Privacy and data protection notice

Privacy information. Last reviewed: 3 November 2026. We are reviewing service-provider arrangements and retention periods; contact us if you need further details.

1. Who controls your information

Dimal Patel, trading as The Light Within Ceremonies, Preston, Lancashire, is responsible for personal data used in his independent funeral celebrancy services. Contact: privacy@thelightwithinceremonies.com or telephone 07977 564358. The business states that it is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office; ICO registration reference: ZC087034 (confirmed in ICO payment correspondence dated 3 February 2026; current public register status not independently checked).

2. What we collect

When you contact us, we may collect your name, contact details, relationship to the deceased, proposed ceremony date and location, correspondence, booking details, and the memories, readings, music preferences and other information you voluntarily provide to plan a ceremony. Website technical data may include IP addresses, browser and security logs. We ask families to avoid sending unnecessary medical or other sensitive information in the initial enquiry.

3. Why we process it and the lawful basis

• Responding to an enquiry and discussing services: legitimate interests, or steps requested before entering a contract, as appropriate.
• Planning and delivering an agreed ceremony: performance of a contract where the individual is a contracting party; otherwise legitimate interests, subject to a balancing assessment.
• Invoices, tax and legally required records: legal obligation where applicable.
• Website security and essential operation: legitimate interests and/or applicable legal obligations.
• Optional analytics or marketing: only where the relevant consent or other lawful basis and electronic privacy rules permit.

Details of religion, health or other special-category data about living individuals require a separate Article 9 condition where processed; such information should not be requested without necessity. Information about a deceased person is not itself personal data under UK GDPR, but information identifying living relatives may be.

4. Who receives information

Relevant ceremony details may be shared with the funeral director, venue, officiant or other participant when needed to coordinate the service, with appropriate care and permissions. Formspree processes messages submitted through the website enquiry form and routes them to the business email address. Wix provides website hosting and associated site services; Google Fonts supplies the website typography and may receive technical request information when fonts load. The business email provider and any document-storage services may also process information on our behalf. Formspree’s data processing agreement, processing locations, international transfer safeguards, security and retention settings are under review. Please contact us for further information about service providers and international transfers.

5. Security and retention

Access is restricted to people who need it for the service; appropriate device, account and document safeguards should be maintained. We retain information only as long as needed for the purpose, applicable legal duties and legitimate recordkeeping. Retention decisions must distinguish enquiries that do not proceed, booked ceremonies, scripts, invoices and complaints. We are confirming specific retention periods and deletion procedures for Formspree, email and other records. You can contact us to ask how long particular information will be kept or request deletion where applicable.

6. Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or object to processing. You can withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Contact the privacy email above. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

7. Cookies and updates

See our cookie information. Optional cookies should not be set before any consent required by law. We will update this notice when our actual processing arrangements change.

8. Information from funeral directors and other contacts

Where a funeral director or another person introduces a family, we may receive the contact details and ceremony requirements they provide. We use this information to respond to the referral and coordinate arrangements where appropriate. Please tell us if you would prefer us not to contact you.

9. Information required and automated decisions

For the website enquiry form, name, email address and a message are required to enable a response; telephone number, service type, organisation, proposed ceremony date, venue or town, and how you heard about us are optional. You do not have to use the form and can telephone instead. This website does not intentionally use automated decision-making or profiling to decide whether to accept an enquiry; this must be rechecked if site services change.

Your right to object: Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object to that processing. Contact us using the details above; we will consider your request in accordance with applicable data protection law.