Our privacy policy

Search our makers by location and/or category. To refine your search use Find Craft.

We have over 240 makers for you to find and over 650 places for you to visit.

When you view, use or contribute to Craft Finder or sign up to any of our services Craft Finder obtains information about you. This statement explains what information we collect, how we look after that information and what we use it for.

We have a legal duty under the Data Protection Act to prevent your information falling into the wrong hands. We must also ensure that the data we hold is accurate, adequate, relevant and not excessive.

Normally the only information we hold comes directly from you. Whenever we collect information from you, we will make it clear which information is required in order to provide you with the information or service you need. You do not have to provide us with any additional information unless you choose to. We store your information securely in our systems, we restrict access to those who have a need to know, and we train our staff in handling the information securely.

What we collect

As with most websites, Craft Finder maintains a log of activity on its site. Your IP address will be recorded, along with other information which may or may not be supplied by your browser. This includes the address of the site that referred you to the Craft Finder, the type and version of the browser you are using, the operating system you use, and the screen resolution at which you viewed the site.

This information is used solely to help us improve our delivery of the services on the site. This may involve us or our external evaluators contacting you to follow up on any comments you have made.

In order to post reviews and comments and to make use of personalisation features such as “my favourite maker” you need to register. Registration requires that you supply the following details:

to associate user preferences such as “my favourite maker” with a user account.
to associate reviews and comments with an individual. If you post to the site it will display your display name.
to monitor the range of people who are making use of the material on the site.
to send password reminders in case you forget your password.
for internal record keeping and customer administration
to carry out research and improve our services
to get in touch with you for administrative or verification purposes in relation to your contribution to the site
to send you promotional and other informative emails about new features, special offers or other information that we are offering (if you have agreed to this)
to enable you to be added to the mailing lists of the makers you have selected (we will remind you that your email address and display name will be passed to the maker)
to enable you to query makers (you will be reminded if your email will be given to a maker in advance)
to customize the website to better suit your interests or preferences
to enable you to use all the features of the site when you are logged in.

We will store the information you supplied for as long as you use Craft Finder, unless you request that we remove it.

Your details will remain stored and displayed with any messages you have previously posted to our site.

Craft Finder also collects your name and email address if you use the contact form on the site to send us a message. This information will only be used to respond to your message (unless you are already registered with us). Please note that messages sent using the contact form are sent by unencrypted email and thus may not be secure and remain confidential while being transmitted to us.

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. We also follow strict security procedures as required by the UK Data Protection Act 1998. These cover the storage and disclosure of any information you've provided, and the prevention of unauthorised access. We have notified the Information Commissioner of our data usage.

You acknowledge and agree that the Internet is not a 100% secure medium for communication and accordingly, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you send to us (or we send to you) via the Internet and subsequently we are not responsible for any damages which you, or others, may suffer as a result of the loss of confidentiality of such information.

We may use partners to ensure the effective operation of our site. These companies have access to your personal information under our strict supervision and within the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and this Privacy Policy.

You must remember that personal information you post during the use of online email and networking facilities may be accessible to the public and therefore can be collected and used by others to send you unsolicited messages from other parties. We can only be responsible for information once it has been received by us when we make all reasonable endeavours to keep it confidential and secure as detailed above.

We will not give, sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required to do so by law.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us as soon as possible. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

You have the right to a copy of all the information we hold about you (apart from a very few things which we may be obliged to withhold because they concern other people as well as you). To obtain a copy, either ask for an application form to be sent to you, or write to the Data Protection Officer at Craft Finder. There is a charge of £10 for a copy of your data (as permitted by law). We aim to reply as promptly as we can, ideally within 10 working days.

You can contact Janet Paske at Craft Finder, Persistence Works, 21 Brown Street, Sheffield S1 2BS or online.