BOOKSHOP.ORG

PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: 1ST October 2020

Welcome to Bookshop.org’s Privacy Policy.

uk.bookshop.org, including all of its features and content and related or commonly-owned or controlled websites (“Website”), is a service made available by Bookshoppe Limited (collectively referred to as "Bookshop.org", "we", "us" or "our" in this privacy policy), a company that provides independently owned booksellers, industry partners, and conscious consumers with a direct-to-consumer e-commerce solution competitive to that of major retailers.

Bookshop.org respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you as to how we look after your personal data when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from) and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

Purpose of this privacy policy

This privacy policy aims to give you information on how Bookshop.org collects and processes your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide through your use of the website.

It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing policy we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them. This policy is intended for persons of over 18. We do not knowingly collect data about children.

Controller

Bookshoppe Limited is the data controller of and responsible for your personal data.

Contact details

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact us by email at: [email protected]

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

Quick Guide to the contents of this Privacy Policy

  1. How this Privacy Policy applies

  2. The data Bookshop.org collects about you

  3. How Bookshop.org collects your personal data

  4. How Bookshop.org uses your personal data

  5. How Bookshop.org shares the personal data we collect

  6. Cookies and other technologies

  7. Your rights

  8. Links to other websites and services

  9. Data retention

  10. Cross-border data transfers

  11. Children’s privacy

  12. Security

  13. Updates to this Privacy Policy

  14. Contact us

  1. How This Privacy Policy Applies

By using the Website, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy (including new versions of this Privacy Policy when and as they go into effect) and Bookshop.org’s ("Terms of Use"), which governs this Privacy Policy applies to those persons or entities who (i) purchase products on the Website, (ii) sell products on the Website through Bookshop.org’s Platform Seller Program (each, a “Platform Seller”), and (iii) participate in Bookshop.org’s Affiliate Program (each, an “Affiliate”) (collectively, “Users,” and each, a “User”, “you” or “your”). Capitalised words not defined in this Privacy Policy are defined in the Terms of Use. In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Policy and the terms and conditions applicable to the Platform Seller Program and the Affiliate Program, respectively, such terms and conditions applicable to the Platform Seller Program and the Affiliate Program shall apply respectively.

This Privacy Policy describes the information Bookshop.org collects from you through the Website, how Bookshop.org uses that information, and its legal basis for doing so. It also covers whether and how that information may be shared and your rights and choices regarding such information. For residents of the European Economic Area, Bookshop.org is the data controller responsible for your information.

  1. The data Bookshop.org collects about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

  • Identity Data includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth.

  • Contact Data includes billing address, home address, email address and telephone numbers.

  • Financial Data includes payment card information.

  • Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of products you have purchased from us.

  • Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.

  • Profile Data includes your username and password, purchases made by you, your preferences, feedback and survey responses.

  • Usage Data includes information about how you use our website and services.

  • Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with driver portal services when you sign up for an account with us). In this case, we may be unable to provide the services, or have to cancel a service you have with us. But we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

  1. How Bookshop.org collects your personal data

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in online forms or by corresponding with us by email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide:

  • As a Platform Seller or Affiliate, when you post Content (as such terms are defined in the Terms of Use).

  • As a User,

    • when you complete forms on or through the Website, subscribe to any other service we offer, including our newsletter or request marketing to be sent to you;

    • Make a request or transaction through the Website. Bookshop.org and Platform Sellers offer products for sale through the Website;

    • Communicate with Bookshop.org, such as when you request support, submit comments or questions, or report a problem to Bookshop.org;

    • Enter a competition, promotion or survey.

Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our Website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies. The data may include:

  • Times and dates and the extent of your usage of the Website.

  • Time zone, language, screen resolution, and other usage preferences you select when using the Website.

  • Device keyboard settings.

  • Usage history such as areas and pages within the Website that you access or use and/or which buttons on the Website you click on.

  • The search terms you entered into a search engine that may have led you to the Website.

  • The Internet service provider (ISP) or mobile platform you use.

  • Other device and Website access information such as your browser type, operating system, Internet Protocol (IP) address, referring/exit pages, and other unique device identifiers.

Third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:

  • Technical Data from analytics and search information providers.

  • Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical and payment services.

  • Identity and Contact Data from data brokers or aggregators.

  • Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources.

