Privacy statement

Bookboon understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits our websites, bookboon.com and bookboonglobal.com (“Our Sites”) and subdomains of these website, and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a way that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the law.

This Privacy Policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of Our Sites visitors and service users; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data. This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of Our Sites. Our Sites may contain links to other websites. Please note that we have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it.

Who we are (the data controller)

Our Sites are owned and operated by Bookboon.com Limited.

Our legal details: Bookboon.com Limited, with company number 07257821 and registered office at 64 Great Easter Street, Hackney, London, EC2A 3QR.

You can contact us via privacy@bookboon.com. Our Data Protection Manager’s name is Brian Andersen and can be contacted via ban@bookboon.com or via a letter which can be sent to the above address.

What is Personal Data

Personal data is defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU Regulation 2016/679) (the “GDPR”) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier’.

Personal data is, in simpler terms, any information about you that enables you to be identified. Personal data covers obvious information such as your name and contact details, but it also covers less obvious information such as identification numbers, electronic location data, and other online identifiers.

Where and how we collect data

We would like to inform you of (i) the general categories of personal data that we may process, (ii) the purposes for which we may process personal data, and (iii) the legal bases of the processing.

We may process:

• Data about your use of Our Sites (“usage data“). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is Google Analytics, our analytics tracking system. This usage data may be processed for the purposes of analysing the use of the website and services. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving Our Sites.
• your account data (“account data“). The account data may include your name, email address and IP address. The source of the account data is you or your employer. The account data may be processed for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of Our Sites, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of a contract between you (or your employer) and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
• your social media profile picture or your email gravatar (“profile data“) to make your experience more personal. The profile data will be collected from the email or social media account you sign up with and will solely be used to display on your personal account. The profile data may be processed for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of Our Sites, maintaining back-ups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of a contract between you (or your employer) and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
• information contained in any enquiry you submit to us regarding goods and/or services (“enquiry data“). The enquiry data may be processed for the purposes of offering, marketing and selling relevant goods and/or services to you. The legal basis for this processing is legitimate interests, namely offering services to relevant potential customers.
• information relating to our customer relationships, including customer contact information (“customer relationship data“). The customer relationship data may include your name, your employer, your IP address, your job title or role, your contact details, and information contained in communications between us and you or your employer. The customer relationship data may be processed for the purposes of managing our relationships with customers, communicating with customers, keeping records of those communications and promoting our products and services to customers. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of a contract between you (or your employer) and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.
• information relating to transactions, including obtaining free or paid eBooks, that you enter into with us and/or through Our Sites (“transaction data“). The transaction data may include your contact details, your debit or credit card details and the transaction details. The transaction data may be processed for the purpose of supplying the eBooks and keeping proper records of those transactions. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract and our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of Our Sites and business.
• information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (“notification data“). The notification data may be processed for the purposes of sending you the relevant notifications and/or newsletters. The legal basis for this processing is consent.
• information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us (“correspondence data“). The correspondence data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our Sites will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the website contact forms. The correspondence data may be processed for the purposes of communicating with you and record-keeping. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business and communications with users.
• your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, or obtaining professional advice and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks and the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.

In addition to the specific purposes for which we may process your personal data set out in this section, we may also process your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

Please do not supply any other person’s personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.

Please note that Our Sites and services are targeted at persons over the age of 18. If we have reason to believe that we hold personal data of a person under that age in our databases, we will delete that personal data.

What we do with your data

Nothing evil, we promise. If you’ve consented to receiving updates and promotions from us, we’ll send you a regular newsletter with free content and might email you once in a while with some Bookboon promotions. These emails can sometimes be automated and customised based on your web behaviour, your job title and interests.

If you happen to be part of the target audience for our premium services we might also send you an email or give you a call about this.

Selling your data to third party organisations

That’s simple. We will never sell any of your data to third party organisations. Your data will solely be used for the purposes of fulfilling Bookboon services.

