Privacy Notice
Last updated 16 September 2026
Fourth Watch answers calls on behalf of solo tradespeople. That means we handle two kinds of people's information — the tradesperson who signs up, and the members of the public who ring them. This notice explains what we collect, why, how long we keep it, and the rights you have under UK GDPR.
Who we are
Fourth Watch (“Fourth Watch”, “we”, “us”) is the data controller for the personal data described here. Until our dedicated privacy inbox is live you can reach us by replying to any email you receive from us, or through our homepage; a named contact address will be published here shortly.
Who this covers
- Tradespeople — sole traders and small firms who sign up for Fourth Watch.
- Callers — people who phone a tradesperson whose line Fourth Watch answers. For their call details, the tradesperson is the controller and Fourth Watch acts as their processor; we set it out here so everyone can see how it works.
What we collect
| When | What |
|---|---|
| You sign up on our site | Your work email address, and which plan or trade you picked. Basic analytics about your visit (see Cookies below). |
| Fourth Watch answers a call for you | The caller's name, phone number, address or area, a description of the job, how urgent it is, and a transcript of the call. The caller's spoken words are transcribed to text; we do not retain call audio. |
| You use the dashboard | Your login (Google sign-in) and the settings you enter — business name, service area, hours, rate ranges, and your mobile number for the job texts. |
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
- To answer calls and text you the job — this is the service itself. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with the tradesperson, and our and the tradesperson's legitimate interest in not missing customers' calls.
- To reach you about Fourth Watch after you sign up — legitimate interest, and consent for the signup email. Every message has an unsubscribe.
- To keep the service secure and working — legitimate interest.
We do not sell personal data, and we do not use call contents to train AI models.
Who we share it with
We use a small number of sub-processors to run the service. They act on our instructions:
- Twilio — telephony (receiving the call and sending the job text).
- Anthropic — the AI that holds the conversation and summarises the job.
- Google Firebase — hosting, database, and sign-in.
The captured job is shared with the one tradesperson the call was for. We share data with authorities only where the law requires it.
Where your data is held
Our database — where tradesperson accounts, captured jobs, and call summaries are stored (Google Firestore) — is located in Google's London region (europe-west2), inside the United Kingdom. Some sub-processors still process data in the United States: the AI that handles the conversation and summarises the job (Anthropic), account sign-in (Google Firebase Authentication), and telephony (Twilio). Where personal data of people in the UK is transferred to the United States, we rely on the providers' standard contractual clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or equivalent safeguards. If you want detail on a specific transfer, contact us.
How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Live call transcript (“session”) | Deleted automatically after 30 days. |
| Captured job record (name, number, job, transcript summary) | Up to 12 months, then deleted automatically. |
| Lead in a tradesperson’s own CRM, made from a call (name, number, job notes — never the transcript) | Until the tradesperson deletes it. It is their customer record, which they control. |
| Signup email | Until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove it. |
The session and job-record periods are enforced by an automated daily clean-up, not by hand.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, or stop a particular use, and you can object to processing based on legitimate interests. If you are a caller and want your details removed, contact the tradesperson you rang, or contact us and we will pass it on. To exercise any right, contact us through our homepage (a dedicated privacy address will be published here shortly). You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
Cookies and analytics
Our website uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors find and use the page. This sets analytics cookies and records a small amount of usage data. It is not used to answer calls and is separate from the call service.
Changes to this notice
If we change how we handle data, we will update this page and the “last updated” date above.