Contents
1. Who we are
The Decided is a childfree matchmaking and introductions service operated by Sparked Connection Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 16967307. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this notice.
Contact: hello@sparkedconnection.com
Sparked Connection Ltd also operates sparkedconnection.com and singles-network.com. Applications made through The Decided are held in the same secure system, tagged to this brand. They are not merged into the other services, and you are not added to any other membership by applying here.
2. Our approach
Matchmaking only works if people tell the truth about themselves, and people only do that if they trust where it goes. We collect what we need to assess an application and make a considered introduction. Nothing more.
3. What we collect
When you apply, we collect:
- Name, email address and telephone number
- Date of birth, and the age calculated from it
- Town or city, and how far you would travel
- Gender, and who you would like to be introduced to
- Relationship status and relationship goals
- Your answers about your decision not to have children, including when it settled and what has tested it
- Occupation, profession level, industry, education, working pattern, and any business name, website or LinkedIn profile you give us
- Living situation, height, build, hair colour and length
- Languages, interests, values, habits around alcohol, smoking, exercise and diet
- Optional personality test results (Myers-Briggs, love languages, attachment style)
- Optional salary band
- Photographs, where you upload them
- How you heard about us
- Any correspondence between us
4. Sensitive questions, and why we ask them
Some of what we ask counts as special category data under UK GDPR, which the law protects more strictly. We think you are entitled to know exactly which questions those are, why they are on the form, and what happens if you would rather not answer. Every one of them is optional, and leaving any of them blank will not affect whether your application is accepted.
| Question | Why it is sensitive | Why we ask |
|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Racial or ethnic origin | Some members tell us this matters to them when they are being introduced to someone. We record it only so that we can honour a preference a member has actually expressed. We never use it to rank, filter or exclude applicants. |
| Religion or spirituality, and how important it is to you | Religious or philosophical belief | Shared or compatible outlook is one of the more reliable predictors of whether two people get on. It is used for compatibility only. |
| Who you would like to be introduced to | It can reveal sexual orientation | We cannot make an introduction at all without it. This is the one sensitive question the service genuinely cannot run without. |
| Photographs | Images of you are personal data, and are shared with another person | Used to help someone decide whether they would like to meet you. Shared only with a specific proposed match, and only with your agreement. |
Two further questions are not special category data but are personal enough to explain. Salary band is optional and used only where a member has told us that financial compatibility matters to them. Date of birth is required, because our membership sits in a defined age range and because we must be sure every member is an adult.
5. What we deliberately never ask
Our service is built around whether someone has settled on not having children. The obvious way to test that would be to ask about sterilisation, contraception, fertility or medical history. We do not ask any of those things, and we never will.
That is health data. It is special category data of the most sensitive kind, we have no legitimate need to hold it, and holding it would create a risk to you that no benefit to us could justify.
Instead we establish the same thing by asking about decision history, how the decision has held up under pressure, and the practical choices you have made around it. That is a better test, and it costs you nothing.
6. How we use your information
- To assess your application and decide whether to accept it
- To prepare for and conduct your interview
- To identify and propose introductions, and to explain to each person why we think the other is a fit
- To gather feedback after an introduction and improve the next one
- To administer your membership, including payments and pauses
- To contact you about your membership, and, if you have opted in, about events and the journal
- To meet our legal and accounting obligations
7. Lawful basis
- Contract — to provide the membership you have applied for or purchased
- Legitimate interests — to assess applications, run the service responsibly, and keep our members safe
- Explicit consent — for special category data, and for optional marketing emails
- Legal obligation — for accounting and regulatory records
You may withdraw consent at any time where consent is the basis we rely on.
8. How we share information
We do not sell your data, and we never will.
With a proposed match
Where we are proposing an introduction, we share a limited profile: first name or initial, general location, profession or lifestyle overview, high-level preferences, and selected photographs. Contact details are shared only after both people have agreed to meet.
With other agencies
Where you have told us you are open to it, we may discuss an anonymised outline of what you are looking for with other UK matchmaking agencies we work alongside. We do not share your name, photographs or contact details with another agency without asking you first.
With service providers
See section 9.
9. Who processes your data for us
Our application form submits to several services at once, so that no application is ever lost:
- Our own client system — hosted on Vercel, with data stored in Supabase
- FormBold, Formspree and FormSubmit — form delivery and email notification
- Google (Sheets and Workspace) — a backup log and our email
- Cloudflare — Turnstile, which confirms a human submitted the form and protects it from automated abuse
- GitHub Pages — hosting for this website
- Google Fonts — typefaces used on this site
Where a provider processes data outside the UK, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses.
10. AI-assisted tools
We use secure AI-assisted tools to help summarise questionnaire responses, draft internal notes, and identify possible compatibility patterns.
11. How long we keep it
- Members — for the duration of membership and a reasonable period afterwards
- Declined or withdrawn applications — kept briefly so we can explain a decision if asked, then deleted
- Photographs — deleted on request at any time
- Accounting records — as required by law
12. Security
Access is restricted, systems are protected, and information is seen only by those who need it to deliver the service. Our application endpoints are protected by Cloudflare Turnstile, rate limiting and origin checks.
13. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to access your data, correct it, request deletion, restrict or object to processing, request portability, and withdraw consent. Email hello@sparkedconnection.com and we will respond within one month.
14. Complaints
Please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.
15. Cookies
This site sets no analytics or advertising cookies. Cloudflare Turnstile may set a short-lived token on the application form for security purposes only.
16. Changes
We may update this notice. The current version is always the one published here.