  1. How Bookshop.org uses your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.

  • Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

  • Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we will get your consent before sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Here is a glossary of some of the legal terms we use in relation to the purposes for which we use your personal data:

Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best services/products and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us.

Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.

Comply with a legal obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to.

Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below:

Purpose/Activity Type of data Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest
To provide you with newsletters, offers, promotions, and other product specials or to customise your experience on the Website

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Marketing and Communications

(a) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to provide you with services that we think you will be interested in).
To respond to enquiries, customer service requests, questions and comments. and your register you as an account holder

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(a) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to provide information to you that you request).

To process and deliver your order including:

(a) Manage payments, fees and charges

(b) Collect and recover money owed to us

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Financial

(d) Transaction

(e) Marketing and Communications

(a) Performance of a contract with you.

(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us)

To manage our relationship with you which will include:

(a) Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy

(b) Asking you to leave a review or take a survey

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Profile

(d) Marketing and Communications

(a) Performance of a contract with you.

(b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation

(c) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how customers use our products/services)

To enable you to partake in a prize draw, competition or complete a survey

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Profile

(d) Usage

(e) Marketing and Communications

(a) Performance of a contract with you.

(b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them and grow our business)

To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data)

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Technical

(a) Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise)

(b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation

To deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve to you.

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Profile

(d) Usage

(e) Marketing and Communications

(f) Technical

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy)
To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences.

(a) Technical

(b) Usage

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy)
To make suggestions and recommendations to you about goods or services that may be of interest to you.

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Technical

(d) Usage

(e) Profile

(f) Marketing and Communications

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our products/services and grow our business)
To track and analyse use of the Website and Bookshop.org’s services, such as to identify trends, conduct data analysis, and determine the effectiveness of marketing and promotion efforts, and other service offerings, so that Bookshop.org can improve its performance and provide Users with the best experience possible

(a) Technical

(b) Usage

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy)
To maintain security and to enforce the Terms of Use.

(a) Identity

(b) Contact

(c) Profile

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to monitor usage and to comply with applicable law.

Marketing

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.

Promotional offers from us

We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which products, services and offers may be relevant for you.

You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or obtained services from us and you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.

Third-party marketing opt-in

We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.

Opting out

You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time [by logging into the website and checking or unchecking relevant boxes to adjust your marketing preferences or by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you or by contacting us at any time on [email protected].

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.

If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

  1. How Bookshop.org shares the personal data we collect

Bookshop.org may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

  • Service providers: Bookshop.org may share your information with certain service providers to help provide, improve, promote, or protect the Website, process payments, or manage ads on other websites. Bookshop.org requires those service providers use your information only for the purposes Bookshop.org has authorised and protect your personal information at least to the same standards as Bookshop.org does.

  • Platform Sellers: Bookshop.org may share your contact information with a Platform Seller if you visited Bookshop.org’s website via that Platform Seller’s referral link, or you shopped from the Platform Seller’s book lists or shop page on our Website. We will only share your information with Platform Sellers from whom you purchase.

  • Legal matters; Safety: Bookshop.org reserves the right to disclose information Bookshop.org collects from or about you when doing so is reasonably necessary to comply with the law or law enforcement, to prevent fraud or abuse, or to protect the legal rights, property, or the safety of Bookshop.org, Users, or others.

  • Sale or transfer of assets: In the event that Bookshop.org is acquired by or merged with a third-party entity, or sells all or substantially all of its assets, Bookshop.org reserves the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information it has collected from and about Users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In the unlikely event of bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, receivership, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, or the application of laws or equitable principles affecting creditors’ rights generally, Bookshop.org may not be able to control how your personal information is treated, transferred, or used.

  • Aggregate or anonymous information: Bookshop.org may also share information that is aggregated or anonymized in a way that it does not directly identify you.

  • Publicly available information: When Platform Sellers post Content, all Users will be able to view such Content. Platform Sellers should not post any information, including personal information, that they do not want to be publicly accessible.

  1. Cookies and other technologies

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

Here is some information about the cookies and other technologies Bookshop.org uses on our Website:

  • User Information: Bookshop.org will store a logged-in User’s information to keep track of items in your shopping cart and remember the customer information you gave us so that you do not have to re-enter it when making additional purchases.

  • Security: Bookshop.org secures the Website with cookies that facilitate security features and allow Bookshop.org to detect activity that might violate the Terms of Use such as unauthorised access or activity.

