Data Protection Policy
Last updated: 11 April 2022
This Privacy Policy regulates Users' access to and use of the services included on the Website as the holders of data eligible for protection, in accordance with the personal data protection regulations in force.
Hitched fully complies with the personal data protection legislation in force and with the confidentiality commitments typical of its activity.
1. Controller
We hereby inform you that HITCHED LIMITED (hereinafter, "Hitched"), with registered office at Augustine House, 6A Austin Friars, London EC2N 2HA, United Kingdom and email address gdpr@hitched.co.uk, is the Controller of your personal data.
2. Hitched.co.uk acting as Data Processor
Hitched shall act as the Data Processor in the following services and any others that may arise in the future:
- Guest list, including the contact information of your guests. This information might be shared via app if you consent HITCHED LIMITED to access your phone contact list.
- Images published by the Users – Real Wedding.
- Data related to the User’s spouse.
- Vendors’ contact details provided by users as part of the content provided by such users.
- Users’ personal data used by the vendors while they use Hitched tools.
- Contributions to the Hitched community.
- Personal data of the users' guests who are using the gift list and wedding website service.
- Creating and publishing your wedding website
Please, be aware that when you create your wedding website this will be included in our wedding website search engine. Other users might see your name and/or surname when using our search engine to find a wedding website that has similar personal data related to it. For instance, when a user introduces ‘John Doe’ as the name of the groom, the search engine will show the user all the wedding websites containing that name. If you do not want to appear in our wedding website search engine, please, let us know via the post mail or email address previously indicated.
Additionally, please know that you have the option of creating your websites as private and only authorized users can access it. In this way you will protect who is accessing your wedding’s website content. Please note that setting your wedding website in a private mode will not prevent your wedding website from appearing in the wedding website search engine.
The Controller of the data provided in relation to those services rendered by Hitched shall be the actual User and consumer (bride/groom), who must comply with the data protection regulations, must have obtained consent from the data subjects for processing their personal data and must have applied all the guarantees required for processing their personal data.
The User shall be responsible at all times for the images published and the names included. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Hitched has the power to remove the content if it is illegal.
Hitched shall handle the data according to the provisions of the applicable personal data protection regulations in force, including the standard contractual clauses set forth by the European Commission.
3. Categories of the personal data processed
The personal data to be processed shall be the personal data that the User has provided to Hitched when completing the online registration form, through social media, through the customer service or through any other means (chats, telephone calls, emails, etc.).
Regarding social media, the privacy policy envisaged therein shall apply.
The categories of data which Hitched can have at its disposal are as follows:
Users consumers (brides/grooms/guests):
- Identification data: First name, last name, image, identity number, social media username (full name if the person accesses or interacts through social media).
- Contact data: Telephone number, email address, postal address, social media username (email if the person accesses or interacts through social media).
- Personal data: Date of birth, place of birth, nationality, gender.
- Economic-financial data: Bank account data (if this applies).
Professional users:
- Identification data: First name, last name.
- Corporate contact data: Telephone number, email address, registered office.
- Business data: Activity and business. Data included in the professional's data sheet/profile.
Users accept that, once they register, their photographs and user profile will be publicly visible for the other users of Hitched as well as on the various Internet search engines.
In the event that Users' data are collected through social media, the applicable privacy policy shall be that of the specific social media.
4. Mandatory or optional information provided by Users and accuracy of the data
The fields marked with an asterisk (*) in the registration form to be completed by the Users are mandatory so that the request can be met; the other fields are voluntary.
Likewise, when the data are provided through any other means, at the time of processing the Users shall be notified whether or not it is mandatory to provide such data.
The Users guarantee that the personal data provided to Hitched are correct and updated, and they are responsible for notifying any changes thereto, where the Users are the only parties who may be responsible for providing inaccurate or false data and for the harm that this may cause to Hitched or to third parties as a result of using the services provided by Hitched. Likewise, Hitched states that the data that it collects are adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to its specific scope, purposes and services.
5. Legitimate purposes of the processing
The Users' data provided to Hitched through any means so that it can render the services required by them are processed for the following purposes:
- Enable Users to rapidly and easily search for companies that provide the services and products related to the wedding event by province, activity sector, type of service and location.
- Advertise the services and products of wedding-related companies by creating a data sheet with their contact details, location, service and/or product description and photographs, where applicable.