How long and where we store your data

We will not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Your personal data will therefore be kept for the following periods:

• up to three years after your last activity on our website or interaction with one of our emails.

In some cases it is not possible for us to specify in advance the periods for which your personal data will be retained. In such cases, we will determine the period of retention based on whether your qualify as a potential user of our services or reader of our eBooks.

Notwithstanding the other provisions in this section, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. 

We may store or transfer some or all of your personal data in countries that are not part of the European Economic Area (the “EEA” consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). These are known as “third countries” and may not have data protection laws that are as strong as those in the UK and/or the EEA. This means that we will take additional steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR as follows.

We share your data with external third parties, as detailed below the section ‘Do You Share my Personal Data’, that are based outside of the EEA. The following safeguards are applied to such transfers:

We use specific contracts with external third parties that are approved by the European Commission for the transfer of personal data to third countries. These contracts ensure the same levels of personal data protection that would apply under the GDPR. More information is available from the European Commission.

Where we transfer your data to a third party based in the US, this may be protected if they are part of the EU-US Privacy Shield. This requires that third party to provide data protection to standards similar to those in Europe. More information is available from the European Commission.

Do you share my Personal Data?

We may sometimes contract with the following third parties to supply certain products and/or services These may include payment processing, delivery, sales, marketing (including sending newsletters) and website analytics. In some cases, those third parties may require access to some or all of your personal data that we hold.

1. Stripe: payment processing – based in the US

If any of your personal data is required by a third party, as described above, we will take steps to ensure that your personal data is handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the third party’s obligations under the law, as described above in section ‘How long and where we store your data’.

If any personal data is transferred outside of the EEA, we will take suitable steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR, as explained above in section ‘How long and where we store your data’.

In addition to the above, we may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights, which we will always work to uphold:

1. a) The right to be informed about our collection and use of your personal data. This Privacy Policy should tell you everything you need to know, but you can always contact us to find out more or to ask any questions
2. b) The right to access the personal data we hold about you. The way you can do this is set out in the heading ‘How Can I Access My Personal Data?’.
3. c) The right to have your personal data rectified if any of your personal data held by us is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact us to find out more.
4. d) The right to be forgotten, e. the right to ask us to delete or otherwise dispose of any of your personal data that we have. Please contact us to find out more.
5. e) The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data.
6. f) The right to object to us using your personal data for a particular purpose or purposes.
7. g) The right to data portability. This means that, if you have provided personal data to us directly, we are using it with your consent or for the performance of a contract, and that data is processed using automated means, you can ask us for a copy of that personal data to re-use with another service or business in many cases.

Further information about your rights can also be obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office

If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

How Can I Access My Personal Data

If you want to know what personal data we have about you, you can ask us for details of that personal data and for a copy of it (where any such personal data is held). This is known as a “subject access request”.

All subject access requests should be made in writing and sent via email to privacy@bookboon.com.

There is not normally any charge for a subject access request. If your request is ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’ (for example, if you make repetitive requests) a fee may be charged to cover our administrative costs in responding.

We will respond to your subject access request within one month of receiving it. Normally, we aim to provide a complete response, including a copy of your personal data within that time. In some cases, however, particularly if your request is more complex, more time may be required up to a maximum of three months from the date we receive your request. You will be kept fully informed of our progress.

How Can I Control My Personal Data

In addition to your rights under the GDPR, in the section ‘Your Rights’, when you submit personal data via Our Sites, you may be given options to restrict our use of your personal data. In particular, we aim to give you strong controls on our use of your data for direct marketing purposes (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in our emails.

Can I withhold information?

You may access Our Sites without providing any personal data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on Our Sites you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.

You may restrict our use of Cookies. For more information, see the section on ‘The use of Cookies’.

The use of Cookies and Local Storage Files

Here’s an overview of the cookies and local storage we use:

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Notice from time to time. This may be necessary, for example, if the law changes, or if we change our business in a way that affects personal data protection.

Any changes will be immediately posted on Our Sites. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.