FootyGazette is a global football publication. We take the privacy of our readers, newsletter subscribers, and paying members seriously, and this policy explains in plain English exactly what we collect, why we collect it, what we do with it, and the rights you have over it. We have tried to keep the language readable; where the law forces specific terminology, we explain what those terms mean.
1. Who we are
FootyGazette (“FootyGazette”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is an independent football publication. Our editorial base is in the United Kingdom and our owner is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. We publish news, transfers coverage, opinion, analysis, match reports, and features, and we operate a paid live-football streaming service at footygazette.com/watch/.
For any privacy-related question, you can reach us at [email protected]. We aim to respond to all privacy enquiries within 30 days, and in many cases much sooner.
For the purposes of UK GDPR and EU GDPR, FootyGazette is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. Where we rely on third-party processors (Stripe, Cloudflare, Google, our email provider, and our news-engine infrastructure), those parties act as processors or independent controllers as described in Section 6.
2. What we collect
We collect different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with the site. We try to collect the minimum we need.
2.1 Visitor analytics data
When you browse FootyGazette, our analytics tools collect technical and behavioural information including your IP address (truncated or pseudonymised where possible), browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time on page, and approximate location derived from IP. This data is used in aggregate to understand readership and to improve the publication.
2.2 Newsletter subscriber data
If you sign up for our newsletter, we collect your email address and the timestamp and source of your sign-up (for proof of consent). We may also store, where you have voluntarily provided it, a first name for personalisation. We do not require any other information to subscribe.
2.3 Subscription customer data (via Stripe)
When you purchase a streaming subscription at /watch/, payment is processed entirely by Stripe through a Stripe Payment Link. We do not see, store, or have access to your full card number or CVC. From Stripe, we receive a limited record consisting of your email address, country, the subscription tier purchased, billing currency, the amount paid, the renewal date, and a Stripe customer ID. We use this minimal record solely to provide your subscription, deliver receipts, manage renewals, and resolve support issues.
2.4 Contact form and email submissions
If you email us or use a contact form, we receive whatever you choose to send: typically your name, email address, and the content of your message. We use this information only to respond to you and to keep a reasonable record of correspondence.
2.5 What we do not collect
We do not knowingly collect special category data (such as health, biometric, political, or religious information). We do not collect government identifiers. We do not collect children’s data deliberately (see Section 10).
3. How we use your information
We use personal data for three broad purposes: operational (running the site and the subscription service), editorial (delivering and improving our journalism), and marketing (telling you about FootyGazette where you have agreed to hear from us).
- To deliver our content — serving pages, loading images, and keeping the site available and fast.
- To run subscriptions — granting access to /watch/, processing payments via Stripe, sending receipts and renewal notifications, handling cancellations and refunds.
- To run the newsletter — sending the editions you signed up for, and occasional product news from FootyGazette where consent allows.
- To respond to you — replying to support, editorial, or press enquiries.
- To understand our audience — aggregated analytics to see which stories resonate and where readers are located, never to profile individuals.
- To protect the site — detecting fraud, abuse, scraping, and security incidents through Cloudflare and server logs.
- To comply with the law — meeting tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations in our operating jurisdictions.
4. Legal basis for processing
Under UK GDPR and EU GDPR we must tell you the legal basis on which we process your personal data. Different bases apply to different categories.
- Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) — for paying subscribers, we process your data because we must in order to provide the subscription you have paid for.
- Consent (Article 6(1)(a)) — newsletter sign-ups, non-essential cookies, and any future personalised marketing. You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — security, fraud prevention, aggregated analytics, and direct communication with existing customers about service changes.
- Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) — keeping financial records, responding to lawful requests, and tax compliance.
For readers in Quebec, this processing is also conducted in accordance with Quebec’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector as amended by Law 25, and PIPEDA for the rest of Canada.
5. Cookies and tracking
FootyGazette uses cookies and similar technologies. We group them into three categories and only fire non-essential categories after you have given consent through our cookie banner.
