Your information

Privacy notice

We believe privacy information should be straightforward. This notice explains what information Startup Websites collects, why we use it and the choices you have.

Last updated: 3 September 2026

1. Who we are

Startup Websites is a trading name of Mustard Software Ltd. Mustard Software Ltd is the controller of the personal information described in this notice. This means we decide how and why that information is used.

Mustard Software Ltd
Office 11 Navigation Business Centre, Mill Gate, Newark, England, NG24 4TS

Email: info@mustardsoftware.co.uk

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

  • Contact information, including your name, business name, email address, telephone number and contact preferences.
  • Business and website information, including the services you provide, areas you cover, business story, target customers, existing website and social-media addresses, branding, text, photographs and other material you give us.
  • Enquiry and appointment information, including messages, meeting arrangements, notes about our discussions and the source page from which you contacted us.
  • Competition information, including your entry answers, eligibility confirmations, consent choices, entry time, referring page and information needed to administer and judge the competition.
  • Customer and transaction information, including agreed services, correspondence, invoices, payments and records needed to provide your website.
  • Technical and usage information, including IP address, browser or device information, requested pages, date and time, referring address and security or diagnostic logs.
  • Account information for authorised administration users, including login details, roles and authentication records.
  • Marketing preferences, including whether and when you asked to receive emails and any later unsubscribe request.

Please do not send us unnecessary sensitive information, such as health information, identification documents or financial account details, through an enquiry or competition form.

3. How and why we use your information

PurposeLawful basis
Responding to enquiries and arranging conversations about a possible websiteLegitimate interests in responding to people interested in our services; and steps requested before entering a contract
Preparing, building, publishing, hosting and supporting a customer websitePerformance of our contract with you
Managing payments, invoices, accounts and tax recordsPerformance of our contract and compliance with legal obligations
Running, judging and documenting a competition, contacting selected entrants and demonstrating that prizes were awarded fairlyLegitimate interests in administering a fair promotion and complying with applicable promotional rules
Sending website advice and promotional emails where you have actively requested themConsent. You may withdraw it at any time
Keeping the website and systems secure, diagnosing faults, preventing spam or misuse and maintaining business recordsLegitimate interests in operating a secure, reliable and accountable business
Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims and responding to regulators or law-enforcement bodiesLegitimate interests and, where applicable, compliance with a legal obligation
Your right to object

Where we rely on legitimate interests, you may object to our use of your information. We will stop unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue or the information is needed for legal claims.

We do not use your information to make decisions about you solely through automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

4. Who we share information with

We only share information where reasonably necessary. Recipients may include:

  • Website, database, domain, email and IT hosting providers that help us operate our services.
  • MailerLite, where you choose to join our email list, to store your subscriber details and send emails on our behalf.
  • Payment, accounting and professional service providers where needed for transactions, bookkeeping, advice or legal claims.
  • An independent competition judge, who receives only the information reasonably needed to assess eligible entries.
  • Regulators, courts, law-enforcement agencies or other parties where disclosure is legally required or reasonably necessary to protect legal rights.
  • A prospective buyer or adviser if our business is reorganised, sold or transferred, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards.

Our suppliers act under contracts and may only use personal information for the services they provide to us. We do not sell your personal information.

5. International transfers

Some technology suppliers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we use a lawful transfer mechanism such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards, and take reasonable steps to protect it. You may contact us for more information about the safeguards relevant to your information.

6. How long we keep information

We keep information only for as long as reasonably required for the purpose collected, including legal, accounting and dispute-resolution requirements. Our usual periods are:

  • Unsuccessful competition entries: up to 12 months after the closing date, unless needed longer for a complaint or claim.
  • General enquiries that do not become customers: normally up to 24 months after our last meaningful contact.
  • Customer, contractual, invoice and payment records: normally six years after the end of the relevant financial year or customer relationship, where required for tax, accounting or legal purposes.
  • Website content and operational records: for the customer relationship and a reasonable backup or transition period afterwards.
  • Marketing records: until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent, with a minimal suppression record retained so we do not contact you again accidentally.
  • Technical and security logs: normally no longer than 12 months unless an incident requires longer investigation.

We may securely delete or anonymise information earlier where it is no longer needed.

7. Cookies and website visits

Cookies are small text files placed on your device. This website may use cookies that are strictly necessary for security, administration login, session management and core website operation. These essential cookies do not require consent, but they cannot be switched off through our website.

We do not currently use non-essential advertising or analytics cookies on this website. If that changes—for example, if we add Meta Pixel or an analytics service—we will update this notice and ask for consent before those cookies are used.

You can remove or block cookies using your browser settings, although blocking essential cookies may prevent restricted administration features from working correctly.

8. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for access to the personal information we hold about you.
  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • Ask us to erase information we no longer need.
  • Ask us to restrict how information is used.
  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing.
  • Receive certain information in a portable format.
  • Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request. We normally respond within one month and do not charge a fee unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

9. Security and children

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse or disclosure. No internet service can be guaranteed completely secure, so please contact us promptly if you believe information has been compromised.

Our services and competitions are intended for business representatives aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

10. Contact us or make a complaint

To exercise a right, withdraw marketing consent or ask a privacy question, contact:

Mustard Software Ltd trading as Startup Websites
Email: info@mustardsoftware.co.uk
Address: Office 11 Navigation Business Centre, Mill Gate, Newark, England, NG24 4TS

If you are unhappy with how we use your information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office:

ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

11. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when our services, suppliers or legal obligations change. The latest version will always be published on this page with its revision date.

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