Privacy Policy

Effective 1 November 2026

Effective 1 November 2026. The previous version took effect on 27 October 2026.

First published: June 2024.

1. Who we are and what this covers

TradeYoke is provided by Assemblysoft Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 07098083) whose registered office is at 2 Woodland Walk, Bournemouth, England, BH5 1LU. This policy explains how we handle personal data when you visit our website, create an account, or use TradeYoke on the web or in our apps.

We have two roles:

We are the controller of the data about you as our customer or user: your account, sign-in, billing, and how you use the service.
We are a processor of the data a business keeps in its TradeYoke workspace about its own customers, contacts and staff. That business is the controller, and its own privacy notice applies. If you are one of its customers, please contact the business first. If you contact us, we will pass your request to them.

2. What we collect

Account and identity: your name, email address, phone number if you give it, your business's name and details, and your role in the workspace. TradeYoke has no passwords. You sign in with Google, Apple or Microsoft, with a one-time code or link we email to you, or with a passkey kept on your device. If you use Google, Apple or Microsoft, we receive your name, email address and account identifier from them (Apple may instead give us a private relay address that forwards to you, if you choose to hide your email address). If you ask for an emailed code or link, we use your email address to send it. If you use a passkey, TradeYoke stores only its public key; the private key never leaves your device. The account itself (your email address, your name, which ways of signing in are linked to it, and your sign-in times) is kept in TradeYoke's own storage in the United Kingdom.
Business lookups: when you register a limited company, we look up its public record at Companies House.
Billing: your plan, invoices and payment status. Payments are handled by Stripe or PayPal, and we do not store full card numbers.
Security: sign-in times and history, your device sessions (the devices and browsers you are signed in on), two-factor authentication settings (the authenticator secret is encrypted and recovery codes are stored only in a form that cannot be read back), and an audit trail of actions taken in the service, such as who changed what and when.
Usage and technical data: the pages and features used, activity counts, IP address, browser and device type (make and model, operating system and version, app version, and whether the app came from an app store or a direct download), and error reports, including technical details of what failed, the steps that led to it (screens visited, buttons pressed and requests made, with anything typed, email addresses, phone numbers and card numbers removed) and any note you choose to add when we ask what happened.
Performance measurements: if your workspace turns them on, how long pages and screens take to load and respond, measured in your browser or app and recorded against the page (with record numbers removed), your type of device and the country of your language setting — not who you are.
Session recordings: only if your workspace has asked us to turn them on, a reconstruction of how the TradeYoke web app looked and responded while you used it — its layout, the pages you visited, where you clicked and scrolled. All text, everything typed into forms and all images are hidden before the recording leaves your browser. We never record the customer portal, our public website or anyone who is not signed in, and we do not record the phone, tablet or Windows apps.
Location: only if you use a feature that needs it, such as live van tracking, "on my way" messages or the weather for your area, and only while that feature is in use.
Content you add: photos, videos, voice notes, receipts, documents and messages, and the customer, job, quote and invoice records in your workspace.
Voice commands: if your workspace's plan includes the voice assistant (currently the Ultimate plan) and you choose to use it, we record what you say only while you hold or tap the microphone button. The recording is sent to our servers and turned into text by Microsoft Azure AI Speech, then discarded; we do not store it. We keep the text as part of your request to the assistant, like a typed question, and count how many seconds of speech your workspace uses each day. Nobody listens to the recordings, and they are not used to train any model. If our speech service is not available, your browser's own speech recognition may be used instead (for example Google's in Chrome, Microsoft's in Edge or Apple's in Safari), and that provider processes what you say under its own terms. Spoken replies are read out by Microsoft Azure AI Speech or, where that is not available, by your browser's own voices, some of which use the browser maker's online service.
Assistant AI model: if your workspace's plan includes the Assistant AI model (on the Premium and Ultimate plans) and it is switched on, the questions you ask the assistant, typed or spoken, are sent to Anthropic, which provides the AI model. So that it can answer, they go with the earlier messages in that day's conversation, the workspace records the assistant looks up for you (such as customer names, addresses and job details), your name, your business's name and anything your business has written in the assistant's settings. Simple requests may still be answered by TradeYoke itself without being sent. Anthropic processes this for us as our processor under its commercial terms, does not use it to train its models, and may process it outside the UK. Without the Assistant AI model, TradeYoke answers on its own and nothing is sent to Anthropic.
AI features: some features send content to an AI provider so that they can work. That is a photo of a receipt you ask TradeYoke to read (the model reads the supplier, date and amounts, and you check them before saving); the questions you ask the assistant, as described above; and, if your business switches on the AI receptionist, what a caller says on the telephone (as text), the briefing your business has written for it (such as its trading name, opening hours and notes) and the details it needs to help the caller, such as their name and the days that can be booked. This goes to Anthropic, which processes it for us as our processor under its commercial terms, does not use it to train its models, and may process it outside the UK. We do not send your data to an AI provider for any other purpose, and we do not use the content of your workspace to train AI models.
Voice input and dictation: many text boxes in TradeYoke (such as notes, messages, feedback and the search box) have a microphone. It listens only after you tap it, and puts what you say into that box as text, which you can edit before you save. Your browser or device turns the speech into text, so who processes it depends on what you use: Chrome and Edge use their own speech recognition, which sends the audio to the browser maker (Google or Microsoft); Safari and the iPhone app use Apple's speech recognition; the Android app uses Android's speech recogniser (normally Google's, as set on your phone); and the Windows app uses Windows speech recognition (Microsoft's online service). Each handles the audio under its own terms. Where your workspace has the voice assistant and none of those is available, the recording is instead sent to our servers and turned into text by Microsoft Azure AI Speech, as described under Voice commands. TradeYoke does not store the audio from dictation: on the browser and device routes we never receive it, and on the Azure route it is held in memory only while it is turned into text, then discarded. We keep only the text you choose to save in the field, like anything you type. You can always type instead, and you can turn the microphone off for TradeYoke at any time in your browser's site settings or your phone's or computer's privacy settings (Microphone; Speech Recognition on iPhone; Online speech recognition on Windows).
Notifications: if you allow notifications on a device, the address your browser or phone gives us for delivering them.
Talking to us: anything you send us in support requests, feedback or suggestions.

