Who we are
Our website address is: https://thelondonlink.net
Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how [The London Link] (“we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses, stores and protects your personal information when you visit [thelondonlink.net], create an account, place an order, make a payment, leave a review or otherwise use our website and services.
We are committed to respecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly and in accordance with applicable UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Information We Collect
Depending on how you use our website, we may collect information including:
- Your name
- Billing and delivery addresses
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Account username and password information
- Products viewed, purchased or added to your basket
- Order and transaction details
- Payment-related information
- IP address
- Browser type and device information
- Account activity
- Comments and product reviews
- Communications you send to us
- Cookie and website usage information
- Any other information you voluntarily provide
We collect this information where necessary to provide our services, fulfil orders, process payments, operate our website, prevent fraud, comply with legal obligations and, where applicable, pursue our legitimate business interests or act with your consent.
WooCommerce and Online Orders
Our online shop uses WooCommerce.
When you visit our shop, we may collect information about products you view, your approximate location, IP address, browser information and information stored through cookies.
We use this information to operate our online shop, display relevant information such as products, prices and delivery options, maintain your shopping basket and improve the operation and security of our website.
When you place an order, we may collect information including your name, billing address, delivery address, email address, telephone number, IP address, payment method and details of the products or services you purchase.
We use this information for purposes including:
- Processing and fulfilling your order
- Processing or facilitating payments
- Sending order confirmations and service communications
- Arranging delivery or collection
- Managing returns, refunds and cancellations
- Providing customer support
- Maintaining transaction and accounting records
- Preventing fraudulent or unauthorised transactions
- Complying with tax, accounting and other legal obligations
- Managing disputes and enforcing our contractual rights
We retain order information for as long as reasonably necessary for these purposes and for any additional period required by applicable tax, accounting, consumer protection or other legal requirements.
Members of our team, website administrators and authorised service providers may have access to order and customer information where access is necessary to perform their duties.
Payments
We use third-party payment providers to securely process payments made through our website.
Depending on the payment options available at checkout, these providers may include [Stripe, PayPal, WooPayments, Klarna, ClearPay Apple Pay or Google Pay].
When you make a payment, information required to process the transaction may be transmitted directly to the relevant payment provider. This may include your name, billing information, email address, transaction amount, currency, IP address and other information required to authenticate or process the transaction and prevent fraud.
We generally do not receive or store your complete debit or credit card number on our own website servers where payment details are processed directly by the payment provider. Instead, payment information is handled by the relevant payment provider in accordance with its own security standards and privacy practices.
Payment providers may process your information for purposes including:
- Authorising and processing payments
- Fraud detection and prevention
- Identity or payment verification
- Processing refunds
- Managing disputes and chargebacks
- Complying with financial and regulatory obligations
Your information will also be subject to the privacy policy of the payment provider you choose.
Customer Accounts
If you create an account on our website, we store the information you provide in your customer profile.
This may include your name, email address, billing and delivery addresses, telephone number and order history.
You can normally view and update certain account information by signing in to your account. Website administrators and authorised staff may also access and update this information where necessary to provide our services, administer orders or maintain the website.
Passwords are not intended to be stored by us in readable plain-text form.
Comments and Product Reviews
When visitors leave comments or product reviews on our website, we collect the information entered into the relevant form. We may also collect the visitor’s IP address and browser user-agent information to assist with spam prevention, security and abuse detection.
If you submit a product review, information such as your display name, rating, review and, where applicable, photographs or other content you submit may be displayed publicly on the website.
Your email address and other information that is not intended for publication will not normally be displayed publicly as part of your review.
An anonymised string generated from your email address, sometimes called a hash, may be supplied to the Gravatar service to determine whether you use it. If Gravatar is enabled and your comment or review is approved, your Gravatar profile image may be publicly visible alongside your contribution.
Gravatar is operated by Automattic and is subject to Automattic’s privacy policy.
We may moderate, reject or remove comments and reviews where appropriate, including where we believe they contain spam, unlawful material, abusive content or otherwise breach our website terms.
Media
If you upload images to our website, you should avoid uploading files containing embedded location information, such as EXIF GPS data.
Depending on how the image is published, visitors may be able to download the image and extract embedded information from it.
Cookies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies for purposes such as operating the website, maintaining shopping baskets, enabling checkout, remembering preferences, maintaining user sessions, improving security and, where applicable, analytics and marketing.
