Privacy Notice

Who we are

The Mersey Monitor (“we”, “us”, “our”) is an independent news and publishing website. We are the data controller for the purposes of UK data protection law.

If you have any questions about this notice or how we use your data, you can contact us at: themerseymonitor@outlook.com

1. Website users, subscribers and supporters

What information we collect

We may collect and process the following personal data:

• Email address (e.g. when you sign up to our newsletter)
• Name (if provided)
• Technical information such as IP address, browser type and device information

• Information about how you use our website (e.g. pages visited)

• Information relating to donations or payments (see below)

How we use this information

We use this data to:

• Provide and manage our website
• Send newsletters or updates where you have signed up
• Process donations or payments
• Monitor and improve our content and services
• Maintain the security of our website

Legal bases

We rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Consent – where you sign up to receive emails
• Legitimate interests – to operate, maintain and improve our website and journalism
• Contract – where you make a payment or subscribe to paid content

2. Payments and donations

If you make a donation or payment, this is processed by Stripe.

• We do not store your full card details
• Payment information is processed securely by Stripe
• Stripe may act as a data controller in its own right

You can view Stripe’s privacy policy on their website for more information about how they handle your data.

3. Website platform and hosting

Our website is operated using Ghost.

Ghost may process personal data such as:

• Email addresses for subscriptions
• Technical and usage data

Depending on our configuration, data may be stored in the UK, EEA, or other jurisdictions with appropriate safeguards in place.

4. Cookies and analytics

We may use cookies or similar technologies to:

• Understand how visitors use our website
• Improve performance and user experience
• Maintain site functionality

You can control cookies through your browser settings.

5. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary. For example:

• Newsletter data is kept until you unsubscribe
• Basic technical logs are retained for a limited period for security and performance
• Financial records may be retained as required for legal and accounting purposes

6. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have rights including:

• The right to access your data
• The right to correct inaccurate data
• The right to request deletion of your data
• The right to restrict or object to processing
• The right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Under UK data protection law, we must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.

Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are set out in brief below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

• Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. Read more about the right of access.
• Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. Read more about the right to rectification.
• Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information. Read more about the right to erasure.
• Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information. Read more about the right to restriction of processing.
• Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. Read more about the right to object to processing.
• Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you. Read more about the right to data portability.
• Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Read more about the right to withdraw consent.

If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.

To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

7. Journalistic data and sources

As a news and publishing organisation, we also process personal data for journalistic purposes.

This may include:

• Information provided by sources
• Tips, emails or messages sent to us
• Background research for articles and investigations

Legal basis and exemptions

Where we process data for journalism, we rely on:

• The public interest
• The right to freedom of expression and information

In some cases, we may rely on exemptions under the Data Protection Act 2018 relating to journalism. This means that certain rights (such as access, erasure, or notification) may be limited where applying them would:

• Undermine an investigation
• Prejudice publication
• Reveal confidential sources

Confidential sources

We take the protection of sources seriously. Where appropriate, we take steps to protect the identity of individuals who provide information to us.

Transparency

In some cases, we may not be able to inform individuals that we are processing their data for journalistic purposes where doing so would undermine our work or the public interest.

8. Changes to this notice

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website.

9. Contact

If you have any questions about this notice or your data, please contact: themerseymonitor@outlook.com

10. How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Last updated: 14/04/2026