Privacy & GDPR.

The whole point of Mel is that we remember things so you never repeat yourself, and that we share the right details with the right people to get things done. That makes privacy central to what we do, not a footnote. Here is the complete picture.

The short version

We keep what you tell us so the whole team can help you without asking twice.
To fulfil a request, we share only what that request needs with the supplier doing the work. Nothing more.
We never sell your information, and nobody outside the request gets it.
Marketing is separate and opt-in. Service messages come with membership.
You can see, correct or delete what we hold at any time, and complain to the Cyprus data protection authority if we ever let you down.

Full policy · Last updated 16 August 2026

1. Who is responsible for your information

mel.works, operated from the Republic of Cyprus, is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us about anything privacy-related at ask@mel.works or by WhatsApp message.

2. What we collect

Identity and contact details: name, mobile number, email, location in Cyprus. Your member profile: the things you choose to tell us so we can serve you well, such as household and family context, home details and access arrangements, preferences, allergies and the notes our team keeps to avoid asking you the same question twice. Request information: the content of your requests and our conversations with you, primarily over WhatsApp, and the record of what was arranged, when and with whom. Membership records: your membership status, joining date and, once payments launch, payment status and billing records (card details are handled by our payment provider, never stored by us). Website basics: the technical minimum needed to run the site securely.

3. Where it comes from

Almost everything comes directly from you: your signup, your welcome answers, and your conversations with the team. Occasionally a supplier tells us something needed to complete your request, such as a delivery time. We do not buy data about you or track you around the internet.

4. Why we use it, and the legal bases

To provide the service (performance of our contract with you): receiving requests, arranging them, keeping your profile so the team has context, managing your membership and communicating with you about it. To run Mel well (our legitimate interests, balanced against your rights): quality, security, record-keeping, improving how we work, and protecting our team and members from abuse. Marketing (your consent, given separately at signup and revocable at any time): occasional recommendations and news. Legal obligations: tax, accounting and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

This is the heart of the service, so we are explicit about it. Fulfilling a request means giving the supplier doing the work the details they genuinely need, and only those. Booking a restaurant shares a name, party size, time and relevant preferences. Sending a plumber shares a name, the property address, access arrangements and the problem. Arranging a babysitter shares family details relevant to the evening. We work on a need-to-know basis: the restaurant does not get your home address, and the plumber does not get your dining preferences.

Suppliers receive this information to perform your request and act as independent businesses responsible for their own handling of it. We choose suppliers with care, they stay on our list only while they treat members and their information properly, and we do not permit them to use your details for their own marketing. We never sell personal information, and we never share it with anyone who is not involved in your request or in running the service.

6. Service providers and infrastructure

Like every modern service, we use carefully chosen providers to operate: EU-based hosting for our systems and member records (currently in Finland, within the EEA), WhatsApp for communications, and, once payments launch, a regulated payment provider. When our team logs a request, the text of your message may be read by an AI service (Anthropic) that helps us capture each ask accurately; it processes that text only on our instructions, under a data processing agreement, and does not use it to train its models. These providers process data on our instructions under data processing agreements, except where they are independent controllers of their own services (as Meta is for WhatsApp transmission).

7. International transfers

Our own systems are hosted in the EEA. WhatsApp communications involve Meta Platforms, whose processing may include transfers outside the EEA safeguarded by the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and related mechanisms. Where any other transfer outside the EEA becomes necessary, we will ensure an equivalent lawful safeguard is in place.

8. How long we keep things

While you are a member, we keep your profile and request history so the service works. If your membership ends, we delete or anonymise your profile and conversation records within 24 months, keeping only what law requires us to keep longer (such as accounting records, kept for the statutory period) and the minimum needed to resolve any dispute. Membership requests that never become memberships are deleted within 12 months of the request. You can request earlier deletion at any time, as described below.

9. Security

Member records live on access-controlled systems reachable only by the Mel team, protected by authentication, encryption in transit, EU hosting and daily backups. Team access is on a need-to-know basis, and member conversations are not kept on personal devices. No system is perfect; if a breach ever put your rights at risk, we would notify you and the supervisory authority as the GDPR requires.

The General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 applies to us and protects you. You have the right to: access a copy of the personal information we hold about you; rectification of anything inaccurate; erasure of your information where there is no overriding reason to keep it; restriction of processing while a question is resolved; portability of information you provided, in a usable format; objection to processing based on legitimate interests, and to any direct marketing, which we stop immediately; and the right to withdraw consent at any time where consent is the basis, without affecting prior processing.

To exercise any of these, message us or email ask@mel.works. We respond within one month. Deletion is carried out across our systems, including our member records and communication tools.

If you believe we have not handled your information properly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Cyprus (dataprotection.gov.cy, +357 22 818 456), or with the supervisory authority of your EU country of residence. We would be grateful for the chance to put it right first.

11. Marketing choices

Service messages about your membership and your requests are part of the service. Everything else, such as recommendations and news, is sent only if you opted in, and every such message includes a simple way to stop. Opting out never affects your membership.

12. Cookies and tracking

Our website uses no advertising trackers and no third-party marketing cookies. We use only what is technically necessary to serve the site, and privacy-conscious, cookie-free analytics if any. If that ever changes, this policy and a consent banner will say so first.

13. Children

Membership is for adults. We hold information about children only as part of a member’s household context, provided by the member, and used solely to serve their family’s requests.

14. Automated decisions

We do not make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects. Requests are handled by people.

15. Changes to this policy

When this policy changes materially we will tell members directly, and the current version always lives at this address with its date at the top.

16. Contact

Anything at all about your information: ask@mel.works or WhatsApp. See also our Terms & Conditions.