Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Arabic Translation UK ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our translation services or visit our website.

We are registered in England and Wales and comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. By using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Personal Information

When you use our services, we may collect:

• Name, email address, telephone number, and postal address
• Payment information (processed securely through third-party payment processors)
• Documents and content you submit for translation
• Correspondence and communications with us

2.2 Website Usage Data

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

• IP address and browser type
• Pages visited and time spent on pages
• Referring website addresses

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Service Provision: To process and complete your translation orders, communicate with you about your orders, and deliver translated documents
• Payment Processing: To process payments and manage invoicing
• Customer Support: To respond to your enquiries, provide customer support, and handle complaints
• Quality Assurance: To maintain quality standards, support reissues, and verify translations
• Legal Compliance: To comply with legal obligations, including tax and accounting requirements
• Service Improvement: To improve our services, website functionality, and user experience

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

• Contract Performance: To fulfil our contractual obligations to provide translation services
• Legitimate Interests: To keep order and certification records for the periods in section 7, so we can reissue and verify our work, and to keep our systems secure
• Legal Obligation: To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax and accounting obligations
• Consent: Where you have provided explicit consent for specific processing activities

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share your data only in the following circumstances:

5.1 Service Providers

We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our business, including:

• Payment processors (Mollie, PayPal) for secure payment handling
• Qualified translators and linguists who perform translation work (all required to sign confidentiality agreements)
• Hosting and file storage providers (our servers and file storage are in London), email and office software providers, and document-reading and AI language tools used under business terms. A current list is available on request.

5.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law or in response to valid legal requests, including:

• Court orders or legal processes
• Government or regulatory authority requests
• To protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of our clients

6. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data:

• Encryption: Data is encrypted in transit, and our off-site backups are encrypted
• Access Controls: Access to personal data is restricted to authorised personnel only, on a need-to-know basis
• Secure Infrastructure: Our servers and file storage are in London; encrypted backups are held with a second provider in the EU and expire within 35 days
• Regular Security Audits: We conduct regular security assessments and updates
• Confidentiality Agreements: Everyone who handles client documents is required to sign a confidentiality agreement

Important: While we take all reasonable steps to protect your data, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of data protection.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data and documents only as long as our retention schedule allows: files uploaded for a quote that does not become an order, 1 year from the quote; source documents and translations for completed orders, 3 years from delivery; certified translation records (the signed certificate, the final translation, a copy of the source and our register entry), 7 years from delivery; invoices and payment records, 6 years, as HMRC requires; translation memory built from your orders, the same period as your order files; and backups, which are encrypted and expire within 35 days. When a period ends, the records are deleted in our quarterly deletion run. If your contract with us sets a different period, the contract applies.

You can ask us to delete your documents sooner by emailing hello@arabictranslation.co.uk. We will do so unless we need to keep a record: we keep the record of a certified translation we issued and our financial records for the full period, and we will tell you in writing what we kept and why.

Legal Basis: We keep order and certification records on the basis of our legitimate interests (reissuing and verifying our work, and handling queries and claims), and financial records to meet our legal obligations.

8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@arabictranslation.co.uk. We will respond to your request within one month.

9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us:

• Remember your preferences and settings
• Analyse website traffic and usage patterns
• Improve website functionality and performance

You can control cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect the functionality of our website.

10. International Data Transfers

Our servers and file storage are in London, and our encrypted backups are held in the EU. Some of the providers in section 5.1 are based outside the UK, mainly in the United States (for example email delivery, AI language tools and website analytics), and some of our freelance linguists live outside the UK. Where personal data leaves the UK, we rely on the safeguards UK law allows:

• The UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses in the provider's data processing terms, or the UK-US data bridge where the provider is certified under it
• Written confidentiality terms for our linguists
• UK-only handling where the language allows, if your matter must stay in the UK

11. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately and we will delete such information.

12. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Posting the updated policy on our website with a new "Last updated" date
• Sending an email notification to registered users (where applicable)

Your continued use of our services after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

14. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator:

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: