Privacy policy

The short version

• We don't ask you to sign up, and we don't have accounts.
• We count visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which doesn't use cookies or identify you. We don't use advertising trackers or social media plugins.
• Your saved and recently viewed watches and jewellery are kept in your own browser. They are never sent to us.
• When you follow a link to a retailer, the affiliate network Awin and the retailer can see that you came from us, so we can be paid a commission if you buy. Their own privacy policies apply.

Who we are

Sterling Guild runs sterlingguild.co.uk, a website that compares new watches and jewellery and links to UK retailers. For anything about your privacy, email us at contact@sterlingguild.co.uk.

Information we collect

Emails you send us. If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it only to reply to you (the legal basis is our legitimate interest in answering messages people send us), and we delete it when it's no longer needed for that.

Email sign-up. The sign-up box in the footer isn't connected to any email service yet, so anything typed into it is not sent anywhere. Before we connect it, we'll update this page to say which service holds the list and how to leave it.

Visit statistics. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to see how many people visit, which pages they read, which website sent them (such as a search engine) and the type of device, so we know which guides are useful. According to Cloudflare, it doesn't use cookies or your browser's storage, and doesn't track you across websites. We only ever see totals, never who you are. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in knowing which pages people find useful.

That's all. We don't collect your name, address, payment details or anything else, because you never buy anything from us.

Information kept in your browser

Some features remember things in your own browser's storage, not on our servers. We can't see it. The details are on our cookie policy:

• Saved watches and jewellery: the watches and jewellery you tap the heart on.
• Recently viewed: up to 12 watches and pieces of jewellery you've looked at, shown on the homepage. You can turn this off on the cookie policy page.
• Watches shown: how many watches you've loaded on the Watches page, so the back button returns you to the same place. It's forgotten when you close the tab.

Companies that handle data when you use our site

Cloudflare (our host). Our pages and photos are delivered by Cloudflare. Like every web host, Cloudflare receives the technical details your browser sends with each request, such as your IP address and browser type, in order to deliver the page and protect the site from attacks. Cloudflare also provides our visit statistics (see above). See Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Awin and the retailer (when you follow a link to buy). Links such as "See it at Goldsmiths" go through Awin, the affiliate network that runs Goldsmiths' affiliate programme, and then to the retailer's website. Awin and the retailer may set cookies on their own websites to record that you came from us, so that we can be paid a commission if you buy. The link also tells them which of our pages you clicked from (for example "best-gmt-watches"), but nothing about who you are. See Awin's privacy policy, and the retailer's own privacy policy on its website.

We don't sell or share any information about you with anyone else.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) you can ask us for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it or delete it, and object to how we use it. In practice the only personal information we might hold is an email you've sent us. Email contact@sterlingguild.co.uk and we'll reply within one month.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Changes to this policy

If what the site does changes, for example if we connect the email sign-up, we'll update this page and the date at the top.