The following ‘Privacy Policy’ is crucial to LARA Media Group and it relates to the privacy and protection of YOUR data; that is everyone who entrusts us with information by consuming media, products, and services via our brands and platforms.
This ‘Privacy Policy’ details how we collect data, what we do with it, and how we look after it.
It also outlines how long we retain the data and how we dispose of it.
Finally, it details the rights you have over the data, and how we protect and facilitate such rights.
Opting In/Out of Communications
All services provided by any brands part of LARA Media Group are designed to allow you to opt out as easily as you have opted in.
We make it simple for you to change your email preferences or opt out of all marketing emails when requested.
All marketing emails sent to our subscribers have an ‘unsubscribe’ link that removes you from any marketing lists immediately.
Policy Content
1. Why do we collect data?
LARA Media Group collects data to:
Provide relevant products and personalized services customized to each user.
Improve the services we offer.
Keep our websites and services available to readers and customers who visit them.
2. When do we collect data?
We collect data when you:
Use our websites/services
Register to receive updates and newsletters
Pay for products or services
Attend our events
Participate in our research studies
Join our communities, social media, and forums
Enter our competitions
Contact us
3. What kind of data?
We collect:
Contact information; when you use or subscribe to one of our services – purchasing products, signing up to the newsletter, entering competitions, joining our online communities and social media, participating in our research studies, or using any other services belonging to LARA Media Group, we ask for your name, email and/or postal address, and not only, to provide you with the services requested.
General information; in addition to contact information, we might collect other personal information such as gender, date of birth, marital status, and not limited to, via surveys or competitions.
Payment details; when you purchase products/services from us, we will ask for your payment details in addition to your contact information, to secure payment and to authorize access to our products and services.
Online identifiers; we collect information about your visits on any brands and services belonging to LARA Media Group, such as for how long you’ve browsed, which pages you looked at, where you were when you visited us, the IP address, and the type of device used, be that a tablet, laptop, smartphone or a desktop.
Behavioral data; we might collect data related to the time spent on our websites, the items you’ve clicked on, and the products or services you have bought from us. Also, when you register for our newsletter or participate in our studies, we might collect data about your interests, tastes, and preferences.
Biometric data; whenever we research specific topics, we might collect biometric data such as political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health status, sexual orientation, voice, and facial recognition. However, participation is optional, and we’ll always ensure your consent. We’ll also be clear on how we are processing such data and the safeguards in place; anonymizing, storing, and deleting the data.
4. How do we collect data?
We use multiple ways of collecting data:
Newsletters; when you sign up for one of our newsletters, you are giving consent for us to use the email address provided to send you relevant content. You can withdraw this consent for any newsletter by unsubscribing at any time.
In-page advertising; to keep our content free, we advertise on our websites and in our newsletters. We use cookies and similar technologies in conjunction with trusted partners so that we can show you advertisements. You can opt-in or out of using cookies at any time; however, cookies help us provide you with content we believe might interest you, control the number of times you see adverts and measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.
Social Media Advertisement; we work with social media platforms to show you interest-based marketing content from our brands and selected advertisers. Data collected is anonymized and might be used to improve the quality and effectiveness of our websites and marketing campaigns. You can always limit the tracking and profiling that Facebook undertakes, by going to your Facebook account settings.
Studies & Research; Any brands and product belonging to LARA Media Group might send out research invitations to sustainable fashion communities, social media groups, forums, reader panels, research communities, customers of our products and services, and potential readers/buyers who have opted in to receive communications from us.
Customer account management; when you purchase any services belonging to LARA Media Group we might contact you about your registration details, manage the account/subscriptions you have with us, or provide customer service. We will use the data you have provided us for goods/services delivery to communicate with you about those products and services subsequently.
Competitions; when you enter our online competitions, we must process your information to pick a winner. If you have opted-in to receiving information from us about our products and services, then we will use the information you provide to offer you relevant products and services. If you have opted-in to receive news and offers from any competition sponsors, we will share your data with them
Partnerships programs; we collaborate with many partners in the world of sustainable fashion and retail so that we can present our readers with some outstanding offers and opportunities by either email or post. You will only ever receive partner messages from us if you have actively given permission. We won’t disclose your data to anyone, the messages will come from us, and you can unsubscribe from these messages at any time.
Customer queries and complaints; we process any data you provide when dealing with any complaints or inquiries made by you, or (legally) by anyone on your behalf.
5. The laws on data processing
Consent; in specific situations, we can collect and process your data with your permission. For example, when you tick a box to receive email newsletters. Contractual obligations; in certain circumstances, we must ensure your data comply with our contractual obligations. For example, when you purchase a subscription from us, we must retain your name and address to fulfill your subscription.
