At MyPocketSkill, we care about privacy and are committed to being upfront about our privacy practices, including how we treat your personal information. Without using complicated jargon, this policy explains our privacy practices for MyPocketSkill.com (the “Site”) and services provided by MyPocketSkill Ltd (collectively, “MyPocketSkill”).
MyPocketSkill looks after your data and we also use an International Company called Amazon Web Services UK Ltd (company number 08650665) to hold data relating to our digital platform, including hosting our website, apps and securely storing our customer data.
This policy is a part of our Terms of Service. By using the Site you consent to our use of your personal information in the ways set out in this policy and in our Terms of Service.
MyPocketSkill’s Terms of Service require everyone on our site to be at least 13 years of age and, where under 18, to have the permission and supervision of a responsible parent or carer.
1. Information Collected or Received
1.1 To use our Service, you will need to provide us with a valid email address, mobile number, first name, last name, and you may be able to choose a password. To create a member profile we also ask for additional information: including physical address/location. Please note that in order to keep the platform safe and working properly, this content may need to be accessed by MyPocketSkill personnel from time to time.
1.2 Your name and profile is publicly displayed and connected to your MyPocketSkill activity. Other people may see a subset of your profile information, including your name, photo or logo (if uploaded), your location (or approximate location if you are a young person), reviews of your Tasks (defined here as one-off or ongoing asignments or placements), and related photos and listing descriptions for Tasks you advertised or requested.
1.3 You may log-in to MyPocketSkill with an external application (e.g. Facebook or TikTok), in which case MyPocketSkill may receive information from that other service, as explained below.
1.4 We use technologies such as cookies for specific purposes: to help understand how you interact with our site and services, in order to provide a better experience. For more information about cookies, see our Cookie Policy.
2. Uses and Sharing
2.1 We use the information that we gather from our community in a number of ways: if you agree to a Task, we’ll share your information with the other person or business/employer, we will use your email, comments, reviews and suggestions to improve our services; we use data analytics and work with a third-party service provider (MailChimp) for targeted online and offline marketing; and of course, we use your email address and mobile phone number to communicate with you. We also use Google Analytics to analyse information about how our community uses our website so that we can improve it.
2.2 If you are signing up as a young person (typically 13-24 years old), please be aware that all information that you provide on MyPocketSkill may be shared for verification purposes with your parents or legal guardians.
2.3 As part of signing-up you also consent to us sharing information with relevant education institutions (schools, colleges and relevant Government departments) for the purpose of allowing these institutions to monitor progress against specific qualifications such as T-Levels, other industry placement, work experience or employability requirements.
2.4 MyPocketSkill will not sell or disclose your personal information to other people without your consent.
3. Choices
3.1 You may review and change your information in your account settings, and you may remove certain optional pieces of information such as subscribing to newsletters and notifications.
3.2 You may control the receipt of certain types of communications from MyPocketSkill in your account settings. You also may limit certain tracking by controlling cookies in your web browser.
4. Information
4.1 If you have questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy or practices, please contact us at [email protected].
4.2 We’ll communicate when we make changes to our Privacy Policy as described below.
5. Information Collected or Received
5.1 As a MyPocketSkill member you are required to provide a valid email address and mobile phone number at registration in order to log-in to MyPocketSkill.com.
5.2 In order to verify your age or ID we may additionally require you to provide us, or a third-party, with information such as your driving license or passport, credit card, other proof of identification, address or date of birth. We work with other companies (Yoti, Stripe and UNIPaaS) to help us to securely manage and process ID verification, payment and store credit/debit card information which we use for validation, billing and payment purposes. Certain Tasks on MyPocketSkill may require you to complete a verification for age, ID, suitable qualification or other check such as a criminal record check (known as a “DBS”). Any information you submit through an authentication process will not be displayed publicly and will only be used internally by MyPocketSkill. MyPocketSkill may display the outcomes of an identity verification or payment process to let other customers know (e.g. flagging that you are a verified member or have processed a payment).
5.3 Your first name or business name is displayed to signed-in members and connected to your MyPocketSkill activity. Other people may see your first name, public bio, reviews, ratings, live listing and comments.
5.4 You may additionally choose to provide and display other personal information (such as photo and, for households, business and educational institutions, your location) in connection with your account and activity. If you do not want this additional information displayed publicly, you can remove it through your MyPocketSkill profile settings.
5.5 MyPocketSkill automatically receives and records information from your browser or your mobile device when you visit the Site, such as your IP address or unique device identifier, cookies and data about which pages you visit on the Site and stores it in log files. We may combine this automatically collected information with other information we collect about you. This information helps us to prevent fraud and keep the Site secure, analyse and understand how the Site works for members and visitors, and provides a more personalised experience for members and visitors.
5.6 When you use the Site, you may choose to share your location with MyPocketSkill in order to use our location-based services, for example to help other members to search by location. Important Note: for safeguarding reasons, we do not share any exact location information for young people on our platform.
5.7 We make it easy to sign-up to a MyPocketSkill account using external third-party applications, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok. MyPocketSkill may receive data from those connected third-party applications when you choose to sign-up or login via these platforms. Connecting your MyPocketSkill account to third-party applications or services is optional, and when you connect your account to an external app, you will be granting MyPocketSkill permission to receive information from the third-party applications in order to sign you up. We collect information about your name, as part of our verification processes. We use your first name to share with other users on the platform as part of our trust framework, to build trust across our community. We use your email address (which is not shared publicly) to validate your identity and communicate with you about MyPocketSkill bookings, messages and transactions. You may also choose to share your activity on MyPocketSkill on social media networks which are connected to your MyPocketSkill account, including sharing your listings, reviews and feedback.
5.8 MyPocketSkill may receive or obtain information (for example: an email address or IP address) about a person who is not yet a registered MyPocketSkill member (a “non-member”) in connection with certain MyPocketSkill features, such as when a member invites a non-member to visit the Site or a non-member emails us. Non-member information is used only for the purposes disclosed when it was submitted to MyPocketSkill. A non-member can contact MyPocketSkill Support if they do not want MyPocketSkill to retain their information.
5.9 MyPocketSkill may also receive or obtain information (e.g. names and email addresses) through its public sector and corporate clients. Our use of such data is on the basis that it is legitimately shared under the legal basis of "public task" (public sector) and "legitimate interest" (private sector) and in such cases, is used solely for the purpose of the project for which it was shared.
6. Choice & Control
6.1 We know that members of our community value having control over their own information, and we give you the choice of providing, editing or removing certain information, as well as choice over how we contact you.
6.2 You may change or correct your MyPocketSkill account information on the Site. You may also remove certain optional information on the Site that you no longer wish to be publicly visible on the Site.
6.3 For various reasons, MyPocketSkill may send you messages about our services or your activity. Some of these messages are required, service-related messages for members (for example when we make important changes to the Site). Other messages are not required, (such as newsletters), and you can control which optional messages you choose to receive by changing your settings in your account.
6.4 If you have chosen to connect your account to an external, third-party application, such as Facebook, you can change your settings and remove permission for the app by changing your account settings.
6.5 If you no longer wish to use MyPocketSkill’s services or receive service-related messages, then you may request that we permanently delete your data and account, including information sourced from third parties such as Meta and TikTok. (this option is accessible from profile account settings here).
7. Findability
7.1 Being about to browse and search the listings of other members on MyPocketSkill helps you connect with them on our platform.
7.2 When you are involved in messaging or bookings with another member, this information is retained in a conversation log which is shared by those parties to the conversation.
8. Messages from MyPocketSkill
8.1 MyPocketSkill may contact you by telephone, message or email to provide member support or for booking or transaction related purposes. Every account is required to keep a valid email address and mobile phone number on file to receive messages. These service-related messages are required for members. Examples of service-related messages include: confirmation/welcome email when you register your account, notifications associated with a listing/booking, and correspondence with MyPocketSkill’s support team. Service-related messages are an important part of ensuring that the Site works effectively and you may not opt out of receiving service-related messages from MyPocketSkill, unless you close your account.
8.2 MyPocketSkill may also send you messages related to certain features, news or updates about changes to our Site, Apps, or services. From time to time, we may develop new types of messages and share them with you to inform you about our services. Primarily, members will receive these messages via email or message, and you may choose to opt out of receiving different types of messages through the notification settings on your MyPocketSkill account.
8.3 MyPocketSkill offers optional email newsletters. When you register for an account, or choose to subscribe to a newsletter, you will receive newsletters from us. Newsletters are available to both members and non-members. Members may subscribe or unsubscribe from optional newsletters under notification account settings or by following the instructions contained in the newsletter emails.
9. Community
9.1 MyPocketSkill is both a marketplace and a community. We offer several features that allow members to connect and communicate in public or semi-public spaces, such as Blogs.
9.2 Members must adhere to our Community Guidelines when posting in these community spaces, sharing personal information and generally in communicating with others on MyPocketSkill. Any personal information you submit there can be read, collected, or used/replied-to by others.
10. Information Uses, Sharing & Disclosure
10.1 We respect your privacy. MyPocketSkill will not disclose your email address, phone number or other personal information to third-parties without your consent, except as specified in this policy. We use information to provide and improve our services and products, for billing and payments, for identification and authentication, and for aggregate reporting in relation to the above. Where members have opted-in, we may also use data for online and offline marketing, to contact members or interested parties, for promotions and general research.
10.2 MyPocketSkill limits access to your personal information by MyPocketSkill personnel to those whom we believe reasonably need that information to provide products or services to you or in order to do their jobs. Such MyPocketSkill staff who access personal information are appropriately trained/vetted.
10.3 As part of the process of agreeing Tasks and £ rates, MyPocketSkill will facilitate the sharing of information between the two members involved in the transaction. By agreeing a booking on MyPocketSkill you are directing us to share your information in this way. We expect you to respect the privacy of the member whose information you received. As described in MyPocketSkill's Terms of Service, you have a limited license to use that information only for MyPocketSkill-related communications or for MyPocketSkill-facilitated transactions. MyPocketSkill has not granted you a license to use the information for unsolicited commercial messages or unauthorised transactions. Without express consent from that person, you must not add any MyPocketSkill member to your email or physical mailing list or misuse any member’s personal information. Remember that you need to comply with all relevant legal rules when you use MyPocketSkill. This includes applicable data protection and privacy laws which govern the ways in which you can use another MyPocketSkill member’s information.
