Privacy Policy - PopCulture Daily

PopCultureDaily.co.uk (operated by Britannia Culture Media Ltd.) takes your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal data when you visit our website, subscribe to our newsletter, contact us, or use any of our services. It applies under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Britannia Culture Media Ltd. (company number 16374285, registered office 41 Great Titchfield Street, 3rd Floor, London W1W 7PR) is the data controller for the personal data we process.

Information we collect

We collect only the personal data that you voluntarily provide or that is necessary to operate our digital entertainment publication. This includes:

Email correspondence: If you email our editorial team or use any of our function email addresses (e.g. contact, editorial, newsdesk, press, corrections, complaints), we will retain your email address and the contents of your message to respond and to improve our service.
Newsletter subscriptions: When you sign up via our Newsletter page, we collect your email address and, optionally, your name. We use this to send you curated pop culture updates, editorial highlights, and occasional sponsorship messages (always clearly labelled).
Technical and analytics data: We automatically collect anonymised data such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referral source, and time of visit. This helps us understand how our audience engages with content and improve the site experience.
Advertising and affiliate tracking cookies: We use cookies and similar technologies for display advertising, affiliate links, and analytics. For full details, please see our Cookie Policy.

How we use your data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to your enquiries, corrections, complaints, tips, or other communications.
To deliver our newsletter and manage subscriptions (you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in each email).
To analyse website usage, improve content, and personalise your experience.
To serve relevant advertising and track the performance of affiliate links – our commercial relationships are transparent and never influence editorial independence.
To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use.

Legal basis for processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Consent: For newsletter subscriptions, cookies (except strictly necessary ones), and some marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Legitimate interests: For running our publication, responding to reader communications, improving our content, and ensuring website security and functionality. We always balance your rights against our interests.
Legal obligation: Where required by law, e.g. for record-keeping or handling complaints under the Complaints Procedure.

Data sharing

We never sell your personal data to third parties. We only share data with trusted processors who help us run the website and communications, such as email service providers, hosting platforms, analytics providers, and advertising networks. All processors are contractually bound to process data only on our instructions and to comply with UK data protection law. Where information is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

Data retention

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described. Newsletter subscriber data is kept until you unsubscribe, after which it is deleted within 30 days. Correspondence is retained for up to two years, or longer if needed for legal or editorial standards reasons (e.g. corrections or complaints). Analytics data is anonymised after 26 months.

Your rights

You have the following rights under UK GDPR:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to restrict processing – to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability – to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.

How to exercise your rights

To make a request or ask any question about your personal data, please email our privacy team at privacy@popculturedaily.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. Please note that we do not have a formally appointed Data Protection Officer; all privacy matters are handled by our editorial and compliance team.

Complaints to the ICO

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority. You can contact them at https://ico.org.uk/ or via their helpline.

Source confidentiality and tips

We are committed to protecting the confidentiality of sources who provide information for our journalism. If you submit a tip via our Tip Us page, we will not share your identity or contact details without your explicit consent, unless required by law. We encourage whistleblowers and tipsters to use encrypted channels where appropriate.