- Facilitate contact between the companies which advertise their products or services on the Website and the users interested in them via information requests through emails, forms and telephone calls.
- Enable Users to create a personal data sheet that can be accessed by the other Website users.
- Provide Users with all the information required to hold a wedding through articles and advice published on the Website.
- Create a Website community for participation so that all the Users, whether or not they are registered, can access it.
- Provide Users with the wedding planning assistance service, consisting of giving advice and help on locating and selecting wedding organizers; Hitched telephones the Users and sends the information requests in the name of the Users and with their express consent to the organizers which were suggested to the Users.
- Maintain regular and dynamic communication with the Users through any means, including social media and instant messaging. In such cases, without prejudice to applying Hitched's Privacy Policy, the privacy policy of the corresponding social media or instant messaging service shall also apply. Our recommendation is to analyze the privacy policy in detail.
- Record the telephone calls with the aim of ensuring the service quality and monitoring how the incidents are resolved.
Hitched shall process the Users' data for the aforementioned purposes so that it can comply with its contractual obligations as a result of the requests made by Users.
The Users' data provided to Hitched through any means shall also be processed for the following purposes:
- Analyze the data for training and/or statistical purposes. Carry out the basic activities to analyze the content of the information provided and draft the profiles to appropriately manage the activities and services provided by Hitched.
- Record the telephone calls with the aim of ensuring the service quality and monitoring how the incidents are resolved.
- Advertise the services and products of wedding-related companies by creating a data sheet with their contact details, location, service and/or product description and photographs, where applicable.
Hitched shall process the Users' data with the aforementioned purposes on the grounds of its legitimate interests that are expressly acknowledged in the privacy regulations, so that it can provide the service properly.
Likewise, the Users' data provided to Hitched through any means shall also be processed with the following purpose:
- Send electronic communications of the promotions and information about the services provided by the companies with which Hitched has commercial agreements (this also includes its own commercial communications as well as those of professional users and third parties), related to the wedding industry and to the needs or interests that the engaged couple may have during the wedding organization process given the nature and purpose of the services provided by Hitched. For such purpose, the wedding products or services are all the products and services included on the Website at present and in the future as well as any products, services or campaigns specifically aimed at weddings.
- Such promotional electronic communications shall be sent throughout the relationship between the Users and Hitched and even after it has ended, provided that the Users have not stated otherwise.
- Hitched has established two mechanisms through which the Users who request this can change or delete such services in a simple and fast way and free of charge: (i) through the user menu by disabling the “Send” option in the “Notifications” subsection included in the “My account” section, or (ii) following the instructions stated at the bottom of the electronic communications.
Hitched shall process the Users’ data for the aforementioned purpose, as expressly acknowledged in the legislation in force, if either (i) the Users gave their prior consent or (ii) did not object to the use of their personal data for such purpose at the time of collection of their personal data and the information provided to them is about products and services similar to those addressed by a previous sale or negotiation, provided that the Users did not decide to stop receiving such communications.
6. Automated decisions
Hitched shall not adopt decisions based only on the automated processing of Users’ personal data and which may produce legal effects on Users or similar significant effects. All the decision-making processes related to the aforementioned purposes of the processing are carried out with human involvement. In addition, the targeted advertising carried out on our Website does not produce significant effects on Users (see the section below)..
7. Sharing of personal data with third parties
As a result of the nature of the service and with the aim of complying with the obligations arising from the services arranged by the Users, it shall be necessary to share their data with all the recipients stated in the first paragraph of section 5. The legitimacy for this resides in complying with the contractual obligations.
Likewise, the Users' data can be shared with the recipients stated below for the following reasons:
- Public authorities: to comply with the legal obligations to which Hitched is subject as a result of its activity.
- Suppliers which need to access the data to provide the services which Hitched has arranged with those suppliers and with which Hitched has signed the necessary confidentiality and personal data processing agreements required by the privacy protection regulations.
In the event that Hitched has to share personal data in the future, it will notify the Users accordingly.
8. International transfers of personal data
In accordance with the provisions of the personal data protection regulations in force, to properly provide the services offered by the Website, Hitched hereby informs the Users that the personal data that they supply to the Website shall be transferred to the parent company of the business group to which Hitched belongs, that is, the US company The Knot Worldwide Inc., with which the corresponding standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission have been signed.
