Privacy notice in accordance with Article 13 GDPR

Name and address of the data controller

The responsible body within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other data protection regulations is:

The Highland Virtual Assistant

35 Telford Road, Inverness, IV3 8JA, UK

Email: Jess@thehighlandvirtualassistant.co.uk

Phone: 07949734094

General information on data processing

Legal basis for processing personal data

In accordance with Article 13 GDPR, we will inform you of the legal basis for our data processing. If the legal basis is not specified in the privacy notice, the following applies: the legal basis for obtaining consent is Article 6(1)(a) in conjunction with Article 7 GDPR. The legal basis for processing in order to provide our services and fulfil contractual measures, as well as answering inquiries, is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. The legal basis for processing in order to fulfil our legal obligations is Article 6(1)(c) GDPR. If the processing of your data is necessary to safeguard the legitimate interests of our company or a third party and if your interests, fundamental rights and fundamental freedoms as the data subject do not outweigh the first interest, Article 6(1)(f) GDPR serves as the legal basis for the processing. In the event that vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require the processing of personal data, Article 6(1)(d) GDPR serves as the legal basis.

Data deletion and storage period

We adhere to the principles of data minimisation in accordance with Article 5(1)(c) GDPR and storage limitation according to Article 5(1)(e) GDPR. We only store your personal data for as long as is necessary to achieve the purposes stated here, or as stipulated by the retention periods provided for by law. After the respective purpose no longer applies or after these retention periods have expired, the corresponding data will be deleted as quickly as possible.

External links

This website may contain links to third-party websites or to other websites under our responsibility. If you follow a link to any of the websites outside our control, please note that these websites have their own privacy notices. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for these external websites and their privacy notices. Before using these websites, please check whether you agree with their privacy policies.

You can recognise external links either by the fact that they are displayed in a colour which is slightly different from the rest of the text or that they are underlined. Your cursor will show you external links when you move it over such a link. Only when you click on an external link will your personal data be transferred to the destination of the link. The operator of the other website will then receive your IP address, the time at which you clicked on the link, the website you were on when you clicked on the link, and other information that you can find in the respective provider’s privacy notice.

Please also note that individual links may result in data transfer outside the European Economic Area. This could give foreign authorities access to your data. You may not be entitled to any legal recourse against such data access. If you do not want your personal data to be transferred to the link destination or potentially even accessed by foreign authorities against your will, please do not click on any links.

Rights of data subjects

As a data subject within the meaning of the GDPR, you have the option to assert various rights. The data subject rights arising from the GDPR are the right to information (Article 15), the right to rectification (Article 16), the right to deletion (Article 17), the right to restriction of processing (Article 18), the right to object (Article 21), the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority and the right to data portability (Article 20).

Right of revocation:

Some data processing can only take place with your express consent. You have the option to revoke your consent at any time. However, the lawfulness of the data processing up to the point of revocation is not affected by this.

Right of objection:

If the processing is based on Article 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR, you as the data subject can object to the processing of your personal data at any time for reasons arising from your particular situation. You are also entitled to this right in the case of profiling based on these provisions within the meaning of Article 4(4) GDPR. Unless we can prove a legitimate interest for the processing which overrides your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing serves the assertion, exercise or defense of legal claims, we will refrain from processing your data after the objection has been made.

If the processing of personal data serves the purpose of direct marketing, you also have the right to object at any time. The same applies to profiling associated with direct marketing. Here, too, we will no longer process personal data as soon as you raise an objection.

Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority:

If you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the member state of your place of residence, without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, your place of work or the location of the alleged violation.

Right to data portability:

If your data is processed automatically based on consent or fulfilment of a contract, you have the right to receive this data in a structured, common and machine-readable format. You also have the right to request that the data be transferred and made available to another data controller, insofar as this is technically feasible.

Right of access, rectification and erasure:

You have the right to obtain information about the processing of your personal data with regard to the purpose, categories and recipients of the data processing, as well as the duration of storage. If you have any questions on this topic or on other topics regarding personal data, you can of course contact us using the contact options provided in the legal notice.

Right to restriction of processing:

You may assert your right to the restriction of processing of your personal data at any time. To do this, you must meet one of the following requirements:

You contest the accuracy of the personal data. While the accuracy of the data is being verified, you have the right to demand that its processing is restricted.
If processing is unlawful, you can request the restriction of the use of the data as an alternative to deletion.
If we no longer need your personal data for the purposes of processing, but you need the data to assert, exercise or defend legal claims, you can request the restriction of processing as an alternative to deletion.
If you object to the processing in accordance with Article 21(1) GDPR, we will weigh up your interests against ours. Until this weighing up is completed, you have the right to request the restriction of processing.

