Effective 18 October 2026

Privacy Policy

This policy explains how Black Tide Operations Ltd ("we", "us") collects and uses your personal data. Black Tide Operations Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 16947408). Registered office: 24-26 Office 1, Izabella House, Regent Place, City Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom, B1 3NJ. VAT number GB 512 5343 25. Black Tide Operations Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller. We are the data controller for the personal data described here, which means we decide how and why it's used. You can contact us about anything in this policy at [email protected].

We own and run several brands: Local Brand Secrets, The Sunny Nunny, The Tan Girl, The Gamers Seat and The Evening Vibes. Black Tide Operations Ltd is the data controller for all of them. This policy covers blacktideops.co.uk and our company newsletter. Where one of our brands has its own website, that site's privacy policy explains how that brand uses your data.

What we collect

• Your email address, and your name if you choose to give it, when you subscribe.
• Newsletter activity, such as whether you opened an email and which links you clicked.
• Referral data, if you share a personal referral link: who signed up through your link and any rewards you've earned.
• Website usage data, such as the pages you visit, your device and browser type, and your rough location based on your IP address. Some of this comes from cookies.
• Anything you send us, for example when you email us, reply to a newsletter or fill in a form or survey.

How we use it and our lawful bases

Under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, we need a lawful basis for each way we use your data. Here's what we do and why.

• Sending you our newsletter and service emails, such as a welcome or confirmation email. Lawful basis: your consent, which you give when you subscribe.
• Recording opens and clicks in our emails, so we can see what readers find useful. Lawful basis: your consent, given when you subscribe. You can turn this off by blocking images or tracking in your email app, or by unsubscribing.
• Running any referral programme, including tracking referrals and sending rewards. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in growing the newsletter and giving you the rewards you've earned.
• Measuring how the website is used so we can improve it. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests. Where the law requires consent for the cookies involved, we ask first. See our Cookie Policy.
• Keeping the website and our mailing list secure, and stopping spam, fraud and abuse. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests.
• Replying when you get in touch, including partnership, advertising and press enquiries. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in answering you.
• Keeping records the law requires, such as business and tax records. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

You can withdraw your consent at any time. This doesn't affect anything we did with your data before you withdrew it.

Who we share it with

We use beehiiv to host blacktideops.co.uk, send the newsletter and store subscriber data. beehiiv also handles email sending for us. It acts as our processor, which means it only uses your data on our instructions and under a data processing agreement. Messages you send to [email protected] are handled by our business email provider on the same basis.

We don't sell your personal data, and we don't give your email address to sponsors or advertisers. We may share combined figures that don't identify you, such as the total number of opens or clicks on a sponsored slot. We'll only share personal data with anyone else if the law requires it.

International transfers

beehiiv is based in the United States, so your data may be transferred to and stored there. When personal data leaves the UK, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, as UK data protection law requires. Email [email protected] if you'd like more information about these safeguards.

How long we keep it

• Subscriber data: for as long as you're subscribed.
• If you unsubscribe, we stop emailing you and delete your subscriber data within 30 days. We keep a minimal record (your email address and the fact that you unsubscribed) so we don't email you again by mistake.
• If you haven't opened any of our emails in 12 months, we may remove you from the list.
• Messages and enquiries: for as long as we need to deal with them and any follow-up.
• Records the law requires us to keep: for the period the law sets.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• be told how we use your data (that's what this policy is for)
• get a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected
• have your data deleted
• ask us to restrict how we use your data
• object to how we use your data, including an absolute right to object to direct marketing
• receive your data in a portable format, or have it sent to another organisation
• withdraw your consent at any time
• not be subject to decisions made only by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. We don't make decisions like this.

To use any of these rights, email [email protected]. It's usually free. We may need to confirm who you are first, and we'll reply within one month.

How to unsubscribe

Click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any of our emails. You can also email [email protected] and we'll unsubscribe you.

Children

Our website and newsletter aren't aimed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you think a child under 13 has signed up, email us and we'll remove them.

Cookies

This website uses cookies and similar technologies. Our Cookie Policy explains which ones we use and how to control them.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, please tell us first at [email protected] so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make a significant change, we'll tell subscribers by email.