WooCommerce may use cookies to keep track of basket contents and provide essential online shopping functionality.
If you leave a comment, you may be given the option to save your name, email address and website in cookies so that you do not need to enter these details again when leaving another comment. These cookies may remain for up to one year.
When you visit a login page, a temporary cookie may be used to determine whether your browser accepts cookies. This cookie does not contain information intended to identify you and is normally removed when you close your browser.
When you sign in, cookies may be created to remember your login status and display preferences. Login cookies normally last for a limited period, although selecting a “Remember Me” option may extend the login period.
Additional cookies may be set by WooCommerce, payment providers, analytics services, embedded content providers and other services used by our website.
Where required by law, non-essential cookies will only be used after you have provided the appropriate consent. You can withdraw or modify your cookie choices through our cookie settings where available.
For further information, please see our Cookie Policy [insert link].
Embedded Content from Other Websites
Pages on this website may contain embedded content, such as videos, images, maps, social media posts or other external content.
Embedded content may behave in substantially the same way as if you had visited the third-party website directly.
Those third-party websites may collect information about you, use cookies or similar technologies, incorporate additional tracking and monitor your interaction with their content. This may include linking your interaction to an account you hold with the third party where you are signed in to that service.
The processing of information by those third parties is governed by their respective privacy policies.
Who We Share Your Information With
We do not sell your personal information.
We may share personal information with third parties where reasonably necessary to operate our business and provide our services. Depending on the services you use, these may include:
- WooCommerce and website service providers
- Payment processors and payment gateways
- Banks and financial institutions
- Delivery companies, couriers and fulfilment providers
- Hosting and cloud infrastructure providers
- Email and customer communication providers
- IT, security and fraud-prevention providers
- Analytics providers
- Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors or legal advisers
- Government bodies, regulators, law enforcement agencies or courts where disclosure is legally required
We aim to disclose only the information reasonably necessary for the relevant service or purpose.
If you request a password reset, your IP address may be included in the password-reset email as part of the website’s security functionality.
International Transfers
Some of our service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take appropriate steps, where required, to ensure that suitable safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable data protection law. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.
How Long We Retain Your Information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and to meet our legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, security and contractual obligations.
If you leave a comment or review, the contribution and associated metadata may be retained indefinitely so that we can maintain the integrity of discussions, recognise follow-up contributions and manage moderation.
For registered customers, we retain relevant account information while the account remains active and for an appropriate period afterwards where required for legitimate business or legal purposes.
Order, transaction, invoice and payment records may need to be retained for longer periods to comply with tax, accounting and other statutory requirements.
Information that is no longer required will be deleted, anonymised or otherwise securely disposed of where appropriate.
How We Protect Your Information
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, loss, destruction or misuse.
These measures may include access controls, encryption where appropriate, secure hosting, software updates, security monitoring and limiting access to personal information to authorised individuals and service providers.
However, no website, electronic transmission or data storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Your Data Protection Rights
Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have rights in relation to your personal information, including the right to:
- Request access to personal information we hold about you
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Request deletion of your personal information
- Request restriction of certain processing
- Object to certain processing
- Request transfer of certain information in a portable format
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
- Object to direct marketing
These rights are subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions. For example, we may need to retain information where required by law or where it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details below.
You may also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator.
Where Your Information Is Sent
Visitor comments and product reviews may be processed through automated spam-detection or security services.
Order and customer information may also be transmitted to payment processors, delivery providers, hosting providers and other service providers where necessary to process transactions, fulfil orders, operate our website or provide customer support.
Marketing Communications
Where permitted by law, and where any required consent has been obtained, we may use your contact details to send you information about products, services, promotions or other updates.
You can unsubscribe from email marketing at any time by using the unsubscribe link contained in the relevant email or by contacting us.
Transactional messages concerning your account, orders, payments, deliveries, refunds or security are service communications and may still be sent where necessary even if you have opted out of marketing.
Children’s Privacy
Our website and services are not intended to collect personal information from children where such collection would be unlawful.
If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us inappropriately, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes to our website, services, legal obligations or the way we process personal information.
The latest version will be published on this page with an updated effective date.
Last updated: [Date]
Contact Us
For questions about this Privacy Policy, our use of personal information or to exercise your data protection rights, please contact:
[Legal Business Name]
[Trading Name, if different]
[Business Address]
Email: [Privacy / Customer Service Email]
Website: [Website URL]