Photo Upload Terms

1. About RidgeOak

RidgeOak Property Maintenance provides gardening, fencing, landscaping, guttering, roof cleaning, jet washing, brickwork, repair and related property-maintenance services.

2. Purpose of photo uploads

RidgeOak may invite you to submit photographs or videos so that we can:

• Understand the work you require.
• Identify the relevant surface, structure or work area.
• Assess visible condition, access and approximate scale.
• Prepare or review an estimated price.
• Determine whether a site visit is required.
• Plan labour, materials, tools or equipment.
• Maintain records of an enquiry, quotation or completed service.
• Investigate a question, concern, complaint or warranty matter.

Submitted images are used only for legitimate business, contractual, administrative, safety, record-keeping or legal purposes unless you separately agree to another use.

3. Images do not replace a site inspection

Any assessment based on uploaded images is necessarily limited to what can reasonably be seen and understood from those images.

RidgeOak may require additional photographs, measurements, explanations or a physical site inspection before confirming a quotation or accepting work.

An estimated price produced using uploaded images remains subject to our Quote & Estimate Terms.

4. Your responsibility when uploading images

By submitting an image, you confirm that:

• You are at least 18 years old.
• The image is relevant to a genuine RidgeOak enquiry, quotation, booking or service.
• You took the image, own the relevant rights or have permission from the rights holder to submit it.
• Submission of the image does not breach another person’s copyright, privacy, confidentiality or other legal rights.
• You have authority to photograph the property or work area shown.
• The image is accurate, recent and not deliberately misleading.
• You have not deliberately hidden or cropped out relevant damage, obstructions or access conditions.
• The file does not contain malware, malicious code or another harmful element.

5. Photograph ownership and copyright

You retain ownership of any copyright or other intellectual property rights that you hold in an uploaded image.

Uploading an image does not transfer ownership of that image to RidgeOak.

You grant RidgeOak a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to:

• Receive and securely store the image.
• View, copy and internally share it where reasonably necessary.
• Use it to assess, quote, plan, provide or document services.
• Share it with relevant employees, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, insurers or professional advisers where necessary.
• Retain it for the applicable record-keeping or legal period.
• Use it to establish, exercise or defend a complaint, insurance matter or legal claim.

This licence is limited to the purposes described in these terms and ends when RidgeOak no longer has a legitimate or legal reason to retain the image.

6. No automatic marketing permission

7. Images containing people

You should avoid including people in images unless their presence is unavoidable and genuinely relevant to the enquiry.

Before submitting an image containing another identifiable adult, you should ensure that:

• They are aware that the image will be submitted to RidgeOak.
• You have their permission where permission is required.
• The image does not reveal unnecessary private, confidential or sensitive information.

RidgeOak may crop, obscure, restrict access to or delete images containing unnecessary identifiable individuals.

8. Images of children

Customers should not upload identifiable photographs or videos of children unless the child’s presence is unavoidable and the image is genuinely necessary for the enquiry.

Where an image includes a child, you confirm that you are the child’s parent or legal guardian, or that you have appropriate authority and permission to submit the image.

RidgeOak may delete, reject, crop or obscure images containing children where their inclusion is unnecessary.

9. Personal and confidential information

Uploaded images may unintentionally contain personal or confidential information.

Before uploading, you should check for and remove or obscure:

• Faces of people who are not relevant to the enquiry.
• Children.
• House numbers where not required.
• Vehicle registration plates.
• Bank statements, invoices or financial documents.
• Passports, driving licences or identity documents.
• Medical information or medication.
• Computer screens, letters or private correspondence.
• Alarm codes, keys, security systems or access credentials.
• Neighbouring properties where they are not relevant.

You should never submit passwords, payment-card information, bank login details, identity documents or other highly confidential material through the photo-upload facility.

