Privacy Policy

Last updated:14/01/2026

1. About This Privacy Policy

This website (the "Website") is operated by National Tool Hire Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 08904335.

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11th Floor, The Plaza, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9QJ

Throughout this Policy, "National Tool Hire Ltd","National Tool Hire", and"National Tool Hire Shops" refer to the same entity.

This Privacy Policy ("Policy") explains:

What personal data we collect
How we process and store it
Your rights under UK GDPR and EU GDPR
How you can exercise your rights

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

Contact Details: Name, email, phone number, postal address
Booking & Order Information: Payment details, order history, hire preferences
Communication Records: Emails, phone calls, and messages

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

Device & Browser Information: Operating system, browser type, version
Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent, interactions
IP Address & Location Data: For security and fraud prevention
Cookies & Tracking: See our Cookie Policy for details

3. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Customer Service

3.1 AI Voice Assistant Overview

National Tool Hire uses an AI-powered voice assistant to handle incoming customer service calls. This system provides 24/7 support and helps us respond to your enquiries more efficiently.

You will always be notified at the start of a call that you are speaking with our AI assistant, and you can request to speak with a human agent at any point during your call.

3.2 What Our AI Assistant Does

Our AI assistant can help with:

General enquiries about our services and products
Basic troubleshooting and support
Logging complaints and support tickets
Providing information from our knowledge base

The AI will transfer you to a human agent for:

Booking and order processing
Payment enquiries
Complex or sensitive complaints
Account changes requiring verification
Any request you make to speak with a person

3.3 Technology and Third-Party Processors

Our AI system is built in-house and uses the following technologies:

Service	Provider	Purpose	Location
AI Conversational Model	OpenAI (ChatGPT)	Natural language processing	US (UK GDPR compliant)
Call Transcription	Anthropic	Speech-to-text conversion	US (UK GDPR compliant)
Voice Infrastructure	Twilio	Call handling and routing	UK data centres
Knowledge Base	Zendesk	Information retrieval	UK servers

All third-party processors operate under Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) and comply with UK GDPR requirements. Where providers are US-based, we ensure compliance through standard contractual clauses and adequacy decisions.

3.4 Data Processing During AI Calls

What data the AI accesses:

Information you provide during the call (name, contact details, order numbers, enquiry details)
Read-only access to our knowledge base for providing accurate information
The AI does NOT automatically access your account history, payment details, or personal records unless you provide them during the conversation

Call Recording and Transcription:

All inbound calls are recorded (both audio and transcribed to text)
Recordings are used for quality assurance, dispute resolution, training, and improving our AI system
Call data is stored on secure UK-based servers (Google Cloud Platform London region)
All data is encrypted in transit and at rest

3.5 AI Learning and Improvement

We use call data to improve our AI system's accuracy and effectiveness. This process works as follows:

Call data is anonymised (all personal identifiers removed)
Anonymised data is used quarterly to fine-tune the AI models
This improves response accuracy, intent recognition, and natural language understanding
No real-time learning occurs during individual calls
All AI training is supervised by our data and technology teams

You can opt-out of your data being used for AI training by requesting this during your call or by contacting us at help@nationaltoolhire.co.uk

3.6 Data Retention for AI Calls

Call recordings and transcripts are retained as follows:

Standard retention: 6 months from the date of the call
If a support ticket is created: Retained with the booking/order record for 7 years (legal requirement)
Legal hold: Retained longer if required for complaints, audits, or legal proceedings
After the retention period, recordings and transcripts are automatically deleted

You can request early deletion of your call recordings through our Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) process (see Section 8).

3.7 Human Oversight and Transfer

Our AI system is designed with robust human oversight:

Immediate transfer: You can request to speak with a human agent at any point during your call
Automatic escalation: Sensitive issues (bookings, payments, complex complaints) are automatically transferred to human agents
Business hours: Transfers occur within 30 minutes on average (Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 6 PM GMT)
Out-of-hours: A support ticket is logged in our system and picked up by a human agent during working hours
Quality monitoring: Our customer service and technology teams conduct weekly audits of 10% of AI-handled calls
AI oversight committee: A dedicated team including our AI Consultant, Head of Technology, and senior customer service managers monitors AI performance and compliance

3.8 Automated Decision-Making

Our AI does NOT make automated decisions that significantly affect you.

The AI assistant:

Does NOT automatically approve or decline orders
Does NOT set prices or make pricing decisions
Does NOT make credit or payment decisions
Does NOT make decisions about refunds or disputes

All decisions that affect your orders, bookings, or account are made by human staff members. The AI serves only as an information and support tool.

3.9 Your Rights Regarding AI Processing

You have the right to:

Request a human agent at any time during an AI call
Opt-out of your call data being used for AI training purposes
Request access to recordings and transcripts of your calls
Request early deletion of your call data
Object to AI processing of your calls
Receive an explanation of how the AI processed your enquiry

To exercise these rights, contact us at help@nationaltoolhire.co.uk or see Section 8 for full details of your data protection rights.

3.10 Legal Basis for AI Processing

We process your data through our AI system based on the following lawful grounds under UK GDPR:

Legitimate Interest: To provide efficient 24/7 customer service and improve our support quality
Contractual Necessity: To respond to your enquiries and fulfil our service obligations
Consent: For using your call data to train and improve our AI system (which you can opt-out of)

4. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data

Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR, we process your data based on the following lawful grounds:

Purpose	Legal Basis
To provide our services, process bookings, and deliver orders	Contractual necessity
To respond to your enquiries and customer service requests	Legitimate interest
To provide AI-powered customer service and improve our AI system	Legitimate interest / Consent (for AI training)
To send marketing communications	Consent
To improve our website and user experience	Legitimate interest
To comply with legal or regulatory obligations	Legal obligation

5. How We Use Your Information

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

To fulfil your orders and provide our services
To communicate with you regarding bookings, enquiries, or complaints
To improve our Website, services, and user experience
For fraud prevention, security monitoring, and risk management
For marketing purposes (if you have provided consent)

6. Data Retention & Storage

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes outlined above or as required by law.

Customer account and booking history: 6 years (legal requirement)
AI call recordings and transcripts: 6 months (7 years if support ticket created)
Marketing communications: Until you unsubscribe
Website analytics: 2 years
Security and fraud prevention: 6 years

7. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

We may share your data with:

Service providers who assist with order fulfilment, customer support (including AI technology providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Twilio, and Zendesk), and business operations
Law enforcement or regulatory authorities if required by law
Third parties in the event of a corporate sale or merger

8. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access your data
Rectify inaccurate data
Request data deletion
Object to or restrict data processing
Receive data in a structured format
Withdraw consent

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

All data, including AI call recordings, is encrypted in transit and at rest on secure UK-based servers.

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure.

10. Data Breach Notification

We will notify you if we discover a breach of your data.

11. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience on our Website.