1. Who we are and the scope of this notice
Riverside Property is the controller of personal information collected through qilinchina.com and through Alderwick Protection consultation activity. The service helps individuals organise questions around property, personal valuables, collections and important documents. This notice applies when you visit the website, submit an enquiry, request a consultation, communicate with the team or purchase a planning service.
We aim to handle personal information in accordance with applicable UK data-protection law, including the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where relevant, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 as amended. Changes introduced by later legislation, including the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, are considered where they apply to our processing.
2. Information we collect
When you use the consultation form, we may collect your name, email address, telephone number, the asset categories you select and any information you choose to place in the free-text field. During later consultations or paid planning work, you may choose to provide information about property, valuable objects, documents, ownership records, approximate values, storage arrangements, access arrangements and third-party professional contacts where these details are relevant to the agreed scope.
We ask you not to provide more information than is needed for the relevant stage. In particular, the first consultation does not normally require full account credentials, access codes, combinations, passwords or original identity documents.
3. Why we use personal information and our lawful bases
We use enquiry details to respond to your request, arrange a consultation and communicate about the specific service you have asked about. This processing is generally necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. If you purchase a planning service, we process the information needed to deliver the agreed scope, administer payment and maintain appropriate business records because it is necessary for performance of the contract and for compliance with legal obligations that apply to accounting and record keeping.
We may use limited contact and service-history information to manage enquiries, protect the security of our systems, establish or defend legal claims and improve the organisation of our service where our legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights. Where consent is the appropriate lawful basis, for example for a particular form of optional electronic marketing or non-essential tracking technology, we will seek it separately and you may withdraw it.
4. Asset information and sensitive details
Information about valuable property can itself be sensitive from a security perspective, even when it is not a special category of personal data under the UK GDPR. We therefore limit collection to what is relevant to the agreed work and use access controls intended to reduce unnecessary internal exposure. If you provide information relating to another person, you should ensure you have an appropriate basis to do so and avoid sharing details that are not relevant to the protection-planning task.
We do not ask you to disclose safe combinations, alarm codes, online-banking credentials, passwords or similar secrets through the general website enquiry form. If a specialist provider later requires sensitive operational information, that provider’s own secure process and privacy terms may apply.
5. Recipients and specialist providers
Personal information may be accessed by personnel and service providers who need it for website hosting, secure communications, administration, accounting or professional support. Where you ask us to help coordinate with an insurer, valuer, security provider, storage provider, legal professional or other specialist, information is shared only to the extent needed for the requested coordination and, where appropriate, with your knowledge or instruction.
Third-party specialists act under their own legal responsibilities where they determine how to use information for their service. Their privacy information should be reviewed before you provide information directly to them.
6. International transfers
Some technical service providers may process data from locations outside the United Kingdom. Where a restricted transfer occurs, we seek to use an appropriate mechanism recognised by UK data-protection law, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards, and to consider any supplementary measures that are appropriate to the circumstances.
7. Retention
Unconverted consultation enquiries are normally kept for up to 12 months so we can respond, manage follow-up and retain a proportionate record of the request. Records connected with paid services, invoices, contractual correspondence and work outputs may be retained for up to six years where this is appropriate for tax, accounting, contractual or legal-claims purposes. Security logs and technical records may be retained for shorter periods based on operational need.
These periods are general rules rather than an obligation to keep every record for the full period. We may delete information earlier when it is no longer needed, or retain specific information longer where required by law or necessary for a legal claim.
8. Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights to be informed about our use of your personal data, to request access, to ask for inaccurate information to be corrected, to request erasure, to restrict processing, to object to certain processing and to receive certain data in a portable form. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.
Rights are not absolute in every situation. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and legal exemptions may apply. To exercise a right, use the contact details in this policy and explain the information or processing concerned.
9. Complaints
If you have a concern about how we use personal information, please contact Riverside Property first so we can review it. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. Information about the ICO and how to raise a concern is available through its official channels.
10. Cookies and similar technologies
The website is designed so that non-essential analytics or advertising cookies are not required for the basic enquiry journey. Details of the storage and access technologies used, the purposes they serve and how choices are handled are set out in our Cookie Policy. If we introduce non-essential tracking, we will provide the consent controls required before using it where the law requires prior consent.
11. Security
We use organisational and technical measures intended to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration and inappropriate disclosure. No method of transmission or storage can remove all risk, so we also minimise the information requested at each stage and encourage users not to send unnecessary secrets through general enquiry channels.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when our service, technology or legal obligations change. The date at the top shows the current version. Where a change materially affects how existing personal information is used, we will take reasonable steps to bring the change to the attention of affected individuals where required.