10. Special-category and sensitive information

Customers must not intentionally upload images revealing unnecessary health information, biometric information, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, political opinions, trade-union membership or information about a person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

If such information is captured accidentally, RidgeOak may crop, restrict, securely delete or otherwise minimise the material where reasonably possible.

11. Property interiors and security information

Where an image shows the interior of a property, you should take particular care not to reveal:

• Alarm controls or access codes.
• Locations of keys or security devices.
• Valuable personal possessions.
• Personal documents.
• Information showing when a property is unoccupied.
• Unnecessary images of bedrooms or private living areas.

RidgeOak accepts no responsibility for information unnecessarily included in an image by the uploader where that information was not required for the enquiry.

12. Prohibited content

You must not upload material that:

• Is unlawful, fraudulent or deliberately misleading.
• Infringes copyright, privacy or another person’s legal rights.
• Contains malware, scripts or harmful code.
• Is threatening, harassing, defamatory or abusive.
• Is obscene, sexually explicit or grossly offensive.
• Promotes criminal activity or violence.
• Shows illegal goods or unlawful conduct.
• Contains unnecessary intimate, medical or highly sensitive information.
• Contains identifying images of children without proper authority.
• Is unrelated to a genuine RidgeOak enquiry or service.
• Was obtained through trespass, unlawful surveillance or another unlawful method.

RidgeOak may refuse, isolate, restrict, report or securely delete prohibited content.

13. File safety and technical restrictions

RidgeOak may apply limits to accepted file types, file sizes, image dimensions or the number of uploaded files.

We may scan files for technical or security risks and reject files that appear corrupted, malicious, unsupported or unsafe.

Uploading a file does not guarantee that it has been successfully received, stored or reviewed. Customers should contact RidgeOak if a submission appears to have failed or if confirmation is required.

RidgeOak does not guarantee that all image metadata will be preserved. Images may be resized, compressed, converted or stripped of metadata for security or storage purposes.

14. Image metadata and location information

Image files may contain metadata, including the date, time, device information or location at which the image was created.

Customers should remove location metadata before uploading where it is not necessary.

RidgeOak does not intentionally use location metadata for unrelated monitoring or tracking.

15. How RidgeOak uses uploaded images

Depending on the purpose of the submission, RidgeOak may use an image to:

• Review the requested service.
• Prepare or revise an estimate or quotation.
• Confirm measurements, materials or visible conditions.
• Identify access, equipment or safety requirements.
• Communicate with the customer about the proposed work.
• Share necessary information with an assigned worker.
• Document the condition before, during or after work.
• Investigate a complaint, dispute or insurance matter.
• Comply with legal, regulatory or record-keeping obligations.

16. Sharing uploaded images

RidgeOak may share an uploaded image only where reasonably necessary with:

• Authorised RidgeOak personnel.
• Contractors or subcontractors involved in the proposed work.
• Relevant suppliers or specialist service providers.
• Website, hosting, email or file-storage providers.
• Insurers, accountants, legal advisers or professional advisers.
• Courts, regulators, law-enforcement authorities or other bodies where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

We do not sell uploaded photographs or personal information contained in them.

17. Storage and retention

RidgeOak retains uploaded images only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which they were submitted and for applicable legal, accounting, insurance and dispute-resolution requirements.

Our general approach is:

• Images connected with an unaccepted enquiry may normally be retained for up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact.
• Images connected with accepted or completed work may normally be retained with the relevant job record for up to six years after completion or final payment.
• Images connected with a complaint, insurance matter or legal claim may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve or defend the matter.
• Marketing images used with permission may be retained until the purpose ends, the material is replaced or permission is withdrawn, subject to legal considerations.

Retention periods may be shortened or extended where reasonably necessary and lawful. UK GDPR requires organisations to justify how long personal data is retained rather than setting one universal retention period. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

18. Security

RidgeOak applies reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect uploaded images against unauthorised access, accidental loss, improper disclosure, alteration or misuse.

Access is limited to people who reasonably require the material for their work or to provide services to RidgeOak.

