Privacy Policy

How the International Review of Books handles your personal data. Last updated 6 November 2026.

  1. Who we are

    The International Review of Books (internationalreviewofbooks.com) is run by Advanced Social Media Services Limited, trading as BooksGoSocial (the International Review of Books is its brand), a company registered in Ireland, CRO number 552165, registered address Argus House, Malpas Street, Dublin D08 Y273, Ireland. We are the “controller” of your personal data. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer. For any privacy question or request, email laurence@bgsadmin.com.

  2. What we collect, why, and for how long

    WhatDataLawful basisHow long we keep itService provider
    Newsletter sign-up (home page, footer, Suggest, competition and other forms)Your email address only. MailerLite also records when you signed up and confirmed, which form you used and the IP address used (as evidence of consent), plus opens and clicks on our emails.Consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a); Irish ePrivacy Regulations, S.I. 336/2011, reg. 13). Double opt-in.Until you unsubscribe. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 30 days. Unsubscribed addresses are kept on a suppression list so we don’t email you again, and consent records are kept for 3 years after you unsubscribe.MailerLite
    Monthly competitionYour first name, email address, personal link code and time of entry. For each sign-up made through a referral link, we record the new subscriber’s email address, the code that referred them, the form used and the time.Performing the competition terms (Art. 6(1)(b)). Checking referred sign-ups and preventing fraud: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)).Entries and referral records: until the end of the month plus 12 months, then deleted. Winner records: 6 years (accounting and regulator queries).Netlify (storage and functions)
    Referral link in your browserWhen you open a link containing ?ref=, the referral code and the date are saved in your browser’s local storage (key irb_ref). No cookie is set, and nothing is sent to us unless you then sign up for the newsletter.Strictly necessary to provide the referral feature you used (ePrivacy reg. 5(5) exemption), and legitimate interests.Deleted automatically after 30 days.None (stays on your device)
    Suggest a book formBook title, author, genre and your reason, plus optionally your first name and email address. If you tick the newsletter box, you are shown the newsletter sign-up form.Legitimate interests (handling your suggestion). Newsletter: consent.12 months, then deleted.Netlify (Forms)
    Reader reviewsYour name and email address (required, so we can identify you and contact you if you are selected for paid review work; never published on the site), the book you chose, your review text (which may be published on that book if it passes our automated check, attributed only as “A reader”), and whether you asked to be considered for paid part-time reviewer work (and, if so, that you are 18 or over).Legitimate interests (handling your review, publishing passing review text on the book, and identifying reviewers). If you asked to be considered for paid work: steps toward a possible contract, and your confirmation that you are 18 or over.Published review text: kept while the book remains on the site (or removed earlier on request). Name and email: 12 months after we receive the review, or 24 months if you asked to be considered for paid reviewer work.Netlify (Forms and functions)
    Business submissions (publishers and authors’ representatives, by invitation)Book details, cover image, links, notes and the contact details provided.Legitimate interests, or steps before entering a contract.24 months after the last contact.Netlify (Forms)
    Website analyticsCloudflare Web Analytics: page views, referring site, country, browser and device type. It uses no cookies, no local storage and no fingerprinting, and doesn’t identify you.Legitimate interests (understanding how the site is used).Aggregated statistics, kept as set by Cloudflare.Cloudflare
    Hosting and security logsIP address, time, page requested and browser, in server and request logs.Legitimate interests (running and securing the site).The short period set by our hosting provider.Netlify
    Emails to usWhatever you include in your message.Legitimate interests.24 months.Our email provider (Google)

    We don’t sell your data, we don’t make automated decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects, and we don’t build advertising profiles.

  3. Referring friends

    If you share your competition link, your friends sign up themselves on our site. We never ask you for anyone else’s email address. When a friend signs up through your link, we record that they came from your link. The leaderboard shows first names with a short tag only, never email addresses. The winner announcement is described in the competition terms.

  4. Links to Amazon and other shops

    Our book links go to Amazon and other retailers, some through the Geniuslink service, which sends you to your local store. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. We don’t set cookies ourselves, but once you click a link, Geniuslink and the retailer may set their own cookies and process your data under their own privacy policies (Geniuslink, Amazon).

  5. Share buttons

    Our share buttons are plain links. They don’t load code from Facebook, X, WhatsApp or anyone else, and they don’t track you. If you click one, the platform you go to processes your data under its own policy.

  6. Cookies and similar technologies

    We don’t use cookies. The only thing stored on your device is the 30-day referral code described above, which is set only when you open a referral link and is used only so your sign-up can be credited to the person who invited you. Our analytics are cookieless. That is why we don’t show a cookie banner. If this ever changes, we will ask for your consent first.

  7. Service providers and international transfers

    We use these providers to process data for us, under their standard data processing terms: MailerLite (newsletter), Netlify, Inc. (hosting, forms, storage and functions; USA), Cloudflare, Inc. (analytics; USA), Geniuslink (link routing, only when you click a book link) and Google (our email). Some of these providers process data outside the EEA and the UK. Netlify and Cloudflare are certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension (Netlify, Cloudflare). Other transfers rely on safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, as set out in each provider’s data processing terms.

  8. Your rights

    Under the GDPR (and the UK GDPR), you can ask to access, correct or delete your data, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive it in a portable format. You can also withdraw consent at any time, for example by using the unsubscribe link in every email. Email laurence@bgsadmin.com and we will reply within one month. You also have the right to complain to the Data Protection Commission (Ireland), or to the authority where you live, for example the ICO in the UK.

  9. Children

    The newsletter is for people aged 16 and over. The competition and paid part-time reviewer consideration are for people aged 18 and over. In Ireland, the age of digital consent is 16 (Data Protection Act 2018, section 31). We don’t knowingly collect data from younger children. If you believe a child has signed up, contact us and we will delete their details.

  10. Security

    We limit access to our accounts and use the security measures our providers offer. Competition data is stored privately and never published, apart from first names on the leaderboard and the winner announcement described in the competition terms.

  11. Changes

    We will update this page if our practices change, and show the date of the last update at the top.