Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy covers

This policy applies to two groups of people: wedding and event planners who sign up for our waitlist or use Vara ("planners", "you"), and the couples or clients who text a planner's Vara number ("enquirers"). We act as the data controller for waitlist and account data, and as a data processor on behalf of planners for the enquirer conversations handled through their Vara number.

2. What data we collect

From planners who join our waitlist or use Vara, we collect:

• Your email address, provided when you join the waitlist.
• If you go on to create an account once Vara launches: your name, business name, business mobile number, and any information you configure the AI assistant with (such as services offered and typical pricing).
• Basic technical data such as IP address and browser type, processed automatically by our hosting and form providers when you visit our website or submit the waitlist form.

From enquirers who text a planner's Vara number, we collect:

• Their mobile number and the content of their text conversation with the Vara AI assistant.
• Any details they share in that conversation, such as event date, guest count, and budget.

3. How we use this data

We use the data described above to:

• Operate and improve the Vara service, including generating and sending automated text replies.
• Notify planners about qualified leads by forwarding conversation summaries via SMS.
• Contact waitlist members about onboarding and product updates.
• Maintain the security and reliability of our website and service.

We do not sell personal data to third parties, and we do not use enquirer conversation data to train general-purpose AI models outside of operating the Vara service itself.

4. Legal basis for processing

Where we act as data controller (waitlist sign-ups, website analytics), we rely on your consent when you submit the waitlist form, and on our legitimate interest in operating and improving our service. Where we act as data processor on behalf of a planner (enquirer conversations), the planner is responsible for having a lawful basis to process their own clients' data, and we process it only on their instructions.

5. Sharing and third parties

We share data with trusted service providers who help us run Vara, such as our waitlist form and email-delivery provider (which processes the email address you submit), SMS/telephony providers (to send and receive text messages), cloud hosting providers, web font providers used to display our website, and AI providers used to generate assistant replies. These providers are contractually required to protect your data and only use it to provide services to us. We do not share personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Some of these providers are based outside the UK, including in the United States. Where we transfer personal data internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or an equivalent mechanism recognised under UK data protection law.

6. Data retention

We retain waitlist and account data for as long as you have an active waitlist entry or account with us, and for a reasonable period afterwards to comply with legal obligations. Enquirer conversation data is retained for as long as the planner's account remains active, so they can refer back to past leads, unless the planner or enquirer requests earlier deletion.

7. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate data or delete your data.
• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, for example by asking to be removed from the waitlist.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 9. Enquirers who wish to exercise their rights over conversation data should contact the planner they messaged directly, or contact us and we will forward the request.

8. Cookies

Our website currently uses only essential functionality and does not set non-essential tracking cookies. If this changes in the future, we will update this policy and, where required, request your consent.

9. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your data rights, please contact us at hello@varaai.co.uk.