About This Policy
This Privacy Policy ("Policy") explains how Ant Assist (trading as AAVA Group Ltd, Company No. 15325330, registered in England and Wales, registered office at 31-53 Xappee Building, Hunters Road, Birmingham, United Kingdom, B19 1DP) ("we", "us", "Ant Assist") collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data.
This Policy applies to:
- Visitors to our website at ant-assist.com (including everyone who fills in our contact form, savings calculator, or any other form on the site)
- Prospective clients we communicate with about our services
- Signed clients during the term of their engagement with Ant Assist
- The end-users (employees, customers, suppliers, and other individuals) whose personal data our virtual assistants ("VAs") process on behalf of a client
If you are a client and want to understand how Ant Assist processes personal data on your behalf as a Processor under the UK GDPR, please also refer to our Terms & Conditions and the Data Processing Agreement that forms part of your Service Agreement.
Who We Are (Data Controller)
For the purposes of UK data protection law, the Data Controller responsible for your personal data is:
Ant Assist (trading as AAVA Group Ltd)
Company No. 15325330 (registered in England and Wales)
Registered office: 31-53 Xappee Building, Hunters Road, Birmingham, United Kingdom, B19 1DP
Contact for data protection enquiries: privacy@ant-assist.com
We have not appointed a statutory Data Protection Officer (DPO) as one is not required under UK GDPR for our current scale and activities. However, all data protection enquiries should be directed to the email address above.
What Personal Data We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal data:
3.1 Information You Provide Directly
When you fill in a form on our website or communicate with us, we collect:
- Identity information: your name, job title, the business you represent
- Contact information: email address, phone number, business address
- Enquiry information: the message or query you send us, the role or service you're interested in, the size of business you operate
- Calculator inputs: when you use our savings calculator, we collect the inputs you submit (role type, hours per week, comparison details) so we can show you the calculated result. If you choose to receive the calculation by email, we also collect your email address for that purpose.
- Communication preferences: whether you've opted into receiving marketing emails from us
3.2 Information We Receive From Clients (For Service Delivery)
When you are a signed client and your VA is assisting you, our VA may handle personal data relating to:
- Your employees, contractors, customers, suppliers, and other business contacts
- Anyone you ask the VA to communicate with on your behalf
- Anyone whose details appear in documents, emails, or systems the VA works with on your behalf
In relation to this category of data, Ant Assist acts as a Data Processor and you (the client) act as the Data Controller. The processing of this data is governed by the Data Processing Agreement in your Service Agreement, not by this Policy.
3.3 Information We Collect Automatically
When you visit our website, we automatically collect:
- Device and browser information: IP address, browser type, operating system, screen size, referring URL
- Behavioural data: pages visited, time spent on pages, clicks, scroll depth, and similar interaction data (collected through Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity)
- Cookie and tracking data: see section 10 for full detail
3.4 Information We Receive From Third Parties
We may receive your contact details from:
- Mutual business contacts who refer you to us
- Public sources such as LinkedIn or your business website (if we use these to verify your business information after you submit a form)
- Calendar booking tools when you schedule a call with us
How We Use Your Personal Data (Purpose & Legal Basis)
We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR Article 6. For each purpose below, we have identified the legal basis we rely on.
| Purpose | Legal Basis |
|---|---|
| Responding to your enquiry and providing information about our services | Legitimate interest (responding to a request you initiated) |
| Sending a calculator result you requested | Legitimate interest (fulfilling a request you made) |
| Booking and conducting a discovery call | Legitimate interest (preparing for a potential contract with you) |
| Providing the Services under a signed Service Agreement | Performance of a contract |
| Invoicing, collecting payment, and managing your account | Performance of a contract; legal obligation (tax/accounting) |
| Sending you transactional emails (account updates, service updates) | Performance of a contract |
| Sending marketing emails or newsletters | Consent (you must opt in), and you can withdraw consent at any time |
| Improving our website and services | Legitimate interest (running and improving our business) |
| Detecting fraud, security incidents, and abuse | Legitimate interest (protecting our systems and clients) |
| Complying with legal, tax, regulatory, and compliance obligations | Legal obligation |
| Defending or pursuing legal claims | Legitimate interest (protecting our legal rights) |
Where we rely on legitimate interest, we have conducted a balancing assessment and concluded that our legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. You can ask for a copy of our balancing assessment by emailing privacy@ant-assist.com.
