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Privacy Policy
Last updated: 4 May 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Scottish Trade Intel ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use our Service.
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide to Us
When you subscribe to Scottish Trade Intel, we collect:
- Email address: To deliver weekly planning intelligence PDFs and communicate with you about your subscription
- Payment information: Processed securely by Stripe (we do not store your full card details)
- Council area preferences: The Scottish council areas you've selected to receive leads for
- Contact information: If you email us with questions or support requests
Information We Collect Automatically
When you visit our website, we may collect:
- Usage data: Pages visited, links clicked, time spent on the site
- Device information: Browser type, operating system, IP address
- Cookies: We use minimal cookies for essential website functionality
2. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information to:
- Deliver the Service: Send weekly planning intelligence PDFs to your email address
- Process payments: Manage your subscription billing via Stripe
- Communicate with you: Send service updates, respond to support requests, notify you of changes to the Service
- Improve the Service: Understand how subscribers use the Service and identify areas for improvement
- Comply with legal obligations: Maintain records as required by law
We will never:
- Sell your email address or personal information to third parties
- Send you marketing emails for other products or services
- Share your council area preferences with competitors or lead-gen platforms
3. Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR)
We process your personal information under the following legal bases:
- Contract performance: To provide the Service you've subscribed to
- Legitimate interests: To improve the Service, prevent fraud, and communicate important service updates
- Legal obligation: To comply with tax, accounting, and other legal requirements
4. Data Sharing and Third Parties
We share your personal information only with the following third parties, and only to the extent necessary to provide the Service:
| Service Provider |
Purpose |
Data Shared |
| Stripe |
Payment processing |
Email address, payment information |
| Email service provider (e.g., Buttondown, Beehiiv) |
Delivering weekly PDFs |
Email address |
| Cloudflare |
Website hosting and security |
IP address, browser data |
These third parties are contractually obligated to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.
5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Service and comply with legal obligations:
- Active subscribers: We retain your email address and preferences for as long as your subscription is active
- Cancelled subscriptions: We delete your email address from our mailing list within 30 days of cancellation
- Payment records: Retained for 7 years to comply with UK tax and accounting requirements
- Support correspondence: Retained for 2 years to assist with any follow-up queries
6. Your Rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Erasure: Request deletion of your personal information (subject to legal retention requirements)
- Restriction: Request that we limit how we use your information
- Portability: Request a copy of your information in a machine-readable format
- Objection: Object to our processing of your information for legitimate interests
- Withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.
7. Cookies
We use minimal cookies on our website:
- Essential cookies: Required for website functionality (e.g., maintaining your session)
- Analytics cookies: To understand website usage (anonymised data only)
We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though this may affect website functionality.
8. Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse:
- HTTPS encryption for all website traffic
- Secure payment processing via Stripe (PCI DSS compliant)
- Access controls limiting who can view subscriber data
- Regular security updates to our systems
However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.
9. Children's Privacy
Scottish Trade Intel is a business service and is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
10. International Data Transfers
Your data is primarily stored and processed in the UK and European Union. Some of our service providers (e.g., Stripe) may transfer data outside the UK/EU. When this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:
- Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the UK Information Commissioner's Office
- Service providers certified under recognised data protection frameworks
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email at least 30 days before the changes take effect.
The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised.
12. Contact and Complaints
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us at:
Email: [email protected]
Right to Complain: If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):