Legal compliance; we may collect and process your data when obliged by the law. For example, we might have to provide law enforcement agencies with the details of people involved in fraud and/or other criminal activities affecting us.
Legitimate interest; in specific situations and as part of running our business, we might require your data to pursue our legitimate interests – in reasonable ways and without impacting your rights, freedom, or interests. For example, we personalize the marketing content we provide you. We will also use your address details to send you direct marketing information by post, telling you about products and services that we think might interest you.
6. Do we share data with anyone else?
We might share your data with any existing and future companies owned by LARA Media Group.
For example, if any/all of our assets were to be sold to another business, the data required to ensure the delivery of the goods (e.g. monthly subscriptions/ newsletters) would be transferred to the new business owner:
Service providers; we work with service providers of payments, tagging, data blending, and aggregate demographics providers to perform required tasks on our behalf such as payments, marketing, etc. However, our providers are obliged not to disclose or use this data for any other purposes. Any third-party processing of your data, on our behalf, will be subject to security and confidentiality obligations consistent with this privacy notice and applicable law.
Consumer studies & research; we may disclose aggregated statistics and other de-personalized data about our audience/customers and their traffic patterns to prospective partners, advertisers, investors, and other reputable third parties, for other lawful purposes. These statistics will never include identifiable personal information.
Law enforcement organizations; under certain circumstances, we might be required by law, court order, or governmental authority to disclose certain types of data. If that is the case, LARA Media Group reserves the right to comply with any/all legally binding requests.
Marketing partners; only with your explicit permission, we might share your information with companies we are working with, such as competition sponsors. Whenever we share your information with another company, we will always ask for your permission, name the company and be very clear that your data will be shared with another organization.
7. For how long do we keep data?
LARA Media Group will retain your data for as long as necessary to provide the product/service you have requested while taking into account any legal requirements and tax and accounting rules.
When you sign up to receive email marketing from brands and services belonging to LARA Media Group, we retain your e-mail address after you ‘opt-out’ of receiving emails, to ensure that we continue to honor and respect your request.
We do not store customer data for longer than six years after the last purchase.
To unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time, click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any marketing email to update your account preferences.
You can also use our preference center to update your postal address and the types of communications you wish you receive from us.
For research or statistical purposes, we might anonymize your personal data to a point it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we might use this information indefinitely and without further notice to you.
8. What do we mean by ‘profiling’?
We may sometimes use the data you share with us, and that we collect about you when browsing our websites and products, to personalize our services and to customize our marketing campaigns.
You can unsubscribe at any point if you do not wish to receive such marketing-related materials.
9. Data security and cross-border transfers
LARA Media Group ensures appropriate security measures to protect your data. For that, when we ask another organization to provide a service for us, we ensure they have the relevant security measures, and follow the same high standards of security and data protection as we do.
If LARA Media Group or any of our service providers transfer any information outside the European Economic Area (EEA), it will only be done with the appropriate protection in pace and conform to the UK law.
10. Links to external websites
Brands, products, and services provided by LARA Media Group might contain links to other websites run by third-party organizations.
However, this ‘Privacy Policy’ applies ONLY to brands and services belonging to LARA Media Group‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on any external websites you visit.
LARA Media Group cannot be made responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you have accessed them via links from our websites.
11. Your data, your rights
As a consumer, you have the right:
To be informed; at every point where we are collecting your data, we will inform you of why it is being collected and how it is being processed.
To access; if you wish to see what information we hold on you, you may send us what is called a ‘Subject Access’ request. We will require photocopies of two pieces of identification. We will respond within 30 days of receipt of your request. There is no cost to you in requesting to see your data, but please note that we reserve the right to charge you if you make subsequent requests.
To rectification; we offer the opportunity to amend your personal information by contacting us using the details below.
To erasure; if you wish to cancel all communications with us, we can anonymize or de-identify your data. Please contact us using the details below. Please make sure you inform us of all email accounts, profiles, names, etc that you may have used with us that you wish to erase.
To restrict processing; you can opt-out or restrict the processing of your data by amending your cookie settings in your browser and/or unsubscribe from postal and email communications, by contacting us at [email protected]
To complain to the supervisory authority; in the UK this is the Information Commissioner’s Office. If you are unhappy with the way we have collected and are using your personal data please do not hesitate to contact us, using the contact details below or by contacting our Data Protection Officer at [email protected].
12. Contact us
If you would like to contact us to understand more about our ‘Privacy Policy’, or wish to contact us concerning any matter relating to individual rights and/or your personal information, email us at [email protected].