Who We Share Your Personal Data With
We share personal data only where necessary. The categories of recipient are:
5.1 Ant Assist Personnel
Our employees, contractors, and team members in Egypt (Cairo) and the UK who need access to your personal data to perform their roles. All Ant Assist personnel are bound by contractual confidentiality obligations.
5.2 Service Providers (Processors)
We use third-party service providers to deliver our services and run our business. Each provider is contractually bound to process personal data only on our instructions and to apply appropriate security measures. Current categories include:
- Website hosting and infrastructure: Hostinger
- Analytics: Google Analytics (provided by Google LLC), Microsoft Clarity (provided by Microsoft Corporation)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): HubSpot
- Calendar booking: Calendly
- Email delivery: Mailchimp
- Payment processing: Stripe
- Cloud storage and document management: Google Workspace
A current list of our sub-processors is available on request from privacy@ant-assist.com.
5.3 Professional Advisors
Our lawyers, accountants, auditors, and other professional advisors where they need access to personal data to provide their services to us.
5.4 Authorities and Regulators
We may share personal data with HMRC, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the police, courts, or other regulatory or government bodies where required by law, regulation, or legal process.
5.5 Business Transactions
If Ant Assist (or AAVA Group Ltd) is sold, merged, restructured, or otherwise transfers business assets, personal data may be transferred to the acquiring party. The acquiring party will be bound by terms substantially similar to this Policy in respect of personal data transferred.
We do not sell personal data to any third party for marketing purposes.
International Transfers
Ant Assist delivers services through a team based primarily in Cairo, Egypt. This means personal data we process, including personal data relating to UK clients and the individuals whose data those clients ask us to handle, is transferred from the United Kingdom to Egypt.
Egypt is not currently subject to a UK adequacy decision under UK GDPR. Where we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. Specifically:
- We rely on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers to our Egyptian personnel and any other recipient in a country without an adequacy decision.
- We carry out a Transfer Risk Assessment to evaluate the legal and practical risks of the transfer, and apply supplementary technical and organisational measures where necessary.
- All transfers are limited to data strictly necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy.
You can request a copy of the safeguards we use for international transfers by contacting privacy@ant-assist.com.
How Long We Keep Your Personal Data
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy, or as required by law.
| Category | Retention Period |
|---|---|
| Website enquiry / contact form submissions (not converted to clients) | 24 months from last contact, then deleted |
| Marketing email subscribers | Until you unsubscribe, then a suppression record kept indefinitely so we don't email you again |
| Calculator submissions | 12 months |
| Discovery call booking data | 18 months |
| Client records during engagement | Duration of the contract |
| Client records after engagement ends | 6 years after contract termination (legal and tax purposes) |
| Financial records (invoices, payments) | 6 years (HMRC tax record requirement) |
| Personal data processed on behalf of clients (as Processor) | As instructed by the client; at the end of the contract, returned or deleted per client's choice |
| Website analytics data | 14 months (Google Analytics); per Microsoft Clarity defaults |
After the relevant retention period, personal data is either deleted or fully anonymised so it can no longer be associated with you.
Your Rights Under UK GDPR
You have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
8.1 Right of Access
You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, and information about how we process it. This is sometimes called a "Subject Access Request."
8.2 Right to Rectification
You have the right to ask us to correct any personal data we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
8.3 Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten")
You have the right to ask us to delete personal data we hold about you, in certain circumstances. This right is not absolute, and we may need to retain certain data to comply with legal obligations, defend legal claims, or fulfil an existing contract.
8.4 Right to Restrict Processing
You have the right to ask us to limit how we process your personal data in certain circumstances (for example, while we verify the accuracy of disputed data).
8.5 Right to Data Portability
You have the right to ask for a copy of personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and to ask us to transmit that data to another controller.
