Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

PC Repair Guru is the data controller for the personal information covered by this notice. The business operates from 9A Hob Moor Road, Bordesley Green, Small Heath, Birmingham B10 9AY.

Privacy enquiries and data-rights requests can be sent to info@pcrepairguru.co.uk or made by calling 0121 679 9865.

2. When this policy applies

This policy applies when you use the website, submit the contact form, call, email or message us, send information through WhatsApp, book a workshop appointment or call-out, provide a device for assessment or repair, purchase an approved part, request data recovery, raise a complaint or use a warranty.

3. Information we may collect

• Contact information: name, telephone number, email address, postal address, call-out address and postcode.
• Device and repair information: make, model, serial number, specification, passwords or temporary access details where necessary, symptoms, error messages, diagnostic results, repair history and job notes.
• Communications: telephone notes, emails, contact-form submissions, WhatsApp messages and other correspondence.
• Images and other content: photographs, videos, screenshots, audio, documents and files sent by you or created to document the condition, fault or repair of a device.
• Transaction information: quotations, approved work, parts ordered, invoices, receipts, payment status, warranty and complaint records. We do not need to retain full payment-card details when payment is handled by a card provider.
• Website and security information: IP address, browser and device information, request logs, security events and Turnstile verification information.
• Device data: information stored on a device may be encountered where reasonably necessary to diagnose, repair, test, recover data or confirm that approved work has succeeded.

4. How we use information and our lawful bases

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests may include running a safe and efficient repair business, maintaining accurate records, improving diagnostic and customer-service processes, preventing misuse, demonstrating our repair work and handling disputes. We assess whether the use is necessary, proportionate and likely to cause an unexpected privacy impact.

5. WhatsApp messages, photographs, videos and public repair content

If you contact us through WhatsApp, Meta and WhatsApp process information under their own terms and privacy policies. Messages and attachments may remain on your device, our authorised business devices and WhatsApp systems.

Content you send, and content we create while inspecting or repairing a device, may be used to:

• understand the fault and decide what information or appointment is needed;
• prepare or explain a quotation;
• identify a device, part, connector, error message or visible damage;
• document condition before, during and after approved work;
• handle warranty questions, complaints, insurance queries, disputes or fraud prevention;
• support staff training, quality checks and service improvement;
• create repair records, technical examples and before-and-after comparisons; and
• showcase PC Repair Guru's repair work and technical expertise through public case studies.

Non-identifiable public content. We may publish device-only photographs, videos, repair-stage images, component images, fault demonstrations, before-and-after results and anonymised extracts from messages where we have taken reasonable steps to remove or obscure information that could identify a customer, device owner or another person. This may include removing or hiding faces, names, telephone numbers, email addresses, addresses, usernames, account information, serial numbers, licence keys, notifications, documents, private files and unrelated screen content.

Non-identifiable repair content may be used on the PC Repair Guru website, repair gallery, WhatsApp Business profile or status, Google Business Profile, social-media accounts, video platforms, online listings, advertisements and other promotional material controlled by PC Repair Guru.

Identifiable public content. We do not treat the act of sending a message, image, video or device as automatic permission to publish personal information. Where a photograph, video, screenshot, message, testimonial, voice recording or case study identifies you or another person, we will ask for separate, clear permission before public use. Permission is optional and refusing it will not affect the repair service.

Where separate permission is given, it may cover reproduction, editing, cropping, formatting and publication of the approved content for the channels and purposes explained in the permission request. You may withdraw permission for future use by contacting us. We will take reasonable steps to stop new use and remove content from channels we control, although withdrawal does not make earlier lawful use unlawful and may not remove copies already printed, cached, shared or republished by third parties.

You should avoid sending unrelated personal information, bank details, identity documents, private conversations, images of children or third-party information that is not needed for the repair. By sending content, you confirm that you are entitled to provide it. If content includes another person's personal information, additional permission may be needed before it can be used publicly.

6. Access to devices, accounts and files

Some faults can only be diagnosed or tested by accessing the operating system, hardware information, user profile, applications or selected files. Access is limited to what is reasonably necessary for the reported fault and approved work.

Customers should back up important data where practical, sign out of unnecessary accounts, remove unrelated confidential material and provide a temporary password rather than a password reused elsewhere. Do not send passwords through WhatsApp unless we specifically agree a secure and necessary method.

7. Data-recovery assessment, local hard-drive storage and delivery

A data-recovery assessment may require us to inspect the device or storage media, run diagnostic and recovery software, create a disk image or temporary working copy, examine directory structures and recover a limited sample of files. This limited test is used to assess whether data appears recoverable and whether sample files can be opened. It is not a promise that all files can be recovered.