  • Localisation: Some cookies help Bookshop.org provide localized experiences, such as displaying the Website in the local language.

  • Site Features and Services: Certain cookies provide greater functionality to the Website and help Bookshop.org deliver our products and services.

  • Performance: Bookshop.org uses performance cookies to help route traffic between servers and understand how the Website is performing so Bookshop.org can provide Users with the best experience possible.

  • Analytics and Research: Cookies and other technologies also help Bookshop.org to understand, improve, and research features and content on the Website. These types of cookies include Google Analytics, which you can opt out of at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Limiting or blocking Cookies and our “Do Not Track” policy

Your browser may give you the ability to control cookies, which may depend on the type of cookie, and browsers can be set to reject browser cookies. However, blocking or deleting cookies may prevent you from using most of the Website.

Some browsers have “do not track” features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. These features are not all uniform. If you block cookies, certain features on the Website may not work. If you block or reject cookies, not all of the tracking described in this Privacy Policy will necessarily stop. Note that certain options you select are specific to certain browsers and devices. Our system may not recognize Do Not Track requests or headers from some or all browsers.

Web Beacons

The Website may contain electronic images known as web beacons (sometimes called single-pixel gifs) and are used along with cookies to compile aggregated statistics to analyze how the Website is used. Bookshop.org uses third parties to gather information about how you and others use the Website. For example, Bookshop.org will know how many Users access a specific page and what Website Content they clicked on. Bookshop.org uses this aggregated information1 to understand and optimize how the Website is used.

Social Media Plug-Ins

Bookshop.org may use certain social media plug-ins (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) to allow you to communicate with such services and interact (e.g., “like” or “comment”) with various Website content. The social media plug-in will enable a direct communication between your end user device and the servers of the applicable social media provider, allowing the applicable social media provider to communicate with you and collect information about you browsing the Website. If you decide to use a social media plug-in, Bookshop.org may transfer your information to the social media provider, whether or not you have a registered user account with the applicable social media provider. Bookshop.org is not responsible for the content and the data collection on respective third-party websites or apps and that Bookshop.org neither controls the extent of personally information collected by the respective plug-in provider nor knows the processing’s purpose or the period your personally information will be retained. For further information as to how and for what purpose certain social network providers process your data, please see the relevant privacy policies of the applicable social media provider.

  1. Your Rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data.

You have the right to:

Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:

  • If you want us to establish the data's accuracy.

  • Where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it.

  • Where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

  • You have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.

No fee usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

  1. Links to other websites and services

The website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

  1. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.

By law we have to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they cease being customers for tax purposes.

In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see your rights above for further information.

In some circumstances we will anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

  1. Cross-border data transfers

With respect to any personal information that may be originally collected and stored in the European Economic Area:

We share your personal data with companies within the same corporate group as Bookshop.org. This will involve transferring your data outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”).

Many of our external third parties are based outside the EEA so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the EEA.

Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by doing so under the European Commission’s model contracts for the transfer of personal information to third countries (i.e. the standard contractual clauses) pursuant to 2004/915/EC or 2010/87/EU (as appropriate). For further details, see European Commission: Model contracts for the transfer of personal data to third countries.

  1. Children’s privacy

The privacy of children is of the utmost importance, and Bookshop.org is committed to complying with applicable privacy law, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Bookshop.org does not knowingly collect or process personal information from children under the age of eighteen (18) without specific consent. If Bookshop.org ever discovers that it has inadvertently collected or processed personal information from a child under the age of eighteen (18) on or through the Website, Bookshop.org will take steps to delete such personal information from its records as soon as possible. We do not knowingly sell the personal information of minors under the age of eighteen (18) without such persons’ affirmative authorisation as required by applicable law.

  1. Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

  1. Updates to this Privacy Policy

Bookshop.org may change the terms of this Privacy Policy at any time. Whenever Bookshop.org makes a material change, Bookshop.org will provide appropriate notice to you. The effective date of the most recent version of this Privacy Policy will appear at the top of this page.

  1. Contact Us

Questions or comments about this Privacy Policy should be sent by email to [email protected].

We use cookies and similar methods to recognize visitors and remember their preferences. We also use them to help detect unauthorized access or activity that violate our terms of service, as well as to analyze site traffic and performance for our own site improvement efforts. To learn more about these methods, including how to disable them view our Cookie Policy.