LEGAL, PRIVACY & BOOKING TERMS
Last updated: September 2026 · Compliant with UK GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018 & Consumer Rights Act 2015.
1. PLATFORM OVERVIEW & IDENTITY
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern access to and use of the AURA Assistant software-as-a-service platform, accessible via auraassistant.uk and related applications ("Platform", "AURA", "we", "us"). The Platform is an independent technological tool designed to provide appointment scheduling, virtual queue management, customer check-in, and operational reporting for barbershops, beauty salons, and independent professionals.
2. INDEPENDENT PLATFORM ROLE (DISCLAIMER OF SALON SERVICES)
Important Disclaimer for Clients & Consumers
AURA Assistant is strictly a technology software provider, not a salon, barbershop, or medical/cosmetic treatment provider. We do not employ barbers, stylists, or therapists, nor do we provide in-person hair, beauty, or grooming services.
Any appointment booked through the Platform constitutes a direct contractual relationship exclusively between the client ("Customer") and the individual business or specialist ("Shop / Provider"). AURA is not responsible or liable for service quality, delays, cancellations, personal injuries, allergic reactions, property damage, or any disputes arising from salon treatments.
3. BUSINESS ACCOUNTS & SAAS SUBSCRIPTIONS
- Registration: Business accounts must provide accurate business contact information. Account credentials must remain confidential.
- Subscription Billing: Premium features are billed in advance on a recurring monthly or annual basis via Stripe. You may cancel at any time through the subscription management portal; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle.
- Fiscal & Tax Autonomy: AURA is an internal business management calculator and queue optimizer. It is NOT a certified fiscal cash register or government-certified tax reporting device. Business operators remain solely and legally responsible for complying with HMRC tax regulations, reporting accurate revenues, and using required fiscal hardware in their respective jurisdiction.
4. ACCEPTABLE USE & PLATFORM INTEGRITY
You agree not to engage in any of the following prohibited activities:
- Submitting fraudulent, fictitious, or automated bookings or fake queue entries.
- Attempting to bypass security barriers, probing vulnerabilities, or initiating denial-of-service attacks.
- Reverse-engineering, decompiling, or scraping the Platform's algorithms, interfaces, or proprietary code.
- Using the Platform to distribute unsolicited marketing messages (spam) or harass end-users.
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All rights, title, and interest in and to the AURA Assistant platform—including its source code, databases, user interface designs, themes, trademarks, and documentation—are and will remain the exclusive property of AURA Systems and its licensors. You are granted a limited, revocable, non-exclusive license to use the service for your internal business operations during your active subscription.
6. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY & DISCLAIMER
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law in England and Wales:
- The Platform is provided on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis, without warranties of uninterrupted uptime or error-free operation.
- In no event shall AURA, its founders, operators, or affiliates be liable for any indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages, including loss of business profits, loss of anticipated revenue, goodwill loss, or data corruption.
- Our total cumulative liability arising from any claim related to the Platform shall in all circumstances be strictly limited to the total amount actually paid by you to AURA in the twelve (12) months preceding the incident, or £100 GBP, whichever is greater.
7. GOVERNING LAW & JURISDICTION
These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve any dispute.
UK GDPR & PRIVACY POLICY
This Privacy Notice outlines how AURA Assistant collects, processes, and protects personal data in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
1. DATA CONTROLLER VS. DATA PROCESSOR
For Business Accounts
AURA acts as the Data Controller for the administrative account data of subscribing salon and shop owners (e.g., business contact name, email, credentials, and billing records).
For Client Bookings & Queue
The Barbershop/Salon is the Data Controller for client booking records. AURA acts strictly as the Data Processor processing appointments, timestamps, and customer contact information under the direct instructions of the business.
2. INFORMATION WE PROCESS & LEGAL BASIS
Customer Booking Information: Name, phone number, email address, selected service, appointment date/time, and notes provided during booking. Legal Basis: Contractual Necessity (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)) to schedule and confirm the appointment.
