Privacy policy

Who we are

Lois Thompson Art is the trading name of Lois Thompson, an independent artist based near Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, United Kingdom. Lois is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach Lois through the contact form.

What we collect

This website does not require an account and does not sell paintings through an online checkout. We only collect personal information that you choose to give us when you get in touch:

• Enquiry details — your name, email address, and the message you send through the enquiry form.
• Reference images — any photos you optionally upload to help describe a commission (for example, a photograph of a pet or place).
• Basic technical data — standard information your browser sends to our hosting provider, such as your IP address, used to keep the site secure and available.

We do not use advertising trackers, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

How we use your information

We use the information you provide only to:

• reply to your enquiry and answer your questions;
• discuss, prepare, and deliver a painting or commission you ask us about;
• keep records of the work we agree to carry out for you.

Our lawful bases under the UK GDPR are your consent when you send an enquiry, the steps needed to enter into or perform a contract with you, and our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us and running a small art business.

Who we share it with

We never sell your personal information or share it for marketing. We use a small number of trusted service providers who process data on our behalf so that the site and enquiries can work:

• our website hosting provider, which runs the site securely;
• Google (Gmail), which delivers and stores the enquiry emails we receive;
• the provider of the enquiry assistant, which processes the message you send so it can be forwarded to us.

These providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, they are covered by appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or an adequacy decision. We may also disclose information if required to do so by law.

How long we keep it

We keep enquiry information only for the purposes above, then delete or reduce it according to these periods:

• If your enquiry does not lead to a commission or sale, we delete it within 12 months of the last activity on that enquiry.
• If we are actively discussing a commission or purchase with you, we keep the enquiry while that matter remains open.
• After a commission or sale is completed, we keep the minimum business records we need for tax and accounting (typically up to 6 years), such as names, dates, amounts, and the artwork title — not longer than the law requires.
• Messages we classify as spam are deleted within 30 days.

Enquiry emails delivered to Gmail are outside this website’s automated systems. If you ask us to erase your information, we will also remove copies we hold in email where we can. You can ask us to delete your information at any time using the contact form.

Cookies

We aim to keep this site as light as possible. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Any cookies we do set are strictly necessary to make the site work and, where required, to understand aggregate traffic in a privacy-friendly way.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the use of your personal information, to object to certain processing, and to receive a copy of the data you have given us. To exercise any of these rights, use the contact form.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to address your concern first.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “last updated” date at the top of this page.