The effect of restricting processing is that, apart from storage, the personal data may only be processed with your consent or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or for reasons of substantial public interest of the Union or a member state.

Provision of the website (web host)

We use Wix Online Platforms Limited, 1 Grant's Row, Dublin 2 D02HX96, Ireland as our web hosting provider.

When you access our website, we automatically collect and store information in so-called server log files. Your browser automatically transmits this information to our server or our hosting company’s server.

These are:

IP address of the website visitor's end device
device used
host name of the accessing computer
visitor's operating system
browser type and version
name of the retrieved file
time of server request
amount of data
information on whether the retrieval of the data was successful

This data is not merged with other data sources.

Instead of operating this website on our own server, we may also commission an external service provider (hosting company) to operate it on their own server, which we have named above in this case. The personal data collected by this website will be stored on the hosting company’s servers. In addition to the data mentioned above, the web host also stores for us, for example, contact requests, contact details, names, website access data, meta and communication data, contract data and other data generated via a website.

The legal basis for processing this data is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR . Our legitimate interest is the technically error-free presentation and optimization of this website. If the website is called up in order to enter into contract negotiations with us or to conclude a contract, this serves as a further legal basis (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). In the event that we have commissioned a hosting company, a order processing contract will have been agreed with this service provider.

Use of Local Storage Items, Session Storage Items and Cookies

Our website uses local storage items, session storage items and/or cookies. Local storage is a mechanism that enables data to be stored within the browser on your end device. This data usually includes user preferences, such as the "day" or "night" mode of a website, and is retained until you manually delete the data. Session storage is very similar to Local storage, whereas the storage duration only lasts during the current session, so until the current tab is closed. The session storage objects are then deleted from your end device. Cookies are information that a web server (server that provides web content) stores on your end device in order to be able to identify this end device. They are either temporarily deleted for the duration of a session (session cookies) and after your visit to a website or permanently (permanent cookies) on your end device until you delete them yourself or they are automatically deleted by your web browser.

These objects can also be stored on your end device by third-party companies when you visit our site (third-party requests). This allows us, as the operator, and you, as a visitor to this website, to make use of certain third-party services installed on this website. Examples are the processing payment services or displaying videos on a website.

These mechanisms have a variety of uses. They can improve the functionality of a website, control shopping cart functions, increase the security and comfort of website use and carry out analyses regarding visitor flows and behavior. Depending on their individual functions, they must be classified in terms of data protection legislation. Are they necessary for the operation of the website and intended to provide certain features (shopping cart feature) or serve to optimize the website (e.g. cookies to measure visitor behavior), then their use is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. As a website operator, we have a legitimate interest in storing local storage items, session storage items and cookies in order to ensure the technically error-free and optimized provision of our services. In all other cases, local storage items, session storage items and cookies are only stored with your express consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).

If local storage items, session storage items and cookies are used by third-party companies or for analysis purposes, we will inform you about this separately in this privacy notice. When required, your consent will be requested and can be revoked at any time.

Use of external services

We use external services on our website. External services are services provided by third parties that are used on our website. This can be done for a variety of reasons, such as embedding videos or website security. When using these services, personal data is also passed on to the respective providers of these external services. If we have no legitimate interest in using these services, we will obtain your revocable consent as a visitor to our website before using them (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR).

Content management system

A content management system enables the creation, editing, organization and presentation of digital content. We use a content management system to create content for our website. This enables us to design a more attractive website.

This processing is based on our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Our legitimate interest is in the technically error-free display and optimization of the website.

Wix

Our website uses the service Wix. The provider of this service is Wix Online Platforms Limited, 1 Grant's Row, Dublin 2 D02HX96, Ireland.

The use of this service may result in data transfer to a third country (USA). The provider of this service is certified according to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and therefore provides an adequate level of data protection.

Further information can be found in the provider's privacy policy at the following URL: https://de.wix.com/about/privacy.

Contact by telephone and email

We have provided a telephone number and email address on our website in accordance with legal requirements. Data transmitted in this way is automatically stored by us in order to process the corresponding enquiries or to be able to contact the person making the enquiry. We will not pass this data on to third parties without your consent.

