Privacy Policy

Down The Cove is a UK coastal store established in Cornwall, offering fishing tackle, crabbing kits, seafood tools, food smoking kit, coastal homeware, gifts, and practical coastal guidance.

For the personal data described in this privacy policy, Down The Cove is normally the data controller. That means we decide why and how customer information is used when you browse the website, place an order, create an account, contact us, or use one of our customer services.

You can contact us about privacy matters at info@downthecove.com, by calling 01326 735017, or through the contact page.

This privacy policy applies when you use downthecove.com, create or manage an account, buy from us, request delivery or returns support, join Cove Club, apply for wholesale access, use affiliate links or discounts, leave a review, contact customer care, or interact with our marketing.

It also applies to business customers, affiliate partners, suppliers, and website visitors where we process personal information in connection with Down The Cove.

Separate services, payment pages, social platforms, maps, and external websites may have their own privacy notices. Please read those notices when you leave our website or use a third-party service.

We collect information you provide when creating an account, placing an order, requesting a return, contacting support, joining Cove Club, applying for wholesale or affiliate access, leaving a review, or updating marketing preferences.

This can include your name, email address, phone number, billing and delivery addresses, order history, payment status, return details, support messages, review content, uploaded return or review images, wishlist activity, Cove Club or subscription details, wholesale business details, affiliate application and payout details, and marketing preference choices.

We also collect technical information such as IP address, device and browser details, page interactions, consent choices, cart identifiers, authentication state, checkout recovery data, affiliate discount attribution, and security logs where needed to run and protect the website.

Please avoid sending us unnecessary sensitive information. If you include sensitive details in a support message, review, image, or return request, we will only use them where needed to handle that request.

When you order coastal gear, fishing tackle, crabbing kits, seafood tools, food smoking kit, gifts, or other products, we use your order information to confirm the order, take payment, arrange delivery, manage stock, provide receipts, handle returns, and support you after purchase.

Delivery information may be shared with delivery providers such as Royal Mail or other carriers so parcels can be shipped, tracked, investigated, returned, or replaced where needed.

If an order involves age-restricted items such as knives, we may use order, account, payment, delivery, and verification information to check that the order can lawfully be accepted and fulfilled.

If you create an account, we use account data to keep your order history, addresses, returns, payment preferences, wishlist, marketing choices, customer support, and security settings available to you.

If you join Cove Club or use product subscriptions, we process information needed to manage membership, billing, renewals, customer benefits, delivery, cancellation, support, and service messages.

You can update many account details in your account area. Some order, payment, delivery, security, and accounting records may still need to be retained even if an account is closed.

Wholesale applicants may provide contact names, business names, trading details, phone numbers, addresses, account status, order history, and notes needed to review, approve, manage, or decline access to trade pricing and wholesale ordering.

Affiliate applicants and partners may provide contact details, website or social information, discount code activity, conversion data, commission records, payout status, and Stripe Connect details where needed to manage the affiliate relationship.

We may review wholesale and affiliate information to prevent misuse, protect customers, manage commercial terms, and meet accounting, tax, fraud prevention, and legal obligations.

If you leave a product review, answer a question, upload a photo, or send us feedback, we may use that content to show genuine customer experience, improve product information, respond to support issues, and keep records of the interaction.

Please only upload images or text that you are happy for us to review and, where relevant, publish with your review. Avoid including personal details, children, unrelated people, addresses, payment information, or anything sensitive in review images.

We may moderate or remove reviews, images, or comments where needed for safety, privacy, legal, authenticity, or website quality reasons.

When you contact us, we use the information you provide to reply, identify your order or account, investigate issues, arrange refunds or replacements, support product use, and improve customer care.

Return requests may include order details, reasons for return, product condition notes, parcel information, photos, and messages. We use this information to assess the request, protect against fraud or misuse, and meet legal obligations.

Complaints may be kept for longer than ordinary support messages where needed to manage the complaint, understand what happened, resolve disputes, or improve our processes.

We use necessary cookies and similar browser storage for sign-in, carts, checkout, customer accounts, admin security, cookie consent, affiliate discount attribution, and core website functionality.

Google Analytics may be used only where a valid measurement ID is configured and you have accepted analytics cookies. Analytics is not loaded for admin, CMS, or API paths.

You can reject analytics cookies and still use the shop. Blocking necessary cookies in your browser may stop sign-in, cart, checkout, returns, or account features from working properly.

We use personal data to operate the website, process orders, take payment, arrange delivery, manage returns and refunds, maintain accounts, run Cove Club, support subscriptions, manage wholesale and affiliate workflows, send service messages, respond to enquiries, prevent abuse, keep records, and improve the customer experience.

We use product, search, order, review, and support patterns to improve product pages, buying guidance, coastal knowledge content, stock decisions, and customer service. Where possible, we use aggregated or anonymised information for these improvements.

We may also use personal data where needed to comply with tax, accounting, consumer, product safety, age-restricted sales, fraud prevention, legal claim, or regulatory obligations.

Under UK data protection law, we need a lawful basis for each use of personal data. The basis depends on the context and the reason we are using the information.

We use contract where processing is needed to provide the website services you ask for, process orders, arrange delivery, manage returns, operate accounts, or supply subscriptions.

