Who we are
WHAT IS VEGAN LTD, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 17209791. Registered office: 66 Paul Street, London, England, United Kingdom, EC2A 4NA. Email: hello@whatisvegan.co.uk.
We operate whatisvegan.co.uk and are responsible for the information processed through it as described in this policy.
Information we process
- Website usage information collected by analytics tools, where you allow it (see below).
- Your cookie choice, stored in your own browser.
- Technical information that any website necessarily receives to deliver pages securely, such as your IP address, handled by our hosting and security infrastructure.
- Anything you choose to send us by email.
We do not offer public visitor accounts, and we do not sell personal information.
Google Analytics 4
We use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google, to understand how visitors find and use the site. Before you make a cookie choice, Google Analytics may send a limited, cookieless request in a consent-denied state. No Google Analytics cookie is set before you consent. If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics may set analytics cookies and provide fuller measurement of pages viewed, how you arrived and general device and location information. Advertising storage is always kept off.
Our Google Analytics retention settings are: event data kept for 2 months, user data kept for 14 months, with retention reset on new user activity. Our own 24-month first-party retention period (below) does not apply to Google Analytics.
Microsoft Clarity
We use Microsoft Clarity, provided by Microsoft, to understand how pages are used, for example where people click and scroll, so we can improve the site. Before you make a choice, or if you decline analytics, Clarity may operate in a restricted, cookieless no-consent mode, and Clarity analytics cookies are not set while consent is denied. Accepting analytics enables fuller Clarity functionality and its cookies. Microsoft's own retention settings apply to this data.
Our own (first-party) analytics
If you accept analytics cookies, the site also records a small number of business actions, such as a page being viewed, the newsletter sign-up being started, a restaurant search or a social link being clicked. Each record may contain only:
- the event name, the page (route), the part of the page used (surface) and a fixed outcome value;
- a restaurant identifier, for restaurant views;
- a recognised social platform name;
- campaign tags (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) if the link you followed contained them;
- the time the record was received, set by our server, and a schema version.
These records do not intentionally store your name, email address, raw IP address, browser user-agent, the text you type into restaurant search, form contents, precise location, a device fingerprint, a permanent visitor ID or a persistent session ID. Restaurant searches are reduced to a general location category, never your exact words.
To protect the system from abuse, we count requests using a salted, one-way hash derived from your network address and a short time window. The raw address is not stored by this rate-limiting system, and these counters are routinely cleared.
Campaign tags from the link you arrived on are held in your browser's session storage only for the current visit, and are cleared if you decline analytics.
Raw first-party analytics events are retained for up to 24 months and then deleted automatically. This 24-month period applies only to our own analytics records, not to Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, The Vegan Weekly or any other third-party service.
Error monitoring (Sentry)
If you accept through our cookie banner, we use Sentry, provided by Functional Software, Inc., to help us detect and diagnose technical errors on our website. Sentry is not activated before you make a choice, or if you decline.
When an error occurs, Sentry may receive limited technical information such as the error details, page path, browser type, language and timezone. Values contained in web-address query strings are filtered before information is sent. We do not deliberately send your name, email address, account identity, form contents or authentication information to Sentry.
IP-address storage is disabled in our Sentry settings. In our current implementation, Sentry does not set cookies or use localStorage or sessionStorage. Our Sentry project stores its service data in Sentry's EU data region. Sentry and its service providers may process information in other countries subject to applicable contractual and legal safeguards.
You can withdraw your choice at any time using Cookie settings in the footer. After you withdraw consent, no new Sentry error reports are sent.
Hosting and database infrastructure
The site and our first-party analytics records are hosted on cloud infrastructure operated by our website and database service providers, who process information on our behalf to run the service.
The Vegan Weekly newsletter
Our newsletter, The Vegan Weekly, is run on Beehiiv at veganweekly.co.uk. When you enter your email on our site and press Join free, your email address is sent securely from our server to Beehiiv to process your subscription. It is not placed in the page address, and it is not sent to Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, Sentry or our own first-party analytics. Beehiiv stores and processes your email address to manage your subscription and deliver the newsletter. We use double opt-in, so your subscription only becomes active after you confirm it from the email Beehiiv sends you. Every newsletter includes an unsubscribe link, and Beehiiv's subscription management remains available to you. Beehiiv's own privacy policy applies to your subscription.
Cookies and consent
Optional analytics only run with your consent where consent is required. You can change your choice at any time using Cookie settings in the footer. See our cookie policy for details.
Who receives information
- Google (Google Analytics 4)
- Microsoft (Microsoft Clarity)
- Beehiiv (The Vegan Weekly), only when you choose to sign up
- Our website hosting and database providers
- Authorities, where we are legally required to disclose information
International processing
Some of our providers may process information outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States. Where required, appropriate legally recognised transfer safeguards are used. Providers' documentation describes the mechanisms they rely on, which may include Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK Addendum or other recognised transfer mechanisms. See Google's privacy policy, Microsoft's privacy statement and Beehiiv's privacy policy for details.
Lawful basis
- Consent: where the law requires it, we rely on your consent for optional analytics, which you can withdraw at any time.
- Legitimate interests: for necessary website operation, security, abuse prevention and protection of our systems, WHAT IS VEGAN LTD relies on its legitimate interests in operating a secure and reliable website, where those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
- Legitimate interests: for ordinary email enquiries, WHAT IS VEGAN LTD relies on its legitimate interests in receiving and responding to genuine enquiries, unless another lawful basis applies in the circumstances.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law may give you the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you;
- have inaccurate information corrected;
- have information erased;
- restrict how it is used;
- object to its use;
- receive it in a portable format, where applicable;
- withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that took place before.
Because our first-party analytics are designed not to identify individuals, we may not be able to link any records to you. To make a request, email hello@whatisvegan.co.uk.
Withdrawing consent
Open Cookie settings in the footer and choose Decline. When you decline analytics, our consent-based first-party analytics stops, analytics cookies accessible to this site are removed where technically possible, and Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity remain in their restricted consent-denied or cookieless modes where those services operate in that way.
Complaints
If you have a concern, please contact us first at hello@whatisvegan.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the site changes. The date at the top shows when it was last revised.