What happens to your answers.
Last updated: May 2026
Who runs this
This research project is operated by Dmytro Fenko (publishing as Dmitry Fenko), a UK sole trader trading as Sole Trader Discovery. I’m the data controller for everything described below. The project doesn’t meet the conditions in UK GDPR Article 37 that require a Data Protection Officer, so I haven’t appointed one — I handle every data protection matter personally. If you need to reach me about your data, write to [PLACEHOLDER: contact email] and I’ll reply personally.
ICO registration
I’m registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller and pay the annual data protection fee. My ICO registration number is [PLACEHOLDER: ICO registration number]. You can verify it on the public register at ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Search.
What I collect
Only what you type into the survey: your email address, a short description of your business, how long you’ve been running it, your free-text answers to three open-ended questions, and a server-stamped timestamp recording when you ticked the consent box and which version of this notice was in force at that moment. All of it is collected directly from you when you submit the form; nothing is bought, scraped, or inferred from other sources. I don’t use analytics, cookies, fingerprinting, or session recording, and there’s no tracking script on this site. Providing this information is entirely voluntary — there’s no contract or legal obligation to participate. If you’d rather not, just don’t submit the survey.
Why I collect it
To understand whether there’s a useful product to build for UK sole traders, and to contact you if I do build one. That’s the entire purpose. Your email won’t be sold, shared, or used for marketing of unrelated products.
Where it’s stored
Your responses are stored in a Supabase Postgres database hosted in the EU (Frankfurt), encrypted at rest by the platform and transmitted over TLS. Supabase Inc. — the company behind the platform — is incorporated in the United States, so the transfer to them is covered by the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) and standard contractual clauses, which provide appropriate safeguards under UK GDPR Article 46. The website itself is served by Vercel Inc. (US). Their edge network may route your form submission through servers outside the UK or EU on its way to the database. Vercel processes the data under their own Data Processing Agreement (DPA), which uses the IDTA and standard contractual clauses as the transfer mechanism. If a server-side validation error occurs while you submit the form, a small fragment of your submitted answer (up to about 1,000 characters) may transiently appear in Vercel’s function logs for up to one hour before being auto-deleted; these logs are accessible only to me. Beyond the platform staff at Supabase and Vercel (who have administrative access to their infrastructure under their respective DPAs), I’m the only person who reads and analyses the data.
How long I keep it
I keep your responses for as long as the project is active, plus up to 12 months after, to allow follow-up analysis and any final write-up of findings. After that, or whenever you ask, I delete your record permanently.
Your rights (UK GDPR)
Under UK GDPR you have the right to: access a copy of your data; correct anything inaccurate; have your data deleted; restrict how I use it; receive your data in a portable format (e.g. a CSV); object to processing; and withdraw your consent at any time. To exercise any of these, email [PLACEHOLDER: contact email]. I’ll respond within one month — usually much faster.
Lawful basis
Consent. By ticking the box on the final step of the survey, you agree to this notice. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing me — that triggers deletion.
What I don’t do
I don’t sell data. I don’t share it with third parties beyond Supabase (the database host) and Vercel (the website host). I don’t use it to train AI models. I don’t run ads. I don’t have a marketing funnel. There’s also no automated decision-making or profiling — no algorithm makes any decision about you based on your answers.
Complaints
If you think I’ve handled your data unlawfully, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s data protection regulator — the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can reach them at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113. I’d appreciate the chance to fix things first if you email me, but you’re not obliged to.