Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes what information we collect and how it's used and shared. By using our website or services, you are agreeing to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

At Firewords, we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors and customers in alignment with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679. If you have any comments or questions about this Privacy Policy, feel free to contact us at info@firewords.co.uk.

What personal information do we collect?

  • When placing an order, you will be asked to enter your name, contact details, mailing address and payment details to help facilitate your order.
  • When signing up for our newsletter, you will be asked to enter your name and email address.
  • When submitting writing to us, you will be asked to enter your name, contact details and details related to your submission to allow us to process your submission and contact you about the outcome.
  • When we choose to publish a writer, we request further author information, all of which are optional: biographies, Q&A forms and audio recordings of written pieces.
  • When joining our community, we collect your name, email and payment details to help facilitate your membership. You may choose to post any of your own writing in the private community to receive feedback from other community members.

When do we collect information?

We collect information from you when you make a purchase, sign up for our newsletter or submit writing to us.

How do we use your information?

We will use the information we collect from you in the following ways:

  • Newsletter: To send you educational and marketing emails.
  • Submissions: To process and contact you about any submissions you make.
  • Published contributors: To contact you and work with you in having your writing featured in Firewords: the publishing process of the issue you submitted for, to gain consent for future use of any previously-published material (for example, if we ever publish an anthology), and provide more content for each piece inside the publication.
  • Purchases: To process your transactions. To send periodic emails regarding your order.
  • Community: To process your transaction (unless you are a published contributor) and, as you are signing up for a membership, we will send you any emails necessary for your continued participation in the community during your membership.
  • Community opt-in: If you choose this when signing up, we’ll send you updates about the community such as new features and updates.

How do we protect your information?

We store data using approved secure procedures. We also have our own internal security software installed and use a password system for individual access.

Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. In addition, all sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. All data recorded on external systems is protected with their own security systems and each service maintains their own privacy policies. If you require more detail on these systems used by Firewords, please email us at info@firewords.co.uk.

All transactions are processed through gateway providers such as Stripe and PayPal and are never stored or processed on our servers.

How long do we keep your data?

  • Newsletter: Our newsletter is an ongoing email subscription, hence we will keep your subscription data for the duration of the Firewords project or until you request that we remove it. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time by clicking the 'Unsubscribe' link at the bottom of every email, or email us at info@firewords.co.uk.
  • Submissions: We keep a record of all the submissions we receive to ensure against multiple submissions of the same piece and for archival and statistical purposes. Submission data will be securely stored for the duration of the Firewords project or for ten (10) years, whichever comes first, or until you request that we remove it. Please see the 'Right to be forgotten' section below.
  • Published contributors: For legal reason we have to keep the details of the people that we publish on an ongoing basis. This information will not be shared with third-parties or collaborators.  
  • Purchases: We keep a record of all purchases made on the Firewords website for financial and statistical purposes and, by law, we are required to keep a record of all financial transactions for the last six (6) years for tax reasons. The financial details of customers are processed through gateway providers such as Stripe and PayPal and are never stored or processed on our servers. Sales data will be securely stored for the duration of the Firewords project or for ten (10) years, whichever comes first, or until you request that we remove it after the six year requirement. It may be possible to anonymise this data so please contact us with your request. Please see the 'Right to be forgotten' section below.
  • Community: Community data will be securely stored for the duration of the Firewords project or for ten (10) years, whichever comes first, or until you request that we remove it after the six year requirement.  We keep a record of all purchases made on the Firewords website for financial and statistical purposes and, by law, we are required to keep a record of all financial transactions for the last six (6) years for tax reasons. The financial details of customers are processed through gateway providers such as Stripe and PayPal and are never stored or processed on our servers. It may also be possible to anonymise this data so please contact us with your request. Please see the 'Right to be forgotten' section below.

Accessing your data

You are entitled to receive a copy of the information that is held on you, and amend that information, at any time. There will be no charge for this service. You will be asked to provide suitable proof that you are the contact before any details are disclosed.

Do we use 'cookies'?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognise your browser and capture and remember certain information. For instance, we use cookies to help us remember and process the items in your shopping cart. They are also used to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use cookies to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.

We use cookies to:

  • Help remember and process the items in the shopping cart.
  • Compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interactions in order to offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may also use trusted third-party services like Google Analytics that track this information on our behalf.

You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser settings.

If you turn cookies off, some of the features that make your site experience more efficient may not function properly.

    Third-party disclosure

    Do we disclose the information we collect to Third-Parties?

    When an order is placed for a physical product, the order details, name and shipping address of the customer is securely sent to a UK-based company called Newsstand who deal with our distribution (i.e. pack and send our orders). This information is always sent securely via encrypted files. Newsstand's own privacy policy can be viewed here.

    When submitting writing to us, you do so through the third-party platform Submittable. This information is sent by you from your own secured Submittable account and is only accessible by us through our secured Submittable account. Submittable have their own privacy policy with regards to the data you store with their service that can be viewed here.

    Third-party links

    We do not include or offer third-party products or services on our website. When you click on links on our website or in our emails, they may direct you away from our site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites we link to and encourage you to read their privacy statements.

    California Online Privacy Protection Act

    CalOPPA is the first state law in the US to require commercial websites and online services to post a privacy policy. The requires any person or company that operates websites collecting Personally Identifiable Information from California consumers to post a conspicuous privacy policy on its website stating exactly the information being collected and those individuals or companies with whom it is being shared.

    According to CalOPPA, we agree to the following:

    • Users can visit our site anonymously.
    • Once this privacy policy is created, we will add a link to it on our home page or as a minimum, on the first significant page after entering our website.
    • Our Privacy Policy link includes the word 'Privacy' and can easily be found on the page specified above.
    • You will be notified of any Privacy Policy changes on our Privacy Policy Page
    • You can change your personal information by emailing us

    How does our site handle Do Not Track signals?

    We honour Do Not Track signals and Do Not Track, plant cookies, or use advertising when a Do Not Track (DNT) browser mechanism is in place.

    Does our site allow third-party behavioural tracking?

    We do not allow third-party behavioural tracking

    COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act)

    When it comes to the collection of personal information from children under the age of 13 years old, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) puts parents in control. The Federal Trade Commission, United States' consumer protection agency, enforces the COPPA Rule, which spells out what operators of websites and online services must do to protect children's privacy and safety online.

    • We do not specifically market to children under the age of 13 years old.
    • We do not let third-parties, including ad networks or plug-ins collect PII from children under 13.

    Right to be forgotten

    Under Article 17 of the GDPR, individuals have the right to have personal data erased. This is also known as the ‘right to be forgotten’. If you require that we remove any personal information we have collected about you, please email us with your request to info@firewords.co.uk and your data will be permanently removed in a timely manner where possible within the limits of the law. For these limits, see the ‘How long do we keep your data’ section above. 

    Contacting Us

    If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, or if you want to know what information we have collected about you, please email us at info@firewords.co.uk. You can also correct any factual errors in that information or require us to remove your details from any list under our control.