Privacy policy

Effective Date: April 24, 2026

At Gardenou, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our visitors and customers. This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or purchase from gardenou.com (the "Site").

Gardenou is operated by Vumra Commerce Ltd (Company No. 16707665), a company registered in England and Wales. Vumra Commerce Ltd is the Data Controller responsible for your personal information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK-GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Personal Information We Collect

When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including your web browser type, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies installed on your device.

When you make a purchase through the Site, we collect:

Order Information: Your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (processed securely via our payment gateway — we do not store full card numbers on our servers), email address, and phone number.

Communication Data: Messages you send us by email or contact form, which we retain to provide support and keep a record of our correspondence.

Technical Data: Your IP address, browser type, device information, and how you interact with our Site.

Marketing Preferences: If you opt in to our marketing, we record that consent and any preferences you set.

2. How We Use Your Personal Information and Our Legal Basis

Under UK-GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for every way we use your data. We rely on the following:

To fulfil your order (contract): We use your Order Information to process payments, arrange shipping, and send you invoices and order confirmations. Without this, we cannot complete your purchase.

To communicate with you (contract and legitimate interests): We use your contact details to update you on the status of your order and answer support queries.

To prevent fraud (legitimate interests): We screen orders for potential risk or fraud to protect both you and our business.

To improve our Site (legitimate interests): We use anonymous or aggregated analytics data to understand how visitors use the Site.

For marketing (consent): If you opt in, we may send you information about new bird house designs, seasonal releases, or garden tips. You can withdraw consent at any time by clicking "unsubscribe" in any marketing email or by emailing support@gardenou.com.

To comply with legal obligations (legal obligation): We retain certain records (such as order and tax data) as required by UK law.

3. Sharing Your Personal Information

We share your Personal Information with trusted third parties only where necessary:

Shopify: Our store is hosted on Shopify Inc. They provide the e-commerce platform that allows us to sell to you. Read their Privacy Policy at shopify.com/legal/privacy.

Shipping Partners: We share your delivery details with our carriers (e.g. Royal Mail, DPD, Evri) so your order can be delivered to you.

Payment Processor: Your payment information is securely processed by our payment gateway. We do not store or have access to your full card details.

Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to understand how our customers use the Site. Analytics data is anonymised where possible.

Legal and Regulatory Bodies: We may share your information to comply with applicable laws, respond to a lawful request from UK authorities, or protect our legal rights.

We do not sell your personal information to any third party for their own marketing purposes.

4. International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers (including Shopify and Google) are based outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States and Canada. When your data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on UK-approved safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, to ensure your data receives an equivalent level of protection.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes it was collected.

Order and transaction records: Retained for a minimum of 6 years, in line with UK tax and accounting law (HMRC requirements).

Support correspondence: Retained for up to 3 years after the last contact, to handle follow-up queries or complaints.

Marketing data: Retained until you withdraw consent or after 2 years of inactivity, whichever comes first.

Website analytics data: Typically retained for up to 26 months (Google Analytics default) in an anonymised form.

6. Your Rights Under UK-GDPR

If you are a resident of the United Kingdom, you have the right to:

Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

Rectification: Request that incorrect or incomplete data be corrected.

Erasure: Request that we delete your personal data, subject to legal retention obligations.

Restriction: Ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.

Objection: Object to our processing of your data, particularly for marketing purposes.

Data Portability: Request that your data be transferred to another service in a machine-readable format.

Withdraw Consent: Where our processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@gardenou.com. We will respond within one month, as required by UK-GDPR.

7. Right to Complain to the ICO

If you believe we have mishandled your personal information, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator:

Website: ico.org.uk
Helpline: 0303 123 1113

We would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first, so please consider contacting us at support@gardenou.com before making a formal complaint.

8. Cookies

Our Site uses cookies and similar technologies. Cookies fall into two categories:

Essential Cookies: Required for the Site to function (e.g. remembering your cart items, keeping you logged in, processing checkout). These do not require your consent.

Non-Essential Cookies: Used for analytics, performance measurement, and marketing. We only set these after you give consent via our cookie banner.

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the cookie settings link in our Site footer, or by adjusting your browser settings to refuse or delete cookies. Please note that disabling essential cookies may affect the functionality of the Site.

9. Children's Privacy

Our Site and products are not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@gardenou.com and we will promptly delete it.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. The "Effective Date" at the top of this page will always show when the policy was last updated. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

11. Contact Us

For questions about our privacy practices, or to exercise any of your rights, please contact us:

Email: support@gardenou.com
Phone: +44 7537 186631
Business Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (GMT)
Business Address: Unit 7, Thames-Side Studios, London, SE18 5AU, United Kingdom
Data Controller: Gardenou is operated by Vumra Commerce Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 16707665).