Please read carefully
Privacy without the vague wording
This Policy explains what personal information Lifted Spirits Community collects, why we use it, when it may be shared and the choices available to you. It applies alongside our Terms of Service.
Who we are
Lifted Spirits Community (Lifted Spirits, we, us or our) is responsible for deciding how and why personal information is used through the Services. This means we are the data controller for that information.
Lifted Spirits is a UK community supporting adults experiencing loneliness, heartbreak, mental-health challenges or a desire for genuine friendship and connection.
You can contact us about privacy at socials@lifted-spirit.co.uk.
We handle personal information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable UK privacy laws.
Scope of this Policy
This Policy applies when you use our website, community hub, member profiles and connections, private journal and mood tools, community reflections, messages, online events, real-life meet-ups, paid memberships and any related service that links to this Policy (together, the Services).
It does not control the independent privacy practices of another organisation or service, even where we link to it. Those services should provide their own privacy information.
Information we collect
The information we collect depends on the features you use and the choices you make. It may include:
- Account and identity information: your name, email address, account identifiers, selected town or city, broad city-centre coordinates and mapping place identifier, date of birth or age confirmation, sign-in method and security records. We do not ask for a street address during profile setup;
- Profile information: your photo, biography, interests, hobbies, goals, reasons for joining, support needs and other details you choose to add;
- Private wellbeing information: journal entries, mood logs, triggers, check-ins, reflections and notes you save in private tools;
- Community content: posts, comments, shared reflections, messages, reactions, photographs, event responses and other content you submit or share;
- Connection and event information: member preferences, connection activity, meet-up or online-event participation, and details needed to organise or support an event;
- Safety, support and moderation information: reports, blocks, complaints, support requests, moderation actions and relevant evidence;
- Payment and subscription information: purchases, membership level, billing status, transaction references and limited payment details supplied by a payment provider;
- Technical and usage information: IP address, browser, device type, operating system, approximate location derived from technical data, dates and times of use, pages or features used, error logs, cookies and similar identifiers; and
- Communications: emails, survey responses and other messages you send to us.
Please do not provide information that is not needed for the feature you are using.
How we collect information
We collect personal information:
- from you directly, when you register, complete your profile, use a private tool, contact us, post, message, report something, join an event or make a purchase;
- automatically, when your device interacts with the Services, including through logs, cookies and similar technology;
- from other members, where they interact with you, include you in content or submit a report involving you; and
- from service providers, such as authentication, payment, hosting, email, analytics or security providers, where this is needed to provide or protect the Services.
Sensitive and wellbeing information
Some information about mental health, physical health or wellbeing may be special category data under UK data-protection law. This can include information in support needs, mood logs, triggers, private journals, reflections or community conversations.
Where an optional feature asks you to provide this type of information, we will normally rely on your explicit consent in addition to an ordinary lawful basis. You can withdraw that consent at any time, although this may mean we can no longer provide the relevant feature. Withdrawal does not make earlier lawful processing unlawful.
In limited circumstances, another legal condition may apply — for example, where processing is necessary to protect somebody’s vital interests, establish or defend legal claims, or meet a legal obligation. We will only use another condition where the law permits it.
Why we use information and our lawful bases
UK law requires us to have a lawful basis for each use of personal information. The basis can differ according to the feature and context.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the use is necessary and balance our interests against your rights and reasonable expectations. You can contact us for more information about that assessment.
Private tools and shared community content
Private journal, mood and check-in tools
Content marked as private is not displayed to other members unless you deliberately choose to publish or share it. It is still stored and processed by the systems that provide the feature. Access by authorised personnel or service providers is limited to situations where it is reasonably necessary to operate, support or secure the Services, comply with law, investigate a serious safety issue or respond to your request.
Community spaces, messages and profiles
Information you post or share is visible to the audience shown at the point of sharing. Profile details can be used to help members discover and connect with one another. Age visibility is on by default and can be switched off in your account settings. We calculate and show an age rather than displaying your full date of birth; your full date of birth is not displayed to other members. Direct messages are intended for their participants, but may be disclosed to us through a report or reviewed where lawfully necessary to address safety, abuse, security or legal concerns.
Other members may copy, save, screenshot or redistribute information they can see. Choose carefully what you publish, and report suspected misuse to us.
Recommendations and personalisation
We may use information you choose to provide — such as your goal, interests, location, chapter, support needs or experiences — to suggest members, events, conversations or features that may be relevant.
These suggestions are intended to help you navigate the community. They do not determine whether you can access essential services, and you remain free to ignore them, change your profile information or choose a different part of the community.
Who we share information with
We do not sell your personal information. We may share only what is reasonably necessary with:
- service providers supporting hosting, databases, authentication, email, communications, analytics, security, customer support and payment processing;
- other members according to the feature, audience and privacy choice you select;
- event organisers, venues or delivery partners where information is needed to administer an event or fulfil a purchase;
- professional advisers, such as legal, accounting or insurance advisers, where necessary;
- police, courts, regulators, emergency services or public authorities where disclosure is required by law or is lawful and proportionate to protect rights, safety or vital interests; and
- a successor organisation if part of Lifted Spirits is reorganised or transferred, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection safeguards.
