Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Field Ascend Ltd ("we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of our customers' personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your data when you use our Software as a Service (SaaS) platform at field-ascend.com.

Our platform provides field service management tools for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in industries such as lift maintenance, HVAC, electrical services, plumbing, and facilities management.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

• Business Information: Company name, address, email, phone, and billing details provided during sign-up or subscription.
• User Data: Information entered into the platform, such as customer details, job records, engineer schedules, and equipment information.
• Usage Data: Analytics on how you interact with our platform, including IP addresses, browser types, and page visits, collected via cookies and server logs.
• Support Data: Information provided through support channels (forms, email, telephone) to assist with platform usage.
• Location Data: GPS coordinates from our mobile app (Field Ascend Engineers) when engineers are on duty, used for travel time calculation, arrival verification, and job data synchronisation.

3. Mobile App Location Data (Field Ascend Engineers)

Our Field Ascend Engineers mobile app (iOS and Android) collects location data to support field service operations.

3.1 Background Location Tracking

When engineers are "on duty" (between pressing "Start Travel" and "End Day"), the app may collect location data in the background for:

• Travel Time Calculation: Accurately tracking time spent travelling between job sites for payroll and billing.
• Data Synchronisation: Syncing job completion data to company servers while engineers work on-site with screens locked.
• Arrival Verification: Verifying engineer arrival at customer locations for compliance and service level agreements.

3.2 When Background Location is Active

• Background location tracking is only active during work hours.
• It starts when the engineer presses "Start Travel" on a job.
• It stops when the engineer presses "End Day" or completes their shift.
• A visible notification ("On duty - syncing in background") is displayed whenever tracking is active.
• No tracking occurs when off-duty.

3.3 User Control

• Engineers must grant explicit permission for background location access.
• The app clearly explains why background location is needed before requesting permission.
• Engineers can disable background location in their device settings at any time.
• Background location tracking can be disabled by the employer (tenant administrator) in admin settings.

3.4 Who Can Access Location Data

Location data is accessible to the engineer's employer (company administrator) and authorised office staff who manage job scheduling and timesheets. It is used for legitimate business purposes including payroll, compliance, and operational efficiency.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and improve our SaaS platform, including job management, invoicing, and reporting features.
• Process payments and integrate with accounting tools (Xero, Sage, QuickBooks).
• Send automated emails for job updates, invoices, and reports.
• Respond to support inquiries via forms, email, or telephone.
• Ensure compliance with legal obligations, such as GDPR, and maintain platform security.
• Analyse usage patterns to improve user experience and develop new features.

5. Data Security

We implement robust measures to protect your data:

• Multi-Tenant Architecture: Data is isolated to ensure only authorised users access your information.
• Encryption: SSL/TLS encryption is used for all data transmission, with secure database connections.
• Access Controls: Role-based permissions restrict data access to authorised users only.
• Secure Integrations: Payments and file storage use encrypted APIs with industry-standard security.
• Audit Logging: All significant actions are logged for transparency and security monitoring.
• Regular Backups: Automated backups ensure data recovery in case of system failure.

6. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share data with:

• Service Providers: Third parties like hosting providers (SiteGround), database services (PlanetScale), payment processors (Stripe), cloud storage (Amazon AWS), and email services to deliver our services.
• Accounting Integrations: When you connect Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks, relevant invoice and customer data is shared with those platforms.
• Legal Compliance: When required by law, court order, or to protect our rights and the rights of others.

6A. AI Integrations & Third-Party Connectors

Field Ascend offers optional integrations with AI assistants (such as Claude by Anthropic) through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). When you connect an AI assistant to your Field Ascend account, the following applies:

• Read-Only Access: AI connectors can only read your business data (jobs, customers, equipment, sites, certificates). They cannot create, modify, or delete any data in your account.
• Authentication Required: Connections require sign-in with your Field Ascend admin credentials via a secure OAuth 2.1 flow. Only authorised administrators can connect AI services.
• Tenant-Scoped: AI connectors can only access data belonging to your organisation. Cross-tenant access is not possible.
• Session Data: Data retrieved by the AI assistant is used within the context of your conversation session. Field Ascend does not store, log, or retain the content of your AI conversations.
• No Training Data: Your business data accessed through AI connectors is not used to train AI models. Refer to the AI provider's own privacy policy for how they handle data within their platform.
• Revocation: You can disconnect an AI connector at any time through the AI provider's settings. Access tokens expire automatically and can be revoked by your administrator.

For more information about how connected AI services handle your data, refer to Anthropic's Privacy Policy or the relevant provider's documentation.

6B. Voice Dictation and AI Note Enhancement (Mobile App)

The Field Ascend Engineers mobile app includes an optional voice-dictation feature that lets engineers speak job notes instead of typing them. This feature has two independent components, each with distinct privacy implications.

6B.1 Offline Speech-to-Text

Speech recognition runs entirely on the engineer's device using a bundled open-source language model. Audio data is:

• Never recorded or saved to device storage beyond the brief live transcription window
• Never transmitted to our servers
• Never sent to any third party
• Never used to train any model

The microphone is active only while the engineer is actively dictating — between pressing the microphone button and stopping. The resulting text is placed into the note field, where the engineer can review and edit it before saving.

