1. Who we are
Virtually Earthed Ltd is the data controller for personal data collected through this marketing site. We are a company registered in England and Wales. Our contact details are at the end of this notice.
"We", "us", and "our" in this notice refer to Virtually Earthed Ltd. "You" refers to the visitor or prospect interacting with this site.
2. What personal data we collect, and why
We collect only what's needed to operate the marketing site and respond to sign-up enquiries. Specifically:
| Data | How we collect it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Contact details (name, email, optional phone) | You enter them on the sign-up form | So we can reply, set up your shop, and stay in touch about it |
| Organisation details (legal name, short name, brand colours, logo, cover image, hero copy) | You enter / upload them on the sign-up form | To provision your Podium instance with your branding |
| Admin email addresses for your future shop | You enter them on the sign-up form | To set as the authorised admin sign-in list on your shop |
| Operational details (first event date, expected order volume, fulfilment notes) | You enter them on the sign-up form | To plan your setup and seed your shop's defaults |
| Anti-spam signal (honeypot field) | Submitted automatically by the form | To filter automated submissions |
We do not collect: payment details (Stripe handles those separately when you onboard later), analytics data, location data, or any data about you browsing the marketing pages.
3. Lawful basis for processing
Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases:
- Article 6(1)(b) — performance of a contract / steps prior to entering one. When you submit the sign-up form, we use your details to take the steps you've asked us to take (set up your shop) and to enter into our Terms of Service with you.
- Article 6(1)(f) — legitimate interests. We have a legitimate interest in operating an anti-spam mechanism on the form, and in keeping a record of who has signed up so we can support our customers. These interests don't override your privacy rights.
6. How long we keep it
We keep your sign-up submission and subsequent correspondence for as long as we have an ongoing relationship with you (i.e. while we operate your Podium shop, plus a reasonable wind-down period).
If you sign up and then decide not to proceed, we'll keep the submission for up to 12 months in case you come back, then delete it.
If you become a customer and later terminate, we follow the retention terms in our Terms of Service: a one-time data export within 14 days of request, then deletion from our systems within 30 days.
7. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erase your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to lawful retention reasons.
- Restrict how we process your data in some circumstances.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (the ICO) at ico.org.uk if you think we've handled your data wrongly. We'd appreciate the chance to address your concern first, but you can go straight to the ICO if you prefer.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. We'll respond within one calendar month.
8. Security
Form submissions are transmitted over TLS (HTTPS). Stored data sits inside Netlify's infrastructure, accessible only to authorised Virtually Earthed staff via Netlify's authenticated admin interface (two-factor authentication enforced). We follow standard practice for keeping account credentials secure.
No system is 100% secure. If we ever became aware of a personal data breach affecting you, we would notify you and the ICO as required by UK GDPR (within 72 hours where the breach is likely to result in a risk to your rights).
9. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice from time to time — for example, if we add a new sub-processor or change how the sign-up form works. We'll update the "Effective date" at the top, and notify customers by email if changes are material.
10. Contact us
For any privacy-related question — a request to exercise your rights, a concern about how we've handled your data, or just a question about this notice — email us at the contact address shown in the footer of the Virtually Earthed website.