Privacy Policy

Cook at Mine™ is a trading name of Lioness Kingdom Ltd. Lioness Kingdom Ltd is the data controller for the information described in this policy — a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16650834, registered office 3rd Floor, 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE, United Kingdom. Lioness Kingdom Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under reference ZC234268. You can reach us at hello@cookatmine.com or via our contact page.

Account information — first name, last name, email address, an encrypted password, your postcode, the general area derived from it, your account type (Host or Cook), and the date you accepted these policies and confirmed you are 18 or over.

Profile information — display name, profile photo, bio or introduction, general location, travel radius, hourly rate, availability, cuisines, specialities, dietary specialities, languages, experience and the types of help you offer. Host profiles may also include household details, typical requirements, dietary preferences and allergies.

Food photographs — the dishes you upload to your portfolio, and photos of completed arrangements where the other side approves them.

Verification information — identity or address documents you choose to upload, and your verification status.

Connections and messages — connection requests, their status and outcome, messages you send through the platform, video-call arrangements, safety acknowledgements and blocks.

Reviews and reports — ratings and written feedback you give or receive, and any reports you make about another user.

Technical information — standard information our hosting and security providers process when you use the site, such as IP address, device and browser information, timestamps and error logs.

We do not ask for your full home address at registration, we do not take payments, and we do not run advertising profiling.

• To create and run your account, show your profile and let Hosts and Cooks connect — performance of a contract with you.
• To keep the platform safe: verification review, reports, blocking, moderation, contact-detail filtering and account action — legitimate interests in protecting users, and legal obligation where applicable.
• To show reviews and ratings so users can make informed decisions — legitimate interests in a trustworthy marketplace.
• To respond to your support messages — performance of a contract and legitimate interests.
• To keep the service secure, diagnose faults and prevent abuse — legitimate interests.
• To handle identity or address documents, which may include information from an identity document — consent, which you can withdraw by asking us to delete the document.
• To meet legal or regulatory obligations, including responding to lawful requests — legal obligation.

• Public: your display name, profile photo, general area, and — for Cooks — rate, cuisines, specialities, availability, travel radius, portfolio photos, verified status and reviews.
• Never public: your surname, email address, password, exact postcode or address, verification documents, reports you make, and internal admin notes.
• Shared with a matched user only: what you choose to tell them in the connection request and chat.

We may ask for identity or address verification so that Hosts and Cooks have more confidence before someone enters a home, and Cooks may choose to submit Level 2 Food Hygiene or Public Liability Insurance evidence to strengthen their profile. We collect these documents only to check identity and credentials. They are reviewed by our team only, are never shown to customers, and only the verification result is displayed.

• Documents are stored in private storage, are not published on your profile, and are not accessible to other users through any link or URL.
• Only an administrator reviewing your request can open a document, using a short-lived private link.
• A verification or credential badge only means evidence was supplied and reviewed at that point in time; certificate, policy and document details are never displayed.
• A badge is not a background check, DBS check, food-hygiene certificate, qualification check, or a guarantee of anyone's behaviour, cooking ability or safety.
• You must still use your own judgement about who you connect with, meet or invite into your home.
• You can ask us to delete your verification documents; doing so may remove your verified status.

• Other users, as described above.
• Our service providers, who process data on our instructions: hosting and database, file storage, authentication, email delivery and video-call infrastructure.
• Emergency services, the police or other authorities where we are legally required to disclose information, or where there is a serious risk to someone's safety.
• Professional advisers, or a buyer, if the business is reorganised or sold.

Where a provider processes data outside the UK, we rely on an approved transfer mechanism such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.

• Account and profile information: while your account is open, then deleted or anonymised within a reasonable period after closure.
• Cook verification documents: the uploaded file is securely deleted 90 days after a verification decision (approved or rejected), and no later than 180 days after a submission that is never completed. We keep only a minimal audit record — user, verification status, date, document type checked and the administrator's decision — so a verified badge does not depend on keeping the file.
• Verification documents subject to an active safety investigation, complaint, fraud concern, law-enforcement request or legal claim are placed on a retention hold and kept only while that matter genuinely requires it, then returned to the normal deletion schedule.
• Messages, connections and reviews: retained while the accounts involved exist, so both sides keep an accurate record.
• Reports and safety records: kept longer where needed to protect users or defend a legal claim.
• Technical logs: kept for a short period for security and troubleshooting.

Access to data is controlled at database level, so users can only read the records they are entitled to. Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and never visible to us. Verification documents sit in private storage. Chat blocks the sharing of phone numbers and email addresses. No system is completely secure, so please also protect your own password.

Under UK data protection law you can ask us to give you a copy of your information, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or provide it in a portable format. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Most profile information can be corrected yourself from your account area.

To make a request, contact us through the contact page. We respond within one month. If you are unhappy with our response you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.

We use storage that is strictly necessary to keep you signed in and to keep the platform secure. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

We will update this page if our processing changes, with a new date at the top and, for significant changes, a notice in the app.