1. Our two roles — and why it matters to you
ResSeek is two things at once, and your data is handled differently in each.
As a directory and booking platform, we decide how your account, your favourites and the site itself work. For that, we are the controller.
As a tool the venue uses, we hold the venue's guest records for it. The venue decides what to keep and for how long; we act on its instructions. For that data, the venue is the controller and we are its processor. This is why deleting your ResSeek account does not erase the venue's own record of your visits — see section 7.
2. What we collect
When you book: your name, and a phone number or email address so the venue can reach you about your table. Your party size, date and time, the venue's own notes about the booking, and any request you typed.
If you create an account: your email address, a password (stored only as a hash, never readable), your language, your favourites and your booking history.
Technical: we record the IP address behind actions taken inside a venue's panel, so that a venue can see who changed what. We do not use analytics or advertising tools and we do not profile you.
3. Allergies, dietary and accessibility needs
The booking form lets you tell the venue about allergies, dietary requirements, accessibility needs or an occasion. Some of this says something about your health, so we treat it as sensitive: it is entirely optional, we ask for it only so the venue can serve you safely, we rely on your explicit consent by choosing to enter it, and we do not use it for anything else. Leave it blank and your booking works exactly the same.
4. Why we are allowed to hold it
We hold booking data because it is necessary to give you the table you asked for. We hold account data on the same basis once you choose to have an account. We send booking confirmations and reminders because they are part of the booking you asked for — they are not marketing, and you cannot be opted out of a confirmation while holding a live booking. Marketing messages are a separate matter and need your consent, which is recorded with the date you gave it and can be withdrawn at any time.
5. Who we share it with
The venue you booked receives your booking. Each venue keeps its own records; one venue cannot see your history with another, even if you used the same email at both.
Meta receives your phone number if the venue sends WhatsApp messages about your booking, because that is how those messages are delivered. Meta processes data outside the UK.
Our payment provider handles venue subscriptions. It does not receive guest booking data, and no card details ever reach our systems.
We do not sell personal data and we do not share it for anyone else's advertising.
6. Ranking is not personalised
Search results are the same for everyone. We do not use your personal data to order results, and a venue cannot pay to move up. Any sponsored placement would be labelled as such.
7. Deleting your account — what actually happens
You can delete your ResSeek account yourself, from your profile. When you do, your account and its login are destroyed and your favourites are removed.
What does not disappear is the venue's own record of your visits. That record belongs to the venue, it is part of its business records, and the venue decides how long to keep it — we cannot delete it on our own initiative. What we do is sever the link: after deletion, the venue's record is no longer connected to a ResSeek account, and nothing new is added to it.
To have a venue's record of you erased, ask that venue. If you tell us, we will pass the request on.
8. How long we keep things
Booking and guest records are kept by the venue for as long as it needs them for its business, and are deleted when the venue's account ends. Your ResSeek account lasts until you delete it. Records of what staff did inside a venue's panel are kept as a security and audit trail.
We are finalising exact retention periods for each category and will state them here; until then, nothing is kept longer than it is needed for the purpose it was collected for.
9. Your rights
You can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, object to how we use it, or withdraw a consent you gave. Withdrawing consent does not undo what was done while it was valid. If we act for a venue rather than for ourselves, we will forward your request to that venue and tell you we have done so.
If you are unhappy with how we handled a request, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk). We would rather you told us first.
10. Contact
Write to us about anything on this page and we will answer. Contact details are published on the site.