6B.2 Optional AI Enhancement (Online)

If the tenant administrator has explicitly enabled "AI Enhancement of dictated notes" and accepted the associated disclaimer in admin settings, the transcribed text (never audio) is sent over TLS to Anthropic's Claude API for grammar, punctuation, and spelling cleanup. The polished output is returned to the engineer, who can accept it or revert to the raw transcription using the "Use raw instead" button shown beside the note.

• Default state: OFF — must be explicitly opted into at the tenant level.
• If the device is offline, or the feature is disabled, the raw dictation is used unchanged.
• Both the raw dictated text and the polished output are stored in a tenant-scoped audit log alongside the engineer ID, job ID, section, and timestamp. This allows the tenant to review what the AI changed and to demonstrate accountability.
• Claude is accessed via the Anthropic API under Anthropic's standard API terms; Anthropic does not retain the text for training purposes.
• By enabling this feature, the tenant administrator accepts full liability for the accuracy of AI-enhanced content produced by their engineers. Every enhanced note must be reviewed before being sent to a customer or any third party.

Full details of the AI Enhancement obligations and disclaimer are set out in our Terms of Service (Section 8C). For how Anthropic handles API requests, see Anthropic's Privacy Policy and their Commercial Terms.

6B.3 Microphone Permission

The mobile app requests microphone permission only when the engineer first taps the dictate button. The iOS and Android permission prompts explicitly state that audio is processed entirely on-device and never leaves the phone. Permission can be revoked at any time via device settings, which disables dictation without affecting any other app functionality.

6B.4 Tenant Control

Tenant administrators have two independent settings within the admin App Settings page:

• Voice dictation enabled — globally shows or hides the microphone button for all engineers on the tenant.
• AI enhancement enabled — independently enables or disables the Claude polish step. Requires acceptance of a dated disclaimer. Disabling this at any time takes effect on the next sync cycle.

7. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under GDPR and applicable UK data protection laws, you have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances.
• Portability: Request transfer of your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.

To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@field-ascend.com.

8. Request Data Deletion

If you want us to delete your personal data related to Field Ascend or the Field Ascend Engineers app, email privacy@field-ascend.com from the email address associated with your account.

Include your full name, company/tenant name, and specify what you want deleted (e.g., job photos, notes, entire account). We verify identity and complete requests within 30 days, except for data we must retain for legal, security, or accounting purposes.

8A. Marketing Communications

8A.1 What We May Send

From time to time, Field Ascend may send marketing communications including product updates, feature announcements, newsletters, scheduled maintenance notices, and promotional offers related to our field service management software.

8A.2 Who Receives Marketing Emails

• Contact Form Enquiries: If you submit our contact form and tick the marketing opt-in checkbox, we will add you to our mailing list. This is entirely optional and the checkbox is unticked by default.
• Existing Customers (Account Holders): If you have an active Field Ascend account, we may send you emails about similar products and services under the "soft opt-in" provision of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). You will always have the option to unsubscribe.

8A.3 Lawful Basis

• Consent (GDPR Article 6(1)(a)): For contact form leads who opt in to marketing.
• Legitimate Interest (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)): For existing customers receiving communications about similar products/services, in accordance with PECR Regulation 22(3) ("soft opt-in").

8A.4 Unsubscribing

Every marketing email we send includes a one-click unsubscribe link. You can also email privacy@field-ascend.com to be removed from our mailing list. We will process unsubscribe requests promptly and retain a record that you opted out to ensure we do not contact you again.

8A.5 What We Do Not Do

• We never sell or share your email address with third parties for their marketing purposes.
• We never email your customers, engineers, or staff for Field Ascend marketing. Those are your contacts, not ours.
• We never send marketing emails without providing an unsubscribe option.

9. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services. After account termination:

• Customer data is deleted within 30 days unless legally required to retain it.
• Financial records may be retained for up to 7 years for tax and accounting compliance.
• Anonymised usage data may be retained indefinitely for analytics and service improvement.

10. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to run the website, protect accounts, understand how visitors use the site, and measure the effectiveness of our advertising.

• Essential cookies: Required for the website and platform to function, including authentication, security, session management, and remembering basic preferences. These cannot be switched off through our cookie banner.
• Analytics cookies: Optional cookies, including Google Analytics, that help us understand page visits, traffic sources, and how visitors use our website so we can improve it.
• Advertising cookies: Optional cookies, including Google Ads, that help us measure advertising performance and show more relevant adverts where supported by the advertising platform.

Analytics and advertising cookies are set to denied by default using Google Consent Mode and are only enabled if you choose Accept all in our cookie banner. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time by selecting the small cookie button shown on the website.

You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may affect platform functionality.

11. International Data Transfers

Your data may be processed in countries outside the UK/EU. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and adequacy decisions, to protect your data in accordance with GDPR requirements.

12. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child, we will delete it promptly.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Material changes will be notified via email or prominent notice on our platform. Updates will be posted on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Field Ascend Ltd
Registered in England and Wales
Company Number: 16864642
Email: privacy@field-ascend.com
General Enquiries: info@field-ascend.com
Website: https://field-ascend.com

15. Supervisory Authority

If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concerns, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Website: https://ico.org.uk
Helpline: 0303 123 1113