Privacy Policy

Introduction

Leeks Blog (“we” or “us”) is dedicated to safeguarding your personal information while striving to provide the best user experience. Our website aims to be a safe and enjoyable space for all users. Under the General Data Protection Regulation 2021 (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and related laws, we have a legal obligation to protect the personal information we collect. GDPR defines ‘personal data’ as any information relating to an identifiable living individual. This can include your name, email address, postal address, telephone number, or other information that can identify you.

For GDPR purposes, the ‘Data Controller’ for Leeks Blog services is [Leeks Blog Company Name]. As the Data Controller, we are responsible for processing your personal data in line with our services.

Contact Details

Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) and Privacy Officer oversee our data protection and privacy practices. For any comments, concerns, or questions, including requests to exercise your legal rights, you can contact them as follows:

For UK/EU residents:

• Email: dpo@leeksblog.com
• Phone: 00058 570780

For US/Canada residents:

• Email: dpo@leeksblog.com
• Phone: 360-951-2773

Including your full name, postcode, service details, and/or magazine subscription information when contacting us would be very helpful.

Data Collection and Usage

Information You Provide to Us

When you participate in or sign up for our services, activities, online accounts, or content—such as magazine subscriptions, newsletters, surveys, competitions, events, webinars, white papers, or community forums—we collect personal information such as your name, email address, postal address, and telephone number. This information is used to provide the specific products and services you seek, ensuring a lawful basis for processing according to your country’s regulations.

Ordering a Product or Service

To fulfill an order, you may need to provide personal details, including payment information. This could be part of the registration process or when creating an account. Sometimes, a third party may collect this information on our behalf to fulfill your order.

Marketplace Orders

For orders from marketplace sellers, personal details like your name, address, postcode (or Zip code), phone number, email, and payment information are required. This information may be collected or shared with third parties such as payment processors or sellers.

Event Attendance

When attending our events, awards, or conferences, we may collect personal information, including your name, contact details, dietary, and accessibility requirements. For remote events, your name and contact details might be shared with the event platform.

Content Sharing

If you share comments, photos, videos, or other content with us, we may receive personal information about you, especially if you interact with us on social media.

Automatically Collected Information

We may collect technical and behavioral information about your website use and the devices you use. This includes details about your browsing habits, device types, IP address, and approximate location. This helps us build a more detailed profile of you and your interests and offer location-based services like personalized content and advertising.

Analysis, Reporting, and Research

We collect statistical and analytical data about your site visits and activity, such as page views, duration, and links followed. This data helps us improve our content delivery and services and is also used for reporting and advertising. Additionally, we may contact you about your experience with our products or services.

eCommerce

Our websites may link to third-party products and services. Clicking these links might result in data collection about your activity on our site, showing us that you clicked the link and whether you made a purchase. We may receive a commission from these third parties.

Direct Marketing

We use your provided information (email, address, or phone number) for marketing communications based on your consent or legitimate grounds. You can update your marketing preferences at any time. To unsubscribe, use the links in our emails or contact our DPO.

Email Tracking and Online Behavior

We use web beacons in our emails to track the success of our marketing campaigns, knowing which pages of our website you visited. Web beacons don’t store information on your computer but communicate with cookies to tell us which emails you’re interacting with and how. We also track the emails you’ve selected to receive or not receive and use your email in hashed form for analytics and targeting. To opt out of such tracking, contact our DPO.

Data Matching for Targeted Advertising

We may share collected information (e.g., browsing data, hashed email, IP address) with partners for creating an online identification code. This pseudonymous code is used for online and cross-channel advertising, linking your demographic or interest-based information. You can withdraw consent or opt out at any time. For cookie consent, use the consent management pop-up. To opt-out of hashed email profiling, email [DPO Email] with the subject ‘opt-out of hashed email ad profiling’.

Contributing Articles and Content

If you write for us or provide content in return for payment, we may collect your social media profiles to link within your content. This allows users to share your content and interact with you. We also collect other information needed to upload content, such as video sources and analytical data, and use your bank details to ensure payment for your content.

Research Surveys

We may use your personal information to contact you about surveys for understanding our audience better and improving our products and services. Participation is voluntary, and you can update your marketing preferences anytime.

Legal Basis

Under GDPR, we process your personal data based on lawful grounds, including:

• Contract: Necessary for contract performance or pre-contractual steps.
• Legal Obligation: Compliance with legal requirements.
• Legitimate Interests: Our legitimate interests or those of third parties, balanced against your rights.
• Consent: Clear consent for specific purposes.

For questions about the legal basis for processing your data, contact our DPO.

Information Disclosure

We may share your personal information with third parties to deliver services, improve your experience, or as required by law. These include:

• Service Providers: Third parties providing website hosting, email services, advertising, and payment processing, bound by data protection obligations.
• Advertising Partners: Partners for relevant ads across your online experience, using hashed, pseudonymous email for targeted advertising.
• Market Research Partners: Sharing anonymized information with market research companies.
• Legal and Regulatory Authorities: Compliance with legal requirements or protecting our rights.

We share your personal information only to the extent necessary for service provision or legal compliance.

Information Security

We implement technical and organizational measures to secure your personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, and loss. Industry-standard encryption protocols protect your data during transmission.

International Transfers

Some third-party service providers are located outside the European Economic Area (EEA), involving data transfers outside the EEA. Whenever we transfer data outside the EEA, we ensure adequate protection measures.