At Crooked Stance, we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights in relation to it.
This policy applies to all data collected through our website, including when you browse, make a purchase, create an account, or sign up to our newsletter.
Crooked Stance is the data controller for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. What Information We Collect
We may collect the following types of personal information:
- Identity data — your name and username or similar identifier
- Contact data — your email address, postal address, and phone number
- Transaction data — details of products you have purchased and payment history (note: we do not store full card details)
- Technical data — IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, and other technology used to access the site
- Usage data — information about how you use our website and products
- Marketing and communications data — your preferences in receiving marketing from us
- Age verification data — your birth year, collected at the point of entry to the website
2. How We Collect Your Information
We collect data in the following ways:
- Directly from you — when you place an order, create an account, sign up to our newsletter, contact us, or verify your age on entry to the site
- Automatically — through cookies and similar tracking technologies as you navigate our website (see our Cookie section below)
- From third parties — such as payment processors (e.g. Klarna, PayPal), analytics providers, and social media platforms
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- To process and fulfil your orders, including arranging delivery and processing payment
- To manage your account and provide customer support
- To comply with our legal obligations, including age verification and record-keeping
- To send you order confirmations, delivery updates, and other transactional communications
- To send you marketing emails and updates about new product releases, exclusive offers, and brand news — only where you have opted in to receive these
- To improve our website and understand how visitors use it
- To detect and prevent fraud and other unlawful activity
4. Our Legal Basis for Processing
We process your data under the following legal bases:
- Contract — where processing is necessary to fulfil your order or manage your account
- Legal obligation — where we are required to process data to comply with the law (e.g. age verification, HMRC requirements)
- Legitimate interests — where we have a genuine business reason to process your data, such as improving our website or preventing fraud, and this does not override your rights
- Consent — where you have actively opted in, such as signing up to our newsletter. You can withdraw your consent at any time
5. Marketing Communications
We will only send you marketing communications if you have opted in to receive them. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any marketing email, or by contacting us directly.
We will never sell or rent your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
6. Sharing Your Information
We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business, including:
- Payment processors (Stripe, PayPal, Klarna, Apple Pay, Google Pay) to process your transactions securely
- Delivery and logistics partners to fulfil your orders
- Email marketing platforms to manage our newsletters and communications
- Website analytics providers (such as Google Analytics) to understand how our site is used
- IT and systems providers who support our website and operations
All third parties we work with are required to keep your data secure and to use it only for the specific purpose for which it was shared.
We may also disclose your data where required by law, or where necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Crooked Stance, our customers, or others.
7. Cookies
Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to improve your browsing experience, remember your preferences, and help us understand how visitors use the site.
We use the following types of cookies:
- Essential cookies — necessary for the website to function, including your shopping basket and age verification
- Analytics cookies — to help us understand how visitors interact with our site (e.g. Google Analytics)
- Functional cookies — to remember your preferences and improve your experience
- Marketing cookies — used to show you relevant advertising on other platforms, only where you have consented
You can manage your cookie preferences at any time through your browser settings, or via our cookie consent tool. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the website.
8. Data Retention
We will only keep your personal data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. In practice:
- Order and transaction data is retained for 7 years in line with HMRC requirements
- Account data is retained for as long as you hold an active account with us
- Marketing data is retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw your consent
- Technical and analytics data is typically retained for 26 months
9. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
- The right to access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- The right to rectification — you can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data
- The right to erasure — in certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data
- The right to restrict processing — you can ask us to limit how we use your data
- The right to data portability — you can request your data in a machine-readable format
- The right to object — you can object to us processing your data for direct marketing or where we rely on legitimate interests
- The right to withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent to process data, you can withdraw it at any time
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us through our contact page. We will respond within one month. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
10. Data Security
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Payment transactions are processed securely via our payment partners and we do not store full card details on our systems.
While we do our best to protect your data, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will notify you and the relevant authorities in the event of a data breach where required to do so.
11. Children’s Privacy
Our website and products are strictly for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
12. Links to Other Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including our charity partner Woodgreen Pets Charity. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies separately.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The latest version will always be available on our website, with the date of the most recent update shown at the top. Where changes are significant, we will take steps to notify you directly.
14. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us via our contact page.