Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 15, 2024

The https://gardenplanner.almanac.com website('Website'), services and associated apps are provided by Growing Interactive Limited ('we'/'us'/'our'), based in the UK with company registration number 5997411. In doing so, we may be in a position to receive and process personal information relating to you. As the controller of this information, we're providing this Privacy Notice ('Notice') to explain our approach to personal information. This Notice forms part of our Terms and Conditions, which governs the use of this Website, services and apps. You can contact us through the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps or services.

We intend only to process personal information fairly and transparently as required by data protection law including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Of course, you may browse parts of this Website without providing any information about yourself and without accepting cookies. In that case, it's unlikely we'll hold and process any information relating to you.

Sometimes, when you create an account with us or provide your email address for the purposes of receiving a service or information, we might wish to provide you with further information about similar services or products by email or other written electronic communication. In that situation, we will always give you the opportunity to refuse to receive that further information and if you change your mind please let us know. We'll endeavour to remind you of your right to opt-out on each occasion that we provide such information.

At the point of collecting information, we'll endeavour to explain how we intend to use the information. If we rely on consent, we'll provide you with the opportunity to tell us that you're happy to provide the information. If at any point in time you change your mind and decide that you don't consent, please let us know and we'll endeavour to stop processing your information in the specified manner, or we'll delete your data if there is no continuing reason for holding it.

Information we Expect to Collect from You

We envisage asking for the following types of information from you which are necessary for us to provide services to you available on our websites or in our apps:

Information Type Purpose and Related Details
Garden Location
  • We ask for this to offer relevant gardening advice such as best planting times for your garden location.
  • We send this data to Google Maps so that we can display the location of your garden on a map to check that the location is correct. They will be processing it for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • This data may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Email address
  • We ask for this to create an account, send timely garden information you have requested (such as planting reminders or gardening advice) or identify your account for login and subscription purposes.
  • This information is kept on our systems within Microsoft Azure.
Payment information
  • We ask for this to complete a subscription if you decide to subscribe to one of our paid-for services.
  • This is entered directly into a Fastspring form on our website to complete the payment transaction. No financial information (e.g. credit card numbers) is stored on our own systems.
  • This data will be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield.

If you choose not to provide information requested, then we may need to stop providing the service that depends on that information.

At the time of collecting information, by whichever method is used, we'll endeavour to alert you and inform you about our purposes and legal basis for processing that information, as well as whether we intend to share the information with anyone else or send it outside of the European Economic Area. If at any point you think we've invited you to provide information without explaining why, feel free to object and ask for our reasons.

Using your Personal Information

Data protection, privacy and security are important to us, and we shall only use your personal information for specified purposes and shall not keep such personal information longer than is necessary to fulfil these purposes. The following are examples of such purposes:

  • To help us to identify you when you contact us. This will normally be necessary for the performance of our contract or services to you.
  • To help us to identify accounts, services and/or products which you could have accessed from us from time to time.
  • To help us to administer and to contact you about improved administration of any accounts, services and products we have provided before, do provide now or will or may provide in the future.
  • To allow us to carry out customer surveys and research to help improve the products and services we offer to you. This will sometimes require that you consent, but will sometimes be exempt as market research and you may withdraw consent at any time.
  • To allow us to contact you by written electronic means (such as email, text or multimedia messages) about products and services offered by us where these products are similar to those you have already purchased from us, and you have not opted out of us contacting you.

We will not disclose your personal information to any third party except in accordance with this Notice, and if they will be processing the data on our behalf as a data processor (where we'll be the data controller). In that situation, we'll always have a contract with the data processor as set out in the GDPR. This contract provides significant restrictions as to how the data processor operates so that you can be confident your data is protected to the same degree as provided in this Notice.

Where you give us personal information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have provided them with the information set out in this Notice and that they have not objected to such use of their personal information.

We may allow other people and organisations to use personal information we hold about you in the following circumstances:

  • If we, or substantially all of our assets, are acquired or are in the process of being acquired by a third party, in which case personal information held by us, about our customers, will be one of the transferred assets.
  • If we have been legitimately asked to provide information for legal or regulatory purposes or as part of legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings.

Third Party Services with whom we Share Information

We do not pass user-related data to any third party except where necessary for the fulfilment of our business obligations and only where an equally strict privacy policy is in effect. We never rent or sell personal data to other companies.

