Privacy Policy

This privacy policy explains how Horse Media (a trading name of Blackbeard Books Ltd, company number 04381909) collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use this website. This policy complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Horse Media may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page.

1. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is Blackbeard Books Ltd, registered at 12 Clyde Terrace, Hertford, SG13 7JP. You can contact us at info@horsemedia.co.uk.

2. What Data We Collect

We may collect the following personal data:

• Contact form submissions: name, email address, phone number, and your message
• Checkout: name, email, delivery address, and payment details (processed securely by Stripe — we do not see or store your card details)
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, and pages visited (collected automatically by our hosting provider)

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following lawful bases:

• Contract: to fulfil your order and process payment
• Legitimate interest: to respond to your enquiries via the contact form and to improve our website and services
• Legal obligation: to keep financial records as required by UK law

4. How We Use Your Data

• To process and fulfil your orders
• To respond to enquiries submitted through our contact form
• To keep business records for tax and accounting purposes
• To improve our website and services

We do not use your data for marketing purposes unless you have given explicit consent. We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

5. Data Processors

We use the following third-party services to operate this website. Each acts as a data processor on our behalf:

• Stripe — payment processing. Stripe handles your card details securely and is PCI DSS Level 1 certified. See Stripe's privacy policy.
• Netlify — website hosting and form submissions. See Netlify's privacy policy.

6. Data Retention

• Order records: retained for 6 years to comply with UK tax and accounting requirements
• Contact form submissions: retained for up to 12 months, then deleted
• Server logs: retained by Netlify in accordance with their data retention policy (typically 30 days)

7. Cookies and Local Storage

This website does not use tracking cookies or analytics cookies. We do not use Google Analytics or any third-party advertising trackers.

We use your browser's local storage (not cookies) to remember the items in your shopping cart. This data stays on your device and is not sent to our servers. You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser data.

Third-party services (Stripe and Netlify Identity) may set strictly necessary cookies required for payment processing and authentication. These are exempt from consent requirements under UK GDPR as they are essential to provide the service you have requested.

8. Security

We take appropriate measures to protect your personal data. All connections to this website use HTTPS encryption. Payment information is handled entirely by Stripe and never touches our servers. We do not store passwords or card details.

9. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: ask us to correct any inaccurate data
• Right to erasure: ask us to delete your personal data where there is no ongoing reason for us to keep it
• Right to restrict processing: ask us to limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability: request your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to object: object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interest

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@horsemedia.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

10. Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

11. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

12. Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or your personal data, contact us at info@horsemedia.co.uk.