3. Why we use it, and our legal basis

To provide the service you signed up for: accounts, sign-in, your workspace and its features, and messages about your account. Legal basis: contract.
To bill you and keep financial records. Legal basis: contract and legal obligation.
To keep the service and your data secure, prevent misuse, keep an audit trail and investigate errors and slowness, including, where a workspace has turned them on, performance measurements and session recordings. Legal basis: legitimate interests, in running a safe and reliable service.
To improve TradeYoke, using usage information, where possible in aggregate. Legal basis: legitimate interests.
Optional features you choose to use, such as reading a receipt automatically or transcribing a voice note, or giving the assistant a voice command. Legal basis: contract, since they are part of the service you asked for.
Marketing emails about TradeYoke, only if you have agreed or are an existing customer who has not opted out. Every one has an unsubscribe link. Legal basis: consent or legitimate interests, as the law allows.

We do not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects based solely on automated processing.

4. Who we share it with

We never sell personal data. We share it only with the providers who help us run TradeYoke, and only what each needs for its job:

Microsoft Azure (hosting, storage, monitoring, email and text delivery, speech transcription and spoken replies). Your workspace data is stored in the United Kingdom.
Google (optional Google sign-in, maps, and browser notification delivery), Apple (optional Sign in with Apple, and browser notification delivery), Microsoft (optional Microsoft sign-in) and Mozilla (browser notification delivery).
Stripe and PayPal (paying for TradeYoke). Stripe and GoCardless also handle payments your business takes from its customers, through your own connected accounts.
SendGrid (email delivery, where used) and Meta (WhatsApp messages, if your business turns them on).
Anthropic (reading receipts automatically, only when you use that feature, and, where your plan includes it, the assistant's AI model, and the AI receptionist where your business switches it on).
Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and HMRC, only if your business connects them.
Companies House (company lookups), and postcodes.io, OpenStreetMap, Photon and Open-Meteo (address, postcode and weather lookups, which receive the address or place being looked up, not your identity).
Cloudflare (delivering our public website).

