Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1st August 2026

1. Who we are

This website is operated by the Centre for Ethnoecology CIC (“we”, “us” or “our”).

For the purposes of UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”), we are the data controller of the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal information, you can contact us at:

Contact Form

2. What personal information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you use this website.

Website and analytics information

When you visit our website, information may be collected about:

  • your browser, network and device;

  • your IP address;

  • the web page you visited before arriving at our website;

  • pages you visit on our website;

  • links and buttons you click;

  • searches you carry out on the website;

  • scrolling and other interactions with pages;

  • timestamps and information about when and how you use the website.

We use this information to understand how visitors use our website, to monitor traffic and activity, and to improve the website and its content.

Our website is hosted using Squarespace, which also provides website and analytics services.

3. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies, including technologies that may store or access information on your device.

Some cookies and technologies are necessary for the operation, security and functionality of the website. These may be used without consent where they are strictly necessary for providing the service you have requested.

We may also use analytics and performance cookies or similar technologies to understand how visitors use the website. Where required by law, these will only be used after you have given your consent through our cookie banner or cookie preference tool.

You can change or withdraw your preferences for non-essential cookies at any time.

You can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings, although disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

For more detailed information about the specific cookies and similar technologies used on this website, please see our Cookie Policy.

4. Contact forms and other submissions

If you contact us through a form on this website, by email, or by another method provided through the website, we may collect the information you provide. This may include:

  • your name;

  • email address;

  • telephone number;

  • organisation or business name;

  • the content of your message or enquiry; and

  • any other information you choose to provide.

We use this information to:

  • respond to your enquiry;

  • communicate with you about the matter you contacted us about;

  • maintain appropriate records of communications; and

  • administer our relationship with you.

Please avoid sending sensitive personal information unless it is necessary for the purpose of your enquiry.

5. Purchases and orders

If you purchase a product or service through this website, we may collect information necessary to process and fulfil your order, including:

  • your name;

  • billing and delivery address;

  • email address;

  • telephone number;

  • details of the products or services you have purchased; and

  • any other information necessary to fulfil your order, such as size, delivery or product preferences.

We use this information to:

  • process and fulfil your order;

  • arrange delivery;

  • communicate with you about your purchase;

  • deal with returns, refunds or customer service enquiries; and

  • comply with our legal and accounting obligations.

Payment information may be collected and processed by our payment provider rather than being stored directly by us.

Payment provider: Stripe

Please review the privacy information provided by those organisations for further details about how they process your personal information.

6. Blog comments and likes

Where commenting is enabled, we may collect:

  • your name, which may be displayed alongside your comment;

  • your email address, where you choose or are required to provide it;

  • your website address or URL, if you choose to provide it; and

  • the content of your comment.

We use this information to publish and administer comments and, where applicable, notify you of replies.

Where a “like” function is available, information about your device, browser, network, IP address and interaction with the relevant content may be processed to help administer the feature and reduce repeated or fraudulent interactions.

Please remember that information you post publicly, including comments, may be visible to other visitors.

7. Social media and sharing features

Our website may include buttons that allow you to share content through third-party services, such as Facebook, BlueSky, Substack, among others.

If you choose to use one of these features, the relevant third party may receive information about:

  • your browser, network or device;

  • your IP address; and

  • the page or content you choose to share.

Those services operate under their own privacy policies, and we recommend that you review those policies before using their services.

8. Fonts and embedded third-party services

This website may use fonts or other resources provided by third parties, including Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts, where enabled.

When these services are loaded directly from a third party, that provider may receive information such as:

  • your IP address;

  • information about your browser or device; and

  • information about the website and page you are viewing.

The use of third-party services may involve the processing of personal information outside the UK. Further information is provided in the section below on international transfers.

9. Who we share your information with

We may share personal information with organisations that help us operate our website and provide our services. Depending on how you use the website, these may include:

  • Squarespace, which hosts and provides services for this website;

  • payment providers, where you make a purchase;

  • delivery or shipping providers, where goods need to be sent to you;

  • IT, website, storage or administrative service providers;

  • professional advisers, where necessary;

  • government authorities, regulators or law enforcement agencies where we are legally required to do so; and

  • any other third party where you have asked or authorised us to share your information.

We do not sell your personal information.

We only share personal information where there is an appropriate legal basis for doing so.

10. Our lawful bases for using your personal information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal information. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following:

Contract

Where processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract with you, or to perform a contract. For example, this may include processing information necessary to fulfil an order.

Legitimate interests

We may process personal information where this is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

Our legitimate interests may include:

  • operating, securing and improving our website;

  • understanding how visitors use our website;

  • responding to enquiries;

  • administering our activities and relationships; and

  • preventing misuse, fraud or other harmful activity.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object to processing in certain circumstances.

Legal obligations

We may process personal information where necessary to comply with legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other obligations.

Consent

We rely on consent where required or appropriate, including for certain cookies and similar technologies and any other processing for which consent is the appropriate lawful basis.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

11. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, reporting or regulatory requirements.

The appropriate retention period will depend on the nature of the information and why we collected it.

For example:

  • enquiries and correspondence may be retained for two years;

  • order and transaction records may be retained for the period required by applicable tax and accounting law;

  • cookie and analytics information will be retained according to the settings and retention periods of the relevant service, unless otherwise required by law; and

  • information may be retained for longer where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

When personal information is no longer required, we will delete it or anonymise it where appropriate.

12. International transfers

Some of the organisations that provide services to us may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where we transfer personal information internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure the transfer is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, this may include relying on:

  • a UK adequacy regulation;

  • the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum;

  • standard contractual safeguards; or

  • another lawful transfer mechanism permitted under applicable data protection law.

You can contact us using the details above if you would like further information about the safeguards that apply to a particular transfer.

13. Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

  • request access to the personal information we hold about you;

  • ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

  • ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances;

  • ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances;

  • object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests;

  • receive certain personal information in a portable format and ask for it to be transferred to another organisation, where the right applies; and

  • withdraw your consent where we rely on consent to process your personal information.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details above.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

14. Complaints

We would appreciate the opportunity to address any concerns about how we use your personal information. Please contact us first using the details provided above.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the UK supervisory authority for data protection, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

You can find further information on the ICO's website:

Information Commissioner's Office

15. Automated decision-making

We do not currently use personal information collected through this website to make decisions about individuals based solely on automated processing which have legal or similarly significant effects.

16. Children

This website is not specifically directed at children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children except where this is necessary and lawful. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information without appropriate authority, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to investigate and, where appropriate, delete the information.

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, services, legal obligations or how we process personal information.

The latest version will always be published on this page, together with the date it was last updated.

18. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our use of your personal information, please use the Contact Form.