Privacy Policy - Regional Report

Regional Report Media Ltd. (company number 17143892), with its registered office at 3 New Bailey Street, 5th Floor, Manchester M3 5FS, United Kingdom, is the data controller for the personal information we collect and process when you use RegionalReport.co.uk. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal data, and what rights you have under UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). For any questions about this policy, please contact our privacy team at privacy@regionalreport.co.uk or write to us at the registered office address above. We do not have a formally appointed Data Protection Officer because we are not required to do so under UK law; however, all data protection inquiries are handled by our editorial and compliance teams.

Who is responsible for your data

Regional Report Media Ltd. is a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 17143892). Our registered address is 3 New Bailey Street, 5th Floor, Manchester M3 5FS, United Kingdom. We operate RegionalReport.co.uk, a UK-based digital regional news publication. As the data controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data. Our full ownership and funding structure is published on our Ownership & Funding page.

Information we collect

We collect personal data that you provide voluntarily, and data we obtain automatically when you interact with our website and services.

Information you provide directly

When you subscribe to our newsletter via our newsletter sign-up, we collect your email address, and optionally your name and region preferences.
When you submit a news tip via Tip Us or contact us through Contact, we collect your name, email address, telephone number (if provided), and the content of your message or tip.
When you submit an event for our listings, we collect the organiser’s name, organisation, email, phone, event details, and any associated images.
When you engage with sponsored content or affiliate links, we may collect information relating to your interaction, such as clicks or purchases (see Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure).
If you lodge a complaint under our Complaints Procedure, we may collect your contact details, the nature of your complaint, and any supporting materials.

Information collected automatically

Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, time zone setting, and page interaction data.
Usage data: pages visited, time spent on each page, referrer URL, clicking behaviour, and scrolling patterns.
Tracking technologies: we use cookies and similar technologies for analytics, affiliate tracking, and ticketing affiliate tracking. Full details are in our Cookie Policy.

How we use your information and our lawful bases

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. The specific purposes and bases are:

Newsletter delivery and management — we rely on your consent (Article 6(1)(a)) when you subscribe. You can withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing in every email or contacting us.
Responding to your enquiries, tips, and complaints — we rely on our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) to maintain effective communication with our readers and sources, balanced against your privacy rights.
Improving and analysing our editorial content and website performance — we rely on our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) to understand readership patterns, enhance user experience, and produce better regional journalism.
Affiliate and ticketing tracking — we use cookies and similar technologies with your consent (Article 6(1)(a)) as set out in our Cookie Policy. This helps us sustain independent regional news through revenue from commercial partnerships.
Event listing submissions — we process organiser details under your consent (Article 6(1)(a)) when you submit an event; we may also rely on legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) to publish those listings as part of our public service.
Legal compliance and dispute resolution — we process data where necessary to comply with a legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes we collected it, or as required by law. Specific retention periods:

Newsletter subscriber data: until you unsubscribe or after two years of inactivity.
Tip and contact enquiry data: three years after the last communication, unless it relates to an ongoing editorial matter or complaint.
Event submissions: five years after the event date for archive and reference purposes.
Analytics and cookie data: as detailed in our Cookie Policy, typically up to 26 months.
Complaint records: six years after closure, in line with statutory limitation periods.

Who we share your data with

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may share data with trusted service providers who process data on our behalf (data processors), including:

Email marketing platforms for newsletter distribution (e.g., Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign).
Analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics, Parse.ly) for aggregated usage insights.
Affiliate network partners (e.g., Skimlinks, AWIN) for tracking commissions, but only anonymised identifiers are shared.
Event listing platforms (if we use a third-party submission system).
Legal and accounting advisers where necessary for compliance.

All processors are contractually bound to comply with UK GDPR and may not use your data for their own purposes. We may also disclose your data if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, property, or safety, or those of others.

Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain exemptions:

Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification — to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure — to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing — to limit how we use your data.
Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
Rights related to automated decision-making — we do not engage in profiling or automated decisions that produce legal effects.

To exercise any of these rights, please email privacy@regionalreport.co.uk or write to us at the registered office. We will respond within one month, extendable by two further months for complex requests. If you are unsatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

Newsletter, analytics, affiliate and ticketing tracking

Our newsletter uses tracking technologies to measure open rates and click-through rates so we can improve content. You can disable image loading in your email client or unsubscribe at any time. For analytics, we use cookies and similar technologies; you can manage your preferences via our Cookie Policy. Affiliate links and ticketing affiliate links are disclosed clearly on our Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure page. These may cause our partners to set cookies on your device to track purchases or bookings. We do not receive any personally identifiable information from these partners — only aggregated, anonymised commission data.

Event submissions

When you submit an event for listing on RegionalReport.co.uk, we collect the name, email address, and organisation details of the submitter, along with event information (date, location, description, images). We use this data for the purposes of publishing the event and communicating with you about your submission. We will only use your contact details for editorial follow-up or notification of changes; we will not add you to our newsletter unless you separately sign up. Event submissions are stored for up to five years after the event date for archival reference.

International transfers

We primarily store data within the United Kingdom and European Economic Area. Where we use service providers based in the US (e.g., some analytics platforms), we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision by the UK Government. Please contact us for a copy of these safeguards.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The latest version will always be published on this page (/about-us/privacy-policy/) with a “last updated” date. Material changes will be notified to subscribers via email or a prominent notice on our website.

Our commitments

We will never sell your personal data to third parties or use it for purposes incompatible with this policy without your consent.
We will only collect data that is necessary for our editorial, commercial, and communication functions, and we will minimise collection to the greatest extent possible.
We will maintain clear, accessible records of our processing activities and respond to all data subject requests within the statutory timeframes.
We will ensure that all commercial partnerships, affiliate links, and sponsored content are transparently labelled and that reader data is never used to influence editorial independence.
We will review this policy and our data practices at least annually, and we will promptly inform readers of any significant changes through our usual communication channels.