Privacy Policy

Sefton Artists

seftonartists.co.uk

Last updated: 5 March 2026

1. Who We Are

Sefton Artists is a small, independent social group of artists based in Sefton. Our website is located at https://seftonartists.co.uk.

For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), Sefton Artists (as a group) is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us via the contact form on our website.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

Contact Forms

When you use our website contact form, we collect:

  • Your name
  • Your email address
  • Any message or enquiry you submit

Artwork Photos

Members of Sefton Artists may upload photographs of their artwork to the website. These images may be publicly displayed as part of member profiles or gallery features. Where photos include identifiable individuals, those images are treated as personal data.

Analytics Data

We use Google Analytics (or a similar analytics service) to understand how visitors use our website. This tool collects information such as:

  • Pages visited and time spent on the site
  • Your approximate location (country/region)
  • Device and browser type
  • How you arrived at our site (e.g. from a search engine or social media)

This data is aggregated and anonymised where possible. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect this information — please see our Cookie section below.

Newsletter / Mailing List

If you sign up to our newsletter or mailing list (via Mailchimp or a similar service), we collect your name and email address. Your data will be stored and processed by the third-party mailing list provider in accordance with their own privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email we send you.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

  • To respond to enquiries and messages submitted via our contact form
  • To display member artwork and profiles on our website
  • To process membership fees or artwork sales
  • To send you our newsletter or group updates (where you have opted in)
  • To analyse how our website is used and improve its content and performance

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases for processing your personal data:

  • Legitimate interests — for analytics and understanding how our site is used, and for responding to contact form enquiries
  • Contractual necessity — to process membership payments or sales transactions
  • Consent — for sending newsletters and marketing emails; you may withdraw your consent at any time
  • Legitimate interests — for displaying member artwork and profiles, where members have provided their content for this purpose

5. Cookies

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to help us understand visitor behaviour and improve our site.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Analytics cookies (e.g. Google Analytics) — to track aggregate usage data. These cookies may be set by Google and are subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
  • Functional cookies — set by WordPress to ensure the website works correctly (e.g. session management).

When you first visit our website, you will be asked to consent to non-essential cookies. You can withdraw or manage your cookie preferences at any time via your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the website.

6. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties. We may share your data with:

  • Google LLC — for analytics (Google Analytics). Data may be transferred to and stored on servers outside the UK. Google is certified under appropriate data transfer frameworks.
  • Mailchimp (The Rocket Science Group LLC) — for newsletter distribution, if you have opted in to our mailing list. Data may be processed in the United States under standard contractual clauses.
  • Our payment processor — to complete membership or sales transactions. We use a reputable third-party provider who is PCI-DSS compliant.
  • Our website hosting provider — who stores the data on servers necessary to run seftonartists.co.uk.

All third-party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal data.

7. How Long We Keep Your Data

  • Contact form enquiries — retained for up to 12 months, or until the matter is resolved.
  • Member profiles and artwork — retained for as long as you remain an active member of Sefton Artists, or until you request removal.
  • Transaction records — retained for up to 7 years to comply with legal and accounting obligations.
  • Newsletter subscription data — retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
  • Analytics data — retained in line with Google Analytics' default retention settings (typically 26 months).

8. Your Rights

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

  • Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
  • Right to rectification — to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
  • Right to erasure — to request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances
  • Right to restrict processing — to ask us to limit how we use your data
  • Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
  • Right to object — to object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests
  • Rights related to automated decision-making — we do not use automated decision-making or profiling

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via the contact form at seftonartists.co.uk. We will respond within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

9. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. Our website is hosted on a secure server and uses HTTPS encryption.

However, the transmission of information over the internet is never completely secure. Any data you transmit to us is at your own risk.

10. Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

11. External Links

Our website may contain links to external websites (for example, social media platforms or partner organisations). This privacy policy applies only to seftonartists.co.uk. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any external sites and encourage you to read their privacy policies.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the 'last updated' date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this privacy policy or your personal data, please contact us via the contact form on our website:

Website: seftonartists.co.uk

Data Controller: Sefton Artists (Group)

We aim to respond to all data protection enquiries within 30 days.