Privacy Policy

Effective date: 24/3/2026

1. Who we are

This website is operated by On The Scent Media (‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’), a perfume news outlet and publisher of On The Scent magazine. If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your data, please contact us at:

  • Email: info@onthescentmedia.com

  • Registered address: 106 High Street, Hastings, TN34 3ES

We are the data controller for the personal data collected through this website.

2. What data we collect

We collect and process the following types of personal data:

  • Identity and contact data: name, email address, postal address, billing address, country, and (optionally) social handles you choose to share.

  • Order and transaction data: details of magazine purchases (e.g. product ordered, date, amount, currency, payment status).

  • Marketing preferences: whether you wish to receive our email bulletins and perfume news.

  • Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, device type, time zone and approximate location, pages visited and links clicked.

  • Communication data: messages you send us via contact forms, email or social media.

We do not collect special category data (such as health information) through this site.

3. How we collect your data

We collect data in three main ways:

  • Directly from you: when you place an order, sign up to our email bulletins, create an account, enter a competition, or contact us.

  • Automatically: through cookies and similar technologies when you browse the site (see ‘Cookies’ below).

  • From our ecommerce and mailing‑list providers: Shopify provides us with order and transaction information when you buy through our shop, and Squarespace provides us with details of your subscription to our email bulletins and your marketing preferences.

4. Why we use your data (legal bases)

We only use your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. This will usually be one of the following:

  • To perform a contract:

    • Processing and fulfilling your magazine order, taking payment, and delivering your print copy.

    • Managing your account and providing customer service.

  • To comply with a legal obligation:

    • Keeping appropriate records for tax and accounting purposes.

    • Responding to requests from regulators or public authorities where we are legally required to do so.

  • Our legitimate interests (balanced with your rights):

    • Running, maintaining and improving our website and services.

    • Understanding what content and features readers find useful so we can improve our magazine and perfume news offering.

    • Protecting our business from fraud, abuse and security threats.

  • Your consent:

    • Sending you email bulletins, newsletters and perfume‑related marketing.

    • Dropping non‑essential cookies (such as analytics or advertising cookies) where required.

You can withdraw your consent at any time (see section 8).

5. How we use your data

We use your personal data to:

  • Process and fulfil your one‑off magazine purchase and provide digital access where applicable.

  • Communicate with you about your order, including order confirmations, dispatch updates and any problems or delays.

  • Send you email newsletters and perfume news where you have opted in.

  • Manage our email database and keep a record of your preferences and interactions with our emails.

  • Operate, secure and improve our website, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing and statistics.

  • Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.

We never sell your personal data.

6. Who we share your data with

We may share your personal data with trusted third‑party service providers who help us run our business, for example:

  • We use Shopify to power our online shop. When you place an order, your personal data (such as name, email address, billing and shipping address, order details and payment information) is processed through Shopify in order to handle payments, prevent fraud and fulfil your order. Shopify acts as our data processor and processes your data on our behalf in accordance with its own privacy policy and security practices.

  • We also use Squarespace to host our website and manage our email mailing list. If you sign up to our email bulletins, the information you provide (such as your name and email address, and your marketing preferences) is stored in Squarespace and used to send you the communications you have requested. Squarespace acts as our data processor and processes your data on our instructions.Analytics providers (to help us understand site usage and improve content).

  • Delivery and postal services (for sending print copies).

These providers only process your data on our instructions and are contractually obliged to keep it secure and confidential.
We may also share data where required by law, for example with regulators or law enforcement.

If any of our providers are located outside the UK or European Economic Area, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place (for example, standard contractual clauses).

7. How long we keep your data

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, including:

  • Order and transaction data: usually kept for at least six years to comply with tax and accounting rules.

  • Marketing data: kept until you unsubscribe or we determine that your email address is no longer active.

  • Technical and analytics data: kept for a shorter period, typically in line with our analytics tools’ default retention settings.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete or anonymise it securely.

8. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

  • Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

  • Right to rectification: to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected.

  • Right to erasure: to ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances.

  • Right to restrict processing: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.

  • Right to data portability: to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format and have it transferred to another organisation, where technically possible.

  • Right to object: to object to processing based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing.

  • Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent (for example, for email marketing), you can withdraw it at any time.

You can exercise your rights by contacting us at [insert email]. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk or by calling 0303-1231113.

9. Marketing and email bulletins

We would like to send you email bulletins, perfume news and information about our magazine and events. Shopify provides us with order and transaction information when you buy through our shop, and Squarespace provides us with details of your subscription to our email bulletins and your marketing preferences. You will only receive our communications where:

  • You have actively opted in (for example, by ticking a box or signing up to our mailing list); or

  • We are otherwise permitted by law to contact you.

You can opt out at any time by:

If you opt out, we may still send you service emails that are necessary for your order (e.g. order confirmations, dispatch updates).

10. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit our website. They help the site work properly and allow us to understand how people use it.

We may use:

  • Strictly necessary cookies: required for the site to function (for example, to remember your basket).

  • Analytics cookies: to understand how visitors use the site (pages visited, time on page, etc.) so we can improve our content.

  • Functional or preference cookies: to remember your settings and improve your experience.

Where required, we will ask for your consent before using non‑essential cookies. You can usually set your browser to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent, but some parts of the site may then not function properly.

You can find more detail in our separate Cookies Notice (if you have or plan one), or we can add a short cookie section to this policy.

11. Links to other websites

Our website contains links to third‑party websites, including perfume brands, event organisers and partners.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites. We recommend that you read their privacy policies before submitting any personal data to them.

12. Children

Our website and magazine are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the ‘Effective date’ at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or a notice on the website.

Thank you for reading.