Privacy policy
FarmHQ keeps your farm's records so you don't have to. This page says what we hold, why, who helps us, and how to get it deleted. In short: we use your data to run the app for you. We don't show adverts, we don't track you across other apps or websites, and we never sell anything about you.
Who we are
FarmHQ is run by Russell Brooks, who is the data controller for the information in this policy. Write to hello@farmhq.ai about anything on this page, including any request to see, correct or delete your data.
What we collect
Only what you put into the app, plus the little it needs to work:
- Your farm's records. Animals and their tags, births, movements, deaths, weights, treatments and the medicine book, TB tests, machinery, visitors, jobs and notes.
- Names and contact details. Your farm's name, your holding number and address, and the names, emails and phone numbers of the people you add: staff, customers, visitors and your vet.
- Money records. Receipts, bills, invoices, money in and out, wages and hours, and the bank details you choose to print on your invoices.
- Photos and documents. Receipts, bills, passports and ear tags you photograph or upload.
- Voice. When you hold to talk to Farmer Joe, the recording is turned into text.
- Emails. If you connect your Gmail or Outlook, we read only the bills and invoices in it. If you email a bill to FarmHQ, we read that email.
- Messages to us. Anything you send through "Ask the founders".
- Government logins. If you give us your BCMS web services login, it is stored encrypted and used only to fetch and file your own records.
- Identifiers. A random code for your farm and one for each phone on it, so your phones stay in step. We do not collect your phone's advertising identifier.
- Purchases. Which plan your farm is on. Apple takes the payment; we never see your card.
We do not collect your location, your contacts, or what you do in other apps.
Why we use it
To run FarmHQ for you: to keep your records safe and in step across your phones, to read receipts and bills, to answer your questions in Farmer Joe, to send the invoices you ask us to send, to file movements and deaths with the government when you ask us to, and to reply when you write to us. Under UK data protection law we do this because it is needed to provide the service you signed up for, and for your statutory records because the law requires them to be kept.
Who helps us
These companies process data for us, only to do the job described, and none of them may use it for their own purposes:
| Who | What for |
|---|---|
| Vercel | Runs our servers and stores your photos and documents. |
| Our database host | Stores the cloud copy of your farm's records. |
| Anthropic | The AI that reads receipts, bills and passports, and answers Farmer Joe questions. It sees only the farm it is working for. |
| OpenAI | Turns your voice recordings into text. |
| Resend | Sends the invoices and forms you ask us to email, and receives bills emailed to FarmHQ. |
| Apple and RevenueCat | Take and track payment for your plan. |
| Google and Microsoft | Only if you connect your inbox, so we can read your bills. |
| Telegram | Our own team's support channel, where your messages to us and error reports reach us. |
| Expo | Delivers updates to the app. |
When you ask us to, we also send records to the government on your behalf: cattle movements and deaths to BCMS through CTS Online, sheep movements to the Livestock Information Service, and forms to the Rural Payments Agency. Some of these companies are based outside the UK. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by the UK's approved safeguards.
How long we keep it
For as long as your farm uses FarmHQ. When you close your account in the app, the whole cloud copy of your farm goes: every record, photo and document, every connected inbox, and every phone tied to it. Before you close, the app asks you to save a full export, because the law expects you to keep movement records for ten years and the medicine book for five, and that export is your copy. Copies held by the government stay with the government.
Your rights
You can ask to see the data we hold about you, have it corrected, have it deleted, have a copy to take elsewhere, or object to how we use it. Write to hello@farmhq.ai and we'll answer within a month. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Keeping it safe
Everything travels encrypted. Each farm's records are kept apart from every other farm's, and the AI only ever sees the farm it is working for. Logins you give us for other services are stored encrypted.
Children
FarmHQ is for running a farm business. It isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data.
Subscriptions and terms
Plans bought in the iPhone app are sold by Apple under Apple's standard licence agreement (EULA). They renew monthly until you cancel in your Apple account settings.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change matters, we'll tell you in the app first.