Likewise, Hitched hereby informs that it has arranged the services of technology providers located in countries whose regulations are not equivalent to the EU ones (“Third Countries”). Those providers have signed confidentiality and data processing agreements with Hitched as required by the regulations for suppliers located in Third Countries, which incorporate the EU Commission’s standard contractual clauses for transfers of personal data outside the EU, thus applying the necessary guarantees and safeguards to maintain their privacy.
To obtain more information about the guarantees in relation to the international transfers of personal data, please contact Hitched by sending an email to gdpr@hitched.co.uk.
9. Retention period
The Users' data shall be retained while the relationship with Hitched is maintained and, once that relationship ends for whatever reason, during the applicable legal statute of limitations with respect to the legitimate purposes for processing that personal data.
After the relationship ends, the personal data shall be processed for the sole purpose of complying with our legal or contractual obligations. Once those statute-of-limitation periods end, the Users' data shall be deleted or, alternately, anonymized.
When the Users request to unsubscribe from the service, Hitched shall deal with this by deleting the Users' profile photo and identification data from the Website (first name, last name and email address), while retaining the rest of the content which the Users have published on the Website.
10. Data subjects' rights and claims
The Users can exercise their right of access, rectification, erasure, portability, restriction, withdrawal of consent and/or objection to the processing.
Such rights can be exercised through the Website settings themselves. In the event that problems occur when making this effective online or if doubts or controversies arise regarding our data protection policy, you can directly contact Hitched by mail at Augustine House, 6A Austin Friars, London EC2N 2HA, United Kingdom or by email to gdpr@hitched.co.uk, stating the subject.
If you consider that the processing of your personal data breaches the regulations or your rights, you can contact Hitched at gdpr@hitched.co.uk or file a claim at the Information Commissioner’s Office, through any of the means available at its website: www.ico.org.uk
11. Data of minors
Providing the personal data of minors and, in particular, their image to the Website expressly implies that, without reservation, the Users who provide them:
- Hold the necessary rights to use the data or image of the minors (e.g. as a parent or legal guardian).
- Ensure that the stated data do not jeopardize the minors in any way whatsoever or harm any of their rights.
- Expressly exonerate Hitched from any potential claims arising from this, where the Users assume that they provided the information with the full liabilities arising from such claims.
We do not offer our services to, and we do not wish to collect any personal data directly from, minors below the age of 16.
12. Security
Hitched notifies the Users that it has adopted the necessary technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of the personal data and prevent their alteration, loss or unauthorized processing or access, based on the state of the technology, the nature of the supplied data and the risks to which they are exposed.
13. Cookies and IPs
When a User accesses to and navigates through the Website and if applicable, subject to User's consent, we use cookies and similar technologies, either owned by Hitched.co.uk or by third parties, to set them on the device from which the User accesses and browses, in order to enable browsing on our Website, analyze our traffic and the User’s behavior, enable the User to share content through social media and personalize content and advertising displayed based on the User's browsing habits.
If you want to know more about our Cookie Policy and how you can control our cookie settings, you can access it through the following link: https://www.hitched.co.uk/legal/cookies.php
14. Targeted advertising
If Hitched has the Users’ consent, Hitched and its third-party partners set cookies and other tracking technologies for targeted advertising purposes. Concretely, they collect information relating to the Users’ device (such as the type of device, operating system and browser as well as IP address), the Users’ browsing history and online identifiers (such as the identifier associated with the cookie set or with the Users’ device). However, the information collected through this process does not enable Hitched or third parties to identify the Users’ name, contact details or other details with which they can directly identify Users, unless Users choose to provide these.
These cookies enable third parties to analyse Users’ browsing habits on this Website and on other sites in order to serve them targeted ads that are more relevant to them on other websites. Hitched also uses cookies, set by Google, to better understand its audience, select, and serve its Users targeted ads through the Website. The ads displayed within the Hitched ad space are personalized to match Users behavior and interests, based on the analysis of their browsing habits (e.g. your ad views and clicks).
To learn more about the advertising cookies the Website uses, Users can review the Hitched Cookie Policy and consent management platform available here, where all of their targeted advertising cookies are listed.
15. Contact
You can contact Hitched by writing to the aforementioned email or postal address or calling the telephone number stated in the Legal Terms.
If you make a phone call, Hitched hereby informs you that your call may be recorded with the aim of ensuring the service quality and monitoring how the incidents are resolved.