Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Spines Publishing UK is a trading name of VISION CORE SOLUTIONS LTD, a limited company registered in the United Kingdom. VISION CORE SOLUTIONS LTD is the data controller responsible for your personal data. Our business address is 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at info@spinespublishing.co.uk or call +44 20 4515 8379.

Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us when you make an enquiry, submit a manuscript, purchase services, contact our support team or otherwise interact with our website.

Information you provide

• Name, email address, phone number and billing address
• Payment information (processed securely by our payment processors; we do not store card numbers)
• Manuscript files, cover briefs and other creative materials you upload
• Communications with our Author Success Team and editorial staff
• Account preferences and profile information

Information collected automatically

• IP address, browser type, device identifiers and operating system
• Pages visited, time spent, links clicked and referring URLs
• Cookie identifiers and similar technologies, where you have consented to them (see our Cookie Policy)
• Approximate location derived from your IP address (country and region level only)

How We Use Your Information and Our Lawful Bases

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for using your personal data. We use your information as follows:

• Contract: to provide our publishing services, manage your project and process payments.
• Legitimate interests: to respond to enquiries, communicate about your project, prevent fraud and improve our website and services. We balance these interests against your rights.
• Legal obligation: to keep financial records required by HMRC and to comply with other legal requirements.
• Consent: to send you marketing emails and text messages and to set non-essential cookies. You can withdraw your consent at any time.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We do not use your manuscript content for any purpose other than delivering the services you have purchased.

Information We Share

We share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

• Service providers: trusted suppliers (payment processors, cloud storage, email delivery and live chat providers) who process data solely on our behalf under written data processing agreements.
• Distribution partners: when distributing your book, we share the necessary author and book metadata (name, title, ISBN, pricing) with retailers, wholesalers and distributors such as Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Gardners, Apple Books and Kobo.
• Legal compliance: where required by law, court order or a regulator, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Spines Publishing UK, our clients or the public.
• Business transfers: in the event of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may be transferred. We will tell you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

International Transfers

Some of our service providers are based outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we make sure it is protected by a UK adequacy regulation or by appropriate safeguards such as the ICO's International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Text Messages and Mobile Information

We only send text messages where you have given consent by ticking the consent box on one of our forms, in line with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). Phone numbers obtained through this process are used solely to send the messages you agreed to receive and to respond to your requests. They are never shared with third parties or affiliates for their marketing purposes.

For full details of message types, frequency and how to opt out, please see the Text Message Terms in our Terms of Service at https://spinespublishing.co.uk/legal/terms-of-service/.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as we need it. Enquiry data is kept for up to 2 years from your last contact with us. Client records, invoices and payment records are kept for 6 years after the end of our contract to meet HMRC record-keeping requirements and to deal with any claims.

Manuscript files and creative materials are retained for 12 months after project completion, after which they are permanently deleted from our systems. You may ask us to delete them sooner by contacting our support team.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law you have the following rights:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure: ask us to delete your personal data, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection: object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
• Withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@spinespublishing.co.uk. There is normally no charge, and we will respond within one month.

Complaints to the ICO

We would like the chance to resolve any concerns first, so please contact us. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. Clients under 18 need the consent of a parent or guardian to buy our services. If you believe we have collected a child's data by mistake, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will tell you about material changes by email or by posting a prominent notice on our website at least 14 days before the changes take effect.

Independent Business, No Affiliation

Spines Publishing UK is an independent business and a trading name of VISION CORE SOLUTIONS LTD. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or otherwise connected to any other publishing company or platform, including any company operating under a similar or related name.

Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please email info@spinespublishing.co.uk, call +44 20 4515 8379 or write to: Data Protection, Spines Publishing UK, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom.