BubbleCow

Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy notice explains what to expect when BubbleCow collects personal information. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors and of writers using our editorial services.

Scope of Policy

This policy applies to information we collect about:

  • Visitors to our website.
  • People who send messages or upload files through the contact form.
  • People who request the Writing Manual, sign up to our newsletter, or create an online account.
  • Clients and writers who apply for or use our services.

Data Collection

BubbleCow collects personal data in the following ways:

  • Visitors to our Website: We collect usage data through forms, cookies, Google Analytics, first-party Ahoy analytics, and other tracking technologies.
  • Contact Form Users: When you use the contact form, we collect your email address, message content, and any files you choose to upload.
  • Newsletter Subscribers: When you request the Writing Manual or sign up for our newsletter, we collect your email address, confirmation status, signup source, and confirmation timestamps. Admin users may also import email addresses from CSV files where those addresses already belong to a permission-based list.
  • Account Holders: When you create an account, we collect information such as your name, contact details, and any information you choose to share about your writing projects.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

1. Usage Data

We collect data about your interactions with our website (e.g. IP address, browser type, device information, referrer, pages viewed, and navigation paths). This helps us monitor and improve our website.

Legal basis: Legitimate interests - maintaining and improving our services.

2. Service Data

We collect data you provide when enquiring about, applying for, or using our editorial services. This may include contact details, contact form messages, uploaded files, manuscripts, and related project information.

Legal basis: Performance of a contract and our legitimate interests in managing our services.

3. Transaction Data

We collect information relating to payments and purchases, including your contact details and transaction records. We do not store card details directly; payments are processed securely through third-party providers.

Legal basis: Performance of a contract and legitimate interests in business administration.

4. Newsletter Data

We collect and process your email address when you request the Writing Manual or subscribe to newsletters or updates. Writing Manual requests send a confirmation email with a personal ebook download link; clicking that link confirms your newsletter subscription unless you have already unsubscribed. Newsletter emails include a read-online link and an unsubscribe link. If you unsubscribe, we keep your email address as a suppressed record so we do not accidentally email you again.

Legal basis: Consent.

Geolocation and Pricing

On pages that need location-aware pricing, BubbleCow may determine your approximate country from the request IP address on the server. The lookup uses a local GeoLite2 Country database and returns only a country code. The Developmental Editing and Submission pages use this country code to show a simple local currency price where one is configured.

  • Only your country code (for example, "GB" or "US") is used.
  • Your IP address is used only for the request-time lookup and is not stored by BubbleCow for this purpose.
  • The lookup does not call an external IP geolocation service during the page request.
  • The detected country code is not cached in your browser storage.
  • If detection fails, you use a VPN, or your country does not yet have a configured local price, no country is guessed. The page shows the default US dollar price.

This information is used solely to support local currency pricing. It does not involve tracking or personal profiling.

Providing Your Personal Data to Others

We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. We may share limited data with trusted partners only where necessary to deliver our services (for example, payment processors or newsletter providers) and always under data protection agreements.

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption, secure storage, and regular security reviews. We comply with relevant standards such as ISO 27001 where applicable.

Retaining and Deleting Personal Data

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy or as required by law. Data may be retained to facilitate future editorial services upon your request. When data is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or anonymised.

International Data Transfers

We may transfer personal data outside the UK or EEA to trusted service providers (such as cloud or email platforms). In such cases, we ensure adequate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions, are in place to protect your information.

Your Rights

Under UK and EU data protection law, you have the following rights:

  • Access to your personal data.
  • Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Erasure of your data ("right to be forgotten").
  • Restriction of processing.
  • Data portability.
  • Objection to processing.
  • Right not to be subject to automated decision-making or profiling.

For more information, visit the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk.

Complaints or Queries

BubbleCow strives to uphold the highest standards when handling personal data. If you have concerns about how we collect or use information, or suggestions for improvement, please contact us using the details below. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO.

Access to Personal Information

You may request a copy of any personal data we hold about you. Proof of identity (for example, a certified passport copy) may be required. If we hold data about you, we will:

  • Provide a description of it.
  • Explain why we hold it and who it may be disclosed to.
  • Provide a copy in an intelligible format.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience, analyse site usage, and provide personalised content. We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the website, including pages viewed, browser and device information, approximate location, and referral source. Google Analytics may set cookies or use similar technologies.

We also use first-party Ahoy analytics to store public website visits and page views in our own Rails database. Ahoy may store visit and visitor identifiers, IP address, user agent, referrer, referring domain, browser, operating system, device type, landing page, UTM campaign fields where present, and the public page path and title viewed. Ahoy geolocation is not enabled in the current implementation. Admin and authentication pages are excluded from Ahoy reporting.

You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings.

Policy Updates

This privacy policy may be updated periodically. The latest version will always be available on our website. Significant changes will be announced via email or a notice on our homepage.

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this policy or the data we hold, please contact us at:

Email: info@bubblecow.co.uk

Address: Tempest, 12 Tithebarn Street, Liverpool, UK, L2 2DT