Maps and routes: maps and directions in TradeYoke are provided by Google Maps Platform (Google). When you open a map, your browser or app loads it directly from Google, so Google receives your IP address and the area of the map you are viewing; when you ask for a route from where you are, Google also receives that starting position. We do not send Google your name, your account or your workspace details, and maps in TradeYoke are not used for advertising. Google handles this information under its own terms and privacy policy and may process it outside the UK. If you don't open a map or a route, nothing is sent to Google.

We may also disclose data where the law requires it, to protect people's safety or our legal rights, or to a business that takes over the service, which would be bound by this policy.

AI in our marketing. We use AI tools to help make our own marketing materials, such as sales and demo videos, images, social media posts, articles and web pages. Our videos use a synthetic, computer-generated voice (Microsoft Azure Speech) for the narration; our articles and copy are drafted with AI assistance (Anthropic's Claude) and reviewed by our team before they are published; and we may use other AI tools for video, voice and images. These tools are given our own text, product screenshots and fictitious demo data, not your workspace data or your customers' personal data. The people, businesses and addresses shown in our screenshots and videos are fictitious.

Speech recognition on your browser or device. When you dictate into a text box, the speech is normally turned into text by the speech recognition that comes with your browser or device, not by a provider we engage: Google or Microsoft (Chrome, Edge, Android and Windows) or Apple (Safari and the iPhone app). Your browser or device sends them the audio, not TradeYoke; they handle it under their own terms and privacy policies, which may involve processing outside the UK. We receive only the words, and only if you save them. Where your workspace has the voice assistant and your browser or device has no speech recognition that works, the recording goes to Microsoft Azure AI Speech, listed above.

5. International transfers

Some of these providers process data outside the UK, for example in the European Economic Area or the United States. When that happens, we rely on UK adequacy regulations, or on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, or other safeguards UK law recognises.

6. How we protect it

Data held on our servers is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Copies on your device: so that TradeYoke can keep working with no signal, it keeps a copy of the work you are using on your device. In the Android, iPhone and Windows apps that copy is encrypted with AES-256-GCM, and the key is held in the device's own secure store (the Keychain on iPhone, the Keystore on Android, or Windows' protected storage). In a web browser the copy is encrypted with a key the browser holds and will not let TradeYoke read out; that only scrambles it, and it is much weaker protection: it does not stop someone who can use your browser profile, or your signed-in computer, from reading it. Use a screen lock, and sign out on any computer you share.
Each business's workspace data is stored separately from every other's.
Access is protected by sign-in without passwords (Google, Apple or Microsoft, a code or link sent by email, or a passkey whose private key never leaves your device), optional or required two-factor authentication, sessions tied to your devices, and per-person permissions.
Actions are recorded in an audit trail, and only a small number of authorised staff can access production systems.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your rights at risk, we will tell you and the Information Commissioner's Office as the law requires.

7. How long we keep it

Account and workspace data: while the account is open. After it closes, or a workspace stays locked for 90 days, we delete it, apart from the records below.
Billing and financial records: six years, as UK tax law requires.
Audit trail and security records: as long as needed to keep the service secure and resolve disputes, and no longer than the life of the workspace plus 90 days.
Error and technical logs: only as long as needed to run and fix the service, and no longer than 12 months.
Session recordings: 7 days unless your workspace chooses a shorter or longer period, never more than 30 days, and deleted within a day when the workspace turns recordings off.
Visit and app-session timelines: as long as error and technical logs.
Voice recordings: not kept. Each is held in memory only while it is turned into text, then discarded. The text is kept with that day's assistant conversation, like a typed question, as part of your workspace data.
Support and feedback messages: as long as needed to deal with them.

8. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:

tell you what data we hold about you and give you a copy;
correct it;
delete it;
restrict how we use it;
give it to you or another provider in a portable form;
stop using it for purposes based on legitimate interests or for marketing.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. We will reply within one month. There is normally no charge. You can also correct your details, manage sign-in security and choose notification settings yourself on your account page.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

TradeYoke uses only what it needs to work:

a sign-in cookie (__Host-ty.web.auth) that keeps you signed in on this browser. It expires after 14 days without use and never lasts longer than 30 days;
two short-lived cookies that protect the sign-in pages: a sign-in marker (__Secure-ty.signin-nonce) that ties a sign-in to the browser that started it and lasts 15 minutes, and a sign-in progress cookie (__Secure-ty.front-door) that remembers, while an emailed code or link is on its way, the address it went to and which step you are on; it lasts until you close the browser and stops working after 15 minutes;
a short-lived cookie (__Host-ty.passkey) that holds the state of a passkey sign-in or set-up for up to 5 minutes;
temporary cookies that Google, Apple or Microsoft sign-in sets to complete that sign-in safely, which are removed when it finishes;
a cookie that remembers this browser has signed in to TradeYoke before, so the app shows Sign in rather than the free-trial welcome screen. It holds no personal information, only a marker, and lasts up to 400 days;
a cookie that remembers which workspace you chose;
a cookie that remembers your language;
a security cookie that protects forms against forgery;
a small setting in your browser's storage that remembers display preferences, such as hiding tips you have dismissed.
a setting in your browser's storage that remembers whether you have muted the assistant's spoken replies.
a random identifier for the current browser tab, kept in your browser's session storage and deleted when the tab closes, so the error reports — and, where your workspace has turned them on, performance measurements and session recordings — from one visit can be kept together.

These are strictly necessary, so they do not need your consent. We do not use advertising or third-party analytics cookies, and our public website sets no cookies for visitors. Your browser lets you block or delete cookies, but TradeYoke cannot keep you signed in without them.

You can turn off performance measurements and session recordings for yourself at any time in your profile settings (Privacy → Help improve TradeYoke); error reports are always kept because we need them to fix faults and keep the service secure.

10. Children

TradeYoke is for businesses and is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you think a child has given us data, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when what we do changes. The date at the top shows the current version. We will tell account holders about significant changes by email or in the app before they take effect.

12. Contact us

For any privacy question or request, email hello@tradeyoke.net or write to The Privacy Team, TradeYoke, Assemblysoft Ltd, 2 Woodland Walk, Bournemouth, BH5 1LU. See also our Terms of Service.

Version history

2 November 2026: clarification, no change to how we use your data. Section 6 now says exactly what is encrypted where: our servers, and the offline copy on your device, which is strongly encrypted in the apps and only scrambled in a web browser.
1 November 2026: added voice input and dictation: which speech recognition turns what you say into text (your browser's or device's, from Google, Microsoft or Apple, or our Azure AI Speech), that TradeYoke does not store the audio, and how to switch the microphone off.
27 October 2026: added how we use AI: in our marketing (sales and demo videos, voiceovers, images and articles) and in the service, including what the AI features send to Anthropic and the AI receptionist.
21 October 2026: sign-in without passwords: Google, Apple, Microsoft, an emailed code or link, and passkeys; Microsoft Entra removed from the processors.
14 October 2026: updated for error logging and performance measurement (with a per-person opt-out for measurements and recordings), Google Maps, voice commands, the Assistant AI model (Anthropic) and the returning-browser cookie (__Host-ty.returning).
28 September 2026: rewritten for the current service, naming Assemblysoft Ltd (company number 07098083) as the provider and setting out the current processors and retention periods.
June 2024: first published.