaning we determine how and why your personal data is processed.

You can contact us about any data protection matter at:

2. Data We Collect

We collect personal data in the following ways:

When you create an account

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Password (stored in encrypted form — we never see your password in plain text)

When you make a booking

  • Your name and email address
  • The date, time, and number of dogs in your booking
  • Billing address (required for payment processing)
  • Payment information — this is processed securely by our payment provider and we do not store your full card details on our systems

When you contact us

  • Your name, email address, and any information you include in your message

Automatically, when you use our website

  • Your IP address and browser type
  • Pages visited and time spent on the site
  • Referring website (how you found us)
  • Cookie data (see Section 8)

We only collect the data we genuinely need to run the booking service and communicate with you. We do not collect sensitive personal data such as health information, unless you choose to share it with us (for example, when informing us about a restricted breed dog).

3. How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect to:

  • Process and manage your bookings — including sending booking confirmations, reminders, and receipts
  • Manage your account — so you can view, amend, or cancel bookings
  • Contact you in connection with your visit — for example, if we need to close the field at short notice
  • Respond to your enquiries — when you contact us by email or via our contact form
  • Process payments — and handle refunds where applicable
  • Comply with legal obligations — including financial record-keeping requirements
  • Improve the website — using aggregated, anonymised usage data
  • Send you marketing communications — only if you have opted in to receive them, and only about High Hounds services

We will never use your data in ways that are incompatible with the purposes described above, and we will never sell your data to any third party.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following:

  • Contract — processing is necessary to fulfil your booking and provide the service you have paid for. This covers account creation, booking management, payment processing, and booking-related communications.
  • Legitimate interests — processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our service, maintaining site security, and managing fraud prevention. We ensure these interests do not override your rights.
  • Legal obligation — we are required to retain certain financial records under HMRC regulations.
  • Consent — where we send you marketing communications, we rely on your opt-in consent. You can withdraw this consent at any time.

5. Third Parties

To operate our booking service, we work with a small number of trusted third-party providers. Each is bound by their own privacy policies and data processing agreements. We share only the data they need to provide their services.

Payment processing

Payments are processed securely by Stripe our payment gateway provider. We do not store or have access to your full card number, CVV, or other sensitive payment details. Your payment data is handled in accordance with PCI DSS standards.

Email service

Booking confirmations and other transactional emails are sent via our email service provider. Your email address and name are shared with this provider solely for the purpose of delivering these emails.

Website hosting

Our website is hosted on a third-party server. Your data may be stored on servers within the UK or the European Economic Area. We do not use hosting providers that transfer data outside of these regions without appropriate safeguards in place.

We do not share your data with any other third parties unless required to do so by law.

6. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

  • Account data — retained for as long as your account remains active, plus a reasonable period thereafter. If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal data subject to any legal retention requirements.
  • Booking and financial records — retained for 7 years in line with HMRC requirements for business financial records.
  • Marketing consent — retained until you withdraw your consent or opt out of communications.
  • Enquiry and contact data — retained for up to 2 years, unless there is an ongoing relationship or legal reason to retain it longer.
  • Website analytics data — retained in anonymised or aggregated form; identifiable data is not retained beyond your browsing session.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us at betty@highhounds.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

Right of access — You can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you (a Subject Access Request).

Right to rectification — You can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data we hold about you.

Right to erasure — You can ask us to delete your personal data, subject to any legal obligations we have to retain it.

Right to restriction — You can ask us to limit how we use your data while a dispute is being resolved.

Right to portability — You can ask us to provide your data in a machine-readable format so you can transfer it elsewhere.

Right to object — You can object to us processing your data on the basis of legitimate interests, or for direct marketing purposes.

If you have given consent for marketing communications, you can withdraw that consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us directly. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.

8. Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to make the site function correctly and to help us understand how it is used.

Essential cookies

These are necessary for the website to function. They include session cookies that keep you logged in to your account and maintain your booking as you move through the checkout process. You cannot opt out of these without disabling the site’s core functionality.

Analytics cookies

We use analytics tools to understand how visitors use our site — for example, which pages are most popular and where visitors come from. This data is aggregated and anonymised where possible. You can opt out of analytics cookies via our cookie notice when you first visit the site.

WooCommerce cookies

WooCommerce sets several cookies to manage your cart, session, and account state. These are essential to the booking process.

Most browsers allow you to view, manage, and delete cookies through their settings. For more information, visit aboutcookies.org. Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of this website.

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. These include:

  • SSL/TLS encryption for data transmitted to and from our website (indicated by https:// in your browser)
  • Encrypted storage of passwords — we never store or have access to your password in plain text
  • Secure payment processing via our payment gateway — card data is not stored on our systems
  • Access controls limiting who within our organisation can access personal data

No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data transmitted over the internet. If you have reason to believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at betty@highhounds.co.uk.

10. Children

Our booking service is intended for use by adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Children are welcome to visit the Field when accompanied by a responsible adult, but the booking must be made and held by an adult.

11. Contact & Complaints

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us:

We will always try to resolve any concern promptly and fairly. However, if you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data protection authority:

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our practices, or our services. Any changes will be published on this page with an updated date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

If we make any significant changes that affect how we use your data, we will notify you by email where we hold a valid address for you.

This Privacy Policy was last updated in July 2026.