Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Beyond the Journal Ltd ("Beyond the Journal", "we", "us") is a private limited company registered in England and Wales under company number [00000000]. Our registered office is [Registered office address, Town, Postcode].

We are the controller of the personal information described in this policy under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number [ZA000000].

For any question about this policy or your personal information, email hello@beyondthejournal.co.uk.

2. The information we collect

We only collect what we need. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include:

• Contact details: your name, email address, phone number, job title and institution or organisation.
• Enquiry and project details: what you tell us about your research, your project, timelines and budget.
• Client and billing details: invoicing contacts, billing address, purchase order numbers and payment records.
• Communications: emails, call notes and feedback exchanged during a project.
• [If you subscribe to The Codex: your email address and your subscription preferences.]

We do not use analytics or advertising trackers on this website, and we do not knowingly collect special category data (such as health information) about you.

3. How we use it and our lawful basis

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for each use of your information:

• Replying to enquiries and preparing proposals and quotes — steps taken at your request before entering into a contract, or our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us.
• Delivering projects, managing our relationship with clients and handling invoices — performance of a contract.
• Keeping financial and tax records — compliance with a legal obligation.
• Sending The Codex or other news by email — your consent, which you can withdraw at any time using the unsubscribe link or by emailing us.
• Keeping our business and website secure, and establishing or defending legal claims — our legitimate interests.

We will never sell your personal information or use it for automated decision-making or profiling.

4. Research material you share with us

Clients often share research papers, data, images or interview recordings so we can create explainers. Where this material contains personal information about other people (for example, study participants), we process it only on your instructions, as your processor, under a written agreement that sets out how it is handled, kept secure and deleted.

Please anonymise or pseudonymise research data before sharing it with us wherever possible, and share only what the project needs.

5. Who we share it with

We use a small number of trusted service providers to run our business. They act on our instructions and must keep your information secure:

• Website hosting: [hosting provider].
• Enquiry form: [form service provider, once the contact form is connected].
• Email and file storage: [e.g. email and cloud storage provider].
• Video calls: [video call provider].
• Accounting and invoicing: [accounting software provider].
• [Newsletter delivery for The Codex: email marketing provider.]
• Freelance animators, voice artists or editors working on your project, under confidentiality terms.

We may also share information with our professional advisers (such as accountants and lawyers), or where the law requires us to, for example with HM Revenue & Customs.

6. International transfers

Some of our providers may store or process information outside the UK. When this happens, we make sure it is protected by UK adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards, such as the International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

7. How long we keep it

• Enquiries that do not lead to a project: up to [12 months] after our last contact.
• Client, project and financial records: six years after the end of the financial year they relate to, as required for UK tax and company records.
• Research material shared for a project: deleted or returned within [90 days] of project completion, unless we agree otherwise in writing.
• [The Codex subscribers: until you unsubscribe.]

8. How we keep it secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including access controls, encrypted storage and transfer where available, and limiting access to people who need it for their work.

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your information;
• ask us to restrict or stop using your information, or object to how we use it;
• ask for your information in a portable format;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To use any of these rights, email hello@beyondthejournal.co.uk. There is normally no charge, and we will respond within one month. We may need to confirm your identity first.

10. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first so we can try to put things right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk, or 0303 123 1113.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it last changed. If we make significant changes, we will tell clients and subscribers directly.