5.1 Strictly necessary
Cloudflare security cookies, your cookie-consent choice itself, and session cookies set during the Stripe checkout flow. These cannot be switched off because the site or checkout will not work without them.
5.2 Analytics
We use Google Tag Manager (GTM-MZSCGN88) to deploy Google Analytics 4 (G-8H79GE2V1F). These tools tell us, in aggregate, how many people read which stories. These tags only load if you accept analytics cookies.
5.3 Marketing
We do not currently run third-party advertising or retargeting pixels. If we add them, we will update this policy and only fire them with your consent.
You can change your cookie preferences at any time using the “Cookie settings” link in our footer. Refusing analytics or marketing cookies will not block your access to any FootyGazette content.
6. Third-party services
- Stripe — payment processing. PCI-DSS Level 1 certified. See stripe.com/privacy.
- Cloudflare — CDN, DDoS protection, DNS. See cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.
- Google (Analytics + Tag Manager) — loaded only with consent. See policies.google.com/privacy.
- Email service provider — when our newsletter goes live we will use Beehiiv. We will update this policy with the exact provider and their privacy link when the service is activated.
- News-engine infrastructure (n8n and Anthropic) — used for editorial workflow and content drafting only. Do not receive subscriber lists, payment data, newsletter data, or any reader personal data. Anthropic API terms confirm data submitted is not used to train models.
- Hosting provider — our VPS is located in Europe. Standard server logs retained briefly for security.
7. Data retention
- Visitor analytics — aggregated reports kept indefinitely; user-level GA4 data retained for 14 months.
- Server and Cloudflare logs — 7 to 30 days.
- Newsletter subscribers — for as long as you remain subscribed, plus up to 24 months of inactivity.
- Subscription customer records — for the duration of your subscription and up to 7 years after termination, for tax/accounting compliance.
- Contact correspondence — up to 24 months from last contact.
8. Your rights
8.1 If you are in the UK or EU (UK GDPR / EU GDPR)
- Right of access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection, restriction, and withdrawal of consent.
- Right to lodge a complaint with the UK ICO (ico.org.uk) or your local EU data protection authority.
8.2 If you are in California (CCPA / CPRA)
- Right to know, delete, correct, opt out of sale or sharing, and non-discrimination.
- FootyGazette does not sell personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
8.3 If you are in Canada (PIPEDA) or Quebec (Law 25)
- Right to access, correct, withdraw consent, be informed of automated decisions, and data portability (Quebec Law 25, in force since September 2024).
- Right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca) or the Commission d’accès à l’information (cai.gouv.qc.ca).
To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We respond within 30 days for GDPR and PIPEDA requests, and within 45 days for CCPA requests.
9. International data transfers
FootyGazette is a global publication and uses service providers around the world. Where we transfer personal data out of the UK or EEA to a country that has not been judged to provide an “adequate” level of protection, we rely on appropriate safeguards including the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), the UK International Data Transfer Addendum (UK IDTA), and the EU-US and UK-US Data Privacy Framework where the recipient is certified.
10. Children’s privacy
FootyGazette is intended for readers aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact [email protected] and we will delete the data promptly.
11. Our policy on AI
FootyGazette uses AI — specifically large language models supplied by Anthropic — to assist with editorial drafting and to generate some featured images.
- Human editorial responsibility — every article is reviewed, fact-checked, and signed off by a human editor.
- No training on subscriber data — we never feed subscriber email addresses, customer records, newsletter lists, payment data, or contact-form submissions into AI systems.
- No model training — Anthropic’s API terms confirm data sent through the API is not used to train its models.
- Disclosure where it matters — when an image is AI-generated, we either label it or use it in clearly illustrative contexts.
12. Changes to this policy
For material changes that affect your rights or how we use your data, we will notify newsletter subscribers and active customers by email, and post a prominent notice on the site for at least 30 days.
13. How to contact us and exercise your rights
Email: [email protected]. If you are unhappy with our response, you have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
14. Effective date and version
Version: 1.0 (draft)
Effective date: 2026-05-22
Last updated: 2026-05-22
