Privacy Policy
Business News Bristol respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal data when you visit our website, contact us, submit a story, sign up for our newsletter, express interest in advertising, or otherwise interact with us.
This policy has been written to reflect the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and relevant guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
1. Who we are
Business News Bristol is an independent business news website covering companies, people and organisations in Bristol and the wider business community.
The data controller for this website is:
Business News Bristol
For privacy enquiries, please contact:
Email: news@bristolbusiness.news
2. What personal information do we collect?
We may collect and use the following types of personal information:
Information you give us directly
This may include:
- your name
- email address
- phone number
- job title
- organisation
- website address
- social media profile links
- story submissions, press releases or comments
- images, quotes or biographical details you provide
- advertising or commercial enquiry details
- newsletter sign-up details
- any other information you choose to send to us
Information collected automatically
When you visit our website, we may collect technical information such as:
- IP address
- browser type and version
- device type
- pages visited
- time spent on the site
- referral source
- approximate location based on technical data
- cookie and analytics data
Information from third parties or public sources
We may also collect information from:
- PR agencies
- company websites and public newsrooms
- Companies House
- public planning portals
- LinkedIn or other public social media profiles
- press releases and media databases
- public registers, reports or official sources
3. How we use your personal information
We use personal information for the following purposes:
| Purpose | Types of personal data | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| To respond to enquiries | Name, email address, organisation, message content | Legitimate interests |
| To review and publish submitted stories | Name, job title, organisation, quotes, images, press release content | Legitimate interests |
| To contact you about a story, correction or clarification | Name, email address, phone number, organisation | Legitimate interests |
| To manage newsletter subscriptions | Name, email address, marketing preferences | Consent |
| To send updates about Business News Bristol, where you have opted in | Name, email address | Consent |
| To respond to advertising enquiries | Name, email address, organisation, campaign details | Legitimate interests |
| To improve our website and understand readership | Analytics data, device data, page views | Legitimate interests or consent, depending on the cookies used |
| To comply with legal obligations | Relevant correspondence, records or legal information | Legal obligation |
| To protect our website and prevent misuse | IP address, technical data, security logs | Legitimate interests |
4. Story submissions and editorial use
If you submit a press release, story idea, quote, image, headshot or other editorial material, we may use the information you provide to assess, edit, verify and potentially publish the story.
By submitting material to us, you confirm that you have the right to share it and that any people named, quoted or pictured have given appropriate permission where required.
We may edit submissions for length, accuracy, clarity, style and legal reasons. Submission does not guarantee publication.
Published editorial content may remain available on our website indefinitely unless there is a valid reason to remove or amend it.
5. Newsletter and email updates
If you sign up to receive our newsletter or email updates, we will use your email address to send you relevant Business News Bristol updates.
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us at:
news@businessnewsbristol.co.uk
Where we rely on consent for email marketing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
6. Cookies and analytics
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, understand how people use it, improve performance and support future advertising or analytics activity.
Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website.
We may use:
Essential cookies
These are necessary for the website to work properly.
Analytics cookies
These help us understand how visitors use the website, such as which pages are most popular.
Marketing or advertising cookies
These may be used in future to support advertising, campaign measurement or audience insights.
You can control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, through our cookie consent tools.
7. Who we share personal information with
We may share personal information with trusted suppliers and service providers where necessary to operate the website and manage our communications.
This may include:
- website hosting providers
- CMS and publishing platforms
- email newsletter platforms
- analytics providers
- IT and security providers
- professional advisers, such as lawyers or accountants
- regulators or authorities, where required by law
We only share the information needed for the relevant purpose.
We do not sell personal data.
8. International transfers
Some of the platforms or suppliers we use may process personal data outside the UK.
Where this happens, we will take appropriate steps to ensure your personal information is protected in line with UK data protection law. This may include using suppliers covered by adequacy regulations or appropriate contractual safeguards.
9. How long do we keep personal information?
We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected.
As a guide:
- Enquiry emails may be kept for up to two years
- Story submissions and editorial correspondence may be kept for up to six years
- Published editorial content may remain online indefinitely
- Newsletter data is kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it
- Advertising enquiries may be kept for up to six years
- Analytics data is kept according to the settings of the analytics provider
- Legal, financial or compliance records may be kept for as long as required by law
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal information.
These may include the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Ask us to correct inaccurate information
- Ask us to delete your personal information
- Ask us to restrict how we use your information
- Object to certain uses of your information
- Withdraw consent where we rely on consent
- Ask for your data to be transferred, where applicable
- Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office
To exercise your rights, please contact:
news@businessnewsbristol.co.uk
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how we use your personal information.
11. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites, including company websites, social media pages, event pages and third-party sources.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of other websites. You should read their privacy policies before providing them with personal information.
12. Security
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
However, no website or online service can be completely secure. You should take care when sending information to us online.
13. Children’s data
Business News Bristol is intended for a business audience and is not aimed at children.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.
The latest version will always be published on this page, with the updated date shown at the top.