Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice

FirstLook – Independent Overseas Property Consultancy

Effective date: 2 September 2026

1. Who we are

FirstLook is an independent overseas property consultancy operated by Samantha Childs, trading as FirstLook (referred to in this notice as ‘FirstLook’, ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’).

For data-protection purposes, Samantha Childs trading as FirstLook is the controller of the personal data described in this notice. This means we decide why and how that information is used.

Contact details:

• Email: sam@firstlookproperty.co.uk
• UK telephone: +44 (0) 7424 646 554
• Spain telephone: +34 664 267 104
• Postal address: 72 Londinium Tower, 87 Mansell Street, London E1 8AP

2. What this notice covers

This notice explains how we collect and use personal data when you:

• visit firstlookproperty.co.uk (the ‘Website’);
• contact us by the Website enquiry form, email, telephone, messaging service or social media;
• book an introductory call through Calendly;
• ask about, purchase or receive a FirstLook service;
• deal with us as an estate agent, seller, adviser, contractor, supplier, public authority or other professional contact; or
• feature incidentally in information, photographs, video or documents relevant to a property assessment or visit.

It applies to our website activities and our wider consultancy relationship with prospective and existing clients. Separate Client Terms and Conditions will govern any paid service commissioned from FirstLook.

3. Personal data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Identity and contact details, including your name, email address, telephone number, postal address and preferred means of contact.
• Enquiry and appointment information, including the details entered into the WPForms enquiry form or Calendly booking page, appointment date, time zone and any notes you provide.
• Property and purchase information, including property addresses, listing details, your intended use of a property, priorities, budget ranges, buying stage, concerns and instructions.
• Communications, including emails, messages, call notes and correspondence with you or with third parties acting in connection with your enquiry or commission.
• Assessment and visit material, including copies or extracts of relevant documents, public-record information, photographs, video, location information, observations and details supplied by sellers, agents or public bodies.
• Contract and financial administration information, including the service selected, fees, invoices, payment status and accounting records. We do not currently collect payment-card details through the Website.
• Technical and usage information, such as IP address, browser and device type, requested pages, dates and times, referring page, security logs and information needed to operate and protect the Website.
• Professional information about agents, lawyers, surveyors, contractors, public officials, suppliers and other people involved in a property matter.

4. Information we do not ask you to provide

We do not intentionally collect special-category information through the Website, such as information about health, ethnicity, religion, political opinions or sexual orientation. Please do not include unnecessary sensitive information, identification documents, bank details or payment-card information in the general enquiry form.

If sensitive information becomes relevant to a service – for example, accessibility requirements affecting a property search – we will only use it where there is a valid legal basis and it is necessary to respond to your request.

5. How we obtain your information

We normally receive information directly from you. We may also obtain relevant information from:

• a person acting for you or jointly purchasing with you;
• estate agents, sellers, developers and their representatives;
• lawyers, surveyors, architects, engineers and other professionals;
• public registers, cadastral and land information, planning portals, local authorities and other official sources;
• publicly available property listings, maps, local information and media sources; and
• our website, email, hosting, booking and security service providers.

6. Why we use personal data and our lawful bases

Purpose	Information commonly used	Lawful basis
Respond to enquiries, arrange calls and discuss possible services	Identity, contact, enquiry, appointment and property information	Steps requested before entering into a contract; and our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries
Set up, administer and deliver a commissioned service	Identity, contact, instructions, property, communications, assessment and visit material	Performance of our contract with you
Research properties and communicate with relevant third parties	Property, professional-contact, public-record and communication information	Performance of our contract; and our legitimate interest in delivering independent, evidence-based services
Manage fees, invoices, tax and business records	Identity, contract and financial administration information	Performance of our contract; compliance with legal obligations; and legitimate interests in managing our business
Protect the Website, prevent spam or misuse and troubleshoot problems	Technical, security and enquiry-form information	Our legitimate interests in maintaining a safe and functioning website
Establish, exercise or defend legal rights and handle complaints	Relevant client, property, communication, contract and technical information	Legal obligations and our legitimate interests in protecting our rights and resolving disputes
Send optional news or marketing	Name, email and marketing preferences	Consent, or another basis permitted by electronic-marketing law; you may opt out at any time

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the processing is necessary and balance our interests against your rights and reasonable expectations. You may ask for further information about that assessment.

Where information is required to enter into or perform a contract, failure to provide it may mean that we cannot assess your enquiry or provide the requested service.

7. Who we share personal data with

We only share personal data where it is necessary and proportionate. Recipients may include:

• 20i and other providers supporting our website hosting, domain, business email and data storage;
• WPForms, which provides the Website enquiry-form software;
• Calendly, when you choose to use its separate booking page;
• Google, where business email is accessed or forwarded through Gmail and where the Website requests Google Fonts;
• IT, cybersecurity, backup and professional service providers acting on our instructions;
• estate agents, sellers, developers, lawyers, surveyors, architects, contractors, utility providers, local authorities and other relevant bodies where this is necessary for a commissioned service and consistent with your instructions;
• accountants, insurers, legal advisers and debt-recovery providers where necessary; and
• courts, regulators, law-enforcement bodies or public authorities where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We do not sell personal data. We do not allow service providers acting as processors to use your information for their own unrelated purposes.

8. International use and transfers

FirstLook operates between the United Kingdom and Spain, and the nature of an overseas property enquiry may require information to be used or shared in the country where the property is located.

Some technology providers may process information outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area. For example, Calendly is based in the United States. Where data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, we use an applicable adequacy arrangement, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses, or another lawful safeguard. You may contact us for more information about the safeguard relevant to your information.

9. How long we keep personal data

We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, insurance and complaint-handling requirements. Our usual periods are:

• General enquiries that do not become a client instruction: up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact.
• Calendly booking and introductory-call records: normally up to 24 months after the appointment or last meaningful contact.
• Client files, reports, supporting research, visit photographs or video and relevant communications: normally seven years after the service ends.
• Invoices and accounting records: normally six years after the end of the relevant financial year, or longer if legally required.
• Optional marketing records: until you withdraw consent or object; we may retain a minimal suppression record so that we do not contact you again.
• Website and security logs: according to operational and security need, normally no longer than 12 months unless an incident requires longer retention.

We may retain information for longer where a dispute, complaint, legal claim, regulatory enquiry or legal hold is ongoing. Information that is no longer required will be securely deleted or anonymised.

10. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss or destruction. These include access controls, password-protected systems, secure hosting and limiting access to people and providers who need the information. No online system or method of transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

11. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the law that applies, you may have the right to:

• ask for access to your personal data;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to delete information;
• ask us to restrict how information is used;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent; and
• complain to a data-protection regulator.

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. To exercise a right, email sam@firstlookproperty.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. There is normally no charge, although the law permits a reasonable fee or refusal in limited circumstances.

12. Complaints

Please contact us first if you have concerns so that we can try to resolve them. You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Information Commissioner’s Office – Make a complaint

If you are in the European Economic Area, you may also have the right to complain to the supervisory authority in the country where you live or work, or where the alleged infringement occurred.

13. Children

The Website and FirstLook’s services are intended for adults considering or involved in an overseas property purchase. We do not knowingly collect information directly from children through the Website.

14. Automated decision-making

We do not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated means.

15. Third-party websites

The Website links to services and websites operated by other organisations, including Calendly and social-media platforms. Their privacy notices apply when you leave our Website or provide information directly to them. We are not responsible for their independent processing activities.

16. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when our services, systems or legal obligations change. The current version will be published on the Website with its effective date. If a change materially affects how we use existing client information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to the attention of those affected.