Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

BC Ceramics ("we", "us", "our") operates the website at https://www.bcceramics.co.uk. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data responsibly. This policy explains how we collect, use and protect your information when you visit our website, place an order, or interact with us.

2. Information we collect

We may collect the following types of personal data:

• Identity data: name, email address, phone number
• Contact data: billing and delivery addresses
• Transaction data: details of orders you place with us, payment references
• Account data: your login credentials and account preferences
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited
• Marketing data: your preferences for receiving communications from us
• Trade account data: business name, company number, trade references (trade customers only)

3. How we use your information

We use your personal data to:

• Process and fulfil your orders, including delivery and returns
• Manage your account and provide customer support
• Send order confirmations and delivery updates
• Process trade account applications
• Improve our website, products and services
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations
• Send marketing communications (only with your consent)

4. Legal basis for processing

We process your data on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract: to fulfil orders and manage your account
• Legitimate interest: to improve our services and prevent fraud
• Consent: for marketing communications and non-essential cookies
• Legal obligation: for tax, accounting and regulatory compliance

5. Sharing your data

We share your data only with trusted third parties who help us operate our business:

• Payment processors: Stripe processes card payments securely. We never see or store your full card details.
• Delivery partners: your name and address are shared with our delivery service to fulfil orders.
• Email service: we use Resend to send transactional emails (order confirmations, password resets).
• Analytics: Google Analytics collects anonymised usage data to help us improve the website.
• Hosting: our website is hosted on Vercel (frontend) and Railway (backend), both with EU/UK data centres.

We do not sell your personal data to any third party.

6. Cookies

Our website uses cookies to provide essential functionality (shopping cart, login sessions) and optional analytics cookies (Google Analytics) to understand how visitors use our site. You can manage your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie consent banner or your browser settings.

7. Data retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy. Order data is retained for 7 years for tax and accounting purposes. Account data is retained until you request deletion. Marketing preferences are retained until you unsubscribe.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Erasure: ask us to delete your data (subject to legal obligations)
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data
• Portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Object: object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Withdraw consent: withdraw consent for marketing at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@bcceramics.co.uk.

9. Data security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption of data in transit (HTTPS), secure payment processing via Stripe, and access controls on our systems. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

11. Contact us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us:

• Email: info@bcceramics.co.uk
• Phone: 01727 836789
• Address: 27 Soothouse Spring, Valley Road Industrial Area, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 6PF

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.