WHO WE ARE
APHONES is a phone upgrade specialist operating under the domain aphones.online. We provide independent advice, quotes, and guidance to individuals looking to upgrade their mobile handsets. Our telephone number is 0330 059 7104.
For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, APHONES is the data controller responsible for your personal data. As data controller, we determine the purposes and means by which your personal information is processed.
Registered country: England and Wales | Website: aphones.online | Contact: info@aphones.online
DATA WE COLLECT
We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our services. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:
| Category | Examples | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Identity Data | Full name, title | To address you correctly and manage your account |
| Contact Data | Phone number, email address, postal address | To send your quote, respond to enquiries, and confirm orders |
| Financial Data | Monthly budget range, current spend | To find upgrade options suited to your budget |
| Usage Data | Data usage, call habits, contract end date | To match you with the most suitable handset and plan |
| Technical Data | IP address, browser type, pages visited, time on site | To improve website performance and user experience |
| Communications Data | Call recordings, emails, notes from advisor conversations | Quality assurance, training, and record-keeping |
We do not collect any special category data (such as health, biometric, or racial/ethnic data) and we do not collect payment card details directly — any payment processing is handled by compliant third-party providers.
HOW WE COLLECT YOUR DATA
We collect personal data through the following channels:
- Direct interactions — when you call our telephone number, submit an enquiry, or communicate with us by email or post.
- Website usage — automatically via cookies and similar tracking technologies when you browse aphones.online. This includes pages visited, time spent on each page, and device/browser information.
- Third-party sources — occasionally from lead generation partners or marketing platforms where you have given your consent to receive contact from upgrade specialists.
- Publicly available data — for example, company information available in public directories, where relevant to a business enquiry.
WHY WE USE YOUR DATA
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- To prepare and deliver personalised phone upgrade quotes tailored to your usage and budget.
- To respond to your enquiries, questions, or complaints in a timely and accurate manner.
- To process any orders or agreements you enter into with us.
- To send you relevant follow-up information about your enquiry or upgrade, including confirmation and dispatch details.
- To improve our website, services, and customer experience through analysis of usage patterns and feedback.
- To comply with legal and regulatory obligations applicable to our business.
- To carry out quality assurance, staff training, and internal record-keeping.
- To send you marketing communications about our services, where you have given your consent or where we have a legitimate interest in doing so and you have not opted out.
We will never sell your personal data to any third party for their own marketing purposes.
LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING
Under UK GDPR, we are required to have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following bases depending on the nature of the processing:
- Contractual necessity — processing required to fulfil a quote request or agreement you have entered into with us.
- Legitimate interests — where we have a genuine and proportionate business reason to process your data, such as improving our services, following up on an enquiry, or preventing fraud.
- Consent — where you have actively opted in to receive marketing communications from us. You may withdraw consent at any time.
- Legal obligation — where we are required by law to process or retain your data, such as for tax or regulatory compliance.
SHARING YOUR DATA
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We may share your data with carefully selected third parties only where necessary to provide our services:
- Service providers — such as IT systems, website hosting, email platforms, and CRM software providers who process data on our behalf under strict data processing agreements.
- Communications partners — to fulfil your upgrade order, we may need to pass your details to a relevant service or handset provider to arrange delivery or account setup.
- Legal and regulatory authorities — where required by law, court order, or government authority.
- Business transfers — in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of business assets, your data may be transferred to the new entity, subject to the same privacy protections.
All third parties with whom we share data are required to handle it securely and in accordance with applicable data protection law. We do not permit them to use it for their own marketing purposes.
DATA RETENTION
We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law. Our general retention guidelines are as follows:
- Enquiry and quote records — retained for up to 12 months after the enquiry date, unless an order was placed.
- Customer order and account records — retained for 6 years following the end of the contract, in line with standard limitation periods and HMRC requirements.
- Call recordings — retained for up to 6 months for quality assurance purposes, then securely deleted.
- Marketing consent records — retained until you withdraw consent or opt out, after which we retain a record of the withdrawal only.
- Website analytics data — retained in aggregated, anonymised form indefinitely; personally identifiable session data is retained for up to 26 months.
When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted or anonymised in accordance with our data disposal procedures.
YOUR RIGHTS
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. You may exercise any of these rights by contacting us using the details in Section 14.
- Right of access — you have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (a Subject Access Request).
- Right to rectification — you have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data without undue delay.
- Right to erasure — also known as the "right to be forgotten"; you may request we delete your personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
- Right to restriction — you have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain circumstances, for example while a complaint is being investigated.
- Right to data portability — where processing is based on consent or contract, you may request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
- Right to object — you have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing. We will cease processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds.
- Rights related to automated decision-making — we do not currently use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.
We will respond to all rights requests within one calendar month. If a request is complex, we may extend this by a further two months, in which case we will notify you. There is no charge for exercising your rights, unless requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.
COOKIES
Our website at aphones.online uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to help the site function correctly and to understand how visitors use it. We use the following categories of cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies — essential for the website to function. These cannot be disabled as they are required for features like page navigation and security. No consent is required for these.
- Analytics cookies — used to collect anonymous information about how visitors use our site, such as which pages are visited most often and whether users encounter error messages. We use this to improve the website. These require your consent.
- Functional cookies — allow the site to remember choices you make (such as your preferred language or region) to provide a more personalised experience. These require your consent.
- Marketing cookies — used to track visitors across websites to display relevant and engaging advertisements. These require your explicit consent and are only set if you opt in.
You can manage or withdraw cookie consent at any time via your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the website. For more information about cookies and how to manage them, visit aboutcookies.org.
DATA SECURITY
We take the security of your personal data seriously and have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against accidental loss, destruction, damage, alteration, or unauthorised disclosure.
These measures include:
- Secure HTTPS encryption across all pages of aphones.online.
- Access controls ensuring that personal data is accessible only to staff members who require it to perform their role.
- Regular review and updating of our security practices and systems.
- Staff training on data protection obligations and information security.
- Secure disposal of physical and electronic records when no longer required.
While we take every reasonable precaution, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. If you suspect any unauthorised use of your data or a security breach, please contact us immediately at info@aphones.online.
THIRD-PARTY LINKS
Our website may contain links to third-party websites or resources for your convenience or information. These sites are operated by independent organisations and have their own privacy policies and terms of use.
APHONES has no control over, and accepts no responsibility for, the content or privacy practices of any third-party website. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any external site you visit before submitting personal information. The inclusion of a link does not constitute our endorsement of that site.
CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
Our services are not directed at, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from, anyone under the age of 18. Phone upgrade agreements are contracts that require the individual to be of legal age to enter into binding obligations.
If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal data from a person under the age of 18, please contact us immediately at info@aphones.online and we will take prompt steps to delete that information from our records.
CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. Any changes will be posted on this page at aphones.online/privacy-policy, with the "Last Updated" date revised accordingly.
Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to notify you — for example, by displaying a prominent notice on our website or contacting you directly if we hold your contact information. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.
Your continued use of our website or services after any changes have been posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
CONTACT US
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the way we handle your personal data, please get in touch with us using any of the methods below. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 5 working days.
Business name: APHONES
Website: aphones.online
Telephone: 0330 059 7104 (Mon–Sat, 9am–6pm)
Email: info@aphones.online
If you wish to make a formal complaint to the data protection supervisory authority in the UK, you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
- Website: ico.org.uk
- Telephone: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF