Privacy Policy
1. Introduction and Company Information
Instant Books Publisher (“we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose, and protect personal information when you visit our website, contact us, submit an enquiry, or use our publishing services.
This policy applies to information collected through our website, email, telephone calls, live chat, contact forms, and other communications with us.
For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, Instant Books Publisher is responsible for handling personal information in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
Contact email: info@instantbookspublisher.com
2. Information We Collect
We may collect the following categories of personal information, depending on how you interact with our website and services.
Information You Provide Directly
When you complete a contact form, request a consultation, register, place an order, or contact us, we may collect:
- Your name and contact details, including email address and telephone number.
- Your billing and mailing address, where required.
- Information about your book, manuscript, publishing goals, genre, and requested services.
- Details of enquiries, communications, purchases, and services requested.
- Information you voluntarily provide through email, telephone, live chat, or other communication channels.
- Payment or transaction information necessary to process an order. Payment card information may be handled by our payment processor, depending on the payment method used.
Please do not send sensitive financial information through ordinary email or live chat.
Information Collected Automatically
When you visit our website, we or our service providers may automatically collect technical and usage information, including:
- Internet Protocol (IP) address.
- Browser type, operating system, and device information.
- Pages visited, referring URLs, and approximate location derived from technical information.
- Dates, times, and duration of website visits.
- Cookie identifiers and information about interactions with website content or advertisements, where applicable.
Information Collected Through Offline Communications
If you contact us by telephone, post, or other offline methods, we may collect the personal information you voluntarily provide to respond to your enquiry, provide requested services, and maintain appropriate business records.
3. Why We Collect and How We Use Your Information
We collect personal information for specific business purposes, including:
- Responding to enquiries: To answer questions, arrange consultations, and provide information about our publishing services.
- Providing services: To prepare quotations, process orders, manage projects, and deliver the services you request.
- Customer communication: To provide project updates, respond to customer support requests, and communicate about your account or order.
- Payment and accounting: To process transactions, maintain financial records, and meet applicable accounting and legal obligations.
- Website operation and improvement: To troubleshoot technical issues, understand website usage, improve functionality, and enhance the visitor experience.
- Marketing communications: Where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent, to send information about our services, offers, and relevant updates.
- Advertising and measurement: Where applicable, to measure advertising performance, understand website interactions, and improve the relevance and effectiveness of our advertisements.
- Security and fraud prevention: To protect our website, customers, business operations, and systems against misuse or unauthorised access.
- Legal compliance: To comply with legal requirements, respond to lawful requests, establish or defend legal claims, and enforce our agreements.
We use personal information only where we have an appropriate purpose and lawful basis for doing so.
4. Lawful Bases for Processing
Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, we process personal information on one or more of the following lawful bases:
- Consent: Where you have given consent for a specific purpose, such as certain marketing communications or non-essential cookies.
- Contract: Where processing is necessary to provide services you request or take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
- Legal obligation: Where processing is necessary to comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements.
- Legitimate interests: Where processing is necessary for legitimate business interests, such as improving our services, securing our website, and managing business operations, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
Our website may use cookies, pixels, tags, and similar tracking technologies to operate the website, remember preferences, analyse traffic, and measure advertising performance.
These technologies may collect technical information about your browser, device, pages visited, and interactions with advertisements.
Where applicable law requires consent, we will seek your consent before using non-essential cookies or tracking technologies.
Microsoft Advertising and UET
Where Microsoft Advertising tracking is implemented on our website, Microsoft may collect or receive certain information through technologies such as the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag. This may include information about website visits, page views, interactions, and advertising-related events, together with technical identifiers or cookie information, as configured.
This information may be used to measure advertising performance, understand conversions, improve advertising effectiveness, and support relevant advertising features, subject to applicable settings and law.
Microsoft's collection and processing of information is governed by its own privacy terms. For more information, please read the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
Managing Cookies and Tracking Preferences
You can manage cookies through our website's cookie preference tools, where available, and through your browser settings. You may be able to block or delete cookies through your browser.
Blocking certain cookies may affect website functionality. Where consent is required, you can withdraw or change your consent using the available cookie preference controls.
6. Sharing of Personal Information
We do not sell personal information to third parties.
We may disclose personal information to trusted service providers when necessary for legitimate business purposes, including:
- Website hosting and technical support providers.
- Payment processing and transaction service providers.
- Customer communication and business administration providers.
- Analytics and advertising providers, including Microsoft Advertising where applicable.
- Professional advisers, auditors, and legal representatives where necessary.
- Government authorities or other parties where disclosure is required by law or necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
Service providers may process personal information only as permitted by applicable agreements and legal requirements.
Where third-party advertising or analytics technologies are used, those providers may collect information directly through their technologies in accordance with their own privacy policies and applicable law.
7. International Data Transfers
Some of our service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom or the country where you are located.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection laws. Depending on the circumstances, these safeguards may include an adequacy decision, appropriate contractual protections, or another lawful transfer mechanism.
8. How Long We Keep Your Information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, taking account of applicable legal, accounting, contractual, and operational requirements.
Our intended retention periods are:
- Enquiry records: Up to 12 months after our last contact, unless a longer period is reasonably necessary to follow up on an enquiry, resolve a dispute, or meet a legal obligation.
- Client and project records: Up to 6 years after the relevant project or business relationship ends, where required for accounting, legal, contractual, or recordkeeping purposes.
- Marketing preferences and suppression records: As long as reasonably necessary to manage your preferences and maintain records of opt-out requests.
- Technical, analytics, and advertising records: For the periods applicable to the relevant technology, service provider, and configuration, subject to applicable law and consent requirements.
We may retain information for longer where required by law or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. When information is no longer needed, we will take reasonable steps to delete it securely or anonymise it.
9. Your Privacy Rights
Subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:
- Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
- Request deletion of your personal information.
- Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Request a copy of certain information in a portable format.
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
- Object to direct marketing at any time.
- Exercise applicable rights concerning certain automated decision-making or profiling.
These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.
10. How to Exercise Your Privacy Choices
To exercise your rights or change your privacy preferences, contact us at:
Email: info@instantbookspublisher.com
Please describe your request and provide enough information for us to identify the relevant records. We will respond within the period required by applicable law.
Opting Out of Marketing Communications
You can unsubscribe using the unsubscribe link included in a marketing email, where available, or email us at info@instantbookspublisher.com with the subject line “Marketing Opt-Out.”
You may continue to receive essential service or transaction-related communications where necessary.
Withdrawing Consent
If you have consented to a particular use of your personal information, you may withdraw that consent by contacting us. Where applicable, you may also withdraw consent for non-essential cookies through the website's cookie preference controls.
Opting Out of Tracking and Information Sharing
Where applicable, you can manage non-essential cookies and tracking technologies through our website's cookie controls or your browser settings. You may also contact us to ask about available privacy choices relating to the processing of your personal information.
Certain processing may continue where permitted or required by law, including processing necessary to provide requested services, maintain legal records, or comply with legal obligations.
11. Data Security
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.
However, no method of internet transmission or electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security.
12. Children's Privacy
Our website and publishing services are not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 through the website. If we become aware that such information has been collected inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to address it.
13. Third-Party Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those external websites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing personal information.
14. Right to Lodge a Complaint
If you have concerns about how we collect, use, or protect your personal information, please contact us at info@instantbookspublisher.com so we can investigate your concern.
If you believe your personal information has been handled unlawfully, you may also lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority. In the United Kingdom, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
You can find information about making a complaint at: Information Commissioner's Office — Make a complaint.
You do not have to contact us first before approaching the relevant supervisory authority.
15. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when our practices, services, or legal obligations change. The updated version will be published on this page with a revised effective date.
We encourage visitors to review this page periodically.
16. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal information, or your privacy rights, please contact:
Instant Books Publisher
Email: info@instantbookspublisher.com
Website: https://instantbookspublisher.com/