Privacy & Cookie Policy

1 Who we are

Bridal Showcase operates the website www.bridalshowcase.co.uk (the “Website”) and is the controller of personal information described in this policy.

Bridal Showcase is an online wedding directory that helps visitors discover independent wedding businesses and enables wedding suppliers to advertise their services.

Our contact details appear at the end of this policy.

2 The law that applies

We process personal information in accordance with applicable UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where relevant, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Using the Website does not mean that you consent to every use of your personal information. We use the appropriate lawful basis for each purpose, as explained below. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting processing that took place before your withdrawal.

3 Information we may collect

Depending on how you use the Website or communicate with us, we may collect:

• Contact details, such as your name, email address, telephone number and postal or business address;
• Enquiry information, including messages, wedding requirements and information you choose to provide through a form, email or telephone call;
• Advertiser information, such as business details, listing content, account information, subscription status and communications with us;
• Transaction information, including payment status, amount, date and a payment-provider reference. We do not normally receive or store your complete payment-card details;
• Technical and usage information, such as IP address, browser and device type, approximate location, pages viewed, links used, dates and times of visits and diagnostic information;
• Cookie and preference information, including your cookie choices and settings; and
• Correspondence and records created when you contact us or exercise a data protection right.

Please do not provide sensitive personal information unless it is genuinely necessary and we have asked you to provide it.

4 How we collect information

We may collect personal information:

• directly from you when you complete a form, create or manage a listing, make a payment, email us or speak with us by telephone;
• automatically through cookies, server logs and similar technologies when you use the Website;
• from a wedding business where it provides information for its directory listing;
• from service providers involved in payments, website hosting, email delivery, security or analytics; and
• from publicly available business sources where permitted by law.

5 Why we use your information

We may use personal information to:

• answer enquiries and communicate with you;
• provide, manage and display advertiser listings;
• check and manage the availability of exclusive advertising positions;
• create and administer advertiser accounts, subscriptions and agreements;
• process payments and maintain transaction and accounting records;
• send service messages, payment notices and information connected with an existing account or enquiry;
• send marketing where we have permission or another lawful basis to do so, subject to your right to opt out;
• operate, secure, maintain and improve the Website;
• measure Website performance and understand how visitors use it, where permitted;
• prevent fraud, misuse and security incidents;
• establish, exercise or defend legal rights; and
• meet our legal, regulatory, tax and accounting obligations.

6 Our lawful bases

We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

• Contract: where information is needed to take steps at your request before entering an agreement or to provide services under an agreement with you;
• Legitimate interests: where reasonably necessary to operate and improve Bridal Showcase, answer business enquiries, protect the Website, manage our business and communicate about relevant services, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights;
• Consent: where you have made a clear choice, including for certain marketing communications and non-essential cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time;
• Legal obligation: where processing is required to meet a legal, tax, accounting or regulatory duty; and
• Legal claims: where information is reasonably required to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Where information is required for a contract, failing to provide it may mean that we cannot create or manage an account, process a payment or provide the requested service.

7 Enquiries sent to wedding businesses

If the Website allows you to send an enquiry to a listed wedding business, we will use the information you provide to transmit or make that enquiry available to the selected business.

Once the business receives your enquiry, it will normally act as a separate controller of the information it receives. Its own privacy policy will apply to its subsequent use of your information. Please check that policy before providing information or entering an agreement.

We do not control how an independent listed business uses information after receiving it, but you may contact us if you believe a listing or enquiry facility is being misused.

8 Who we may share information with

We may share personal information only where reasonably necessary with:

• the wedding business to which you choose to send an enquiry;
• payment processors and subscription-management providers;
• website hosting, database, IT support, security, email and communications providers;
• analytics providers, but only where their use is permitted and any required cookie choice has been made;
• professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, solicitors and technical consultants;
• law-enforcement bodies, courts, regulators, tax authorities or other organisations where disclosure is required or permitted by law; and
• a prospective buyer, seller or adviser in connection with a genuine sale, transfer or restructuring of all or part of the business.

We do not sell personal information.

9 Payments

Payments may be processed by an independent payment provider such as Stripe. Payment-card details are entered into the payment provider’s secure service and are not normally stored by Bridal Showcase.

The payment provider will process personal information under its own privacy policy. We may receive limited transaction information needed to confirm payment, manage a subscription, issue service communications, prevent fraud and maintain business records.

10 International transfers

Some service providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where UK data protection law requires it, we will use an approved safeguard, such as an adequacy regulation, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

You may contact us for further information about the safeguards relevant to your information.

11 How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, security and dispute-resolution requirements.

• General enquiries: normally for up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact;
• Advertiser, contract and transaction records: normally for the duration of the relationship and up to six years afterwards;
• Unsuccessful or incomplete sales enquiries: normally for up to 24 months, unless a shorter period is appropriate;
• Marketing records: until you opt out or we determine that the information is no longer current. We may retain a minimal suppression record so that we respect an opt-out;
• Cookie and analytics information: for the period stated in the cookie information or consent tool; and
• Legal or complaint records: for as long as reasonably required to deal with the matter and protect legal rights.

We may delete or anonymise information sooner when it is no longer needed.

12 How we protect information

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. These measures may include encrypted connections, access controls, secure service providers, backups and limiting access to people who need the information.

No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should take care when sending information online and contact us promptly if you believe your information or account may have been compromised.

13 Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law may give you the right to:

• be informed about how your personal information is used;
• request access to your personal information;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to erase personal information;
• ask us to restrict processing;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis; and
• raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal conditions or exemptions. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. We will not normally charge a fee, although the law permits a reasonable fee or refusal in limited circumstances.

14 Marketing choices

You may ask us to stop sending direct marketing at any time by using an unsubscribe option where provided or by contacting us.

Stopping marketing will not prevent us from sending necessary service messages about an enquiry, account, listing, payment, subscription or agreement.

15 Children

The Website is intended for people planning weddings and wedding-industry businesses. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly request personal information from children.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us inappropriately, please contact us so that we can investigate and take suitable action.

16 Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small data files stored on your device. The Website may also use similar technologies such as local storage. They can help the Website operate, remember choices, measure performance and provide third-party features.

We may use the following categories:

• Strictly necessary cookies: required for security, network management, payment functions, forms, account access or remembering your cookie choices. These do not require consent where the legal exemption applies;
• Functional cookies: remember optional preferences and improve Website features;
• Analytics cookies: help us understand visits, page use and Website performance; and
• Third-party cookies: may be set when you use an embedded video, map, social-media feature, payment service or other external content.

Non-essential cookies and similar technologies will be used only where permitted by law and after any required consent or choice. You can accept or reject available categories through the Website’s cookie controls and can change your browser settings. Blocking some technologies may affect optional features.

The cookie banner or cookie-settings tool should provide the current cookie names, providers, purposes and durations because these may change when Website services are updated.

17 Links to other websites

The Website contains links to wedding businesses and other third-party services. Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices. This policy does not apply to information collected independently by a linked website, and we recommend reading its privacy information before providing personal data.

18 Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes to the Website, our services, our providers or the law. The latest version will be posted on this page with a revised “Last updated” date.

If a change materially affects how we use information already collected, we will provide any additional notice required by law.

19 Complaints

Please contact us first if you have concerns about how we use personal information so that we have an opportunity to investigate and respond.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection. Visit ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint for further information.