We use a number of services provided by other companies to deliver our own services. We may share information you provide to us with them as detailed below:

Company Information we may Share
Microsoft
  • We use Microsoft Azure cloud services to run our websites, databases and other associated systems. Microsoft process the information for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law. Microsoft segregates our data from other customers of their Azure services and we follow industry best practices for data security, access and encryption of sensitive data.
  • This data is hosted within the UK but may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Fastspring
  • Fastspring provide our payment processing services and are a Merchant of Record, so when you purchase the Garden Planner you are actually purchasing it through Fastspring who act as our authorized agent.
  • We do not store any payment information on our own systems - when you subscribe or pay for anything on our website you are entering it directly into Fastspring's system.
  • Fastspring is located in the US and fully comply with the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Google
  • We use Google services to provide us with analytical data regarding the use of our website, search services to help you find information on our site and Maps services to help you locate your garden when you use services that require your location. They will be processing this data for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • If you are signed in to your Google account in your browser, we may also use Google Signals to associate website visit information with information held by Goolge if you have consented to this association for the purposes of ad personalization. This may include your location, search history, YouTube history and data from sites that partner with Google and is used to provide aggregated and anonymized insights into cross-device behaviors.
  • We may also use conversion tracking to register whether you created an account or added a subscription to your account in reponse to advertisements on Google, sites Google's parent company Alphabet runs or advertisements which Google places on other sites. This may be used for remarketing advertisements on any of Google's platforms.
  • You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies by using the browser add-on Google provides here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
  • This data may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Meta
  • We may use conversion tracking to register whether you visited our site, created an account or added a subscription to your account in reponse to advertisements on Facebook, Instagram or other services provided by Meta. This may be used for remarketing advertisements on any of Meta's platforms.
  • We may also upload identifying information (including but not necessarily limited to email address, country of residence, subscription amount) to Meta to create a 'lookalike audience' that is not personally identifiable but helps us reach other potential customers with advertising.
  • You can opt out of some advertising use of Meta cookies here: https://optout.aboutads.info/ (for the US), here: https://optout.aboutads.info/ (for Canada) or here: https://youronlinechoices.eu/ (for the EU and UK)
  • This data may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield.
Pinterest
  • We may use conversion tracking to register whether you visited our site, created an account or added a subscription to your account in reponse to advertisements on Pinterest. This may be used for remarketing advertisements on any of Pinterest's platforms.
  • This data may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield. In the EU and UK, we and Pinterest Europe have entered into the Joint Controller Agreement to comply with the GDPR's joint processing requirements
BugSnag
  • Several of our apps and services may send diagnostic information to BugSnag about app usage and any failures that may occur ("bugs"). We use this information to trace bugs and improve our services to you. They will be processing this data for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • This data may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield.
MixPanel
  • Several of our apps and services may also send information to MixPanel about app usage. We use this information to work out where difficulties occur for our customers and where we need to improve our apps. They will be processing this data for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • This data is kept within the EU (currently Netherlands) and is fully compliant with GDPR regulations.
HotJar
  • Our websites send information to Hotjar. Hotjar helps us understand user behaviour while on our websites and to provide some website features, like feedback forms or surveys. All visitor information is kept anonymous. Hotjar does not track or record visitors which have cookies disabled. They will be processing this data for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • This data is kept within the EU and is fully compliant with GDPR regulations.
Convert.com
  • Our websites use Convert.com for A/B testing. A/B testing helps us to test different versions of our website to see which are clearer for our website visitors. All visitor information is kept anonymous. Convert.com does not track or record visitors which have cookies disabled. They will be processing this data for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • This data is kept within the EU and is fully compliant with GDPR regulations.
Conversion Rate Experts
  • We share anonymised analytics data from Hotjar, Mixpanel, Google Analytics, Convert.com and other sources with Conversion Rate Experts, a UK-based company who work with us to optimise our websites.
  • This data is kept within the EU and is fully compliant with GDPR regulations.
Intercom
  • Several of our apps and services send information to Intercom. We use this information to personalise the service we provide to customers, including help messages, live chat, interactive features such as product tours etc. They will be processing this data for our purposes, under our directions and under a contract to ensure compliance with data protection law.
  • This data is kept within the EU and is fully compliant with GDPR regulations.
SmartSurvey
  • We use SmartSurvey to conduct our own market research and to obtain feedback from people who have used our products so that we can improve our products and create new features in response to customer requests. We upload email addresses to SmartSurvey to send invitations to this market research - usually no more than once per year. You may opt out of being included in market research by emailing us through the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps at any point.
  • SmartSurvey are fully GDPR compliant and all data is kept in the UK.
New Relic
  • We use New Relic to monitor, debug and improve the efficiency of our server systems. Personally identifiable information is not normally included, other than occasionally email address (if, for example, there was a problem when logging in) which is removed after 1 hour.
  • New Relic are fully GDPR compliant and all data is kept in the EU.
Feefo
  • We use Feefo to ask for independent reviews from people who have used our products so that people interested in our products can see unbiased reviews. We send your first name, email address and product name (the Garden Planner) to Feefo to send an invitation to complete a review - usually no more than once.
  • Feefo are fully GDPR compliant and all data is kept in the UK.

Protecting Information

We have strict security measures to protect personal information.

We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software to encrypt any financially sensitive information you input.

We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in connection with the collection, storage and disclosure of personally identifiable customer information. Our security procedures mean that we may occasionally request proof of identity before we disclose personal information to you.

It is important for you to protect against unauthorised access to your password and to your computer. Be sure to sign out (log off) when you finish using a shared computer.

Cookies and Other Internet Tracking Technology

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. This sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your computer, which is sent back to us at a later time. These are called 'cookies'. These cookies are listed in the table below.