If contact is made by telephone or via our email address for pre-contractual or contractual purposes, the legal basis for the processing of personal data is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR. For all other contact you make, the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is our legitimate interest in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Presence on Social Media

Social networks process personal data of their users on a large scale. Visiting our profiles on such networks leads to the processing of your IP address and other information about the used devices, among other things, which enables the IP addresses to be reassigned to individual users. We cannot influence this data processing. Therefore we have to point out that visiting our profiles on the social networks and using their functions is at your own risk. Details on data processing can be found in the operator's data protection declaration.

The purpose of our profiles on social media platforms is to increase our Internet presence and the associated greater notoriety. Therefore, legitimate interest in accordance with Article 6 (1)(f) GDPR is to be used as the legal basis. Furthermore, with regard to the processing activities by the social networks, we refer to their own legal bases (e.g. consent in accordance with Article 6 (1)(a) GDPR), which can be found in the respective data protection declaration.

Together with the social media platform, we are responsible for the data processing operations triggered when you visit our profile. You can therefore assert your rights as a data subject in accordance with the GDPR against the social media platform and against us. However, we would like to point out that we cannot influence the processing of data by the social media platform.

Presence on Facebook

We have a profile on Facebook. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Detailed information about the handling of personal data can be found in the following data protection declaration of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

Presence on Instagram

We have a profile on Instagram. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Detailed information about the handling of personal data can be found in the following data protection declaration of Facebook: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875.

Presence on LinkedIn

We have a profile on LinkedIn. The provider of this service is LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland. LinkedIn uses advertising cookies.

Detailed information about the handling of personal data can be found in the following data protection declaration of LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Presence on TikTok

We have a profile on TikTok. The provider of this service is TikTok Technology Limited, 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, D02 T380, Ireland.

Detailed information about the handling of personal data can be found in the following data protection declaration of TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/legal/privacy-policy?lang=de.

Audio and video conferencing

Data Processing

We use online conferencing tools, among others, to communicate with our customers. The individual tools we use are listed below. If you communicate with us by video or audio conference via the Internet, your personal data will be collected and processed by us and the provider of the respective conference tool.

The conferencing tools collect all the data that you provide/enter to use the tools (e-mail address and/or your telephone number). The conference tools also process the duration of the conference, the start and end (time) of participation in the conference, the number of participants and other "context information" in connection with the communication process (metadata).

Furthermore, the provider of the tool processes all technical data required for the processing of online communication. This includes, in particular, IP addresses, MAC addresses, device IDs, device type, operating system type and version, client version, camera type, microphone or loudspeaker and the type of connection.

If content is exchanged, uploaded or provided in any other way within the tool, this is also stored on the tool provider's servers. Such content includes, in particular, cloud recordings, chat/instant messages, voicemails, uploaded photos and videos, files, whiteboards and other information shared while using the service.

Please note that we do not have full control over the data processing operations of the tools used. Our options are largely determined by the company policy of the respective provider. Further information on data processing by the conference tools can be found in the privacy policies of the tools used, which we have listed below this text.

Purpose and legal basis

The conference tools are used to communicate with prospective or existing contractual partners or to offer certain services to our customers (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR). Furthermore, the use of the tools serves the general simplification and acceleration of communication with us or our company (legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR). If consent has been requested, the tools in question are used on the basis of this consent; consent can be revoked at any time with effect for the future.

Storage duration

The data collected directly by us via the video and conference tools will be deleted from our systems as soon as you request us to delete it, revoke your consent to store it or the purpose for storing the data no longer applies. Stored cookies remain on your end device until you delete them. Mandatory statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

We have no influence on the storage duration of your data that is stored by the operators of the conference tools for their own purposes. For details, please contact the operators of the conference tools directly.

We use the following conference tools:

Zoom: The provider of this service is Zoom Communications Inc, San Jose, 55 Almaden Boulevard, 6th Floor, San Jose, CA 95113, USA. For details on data processing, please refer to Zoom’s privacy policy: https://explore.zoom.us/en/privacy/. Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://explore.zoom.us/en/privacy/. The provider of this service is certified according to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and therefore provides an adequate level of data protection.
Google Meet: The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. For details on data processing, please see the Google privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en. The provider of this service is certified according to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and therefore provides an adequate level of data protection.

This policy was last updated in March 2025