1. Who we are
Crechely is a childcare marketplace and nursery management platform operated by Crechely, based in Ireland, serving families and childcare providers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For your account data we are the data controller under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. You can contact us at hello@crechely.ie.
2. What data we collect
From parents:
- Full name, email address and phone number (for your account and waiting lists)
- Your children's names and dates of birth (to match you with suitable providers)
- Your area and postcode (to show relevant local providers)
- Funded hours and Tax-Free Childcare preferences (optional)
- Waiting list applications and their status
- Payment information (processed securely by Stripe — we never see or store your card details)
From providers:
- Full name, email, and phone number
- Nursery name, address, and registration number (Ofsted URN, Care Inspectorate service number, CIW or HSC Trust registration)
- Waiting list data entered by the manager
- Subscription and billing information (processed by Stripe)
Records nurseries keep on Crechely:
When a nursery uses Crechely to manage its families, children, staff, attendance and daily care records, the nursery is the data controller for those records and Crechely processes them on the nursery's behalf. Questions about those records should go to the nursery first.
Automatically collected:
- Browser type and device (for technical performance)
- Pages visited and time spent (for improving the service)
- IP address (for security purposes)
3. Why we collect it (lawful basis under UK GDPR)
- To provide the matching and waiting list service you signed up for (contract)
- To send you relevant notifications about place availability (legitimate interests)
- To process payments securely (contract)
- To comply with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and tax law (legal obligation)
4. How we use your data
- To match parents with suitable providers based on location and child age
- To notify you when a childcare place becomes available
- To allow providers to manage their waiting list
- To process subscription and Premium upgrade payments
- To send service-related emails (confirmations, alerts, account notices)
- We do NOT use your data for advertising
- We do NOT sell your data to any third party, ever
5. Who we share data with
We share limited data only with these trusted services:
- Supabase (database hosting) — EU servers, Frankfurt
- Stripe (payment processing) — PCI DSS compliant
- Resend (email delivery) — for notification emails
- Anthropic (AI assistant) — anonymised queries only, no personal data sent
We have data processing agreements with all providers. Your data is stored in the European Economic Area, which the UK recognises as providing adequate protection for personal data.
6. Children's data
We collect children's names and dates of birth solely to match them with age-appropriate vacancies. This data is given the highest level of protection under UK GDPR. We never share children's personal data with any third party beyond the provider the parent applies to.
7. How long we keep your data
- Active accounts: data kept for the duration of your account plus 12 months after deletion
- Waiting list entries: kept for 24 months for record-keeping purposes
- Payment records: kept for 7 years as required by tax law
- You can request deletion of your data at any time
8. Your rights under UK GDPR
If you live in the UK you have the right to:
- Access all data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate data
- Delete your data (right to erasure)
- Export your data in a machine-readable format
- Object to how we use your data
- Withdraw consent at any time
To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@crechely.ie and we will respond within one month.
9. Cookies
We use only essential cookies required to keep you logged in and remember your preferences, plus advertising measurement cookies that tell us which adverts bring families to Crechely. You can block these in your browser settings at any time.
10. Changes to this policy
We will notify you by email if we make significant changes to this privacy policy. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent version.
11. Contact and complaints
If you have a privacy concern, contact us first at privacy@crechely.ie. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator: ico.org.uk.