Your Privacy Matters: We take your privacy seriously. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use Textbooks.co.uk.
1. Introduction
Textbooks.co.uk (“we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website.
By using our website, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use our website.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Information You Provide
We collect information you voluntarily provide when you:
- Subscribe to our newsletter (email address, name)
- Fill out a contact form (name, email, message content)
- Leave comments on articles (name, email, comment)
- Participate in surveys or promotions
2.2 Automatically Collected Information
When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing activity:
- IP address and approximate location
- Browser type and version
- Operating system
- Pages visited and time spent on pages
- Referring website addresses
- Device information (mobile, tablet, desktop)
2.3 Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and store certain information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. See our Cookie Policy section below for details.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide, operate, and maintain our website
- Send you our newsletter and promotional emails (with your consent)
- Respond to your comments, questions, and requests
- Analyze how our website is used to improve our content and services
- Detect, prevent, and address technical issues or fraudulent activity
- Fulfill our legal obligations
- Send you textbook price alerts and deals (if you’ve subscribed)
4. Sharing Your Information
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following circumstances:
4.1 Service Providers
We share information with third-party service providers who help us operate our website:
- Email Service Providers (e.g., Mailchimp) – to send newsletters
- Analytics Services (e.g., Google Analytics) – to understand website usage
- Hosting Providers – to store website data
- Advertising Networks – to display relevant ads (see below)
4.2 Affiliate Partners
When you click on affiliate links (to Amazon, Waterstones, etc.), you are redirected to their websites. These companies have their own privacy policies and may collect information about you. We do not control their practices.
4.3 Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required by law or in response to valid legal requests (e.g., court orders, subpoenas).
6. Third-Party Websites
Our website contains links to third-party websites (Amazon, Waterstones, Blackwell’s, etc.). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.
7. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
We use SSL encryption to protect data transmitted between your browser and our servers. Our website is hosted on secure servers with regular security updates.
8. Your Rights (UK GDPR)
Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:
- Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
- Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data (“right to be forgotten”)
- Right to Restrict Processing: Request that we 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 for certain purposes
- Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@textbooks.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.
9. Data Retention
We retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law. Specifically:
- Email addresses: Until you unsubscribe or request deletion
- Contact form messages: 2 years after last correspondence
- Analytics data: 26 months (Google Analytics default)
- Website logs: 90 days
10. Children’s Privacy
Our website is intended for university students aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately so we can delete it.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by:
- Posting the new policy on this page
- Updating the “Last Updated” date at the top
- Sending an email to newsletter subscribers (for major changes)
We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us:
Email: privacy@textbooks.co.uk
Website: textbooks.co.uk/contact
By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.