8.6 Right to Object
You have the right to object to processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interest as our legal basis, or where we use your data for direct marketing.
8.7 Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making
We do not currently make any decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects based solely on automated processing of personal data.
8.8 Right to Withdraw Consent
Where we rely on consent (for example, for marketing emails), you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
8.9 How to Exercise Your Rights
To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@ant-assist.com. We will respond within one calendar month of receiving your request. In some cases (where requests are complex or numerous), we may extend this period by up to two further months, in which case we'll let you know within one month of receipt.
We do not charge a fee for handling routine requests. If a request is manifestly unfounded, excessive, or repetitive, we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse to respond, and we will explain our reasons if we do.
We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to an unauthorised person.
How to Complain
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first at privacy@ant-assist.com so we have the opportunity to address your concerns.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Website: ico.org.uk
We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact us first.
Cookies & Tracking Technologies
10.1 What Cookies Are
Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They allow the website to remember your actions and preferences over time. Similar technologies (web beacons, pixels, local storage, session storage) work in comparable ways.
10.2 Cookies We Use
We use the following categories of cookies and tracking technologies on ant-assist.com:
Strictly Necessary Cookies (always active, no consent required under UK PECR)
These cookies are essential for the website to function. They include session cookies that remember your interaction during a visit, security cookies that protect against unauthorised access, and preference cookies that remember settings you have chosen.
Analytics Cookies (consent required)
- Google Analytics (GA4): provided by Google LLC. We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website (pages viewed, time on page, navigation paths). Data is collected anonymously and used in aggregate. Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months. You can opt out at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
- Microsoft Clarity: provided by Microsoft Corporation. Clarity records anonymised session replays and heatmaps so we can see how users interact with the site. We use this to identify usability issues and improve the experience. Clarity does not collect personally identifying information by default. You can opt out by adjusting your cookie preferences via our cookie banner.
Marketing Cookies: we do not currently use marketing or advertising cookies on our website.
10.3 Managing Cookie Preferences
When you first visit our website, you are presented with a cookie banner that lets you accept or reject non-essential cookies. You can change your preferences at any time by:
- Clicking the "Cookie Settings" link in our website footer
- Adjusting your browser settings to block or delete cookies (note: this may affect site functionality)
For more information about specific cookies, including their duration and purpose, see our Cookie Policy.
Marketing Communications
We will only send you marketing communications (newsletters, product updates, promotional offers) where you have given us your consent to do so, typically by ticking an opt-in box on a form on our website.
You can withdraw your consent at any time by:
- Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email we send you
- Emailing us at privacy@ant-assist.com asking to be removed
Withdrawing consent for marketing does not affect any other communications we send you (such as transactional emails about your account or service).
How We Protect Your Personal Data
We take the security of personal data seriously. Our security measures include:
- Encryption in transit: all data exchanged with our website is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS)
- Access controls: access to personal data is restricted to Ant Assist personnel who need it for their role
- Authentication: strong password requirements and, where supported, multi-factor authentication on all systems handling personal data
- Training: Ant Assist personnel receive training on data protection and information security
- Logging and monitoring: we monitor systems for security incidents and unauthorised access
- Contractual safeguards: all third-party processors are required to apply appropriate technical and organisational security measures
- Incident response: we have processes to detect, respond to, and notify clients and (where required) the ICO of personal data breaches
Despite our measures, no system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of personal data transmitted over the internet. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately at privacy@ant-assist.com.
Children's Data
Our website and services are not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we may have inadvertently collected personal data from a child, please contact us at privacy@ant-assist.com and we will take steps to delete it.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will:
- Update the "Last updated" date at the top of this Policy
- Where the change is significant, notify you by email (if you are a client or subscriber) or by a prominent notice on our website
We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to stay informed about how we collect, use, and protect personal data.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal data, contact us using the details below.
Questions about your data?
Contact us directly and we'll respond within one calendar month. If you're unhappy with our response, you have the right to complain to the ICO.
Lodge a complaint with the ICO
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 · Website: ico.org.uk