10.4 MyPocketSkill may release your personal information to a third party in the following circumstances: to protect, establish, or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; to comply with a subpoena, court order, legal process, or other legal requirement; or when we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to comply with the law, prevent imminent physical harm or financial loss, or investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, threats to our property, or violations of MyPocketSkill's Terms of Service. Law enforcement agencies and their representatives can submit these requests, subject to the provision of relevant paperwork (e.g. RIPA form or warrant), to the contact details in Section 15 below and we will undertake to provide this information in a reasonable timescale, which would be advised subsequent to any request.
10.5 We also may disclose personally identifiable information to parties in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or other unlawful activity. In such events, MyPocketSkill may disclose name, address, country, phone number, email address and company name.
10.6 MyPocketSkill may share member/demographic information to effectively run and manage our service, but it will always be aggregated and anonymised/pseudonymised, so personally-identifiable information is not revealed.
10.7 MyPocketSkill engages third party companies which are essential for the operational and management functions of our company. Specifically, these include:
Stripe and UNIPaaS (to process payments on behalf of our members).
AWS (to host our technology platform service).
Google (to provide performance analytics and hosted business management software).
Mailchimp (an opt-in service, to provide customer communications services).
SendGrid/Twilio (to provide email and SMS sending services).
These third parties have limited access to your information only to perform these Tasks on our behalf and are obligated to MyPocketSkill not to disclose or use your information for other purposes.
10.8 In some cases, MyPocketSkill may choose to buy or sell assets. In these types of transactions (such as a sale, merger, liquidation, receivership or transfer of all or substantially all of MyPocketSkill’s assets), member information is typically one of the business assets that is transferred. If MyPocketSkill intends to transfer information about you, MyPocketSkill will notify you by email or by putting a prominent notice on the Site, and you will be afforded an opportunity to opt out before information about you becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
10.9 Third-party plug-ins also may collect information about your use of the Site. For example, when you load a page on MyPocketSkill that has a social plug-in from a third-party site or service, such as a “Like” or “Send” button, you are also loading content from that third-party site. That site may request cookies directly from your browser. These interactions are subject to the privacy policy of the third-party site. In addition, certain cookies and other tracking mechanisms on our site are used by third parties for targeted online marketing and other purposes. These technologies allow a partner to recognise your computer or mobile device each time you visit MyPocketSkill, but do not allow access to personally identifiable information from MyPocketSkill. MyPocketSkill does not have access or control over these third-party technologies, and they are not covered by our Privacy Policy. If you prefer to prevent third parties from setting and accessing cookies on your computer, you may set your browser to block cookies. This policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that MyPocketSkill does not own or control, or individuals that MyPocketSkill does not employ or manage. If you provide your information to others, different practices may apply to the use or disclosure of the information you provide to them. MyPocketSkill does not control the privacy policies of third parties, including other MyPocketSkill members. MyPocketSkill is not responsible for the privacy or security practices of MyPocketSkill members or other websites on the Internet, even those linked to or from the MyPocketSkill Site. We encourage you to ask questions before you disclose your personal information to others.
11. Security
11.1 The security of your personal information is important to us. Your MyPocketSkill account information is protected by a password. It is important that you protect against unauthorised access to your account and information by choosing your password carefully, and keeping your password and computer secure, such as by signing out after using our services.
11.2 MyPocketSkill encrypts sensitive information such as passwords using current security best practice. Encryption makes it extremely hard for the original password to be retrieved even if a password hash is obtained somehow, provided that the password was not trivial. Unfortunately, no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to protect your personal information, we can't guarantee its absolute security.
12. Data Retention
12.1 MyPocketSkill will retain your information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, for as long as your account is active, or as needed to provide you services. If you no longer want MyPocketSkill to use your information to provide you services, you may close and delete your account. MyPocketSkill will retain and use your information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Please note that closing your account may not free up your email address, or company name for reuse on a new account.
12.2 You may inform us of any changes or requests regarding your personal data, and in accordance with our obligations under applicable data protection law, we may update or delete your personal data accordingly. We'll respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.
13. Your Rights
13.1 If you are a MyPocketSkill member, you can access, correct, change, and delete certain personal information associated with your account by visiting your MyPocketSkill account settings. If you need further assistance, you can contact MyPocketSkill through one of the channels listed below under “Contact MyPocketSkill.”
14. Privacy Policy Changes
14.1 We may update this policy from time to time. If we believe that the changes are material, we’ll definitely let you know by doing one (or more) of the following: (1) posting the changes on the Site, (2) sending you an email or message about the changes. That way you can decide whether you want to continue using the Site. Changes will be effective upon the posting of the changes. You are responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any changes. Your use of the Site following the changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
15. Contact MyPocketSkill
15.1If you have questions or suggestions about personal information you can contact MyPocketSkill’s Support team by sending an email to [email protected].