About this policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Love Hinckley collects, uses, stores and protects personal information when you use lovehinckley.com, contact us, sign up for emails, submit events or use other features on the website.
Love Hinckley is a local information website for Hinckley and the surrounding area, including events, places, businesses, community information, maps, newsletters and local updates. It is run on a community basis to help local people find out what's going on.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, the data controller is Love Hinckley (lovehinckley.com). As a small community site, we don't currently publish a postal address — the best way to reach us is by email:
Email: info@lovehinckley.com
Who this website is for
Love Hinckley is intended for general public use. It is not aimed specifically at children. If you are under 13, please ask a parent or guardian before sending us any personal information.
Information we collect
We may collect and process the following types of personal information.
Information you give us directly:
- your name
- your email address
- your telephone number, if you provide it
- your message or enquiry
- event, venue, business or community listing details you submit
- newsletter preferences, such as areas or categories you are interested in
- account details, if user accounts are enabled
- any other information you choose to send to us
Information collected automatically when you use the website:
- IP address (stored in anonymised/hashed form for analytics)
- browser and device type
- approximate location derived from technical data
- pages visited
- searches made on the site
- referral source
- date and time of visits
- cookie consent choices
- basic interaction data, such as filters used or links clicked
We may also collect technical information needed to keep the website secure, diagnose errors and prevent misuse.
How we use your information
- respond to enquiries
- provide and improve the Love Hinckley website
- publish, review or manage submitted events, places, venues, businesses and local information
- send newsletters where you have signed up
- send event reminders or new event alerts where you have opted in
- manage unsubscribe requests and email preferences
- operate maps, directories, search tools and other website features
- understand how visitors use the website (using our own first-party analytics)
- detect, prevent and investigate spam, abuse, security issues or unlawful activity
- comply with legal obligations
Newsletters and email alerts
If you sign up for the Love Hinckley newsletter or email alerts, we will use your email address and selected preferences to send the emails you requested. These may include:
- general newsletters
- weekly event digests
- event reminders
- new event alerts
- local updates based on your chosen areas or categories
You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails, or by contacting info@lovehinckley.com.
We will not sell your email address.
Event, venue and listing submissions
If you submit an event, venue, place, business or other listing, we may use the information you provide to review, edit, publish, reject or contact you about the submission.
Please only submit information that you have the right to provide. If you include personal information about another person, you must have their permission or another lawful basis for doing so.
Published listing information may remain visible on the website unless it is removed, updated or archived.
Our lawful bases for processing
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using personal information. Depending on the situation, we may rely on:
- Consent — where you sign up to newsletters, email alerts, non-essential cookies or similar optional services
- Legitimate interests — where we respond to enquiries, manage the website, prevent abuse, maintain security, improve services, process local submissions or keep basic records
- Contract — where we need to take steps requested by you or provide a service you have asked for
- Legal obligation — where we need to comply with applicable law, regulatory requirements or lawful requests
Cookies and analytics
Love Hinckley uses cookies and similar technologies. Some are necessary for the website to work properly. Others — such as our own first-party analytics, which help us understand how people use the site — are optional and only used where you have given your consent via our cookie banner.
For more information, see our Cookie Policy.
Who we share information with
We may share personal information with trusted service providers who help us operate the website and related services. These may include:
- website hosting providers
- email delivery services
- analytics or performance tools
- security, backup and technical support providers
- database, infrastructure or cloud service providers
- professional advisers, where necessary
- law enforcement, regulators or public authorities where legally required
If you submit an event, business, venue or listing, we may publish relevant details on the website.
We do not sell personal information.
Third-party websites and services
Love Hinckley may link to third-party websites, including event organisers, venues, booking platforms, transport providers, map services, social media pages and local organisations.
Those websites are responsible for their own privacy practices. You should read their privacy notices before submitting personal information to them.
International transfers
Some service providers may process data outside the UK. Where this happens, we will take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.
How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary. Typical retention periods are:
- enquiries: up to 12 months after the enquiry is resolved
- newsletter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe or the mailing list is closed
- email preference records: as long as needed to respect your choices
- event or listing submissions: while relevant to the website, plus a reasonable archive period
- analytics data: a limited period sufficient to understand trends in how the site is used
- security logs: for a limited period needed to protect the website and investigate misuse
- legal or administrative records: as long as needed for legal, tax, audit or dispute purposes
We may keep anonymised or aggregated information for longer, where it no longer identifies individuals.
Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information. These may include secure hosting, access controls, backups, encryption where appropriate, logging, software updates and limited access to administrative systems.
No website or online service can be guaranteed completely secure. If you believe your information has been compromised, please contact us promptly at info@lovehinckley.com.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:
- be told how your personal information is used
- request access to the personal information we hold about you
- ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
- ask us to delete your information in certain circumstances
- ask us to restrict how we use your information
- object to certain uses of your information
- withdraw consent where we rely on consent
- request data portability in certain circumstances
- object to direct marketing at any time
- complain to the Information Commissioner's Office
To exercise your rights, contact info@lovehinckley.com.
We may need to verify your identity before responding. We will normally respond within one month, unless the request is complex or we are legally allowed more time.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal information, please contact us first at info@lovehinckley.com.
You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office:
- Information Commissioner's Office
- Website: https://ico.org.uk
- Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the website, the law, or how we handle personal information.
The “Last updated” date at the top of this policy shows when it was most recently reviewed.