Privacy Policy

Refine Drinks (“we”, “our”, or “us”) operates the website refinedrinks.com and provides editorial analysis, newsletters, and paid membership subscriptions covering developments in the global drinks industry. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Refine Drinks is the data controller responsible for your personal data. If you have any questions about how we handle your data, please contact us at contact@refinedrinks.com.

2. Information We Collect

Newsletter subscribers. When you subscribe to the free Refine Drinks newsletter, we collect your email address and, if provided, your name and company name.

Paid members. When you purchase a membership, we collect your name, email address, username, password (stored in encrypted form), and billing information. Card payment details are processed directly by Stripe and are not stored by Refine Drinks.

Website usage data. We may collect basic usage data such as pages visited, referral sources, device type, and browser information. This data is collected in aggregate and does not directly identify you.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to deliver the Refine Drinks newsletter and paid membership content, manage your account and subscription, process payments and handle billing, notify you about new content, and improve our editorial products and services. We do not sell your personal information to third parties or share it for marketing purposes.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we process your personal data on the following lawful bases. For paid members, processing is necessary for the performance of a contract — your membership agreement with us. For newsletter subscribers, processing is based on your consent, which you may withdraw at any time. For website usage data, processing is based on our legitimate interests in understanding how our content is used and improving our service.

5. Third-Party Services

MailerLite. Newsletter email communications are managed using MailerLite. When you subscribe, your email address and any information you provide are stored within MailerLite’s systems. MailerLite acts as a data processor on our behalf. You can view MailerLite’s privacy policy at mailerlite.com.

Stripe. Payment processing is handled by Stripe. When you purchase a membership, your card details are entered directly into Stripe’s secure payment system and are not stored by Refine Drinks. Stripe acts as an independent data controller for payment data. You can view Stripe’s privacy policy at stripe.com.

Paid Member Subscriptions. Membership account data including your username, email address, and subscription status is stored within our WordPress website using the Paid Member Subscriptions plugin by Cozmoslabs.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services. For newsletter subscribers, we retain your data until you unsubscribe. For paid members, we retain your account data for the duration of your membership and for a reasonable period thereafter for administrative and legal purposes. Payment records are retained as required by applicable law.

7. Cookies

Refine Drinks uses cookies to support website functionality and to understand how visitors use our website. For full details of the cookies we use, please see our Cookie Policy.

8. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate data, request deletion of your data, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, object to processing based on legitimate interests, and request restriction of processing in certain circumstances. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@refinedrinks.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

9. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or destruction. Our website uses HTTPS encryption and passwords are stored in encrypted form.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page. We will notify paid members of any material changes by email.

11. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at contact@refinedrinks.com.