We use legal obligation where records are needed for tax, accounting, product safety, consumer rights, age-restricted sales, fraud checks, regulatory duties, or lawful requests.

We use legitimate interests where processing helps us run and protect the business in a fair way, such as customer support, fraud prevention, security, service improvement, analytics after consent controls, stock planning, review moderation, and handling disputes.

We use consent for optional marketing, optional analytics cookies, and other activities where consent is required. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Payments are processed through Stripe. Stripe may process card details, payment identifiers, billing details, authentication data, fraud signals, wallet payment information, and related transaction information. Down The Cove does not store full payment card numbers.

We may use fraud prevention and order verification checks to protect customers and the business. This can include reviewing order value, delivery address, contact details, payment status, device or technical signals, promotion use, affiliate attribution, age-restricted items, and unusual activity.

Where an order needs review, we may contact you for clarification, delay dispatch, cancel an order, or refuse service where we reasonably believe there is fraud, misuse, legal risk, or a safety concern.

We do not sell personal data. We share personal data only where needed to operate Down The Cove, support customers, comply with the law, or protect the business.

Service providers may include payment processors, delivery and returns providers, email and messaging providers, ecommerce and CMS software, hosting, database, storage and security providers, analytics providers, affiliate and wholesale tools, professional advisers, insurers, auditors, law enforcement, regulators, and tax authorities where appropriate.

We expect service providers to use personal data only for the agreed service, keep it secure, and follow applicable data protection obligations.

Some trusted providers may process personal data outside the UK. This can happen with payment, email, hosting, analytics, security, customer support, affiliate, or software providers.

Where personal data is transferred internationally, we aim to rely on appropriate safeguards such as UK adequacy regulations, UK-approved contractual clauses, data processing terms, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

If you would like more information about international transfers connected with your data, contact us and we will help where we can.

We keep personal data only for as long as we reasonably need it for the purpose collected, including customer support, order fulfilment, returns, accounting, fraud prevention, legal rights, product safety, warranty, dispute handling, and regulatory duties.

Order, payment, refund, delivery, tax, and accounting records are usually kept for up to six years where needed for business, tax, and legal record-keeping.

Marketing preferences are kept until you change them or unsubscribe, and we may keep a suppression record so we know not to contact you again. Cookie consent is normally remembered for up to one year unless you clear it sooner.

Support messages, return photos, review content, affiliate records, wholesale records, and security logs may be kept for different periods depending on the nature of the issue, legal obligations, fraud risk, and operational need.

We use technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

These measures can include encrypted connections, access controls, account authentication, admin session controls, hosted infrastructure protections, backups, logging, least-privilege access, and limiting access to people and providers who need it.

No online service can guarantee perfect security. If you believe your account, order, or personal data has been put at risk, please contact us as soon as possible.

We send marketing emails only where we have permission or another lawful basis to do so. Marketing may include coastal gear, fishing tackle, crabbing kit, seafood tool, food smoking kit, homeware, gift, offer, guide, and Cove Club updates.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails using the unsubscribe link in the email, by updating your account preferences where available, or by contacting us.

Service emails about orders, payments, delivery, returns, subscriptions, safety, account security, or legal updates are not marketing and may still be sent where needed.

Down The Cove sells family-friendly products such as crabbing kits, but the website, checkout, accounts, wholesale, affiliate, and subscription services are intended for adults.

Children should not create accounts, place orders, join marketing lists, submit reviews, or send personal data without appropriate adult involvement.

If you believe a child has provided personal data to us without appropriate permission, contact us and we will review the information.

Under UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, you may have rights to be informed, access your personal data, correct inaccurate data, request deletion, restrict processing, object to processing, request data portability, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

These rights are not absolute. We may need to keep or continue using some information where required for order fulfilment, accounting, legal obligations, fraud prevention, product safety, dispute handling, or legitimate business records.

To exercise a privacy right, contact us with enough information to identify you and the data involved. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

We do not aim to make decisions about customers using solely automated processing that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

Some systems may help us detect fraud, manage payment risk, understand website performance, attribute affiliate discounts, personalise account experiences, or recommend relevant products. These are used to support the service and protect the shop, not to unfairly exclude customers.

If an order or account is stopped because of a risk signal, you can contact us and we will review the situation.

Our website may link to external websites, maps, social pages, payment services, delivery tracking, coastal guides, fishing resources, accommodation, events, or partner sites.

When you leave Down The Cove, the external website is responsible for its own privacy and cookie practices. We cannot control how another website protects information you provide to it.

Please read the privacy notice of any external website before sending personal information through it.

We may update this privacy policy when the website, products, customer services, providers, legal requirements, or business processes change.

The latest version will be published on this page. If a change is significant and we have your contact details, we may also notify you by email or through your account where appropriate.

Please check this page from time to time so you know how we are using personal data.

For privacy questions, data requests, complaints, or concerns, contact Down The Cove at info@downthecove.com, call 01326 735017, or use the contact page.

We will try to handle privacy concerns carefully and fairly. Please include your order number or account email if your request relates to a specific order, return, subscription, wholesale account, affiliate account, or review.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office. We would appreciate the chance to help first, but you have the right to contact the ICO at any time.