Privacy Policy
Last updated: 19 February 2025. This policy explains how British Maritime History (the "Controller") collects, uses, and protects your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Who We Are
Our website address is: https://BritishMaritimeHistory.com. The data controller is British Maritime History. For the purposes of UK data protection law, we are the ‘controller’ of your personal data.
Contact Details:
Data Protection Officer: The Archivist
Email: support@BritishMaritimeHistory.com
Phone: +44 20 839 659 65
Postal: Correspondence only via email.
Company Registration: CE007084
Established: 2015
We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This isn't just a legal requirement—it's fundamental to the trust required for historical scholarship.
2. The Personal Data We Collect & Why
We collect different types of information for specific, legitimate purposes related to our educational mission.
Data You Provide Directly:
- Contact Forms & Inquiries: When you use our contact form, request research assistance, or sign up for our newsletter, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message. We use this solely to respond to you—your inquiry about 18th-century naval tactics won’t be used for anything else.
- Account Data (if applicable): For registered researchers, we store your username, encrypted password, and profile preferences. This data is kept for the duration of your account lifecycle.
- Comments: If you leave a comment on an article, we collect the data shown in the comments form, your IP address, and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.
Data Collected Automatically:
- Technical & Usage Data: Like 98.3% of websites, we collect non-personally identifying information such as browser type, device, referring site, pages viewed, and timestamps. This helps us understand aggregate behaviour—e.g., which era of naval history is most popular—and diagnose technical issues.
- Cookies: Essential cookies are used for site functionality (like remembering your login session). Analytical cookies (see Section 5) help us improve the site. You have full control over these via our cookie banner.
3. Our Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR)
We only process your personal data when we have a valid legal basis to do so:
- Consent: For our newsletter or non-essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Contractual Necessity: To fulfil a service you've requested (e.g., processing your research enquiry).
- Legitimate Interests: To operate and improve our website, ensure security, and prevent fraud. We balance these interests against your rights and freedoms.
- Legal Obligation: Where required by UK law, such as retaining financial records.
We do not engage in automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects concerning you.
4. How Long We Retain Your Data
We adhere to the storage limitation principle. Data is kept only as long as necessary for the purposes it was collected.
- Contact Form Entries & Correspondence: Retained for 36 months from last contact, unless a longer period is required for ongoing research collaboration.
- Analytics Data: Aggregated and anonymised after 14 months.
- User Accounts: Retained for the life of the account. Inactive accounts (no login for 5 years) are anonymised.
- Comments: The comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely to recognise and approve any follow-up comments automatically.
We conduct annual data audits—think of it as a spring clean for our digital archives—to ensure we're not holding onto data we no longer need.
5. Cookies & Similar Technologies
Cookies are small text files placed on your device. We use them to make the site work properly and to understand how it is used.
Essential Cookies
These are necessary for the website to function. They enable core functionalities like page navigation and access to secure areas. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. They are typically set in response to your actions.
Analytical/Performance Cookies
These allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve site performance. They help us know which pages are popular and how visitors move around the site. All information is aggregated and anonymous.
When you first visit, you are presented with a cookie banner where you can accept or manage preferences. You can also change your cookie settings at any time through your browser controls. Disabling cookies may affect the functionality of certain parts of our site.
6. Who We Share Your Data With
We treat your data with the confidentiality of a ship's log. We do not and will not sell your personal data to third parties.
We may share data with trusted third-party service providers ("Processors") who assist us in operating our website and conducting our business, under strict contractual agreements that mandate confidentiality and security. These include:
- Hosting & Infrastructure Providers: To store website data securely.
- Email Service Providers: To manage newsletter subscriptions (only if you have opted in).
- Analytics Providers: Such as Google Analytics 4, with IP anonymisation enabled by default.
We may also disclose information if required by law—for example, to comply with a court order or other legal process.
7. International Data Transfers
Our primary data storage is within the United Kingdom. However, some of our third-party processors may operate outside the UK (e.g., in the USA).
Where such transfers occur, we ensure they are protected by appropriate safeguards as required by UK data protection law. This includes ensuring the recipient country has an adequacy regulation from the UK, or by using UK International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs) or Addendums.
8. Your Data Protection Rights
Under UK GDPR, you have several important rights. You can exercise these rights free of charge by contacting us at support@BritishMaritimeHistory.com.
Right of Access
You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (a "subject access request").
Right to Rectification
You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data we hold about you.
Right to Erasure
You can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances (the "right to be forgotten").
Right to Restrict Processing
You can ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in certain scenarios.
Right to Data Portability
You can ask for a machine-readable copy of your data, which you can transfer to another service.
Right to Object
You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
We will respond to all legitimate requests within one calendar month. We may need to verify your identity before proceeding—this is a security measure to ensure your data is not disclosed to someone who has no right to receive it.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
9. How We Protect Your Data
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include:
- Encryption of data in transit using SSL/TLS (the padlock icon in your browser).
- Regular security reviews and updates of our systems.
- Limiting access to personal data to personnel who need it to perform their duties.
- Procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach, including notifying you and the ICO where we are legally required to do so.
However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other reasons. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly.
We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information on our privacy practices. Significant changes will be communicated to registered users via email or a prominent notice on our website.
Questions & Contact
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact our Data Protection Officer:
British Maritime History
Email: support@BritishMaritimeHistory.com
Phone: +44 20 839 659 65
We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 10 working days.