Privacy Policy of Spice Route Services

At Spice Route Services, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your data when you interact with our online platform, engage with our services, or communicate with us. We understand the sensitive nature of the services we provide and handle your information with the utmost care and respect, in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws.

1. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to provide and improve our funeral services and bereavement support. This may include:

• Personal Identification Information: Name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, and other contact details. This is collected when you fill out forms on our site, request information, or engage our services.
• Financial Information: Payment details (e.g., credit card numbers) for processing service payments, particularly for pre-paid funeral plans. These are processed securely by third-party payment processors, and we do not store full payment card details on our servers.
• Sensitive Personal Data: In the context of funeral services, we may collect information regarding the deceased, including their name, date of birth, date of passing, and details relevant to funeral arrangements (e.g., religious beliefs for specific ceremonies, embalming requests, or special memorial arrangements). This data is treated with the highest level of confidentiality and processed only with explicit consent or as legally required for the provision of our services.
• Communication Data: Records of your correspondence with us, including emails, phone calls, and any other communications related to our services.
• Website Usage Data: Information about how you interact with our site, including IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on our platform. This helps us improve our site's functionality and user experience.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

• Service Delivery: To provide and manage traditional funerals, cremation services, bespoke memorial arrangements, pre-paid funeral plans, repatriation services, eco-friendly funerals, direct cremations, and embalming, as requested.
• Communication: To communicate with you regarding your service requests, provide updates, respond to inquiries, and offer support.
• Referrals: To facilitate referrals for grief counselling or celebrant services, with your explicit consent.
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To comply with legal obligations, regulatory requirements, and to assist in legal investigations. This includes adhering to national and international laws pertaining to funeral services and data handling.
• Improvement of Services: To understand how our services are used and to improve our offerings, ensuring they meet the needs of our clients.
• Security: To maintain the security and integrity of our online platform and protect against fraudulent or unauthorised activities.

3. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Performance of a Contract: When processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract (e.g., providing funeral services or pre-paid plans).
• Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by Spice Route Services or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms (e.g., improving our services, ensuring security).
• Compliance with a Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject (e.g., record-keeping, tax laws).
• Consent: Where you have given explicit consent for us to process your data for a specific purpose, particularly for sensitive personal data or certain types of referrals. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

4. Disclosure of Your Information

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information with third parties only when necessary for the provision of our services, or as legally required:

• Service Providers: We work with trusted third-party providers who assist us in delivering our services, such as crematoria, cemeteries, embalmers, florists, celebrants, or repatriations specialists. These providers are obligated to protect your data and only use it for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.
• Grief Counselling Referrals: With your consent, we may share necessary contact information with grief counselling services to facilitate your referral.
• Legal and Regulatory Authorities: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to comply with other legal or regulatory obligations.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your personal data may be part of the transferred assets.

5. Data Security

We implement robust technical and organisational measures to safeguard your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption, access controls, secure server environments, and regular security assessments. We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of your information.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The retention period for sensitive information related to funeral services is determined by legal and regulatory obligations specific to the funeral industry in the UK.

7. Your Data Protection Rights (GDPR)

Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• The Right to Be Informed: To know how your data is being processed.
• The Right of Access: To request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• The Right to Rectification: To request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• The Right to Erasure (“Right to Be Forgotten”): To request the deletion of your personal data under certain conditions.
• The Right to Restrict Processing: To request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
• The Right to Data Portability: To request that we transfer the data we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
• The Right to Object: To object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• Rights in Relation to Automated Decision-Making and Profiling: To safeguards against the adverse effects of automatic decision-making (including profiling).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided below. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

8. Third-Party Websites

Our online platform may contain links to third-party websites for your convenience or for services such as grief counselling referrals. Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to those external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on our online platform. We encourage you to review this policy regularly.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data protection practices, please contact us at:

Spice Route Services
14 Newgate Street,
Suite 300,
London, Greater London,
EC1A 7AZ, UK

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.