Where the assessment indicates that recovery may be possible, PC Repair Guru will normally provide a quotation before carrying out the full chargeable recovery. The quotation may depend on the condition of the storage device, the amount and type of data, the recovery method, donor parts, specialist work and the delivery method. Full chargeable recovery will not normally begin until the customer approves the quotation or an agreed spending limit.

Data recovery may involve copying files to one or more dedicated hard drives or other local storage media controlled by PC Repair Guru. These temporary copies may include a disk image, a working recovery copy and, where reasonably appropriate, a separate temporary backup copy used to reduce the risk of relying on one working drive. Recovered customer files are not routinely uploaded to a third-party cloud-storage provider under our standard recovery process.

Access to temporary recovery copies is limited to authorised personnel who need it for the approved work. The storage media remains under PC Repair Guru's control and is used for assessment, recovery, verification, temporary backup and delivery. We take reasonable physical and technical measures appropriate to the risk, which may include restricted access, separation from general-use storage, password protection or encryption where available and suitable. No hard drive, storage device or transfer method can be guaranteed to be completely free from failure, loss, theft or unauthorised access.

PC Repair Guru may open or test a reasonable sample of recovered files to confirm that the recovery process has produced readable data. It is not normally practical to inspect every file. A successful sample test does not guarantee that every file is complete, current, correctly named, compatible, uncorrupted or usable.

Recovered data will normally be transferred to a customer-supplied storage device, a suitable storage device supplied by PC Repair Guru at an agreed additional cost, or another agreed local delivery medium. The customer is responsible for providing sufficient destination capacity where they supply the storage device and for checking the transferred data promptly.

Temporary recovery copies will normally remain available for at least 10 calendar days from the date on which PC Repair Guru tells the customer that the data is ready and sends collection or transfer instructions. The customer is responsible for collecting or receiving the data, checking it promptly and creating an independent long-term backup during that period.

After the 10-day availability period, PC Repair Guru may delete or put beyond routine use the temporary disk images, working copies and temporary backup copies held on its local storage media, unless a longer period has been agreed in writing or retention is reasonably required for a complaint, dispute, legal obligation or security investigation. An agreed extension may be subject to an additional storage charge.

8. Who information may be shared with

We do not sell personal information. Where necessary, limited information may be shared with:

• website hosting, email, security and form-protection providers, including Cloudflare;
• WhatsApp/Meta when you choose to use WhatsApp;
• payment, accounting and bookkeeping providers;
• parts suppliers and couriers, normally using only the information required to fulfil an approved order;
• specialist repair or data-recovery providers, after the route has been explained;
• professional advisers, insurers, law-enforcement bodies, regulators or courts where reasonably required; and
• a successor business if ownership changes, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal safeguards.

9. International processing

Some website hosting, email, messaging, security or specialist support providers may process limited information outside the United Kingdom. Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards, we use providers that rely on an applicable adequacy regulation, approved contractual protections or another lawful transfer mechanism. Under our standard data-recovery process, recovered customer files are kept on PC Repair Guru-controlled local storage media rather than routinely uploaded to a third-party cloud-storage provider.

10. How long information is kept

We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and for warranty, accounting, complaint, fraud-prevention or legal requirements. As a general guide:

• enquiries that do not become a repair are normally kept for no longer than 12 months unless there is a continuing issue;
• repair, invoice, payment and warranty records may be kept for up to six years where required for accounting or legal claims;
• WhatsApp messages and diagnostic images are kept while needed for the enquiry, repair, warranty, complaint, internal quality review, public-content permission record or a legal requirement, then deleted, anonymised or retained only in the published non-identifiable form;
• temporary data-recovery disk images, working copies and temporary backup copies held on PC Repair Guru-controlled local hard drives are normally deleted or put beyond routine use after the 10-day availability period described in section 7, unless a written extension or another justified retention reason applies; and
• security logs may be retained for a limited period and longer where an incident is being investigated.

Where deletion is due, we take reasonable steps to remove temporary recovery files from the working and temporary backup storage media under our control. Information held by external messaging, website hosting or security platforms may take additional time to disappear through their normal retention and deletion processes.

11. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures appropriate to a small repair business, including access restrictions, private configuration storage, HTTPS, server security controls, Turnstile verification on the contact form and limiting device access to the work required. No internet, messaging or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.

12. Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights to request access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, portability or withdrawal of consent. Some rights are subject to exemptions, and we may need to verify your identity.

You can contact us using the details in section 1. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

13. Children

The repair service and website are not directed at children. A person under 18 should ask a parent, guardian or other authorised adult to arrange the repair and provide any necessary information.

14. Automated decision-making

We do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on customers.

15. External services

Links to WhatsApp, Google Maps, Trustpilot and other external websites take you to services controlled by those providers. Their own privacy and cookie terms apply once you use them.

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when services, suppliers, legal requirements or working practices change. The date at the top identifies the latest published version.