Privacy Policy
This policy tells you what personal data Ennui Nation® collects, why, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it.
Who we are
Ennui Nation is operated by Ennui Nation Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales.
- Registered office: Mentor House, Ainsworth Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 6AY, United Kingdom — care of our accountants, for formal legal and statutory correspondence only. Ennui Nation is an online publication with no public office and cannot receive visitors; for anything else, including privacy requests, please email us.
- Companies House number: 12831774
- Contact for privacy matters: legal@ennuination.com
For the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, Ennui Nation Ltd is the data controller for personal data collected through ennuination.com and related services.
What data we collect and why
The sections below cover each way you might interact with us — expand the one that applies to you.
When you sign up for the free newsletter
We collect minimal, cookie-free, first-party analytics: which pages are viewed, aggregated device and browser type, country (not precise location), and referral source. These analytics are generated by our publishing platform (Ghost) and sent only to our own site. They are not shared with third-party analytics providers and they do not set tracking cookies on your device.
- Legal basis: legitimate interest (operating and improving the site).
- Retention: aggregated analytics are kept indefinitely; individual visit records are retained for a limited window.
When you sign up for the free newsletter
We collect your email address so that we can send you the newsletter you have signed up for.
- Legal basis: consent (opt-in) and, where relevant, performance of the service you signed up for.
- Retention: until you unsubscribe, or until the account is inactive for an extended period.
When you become a supporter
In addition to the above, we collect your name and email address (held through Ghost), plus subscription status (active, paused, cancelled) and billing history (dates, amounts, renewal dates).
Your payment card details are not collected, stored or seen by us. Payments are processed by Stripe, which is an independent payment processor acting as its own data controller for payment data under its own privacy policy.
- Legal basis: performance of the subscription contract.
- Retention: subscription records are kept for the life of your subscription plus the minimum period required for tax and accounting purposes under UK law (currently 6 years from the end of the relevant accounting period).
When you make a donation
We collect the name and email address you provide at checkout, plus the amount and date of the donation. Card details are processed by Stripe, as above.
- Legal basis: performance of the transaction.
- Retention: donation records are kept for the minimum period required for tax and accounting purposes (currently 6 years).
When you contact us
If you email us at any of our ennuination.com addresses (they all reach the same inbox), we receive the information you send us: your email address, any name or contact details you provide, and the contents of the message.
- Legal basis: legitimate interest (responding to you) and, where relevant, performance of our editorial and complaints processes.
- Retention: correspondence is retained for as long as needed for the matter at hand, plus a limited record-keeping period. Complaint records may be retained for longer where they inform editorial standards or are subject to legal obligation. Source correspondence is retained according to the commitments on our Contact us in confidence page.
When we report on you (subject-side processing)
Ennui Nation is a journalism publisher. As part of our editorial work we may process personal data about people we report on, and in narrow circumstances special category data (for example political opinions, religious beliefs, health or sexual orientation) where there is a substantial public interest.
We rely on:
- UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f) — legitimate interests, where the legitimate interest is reporting matters in the public interest.
- UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) read with Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 1 Part 2 paragraphs 13–15 — substantial public interest conditions for journalism, for special category data.
- Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 2 Part 5 paragraph 26 — the special purposes / journalism exemption, which disapplies certain UK GDPR provisions (including Articles 13–17 and 21) where (a) processing is for journalism, (b) with a view to publication, (c) with a reasonable belief that publication is in the public interest, and (d) compliance would be incompatible with the journalistic purposes.
If you are the subject of an Ennui Nation piece, your data subject rights under UK GDPR may be disapplied to the extent strictly necessary for the journalistic purposes. We record the basis on which we rely on the exemption for each piece. If you have a concern about how we have processed your personal data, you can use our Complaints Procedure and, separately, complain to the ICO.
This section does not apply to readers, supporters, donors or correspondents — the sections above govern your personal data.
The broader legal framework that governs our reporting (defamation, privacy, contempt, source protection, election law, harassment law, data protection) is summarised on our Legal Framework page.
Who we share your data with
We do not sell your data. We do not share it for third-party marketing. We share it only with:
- Ghost — our publishing platform, acting as our data processor under the Ghost Data Processing Agreement (ghost.org/dpa). Ghost stores subscriber records, handles newsletter delivery, and runs the site.
- Stripe — our payment processor, acting as its own data controller for payment data.
- Proton AG — our email and cloud storage provider. Proton Mail hosts our ennuination.com inboxes; Proton Drive hosts our backups and working documents. Proton is based in Switzerland, a jurisdiction recognised by the UK as providing adequate data protection. Inbound email is zero-access encrypted on Proton's servers: Proton itself cannot read the contents.
- Professional advisors (accountant, lawyer) — where necessary for tax, accounting, legal advice or legal proceedings. These advisors are bound by their own professional confidentiality.
- Authorities — where legally required (for example, a valid court order, a tax audit). We will resist any request that lacks a lawful basis.
International transfers
Ghost, Stripe and Proton may process data outside the UK. Where they do, they do so under the standard safeguards recognised by UK GDPR — for example, processing within Switzerland (a jurisdiction recognised by the UK as providing adequate data protection), or processing elsewhere under the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to:
- Be informed about how we use your data (this policy).
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification — correction of inaccurate data.
- Erasure — deletion of your data, subject to our legal obligations.
- Restriction — limit how we use your data.
- Portability — receive your data in a common format.
- Object — to processing based on legitimate interest or to direct marketing.
- Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
- Complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, email legal@ennuination.com. We will respond within 30 days.
Cookies
See our separate Cookie Notice for full detail on what cookies we use.
Children
Ennui Nation is written for an adult audience. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe we have, please email legal@ennuination.com and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We review this policy at least annually and update it whenever our processing materially changes.
Contact
Ennui Nation Ltd — legal@ennuination.com