Privacy Policy

Ship Dubai is a trading name of Gilbert Logistics FZCO, a company registered in a Dubai free zone, which is the data controller for the personal data described here ("we", "us"). Our UK partner Ransom Spares Ltd dispatches the empty boxes from Somerset and receives our order notifications so that collections can be arranged. This policy covers our website (shipdubai.co.uk and shipdubai.ae), our checkout, the WhatsApp number we use to talk to customers, and messages to our Instagram account and Facebook Page. Questions and requests about your data: email hello@shipdubai.co.uk or WhatsApp +971 58 588 6163.

What we collect

• Your contact and address details: name, email address, phone number, the UK address we collect from, and the address in the UK where empty boxes are delivered.
• The person receiving in Dubai: their name, phone number and delivery address, which you give us on their behalf (see "People you name" below).
• Your order: the boxes and services you book, the dates you choose, storage days, any discount code, and the payment reference. Card payments are taken by Stripe; we never see or store your card number.
• What you are sending: the description of the contents you give us for the customs declaration, usually over WhatsApp after booking.
• Messages: when you contact us on WhatsApp, Instagram or our Facebook Page, the messages, voice notes, photos and videos you send, and our replies. Voice notes are transcribed so we can act on them. For Instagram and Facebook we also receive the name, username and profile picture you show on that platform.
• Linking your conversations: if you give us a phone number or email address in a message that matches one you have already used with us (for example the number you WhatsApp us from or the one on your booking), we may link the two conversations so we have your full history in one place. A member of staff checks each link before it is made, and it can be undone.
• Public posts about shipping to or from Dubai: we look at public posts on Reddit, public expat forums and public Facebook groups where people ask about shipping belongings or parcels between the UK and Dubai. When a post matches, we keep a link to it, its title, a short extract (up to 400 characters, with usernames, email addresses, phone numbers and links removed), the name of the forum or group, and when it was posted. We do not record who wrote it. We use this only so a member of our team can read the post and, where helpful, reply publicly in the same thread, saying who we are. We never message people privately because of a post, and we delete these records after 90 days. We rely on our legitimate interests for this. You can ask us to delete a record at any time using the contact details on this page.
• Website usage: with your consent, analytics and advertising cookies that tell us how the site is used and which adverts lead to bookings (see "Cookies and advertising").

Why we use it, and the legal basis

• To provide the service you booked (arranging collection, shipping, storage and delivery, taking payment, sending confirmations and shipping updates): performance of our contract with you, or steps you ask us to take before booking, such as answering an enquiry or giving a quote.
• To clear customs in the UK and the United Arab Emirates: our legal obligations as the exporter.
• To keep business records, answer questions, resolve problems and prevent fraud: our legitimate interests in running the business, balanced against your rights.
• To measure and improve the website and our advertising: your consent, given through the cookie banner and withdrawable at any time.
• Public posts about shipping to or from Dubai: legitimate interests.

People you name

When you give us the details of the person receiving your boxes in Dubai, or of someone packing or handing them over in the UK, you are sharing their personal data with us on their behalf. We use it only to deliver or collect the shipment, and we contact them only about that shipment. Please tell them you have given us their details and point them to this policy.

Who we share it with

We share personal data only with the companies that help us provide the service, each under its own terms and, where required, a data processing agreement. We never sell it.

• Stripe: card payments and payment records.
• DHL Express: collection in the UK, the flight, customs clearance and delivery in Dubai.
• DPD: delivery of empty boxes to your UK address.
• Ransom Spares Ltd (UK): dispatch of the empty boxes and receipt of our order notifications.
• UK and UAE customs authorities: the declaration and invoice for your shipment.
• Supabase: the database that stores orders and, once you have contacted us on WhatsApp, Instagram or Facebook, your messages; hosted in London.
• Vercel: hosts this website and keeps short-lived technical logs (about one day).
• Google: Google Analytics and Google Ads, only after you accept cookies, including a hashed form of your email address and phone number sent to Google Ads to measure which adverts lead to bookings; and Gmail, our backup for sending order emails.
• Postmark: sends our order confirmations and order notifications by email.
• Meta (WhatsApp) and 360dialog: when you message us on WhatsApp, your messages pass through WhatsApp's systems and through 360dialog, our WhatsApp Business provider in Germany, so they reach our records.
• Anthropic: an AI model that reads our conversations with you to suggest replies for our staff, and to pick out box contents and collection details for shipping labels. A member of staff checks and sends every reply themselves; nothing is sent automatically. Anthropic processes this for us in the United States and does not use it to train its models.
• Meta (Instagram and Facebook): when you message our Instagram account or Facebook Page, Meta passes the message and your profile details to our records through our own Meta app. Meta runs Instagram and Facebook as a controller in its own right, under its own privacy policy.

International transfers

We are based in Dubai, so your data is handled both in the UK and in the United Arab Emirates. Delivery and customs details are shared with DHL and the UAE authorities to deliver your shipment. Some of the companies above process data in the United States under recognised safeguards (for example Google and Meta under the UK extension to the Data Privacy Framework, and Anthropic under its data processing terms with the UK's approved transfer clauses). Our database is in London.

Cookies and advertising

Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads are used to understand traffic and measure advertising. They set cookies and send data to Google only after you accept in our cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings control, which is also in the footer of every page. Rejecting cookies does not affect the service; the checkout works without them.

How long we keep it

• Orders, invoices and payment records: six years after the shipment, for tax and customs purposes.
• Messages, voice notes, photos and transcripts: the content is removed 24 months after your shipment is complete, or 12 months after your last message if you did not book. Audio is deleted 30 days after a shipment completes; photos, videos and documents after 12 months. Profile pictures copied from Instagram or Facebook are deleted with the rest of your photos.
• Technical records of a failed order save: 30 days after the problem is resolved, or 90 days at most.
• Analytics and advertising data: for the periods Google sets, under our consent settings.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct or delete it, object to or restrict some processing, ask for it in a portable form, and withdraw consent for cookies at any time. To exercise any of these, email hello@shipdubai.co.uk from the address you booked with, or message us on WhatsApp from the number you used, and we will answer within one month. How to ask for your data to be deleted is set out on our data deletion page. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time; the "last updated" date above shows when. Return to the home page.