We may also use related technology for persisting information about website users such as JavaScript. Multiple cookies may be found in a single file depending on which browser you use. Where applicable, this section of the Notice also relates to that technology but the term 'cookie' is used throughout.

Some of these cookies are essential to services you've requested from us, whereas others are used to improve services for you, for example through:

  • Letting you navigate between pages efficiently
  • Enabling a service to recognise your computer so you don't have to give the same information during one task
  • Recognising that you have already given a garden location, email address/username or password so you don't need to enter it for every web page requested
  • Measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and that there is enough capacity to ensure they are fast

This Website and associated services or apps use, or allows use of, the following cookies:

Cookie Type Cookie Qualities
Google Analytics
  • Helping us to identify which pages on our website are accessed most frequently, which types of users access them and typical paths through our website
  • Category - performance
  • Third party: another website is placing the cookie
  • Persistent, expiry date: up to 2 years
  • We've removed any information that might identify you
  • The information will be sent to Google Analytics so that we can gather data to enhance the performance of our website and the selection of content we offer
  • The information from the cookie may be transferred to the US, and the receiving entity is registered with the EU-US Privacy Shield
Hotjar
  • Helping us to understand user behaviour while on our websites and to provide some website features, like feedback forms or surveys
  • Category - performance
  • Third party: another website is placing the cookie
  • Persistent, expiry date: up to 1 year
  • We've removed any information that might identify you
  • The information will be sent to Hotjar so that we can gather data to enhance the performance of our website and the selection of content we offer
  • The information from the cookie will be kept within the EU
Convert.com
  • Helping us to understand user preferences for changes we make to our websites
  • Category - performance
  • Third party: another website is placing the cookie
  • Persistent, expiry date: up to 6 months
  • We've removed any information that might identify you
  • The information will be sent to Convert.com so that we can gather data to enhance the performance of our website and the selection of content we offer
  • The information from the cookie will be kept within the EU
Intercom
  • Supports our Live Chat messenger service
  • Category - functionality
  • First party: we're placing the cookie
  • Persistent, expiry date: 9 months
Location data
  • If you set the location of your garden on our website, we use this cookie to store that location so that you don't have to re-enter it in the future
  • Category - functionality (if you use this part of our website)
  • First party: we're placing the cookie
  • Persistent, expiry date: 30 days
Email address
  • If you enter your email address to request planting times information we use this cookie to remember that for when you request planting times information for another plant
  • Category - functionality (if you use this part of our website)
  • First party: we're placing the cookie
  • Persistent, expiry date: 30 days
ASP.Net_SessionId
  • This enables web-pages on our site to retain information about what you selected, entered or clicked so that the page functions correctly
  • Category - functionality
  • First party: we're placing the cookie
  • Non-Persistent: lasts for your browser session only

The Website may include links to third-party websites. We do not provide any personally identifiable customer personal information to these third-party websites unless you've consented in accordance with this privacy notice, however as to cookies please see above clause Cookies and other internet tracking technology. We exclude all liability for loss that you may incur when using these third-party websites.

Further Information

If you would like any more information or you have any comments about this Notice, please either write to us at Data Protection Manager, Growing Interactive Limited, 9 The Nurseries, Formby, Liverpool, Merseyside, L37 4JG, UK or email us using the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps.

If you would like access to the personal information that we hold about you, you can request this by using the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps or writing to us at the address noted above. There is not normally a fee for such a request, however if the request is unfounded, repetitive or excessive we may request a fee or refuse to comply with your request. You can also ask us to send the personal information we hold about you to another controller.

We aim to keep the personal information we hold about you accurate and up to date. If you tell us that we're holding any inaccurate or incomplete personal information about you, we will promptly amend, complete or delete it accordingly. Please update your account within any of the apps or services we provide; alternatively you may inform us using the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps or write to us at the address above to update your personal information. You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office if we don't do this.

You can ask us to delete the personal information that we hold about you if we relied on your consent in holding that information or if it's no longer necessary. You can also restrict or object to our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances. You can do this by using the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps or writing to us at the address noted above.

We take the security of your information very seriously and have strict procedures and systems in place to protect it. We will tell you quickly in the unlikely event of there being a breach, or a likely breach, of your data protection rights.

Please note that we may have to amend this Notice on occasion, for example if we change the cookies that we use. If we do that, we will publish the amended version on the Website. In that situation we will endeavour to alert you to the change, but it's also your responsibility to check regularly to determine whether this Notice has changed.

You can ask us for a copy of this Notice by writing to the above address or by using the Contact page on any of our websites or within our apps. This Notice applies to personal information we hold about individuals. It does not apply to information we hold about companies and other organisations.

Unsubscribe

To unsubscribe from our emails and service you can use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email our system sends out. Alternatively you may use any of the following:

  • Contact us using our Contact Form.
  • Send an email to the address unsubscribe(at)growveg.com (please replace the (at) with @)
  • Send your request to following address:
    Growing Interactive Ltd
    9 The Nurseries
    Liverpool
    L37 4JG
    UK.

You may request us to provide a copy of the data we hold about you, which can take up to 30 days, or for all such data to be removed.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us via our Contact Form.