No internet upload, email system or electronic-storage service can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Customers should therefore avoid submitting images containing unnecessary confidential or sensitive information.

19. Editing, cropping and redaction

RidgeOak may resize, compress, crop, rotate, rename, convert or redact an uploaded image where reasonably necessary to:

• Improve technical compatibility.
• Reduce file size.
• Focus on the relevant work area.
• Remove unnecessary personal information.
• Obscure faces, registration plates or identifying details.
• Protect security or privacy.
• Prepare evidence relating to an enquiry or service.

We will not materially alter an image in a way intended to misrepresent the condition of the property or the work.

20. Accuracy and evidential use

Customers must not manipulate, stage or edit an image in a way that creates a misleading impression of the property, damage, condition, measurements or completed work.

RidgeOak may retain relevant images as evidence of:

• The condition shown when an enquiry was made.
• Information supplied when an estimate was prepared.
• Visible pre-existing damage.
• The work completed.
• A change, complaint, dispute or insurance matter.

21. Before-and-after photographs

RidgeOak may take or receive photographs before, during and after contracted work for service records, quality control, safety, communication and dispute-resolution purposes.

Use of these images for public advertising, social media, portfolio or promotional content will be subject to separate permission where required.

Where permission is given, RidgeOak may agree with the customer whether names, addresses, faces, vehicle registrations or other identifying details will be excluded.

22. Withdrawal of marketing permission

Where you have separately permitted RidgeOak to use an image for marketing, you may withdraw that permission by contacting us.

Following withdrawal, RidgeOak will stop new uses of the image where reasonably practicable and remove it from channels under our control within a reasonable period.

Withdrawal may not require RidgeOak to recover or destroy printed materials already distributed, content lawfully published before withdrawal or copies retained for legal record-keeping.

23. Requests to access or delete images

Where an uploaded image contains your personal data, you may have rights under UK data-protection law, including rights to request access, correction, erasure, restriction or objection in appropriate circumstances.

These rights are not absolute. RidgeOak may retain an image where continued retention is necessary for a contract, legal obligation, insurance matter, complaint or legal claim.

Requests should be sent to: contact@ridgeoak.co.uk .

24. Images submitted by another person

If you submit an image on behalf of a property owner, tenant, landlord, managing agent, business or another individual, you confirm that you have authority to do so.

You must ensure that the relevant person is aware that the image is being provided to RidgeOak and understands the purpose for which it will be used.

25. Removal or rejection of images

RidgeOak may reject, remove, quarantine or securely delete an image where we reasonably believe that it:

• Breaches these terms.
• Contains malware or presents a security risk.
• Contains unnecessary sensitive information.
• May infringe another person’s rights.
• Is unlawful, abusive or inappropriate.
• Is unrelated to the enquiry.
• Cannot be safely or reliably opened.

RidgeOak is not required to provide storage, backup or recovery services for user-uploaded images.

26. Reporting unlawful material

RidgeOak may preserve and disclose relevant material where reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect a person, investigate suspected fraud or report suspected criminal activity.

Where appropriate, unlawful material may be reported to law-enforcement authorities, regulators, hosting providers or other relevant bodies.

27. Our responsibility

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability where doing so would be unlawful.

RidgeOak is not responsible for loss caused solely by:

• Unnecessary personal information included by the uploader.
• A lack of permission to submit an image.
• False, inaccurate or misleading image content.
• Corrupted, unsupported or malicious files.
• Failure of the uploader’s device or internet connection.
• Use of an image by a third party before it was submitted to RidgeOak.

Nothing in this section removes any statutory consumer or data-protection rights.

28. Changes to these terms

RidgeOak may update these Photo Upload Terms to reflect changes to our website, quotation system, technology, business practices or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on this page with an updated effective date.

29. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.

Consumers may bring proceedings in the courts available to them under applicable law. Business users agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.

30. Contact us