Privacy Policy

1. Scope

This policy covers personal information handled by Trusted Shop Agency when you visit trustedshopagency.com, create an account, publish a review, claim an agency profile or contact support.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide:

• Account details: email address, password (stored only as a secure hash), and email verification status.
• Profile details you choose to add: display name, photo, headline, bio, location, primary role, company and social links.
• Review content: your rating, written review, the relationship you had with the agency, dates, selected services, and any evidence link you attach.
• Agency claim details: your work email, job title, and any evidence you submit to prove your role.
• Support messages: the name, email and message you send through the contact form.

Information generated by using TSA:

• Activity records such as helpful votes, badges earned, reports you file and notifications sent to you.
• Moderation and audit records showing what was decided about your content and when.
• Basic technical information needed to operate and secure the service, including request logs.

3. How we use information

• To create and secure your account and verify your email address.
• To publish the content you choose to publish, in the form you chose (named or anonymous).
• To moderate content against the Review and Community Guidelines, investigate reports and prevent fake reviews, spam and abuse.
• To assess agency claims and confirm that a representative is authorised.
• To send service notifications you have not switched off, such as the outcome of a moderation decision or an agency response to your review.
• To keep audit records of decisions so they can be reviewed or appealed.

TSA does not sell personal information, and does not sell placement, ranking or visibility in the directory.

4. What is public, and what is not

Anyone on the internet can see published reviews, ratings, the relationship type behind a review, agency responses, and — for named reviews — the reviewer's display name, photo and badges.

The following are never shown publicly: your email address, your password, your account settings, your work email from an agency claim, the content of your support messages, and internal moderation notes.

Your member profile has a visibility setting. “Public” shows your profile details next to your named reviews. “Limited” keeps your profile details off the public site; your named reviews still show the display name attached to them.

5. Anonymous reviews

When you post anonymously, TSA displays a role label such as “Anonymous brand” instead of your name. Your identity, profile, photo and badges are withheld from the public site, from search engines, and from the agency being reviewed.

Details are set out in the Anonymous Review Policy. Please also remember that a review can identify you through its own content — dates, contract values or unique project details — even when your name is hidden.

6. When information is shared

TSA shares personal information only in these situations:

• With service providers that host the platform, store data and deliver email on our behalf, under contract and only to run the service.
• Where you have made the information public yourself by publishing it.
• Where we are required to by law, or where disclosure is necessary to investigate fraud, protect someone's safety, or establish or defend legal claims.
• As part of a business transfer, in which case this policy continues to apply to the transferred information.

A lawful request for reviewer identity is assessed individually and is not treated as routine. We do not hand over identity because an agency asks, and where we are permitted to, we tell the affected member.

7. How long we keep information

• Account and profile data: kept while your account is open, and deleted when you close it.
• Published reviews and responses: kept as part of the public record, detached from your identity once your account is closed.
• Moderation, claim and audit records: kept after a decision so that decisions remain reviewable and appealable, and so repeat abuse can be detected.
• Support messages: kept while the request is open and for a reasonable period afterwards for reference.

8. Your controls

• Access and correct: edit your profile at any time in Settings and your profile page.
• Export: download a copy of your profile, reviews, badges, votes and notifications from Settings.
• Visibility: switch your profile between Public and Limited, and choose per review whether to publish anonymously.
• Notifications: turn off any category of in-product notification in Settings.
• Delete: close your account from Settings. This deletes your profile and personal details.

If you want something handled that is not available in Settings, contact us and we will action it or explain why we cannot.

9. Security

Access to member data is restricted at the database level so that a signed-in member can only read their own account records, and staff access to moderation data is limited to accounts holding a moderator or administrator role. Passwords are stored hashed and are never visible to TSA staff. Administrative actions are recorded in an audit log.

No online service can promise perfect security. If you believe you have found a vulnerability, please report it to us privately rather than testing against other people's data.

10. Children

TSA is intended for business use by adults. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

11. Changes and contact

The current version and effective date of this policy are shown at the top of the page, and previous versions are retained. For any privacy question, or to make a request about your information, use the contact form and choose “Privacy”, or email support@trustedshopagency.com.