Privacy Policy
How information is handled when you explore the directory, contact us or submit a designer.
Editorial draft — complete before publication. This draft reflects the stated use of Google Analytics, Google AdSense, Meta Pixel and Contact Form 7 submissions delivered by email. It is not a technical audit or a legal compliance certificate.
Complete the highlighted items, confirm the actual data flows and configure consent controls before publishing. Consent-related wording below describes the intended setup and must match the verified live configuration.
01. Who is responsible for your data?
This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is handled in connection with The Gown Directory at thegowndirectory.com.
[COMPLETE: full legal name of the individual or company operating The Gown Directory, and business/contact address. Identify any legally required representative or data protection officer if applicable.]
The operator identified above is responsible for the processing described in this policy, except where another provider acts as an independent controller or shares responsibility as explained below.
For privacy enquiries, email contact@thegowndirectory.com.
[INSERT effective date after the policy and website configuration have been checked.]
02. Information we receive
Enquiries and designer submissions
When you contact us or submit a designer, we receive the details you provide. These may include your name, email address, role, company or agency, message, and information about the designer: brand name, country, year founded, website, Instagram profile, bridal style, description, stockists and press-kit links. Optional notes and any request for information about paid opportunities are also included.
Fields marked as required are needed to assess the submission or respond effectively. Providing information is voluntary, but we may be unable to process an incomplete request. Please avoid sending sensitive personal information or private information about other people that is not needed.
Directory and editorial information
Designer profiles may contain professional information about identifiable individuals, including designers and public business representatives. We obtain this from submissions, direct communications, official websites, press materials and other public professional sources. Brand information is not always personal data, but information identifying an individual can be.
Technical and usage information
Website delivery and security systems may process IP addresses, request times, requested pages, browser and device details, referring pages and error information. Analytics and advertising tools may also receive online identifiers and information about page visits, interactions and advertising activity, depending on the features enabled and your consent choices.
[VERIFY: whether comments, visitor accounts, newsletter forms, social/video embeds, remote fonts, anti-spam services, SMTP logs or other plugins collect data. Add the relevant details before publication. This draft does not assume these features are absent.]
03. Why we use information
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Answer enquiries and review designer submissions. | Legitimate interests in managing correspondence and maintaining a relevant directory. |
| Discuss or deliver a paid partnership requested by you. | Steps at your request before a contract, or performance of a contract with you. For a company representative, legitimate interests in managing the business relationship. |
| Publish relevant professional information in designer profiles and editorial features. | Legitimate interests in providing an informative bridal directory, balanced against individuals’ rights and reasonable expectations. |
| Measure website use through optional analytics; measure and personalise advertising through optional tracking. | Consent for the optional tracking described in this policy. The Cookie Policy explains the intended controls. |
| Protect the website, diagnose faults and prevent abuse. | Legitimate interests in operating a secure, reliable service. |
| Keep legally required records and handle legal requests. | Compliance with applicable legal obligations; legitimate interests where necessary to establish or defend legal claims. |
You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
A designer submission or general enquiry does not, by itself, authorise unrelated promotional emails. A request for information about paid opportunities is used to respond to that request.
04. Contact Form 7 and email
Designer submissions are delivered by email to contact@thegowndirectory.com. In the stated configuration, Contact Form 7 does not save a separate submission record in the WordPress database.
This does not mean the information is never stored: the submission remains in the receiving mailbox and may also be present in mail-server records, device copies and backups. Hosting and email systems process data needed to deliver the message. Their retention and access arrangements must be considered separately from the form plugin.
We use the submission to review the designer and communicate with the sender. A submitter’s private email address is not intended for publication as part of a designer profile.
[CONFIRM this publication practice and identify the hosting and email providers below. Check whether anti-spam or delivery-logging integrations are enabled.]
05. Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors find and use the website and to improve its content. Depending on its configuration, information processed may include pages viewed, interaction events, referral sources, browser/device details, approximate location and online identifiers.
Optional analytics tracking is subject to the consent arrangements described in our Cookie Policy. Google’s handling of data is explained in its Privacy Policy and its explanation of data from sites and apps using Google services.
[VERIFY Analytics version, event-data retention, advertising links, Google Signals/User-ID features and consent-mode implementation. Do not describe advanced cookieless measurement as “no data sent before consent”. This draft assumes optional Google tags are blocked before the relevant consent.]
