Privacy policy
Last updated:
The short version
- We collect only what we need to run Loycol on WhatsApp: your number, your WhatsApp profile name, your messages to us, and the area you choose to tell us.
- We never sell your data or share it for other companies’ advertising.
- We don’t use your messages to train AI models.
- Type STOP in the chat at any time and we delete your data within 30 days.
- This website sets no tracking, analytics or advertising cookies.
1. Who we are
This policy explains how Loycol Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 13528835 (“Loycol”, “we”, “us”), collects, uses and protects personal data when you use the Loycol shopping assistant on WhatsApp and the website loycol.com (together, the “Service”). Our registered office is 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX.
We are the controller of your personal data. For anything about your data, email support@loycol.com.
2. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as Loycol grows. We’ll change the date at the top, and if a change affects how we use your data, we’ll tell you in WhatsApp before it applies.
3. What we collect
Information you give us
- Your messages, such as the products you ask about.
- Your area, if you tell us (for example a postcode district such as “E1”, never your full address).
- Your choices, such as agreeing to our terms or opting in to news from Loycol.
- Emails you send us at support@loycol.com.
Information from WhatsApp
When you message Loycol, WhatsApp (operated by Meta) passes us your phone number, your WhatsApp profile name, and the time and delivery status of messages.
Information collected automatically
We keep basic technical records, such as message times, error codes and how often a number messages us, to keep the Service secure and working.
Please don’t send us sensitive information, such as health details, payment card numbers or passwords. We don’t need it, and we delete it if we notice it.
4. How we use it, and our lawful basis
| What we do | Lawful basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Reply to your messages, find prices and send you the results you ask for | Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) |
| Show results that suit your area, and understand where Loycol is used, using combined figures that don’t identify anyone | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) |
| Keep a record of your agreement to our terms and your choices | Legal obligation and legitimate interests |
| Prevent spam, fraud and abuse, and fix problems | Legitimate interests |
| Send news and offers from Loycol, only if you opt in | Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations |
5. Automated replies and AI
Loycol’s replies are automated. We don’t make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects. We don’t use your messages to train AI models. If we start using an AI provider to help understand messages, we’ll name it in this policy and tell you before it applies.
6. Who we share data with
We don’t sell your data, and we don’t share it with data brokers or advertisers. We share it only with service providers that help run Loycol, under contracts that require them to protect it:
- Meta Platforms (WhatsApp Business Platform): delivers messages between you and Loycol.
- Cloudflare: hosts this website and protects it from attacks.
- GitHub, Inc. (part of Microsoft): runs the Loycol assistant and stores its data.
- SerpApi: retrieves public product prices. We send it the product name only, never your number or details.
- Google Workspace: our email, if you contact us by email.
We may also share data where the law requires it, or to protect people from fraud or harm. If Loycol is ever sold or merged, your data would move to the new owner under this policy, and we’d tell you first.
7. Buying from retailers
Loycol doesn’t sell products or take payments. When you follow a link to a retailer, you leave Loycol, and the retailer’s own privacy policy applies to anything you share with them.
8. International transfers
Some providers, including Meta, process data outside the UK, for example in the United States. Where they do, we rely on UK adequacy regulations (including the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework) or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, so your data stays protected.
9. How long we keep it
- Your number, area and choices: while you use Loycol. If you send nothing for 12 months, we delete them.
- Message content: up to 90 days, then deleted.
- Security records: up to 30 days.
- After you type STOP: we delete your data within 30 days, keeping only the minimum needed to make sure we don’t message you again.
10. How we protect it
We encrypt data in transit, limit access to the people and systems that need it, keep secret keys out of our code, use two-factor authentication on our accounts, and check that every message really comes from WhatsApp before we act on it. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your rights at risk, we’ll tell you and the ICO as the law requires.
Loycol will never ask for payment details, passwords or verification codes in WhatsApp. If anyone claiming to be Loycol does, don’t reply, and tell us at support@loycol.com.
11. Your rights
You can ask to access, correct or delete your data, to restrict or object to how we use it, or for a copy to take elsewhere. You can withdraw consent at any time. Message us on WhatsApp or email support@loycol.com. It’s free, and we reply within one month.
If you’re unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
12. This website
loycol.com doesn’t ask for your details and sets no tracking, analytics or advertising cookies. Cloudflare may set a strictly necessary security cookie to protect the site from attacks, which doesn’t need your consent. We host our own fonts and images, so visiting the site doesn’t send your details to Google or other third parties.
13. Age
Loycol is for people aged 18 and over. If you think someone under 18 has used Loycol, tell us and we’ll delete their data.