Service providers may only use the information for the services they provide to us and under appropriate contractual obligations.
Payments and subscriptions
Payments are processed by an authorised payment provider, such as Stripe. The provider collects and processes your full card or payment details under its own privacy information and security controls. Lifted Spirits does not store your full card number or card security code.
We receive limited transaction information needed to confirm payment, provide paid features, manage a subscription, respond to billing queries, prevent fraud and meet accounting or tax obligations.
International data transfers
Some service providers may store or process personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where this creates a restricted transfer, we use a lawful transfer mechanism. This may include UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses or another safeguard permitted by UK law.
Where a safeguard requires it, we assess whether additional measures are needed to give the information an essentially equivalent level of protection. You can contact us for more information about the safeguards relevant to your data.
Cookies and similar technology
Our website and app may use cookies, local storage, pixels or similar technology to keep you signed in, remember preferences, protect accounts, operate features, understand performance and measure how the Services are used.
Technology that is strictly necessary can be used without consent where the law allows. Where consent is required, we ask before using non-essential analytics, advertising or similar technology. You can change your choices through the cookie controls made available on the Services and through your browser settings.
Blocking necessary technology may prevent parts of the Services from working correctly.
How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was collected, including to provide an active account and meet legal, accounting, safety, security or dispute-resolution requirements.
When deciding a retention period, we consider the type and sensitivity of the information, the risk if it were misused, why it is needed, whether the purpose can be achieved another way and any legal requirement.
- Account and profile information is generally kept while your account is active.
- Payment, tax and transaction records may be retained for the period required by law.
- Security, consent, complaint and moderation records may be retained where proportionate to protect members, prevent repeat abuse, resolve disputes or demonstrate compliance.
- Deleted information can remain temporarily in restricted backups until those backups are overwritten through the normal cycle.
- Shared community content may be deleted, anonymised or retained where necessary for the integrity of a conversation, safety record or legal obligation.
When information is no longer needed, we delete it or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you.
How we protect information
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against accidental or unlawful loss, alteration, disclosure, access or destruction. These measures include access controls, limited permissions, secure service providers, system monitoring, backup controls and staff or contractor confidentiality appropriate to the risk.
No online service can guarantee absolute security. Keep your password and sign-in method private, use a strong unique password where available, sign out of shared devices and tell us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.
If a personal-data breach is likely to create a risk to people, we will assess it and notify the Information Commissioner’s Office and affected individuals where the law requires.
Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, UK law gives you the right to:
- be informed about how your information is used;
- ask for access to your personal information;
- ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- ask us to erase information where the right applies;
- ask us to restrict how information is used;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests and object at any time to direct marketing;
- receive certain information in a portable format and ask for it to be transferred where technically feasible;
- withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent; and
- ask for safeguards relating to solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects.
To exercise a right, email socials@lifted-spirit.co.uk. We may need to verify your identity before acting. There is normally no fee. We usually respond within one month, although the law may allow more time for a complex or multiple request. A right can be limited or unavailable in some circumstances; if so, we will explain why where the law allows.
Service messages and marketing
We may send essential messages about your account, security, purchases, events you joined, important service changes or responses to your request. These are service communications rather than marketing.
We send optional promotional emails or similar marketing only where permitted by law. You can opt out at any time using the unsubscribe option in the message or by contacting us. Opting out of marketing does not stop essential service messages.
Automated decisions
Lifted Spirits does not currently make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects for you.
Automated rules may help sort content, detect possible misuse or suggest people, events and features. These tools support the operation of the Services; they do not make the type of significant decision described above. If this changes, we will update this Policy and provide the information and safeguards required by law.
Age requirement and children’s data
Lifted Spirits is an 18+ community. The Services are not intended for anybody under 18, and a person under 18 must not create an account or use the community.
If we reasonably believe an account belongs to somebody under 18, we may suspend or remove it and delete or restrict the associated information, subject to any legal, safety or record-keeping requirement. If you believe a person under 18 has provided information to us, contact socials@lifted-spirit.co.uk.
Third-party services and links
The Services may connect to independent providers such as Stripe, Discord, social sign-in providers, maps, event venues or external websites. When you choose to use one of those services, it may process information under its own privacy policy and terms. For example, Google Maps Platform processes the text entered into the town-or-city search and returns a broad place, place identifier and city-centre coordinates; do not enter a street or full address into that search.
We are not responsible for an independent provider’s privacy practices. Review the provider’s information before submitting personal data. Where a provider acts on our instructions as a processor, we remain responsible for selecting it appropriately and putting the required protections in place.
Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy when our Services, technology, providers or legal obligations change. The current version and update date will be shown at the top of this page.
If a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will provide a prominent notice through the Services, by email or by another appropriate method before the change takes effect where required. If we need consent for a new use, we will ask for it rather than treating continued use as consent.
Contact us and make a complaint
Contact us first if you have a question, want to exercise a right or are concerned about how we use personal information. We will take your concern seriously and try to resolve it.
- Organisation
- Lifted Spirits Community
- Privacy email
- socials@lifted-spirit.co.uk
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data-protection regulator. Visit ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint for current contact options and guidance.