06. Google AdSense
We use Google AdSense to display advertising. Google and participating advertising partners may process information about your browser or device, identifiers, ad impressions, clicks and website activity for ad delivery, measurement, fraud prevention and, with the required consent, personalised advertising.
The advertising providers and purposes offered on this website should be listed in the consent interface. Google explains its practices in its advertising information. You can also review Google’s account-level advertising preferences through My Ad Center.
Non-personalised advertising does not necessarily mean that no cookies or personal data are used. The consent and disclosure requirements depend on the actual advertising configuration.
[COMPLETE: confirm AdSense ad modes and participating vendors, and connect a suitable consent platform. Do not treat this policy or the WoodMart notice as a substitute for those controls.]
07. Meta Pixel
We use Meta Pixel to measure activity related to advertising on Meta services and to support advertising audiences and campaign measurement. Depending on the configuration, Meta may receive visited page URLs, event information, IP addresses, browser/device information and cookie or other identifiers. It may associate events with a Meta account and use them under its own policies.
Optional Meta tracking is subject to the consent arrangements in our Cookie Policy. See Meta’s Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy.
Where Meta’s Business Tools terms apply, we and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited share responsibility for certain collection and transmission of event data under the Controller Addendum. That arrangement allocates responsibilities between the parties and explains how rights may be exercised; Meta’s subsequent processing is governed by its applicable terms and policies.
[VERIFY: Pixel events, automatic advanced matching and any Conversions API integration. These have not been confirmed. Prevent form contents, private email addresses and sensitive information from being included in URLs or events sent to tracking providers; document any separately authorised matching configuration.]
08. Recipients and international processing
Information is accessible to those who need it to operate the website and handle enquiries. Relevant recipients include hosting and email providers, authorised technical support, analytics and advertising providers, and professional advisers or authorities where necessary for legal purposes. Public designer-profile information is visible to website readers.
[COMPLETE: hosting provider and processing location; email provider and location; any security, backup, support or consent provider. Confirm the relevant Google/Meta contracting entities and each provider’s role.]
Providers may process information outside the European Economic Area. For transfers requiring safeguards, the applicable mechanism must be identified, such as an adequacy decision covering the recipient or approved contractual safeguards. You may contact us for information about the safeguards relevant to your data.
[VERIFY and describe the actual transfer mechanisms for the providers used. Do not assume every US recipient is covered by an adequacy framework merely because it is based in the United States.]
09. How long information is kept
We retain personal information according to its purpose, the continuing relevance of the record, applicable legal duties and any need to resolve a dispute. Mailboxes, backups, analytics systems and public profiles have different retention needs.
- Enquiries and submissions: while being reviewed or discussed, and for a defined follow-up period after the matter closes.
- Public professional profiles: while relevant to the directory, subject to correction, review and justified removal requests.
- Commercial records: for the applicable accounting and legal retention periods.
- Technical records and backups: according to documented security and backup rotation schedules.
- Analytics, advertising and consent records: according to configured retention settings and applicable provider arrangements.
[SET the follow-up retention period, log/backup schedules and consent-record retention. Confirm Analytics event retention and review provider retention information. Replace this note with the chosen periods or sufficiently specific retention criteria.]
10. Your choices and rights
Depending on the processing and applicable law, you may request access, correction, erasure, restriction or portability of your personal information; object to processing based on legitimate interests; and withdraw consent. These rights are subject to legal conditions and exceptions.
Email contact@thegowndirectory.com to make a request. We may need proportionate information to verify your identity. We normally respond within one month; where a lawful extension is needed, we will explain why.
You may complain to a relevant data protection authority, including the authority where you live or work. In Romania, this is the ANSPDCP. Contacting us first is not a prerequisite to making a complaint.
Advertising providers may use profiling for personalised advertising. This is distinct from solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects.
[CONFIRM whether the operator makes any solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. If none, state that; otherwise add the required explanation.]
11. Security, external links and updates
We aim to limit access to personal information to legitimate operational needs and use appropriate safeguards. No method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed completely secure.
Links to designers, retailers and social platforms lead to services with their own privacy practices. This policy does not govern those independent websites. Embedded third-party content, if enabled, must also be accounted for in our tracking disclosures.
We may update this policy when the website or its processing changes. We will publish a revised effective date and provide additional notice where required.