Live Queue Data: First name or nickname and arrival timestamp. We deliberately encourage the use of first names or aliases on public queue monitors to uphold data minimization. Legal Basis: Legitimate Interests (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) for shop wait-time transparency.
Technical & Security Telemetry: Anonymized request logs, IP addresses (stored temporarily in volatile memory or security audit logs strictly to detect brute-force and DDoS attacks). Legal Basis: Legitimate Interests (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) for platform security.
3. SUB-PROCESSORS & THIRD PARTIES
We work only with vetted, enterprise-grade third-party infrastructure providers that maintain rigorous data protection standards:
- Stripe Payments UK / Europe: Payment processing for customer booking deposits and business subscriptions. All payment transactions comply with PCI-DSS Level 1. AURA never views, handles, or stores full card numbers.
- Cloudflare Inc.: Perimeter security, DDoS mitigation, SSL/TLS edge certificate management, and content delivery.
- Secure VPS Cloud Infrastructure: Dedicated hosting in modern, enterprise European/UK data centers with encrypted storage and automated backups.
We strictly do not sell, rent, or monetize personal data to third-party data brokers or advertising networks.
4. DATA RETENTION & SECURITY
- Security Measures: Passwords are cryptographically salted and hashed using modern key derivation functions. All communications are enforced over HTTPS / TLS 1.3 encryption.
- Retention Policy: Customer appointment details are retained to enable historical view and repeat booking convenience for the shop. Data can be purged or anonymized upon request by the shop or customer at any time.
5. YOUR RIGHTS UNDER UK GDPR
Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, you have the following fundamental rights:
To exercise your rights, or for any privacy inquiry, contact our Data Protection Team directly at: [email protected].
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
CUSTOMER BOOKING & DEPOSIT POLICY
These terms govern consumers and clients who reserve appointments through an AURA-powered booking portal.
1. BOOKING DEPOSITS & SECURE PAYMENTS
- Deposit Requirement: Certain shops or high-demand time slots may require a booking deposit to secure the specialist's time. The exact deposit amount is clearly displayed before you finalize your reservation.
- Deposit Deduction: Any deposit successfully paid online via Stripe is credited against the total cost of your treatment and deducted at in-store checkout.
- Payment Verification: Appointments with deposit requirements are confirmed in real-time only upon verified payment confirmation from Stripe.
2. CANCELLATIONS, RESCHEDULING & NO-SHOWS
Shop Cancellation Policies: Cancellation policies, notice windows (e.g. 24 or 48 hours), and refund eligibility are established directly by each independent business in line with the UK Consumer Rights Act 2015.
No-Show Disclaimer: If you fail to attend your appointment without timely notice, the shop reserves the right to retain the deposit as reasonable compensation for reserved specialist time and lost commercial slot opportunity.
Dispute Handling: Refund requests and schedule changes must be addressed directly to the barbershop or salon where the booking was placed. AURA does not hold merchant funds and cannot unilaterally refund salon deposits.
3. ARRIVAL & QUEUE INTEGRATION
Please arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled appointment. In shops operating hybrid walk-in queues and online bookings, confirmed appointments are prioritized over walk-ins for the selected slot time.
COOKIES & LOCAL STORAGE NOTICE
AURA Assistant respects your privacy and adheres to a strict principle of minimalist, essential-only tracking under the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
1. COOKIES WE USE
Maintains your authenticated session state, tenant context, and protects against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF). Expires upon logout or browser session closure.
Used on staff POS tablets to remember station authorizations, theme preferences, and offline fallback queues without requiring repetitive logins.
2. ZERO THIRD-PARTY AD TRACKING
AURA Assistant does not use invasive third-party tracking pixels, Facebook Pixels, marketing cookies, or behavioral advertising cookies. Because we only employ strictly necessary and functional cookies required for core operation, an intrusive cookie consent banner is not required under UK PECR guidance.