THE MODERN MYSTIC PRIVACY POLICY & DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT

The Modern Mystic ® is an online spiritual community and store that offers a variety of resources, including content, events, readings, reports, courses, memberships, and services related to spirituality. For the purposes of applicable privacy law, The Modern Mystic serves as the controller of the personal data outlined in this policy, unless we explicitly state otherwise. Privacy laws often mandate a privacy notice to clarify who is collecting data, why it is being collected, how it is used, and how individuals can exercise their rights regarding user privacy. Additionally, we provide information about cookie usage to enhance your experience while visiting our online platform. (ICO)

This policy on data protection applies to personal data collected through: our website and online store; checkout, bookings, consultations, and reading requests; newsletter sign-up forms; customer support and direct messages; online community spaces, comments, forums, and memberships; digital downloads, events, webinars, and classes; and through cookie usage, analytics tools, pixels, and similar technologies that impact user privacy.

We handle personal data in line with the principles of: lawfulness, fairness, and transparency; purpose limitation; data minimisation; accuracy; storage limitation; integrity and confidentiality; and accountability. These principles guide our cookie usage and are expressly stated in the GDPR framework, ensuring robust data protection and user privacy. They are also consistent with the broader transparency and fair-handling approaches found in other major privacy laws. (European Commission)

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data to ensure user privacy and adhere to data protection standards: 

Identity and contact data includes your name, display name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, and account login details. 

Order and transaction data encompasses products or services you purchased, booking history, payment status, order history, refunds, and invoices. Please note that we do not store full payment card numbers ourselves; payments should be processed by PCI-compliant payment providers to protect your data. 

Profile and community data may include your profile photo, username, biography, interests, comments, posts, private messages within the platform, group participation, and event attendance. 

Reading and service data consists of the information you provide for services like astrology, tarot, mediumship, healing, or spiritual guidance, which may include your date, time, and place of birth, as well as the questions you ask and notes we take during sessions, in accordance with data protection principles. 

Technical and usage data captures your IP address, device type, browser, operating system, language, pages viewed, referral source, time spent on pages, event logs, cookie identifiers, and analytics information. We utilize this data, including cookie usage, to enhance your experience. 

Marketing and preferences data includes your email preferences, subscription status, wishlist activity, abandoned basket information, survey responses, and communication choices. 

Finally, customer support data encompasses messages, contact forms, complaints, review content, and any attachments you choose to send, all managed under strict data protection guidelines.

Because The Modern Mystic operates in the spirituality and guidance space, some information users provide may be sensitive under certain laws. Under GDPR-style laws, data that reveals religious or philosophical beliefs is classified as special-category data; sensitive data may also include health information or details about sex life, depending on what a customer chooses to share. UK GDPR mandates that both a lawful basis and, for special-category data, an additional condition must be met before processing begins. Brazil’s LGPD similarly treats religious belief and health data as sensitive personal data. (ICO) 

For that reason, our data protection policy is: 

we only ask for sensitive information when it is genuinely needed for a service you requested; 

we ask customers not to send unnecessary sensitive information; 

where required by law, we rely on explicit consent or another valid legal condition before processing such data; 

we restrict access to this data to trained staff or trusted processors who need it to deliver the service; 

we do not use sensitive data for advertising profiling; 

we prioritize user privacy and are transparent about our cookie usage.

We collect personal data to ensure user privacy in several ways: directly from you when you create an account, place an order, book a service, fill in a form, attend an event, join the community, post content, or contact us; automatically through cookie usage, analytics, server logs, and similar technologies when you use our site; from service providers that help us process orders, bookings, payments, email marketing, shipping, fraud prevention, community hosting, and analytics; and in limited cases, from social platforms or third parties where you connect with us through those services and choose to share data. Privacy laws commonly require businesses to explain the categories of data collected, the sources of that data, the purposes of collection, and who data is disclosed to. (ICO)

We use personal data, including insights collected through cookie usage, to: create and manage customer and community accounts; process orders, payments, bookings, deliveries, and refunds; provide readings, reports, events, memberships, and customer support; personalise user experience and remember preferences; manage the community, moderate content, and maintain a safe environment for user privacy; send transactional messages about orders, bookings, and account activity; send marketing communications where permitted by law and with your consent, or via another lawful route; detect fraud, misuse, and security issues; maintain records for tax, accounting, legal, and dispute-resolution purposes; and improve our site, products, services, and content.

For users in the UK, EEA, and similar jurisdictions, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases to ensure user privacy and data protection: contract, to process orders, bookings, memberships, and service delivery; consent, for optional marketing, certain cookie usage, and where required for sensitive information; legitimate interests, to run and improve our business, secure our services, prevent fraud, moderate the community, and respond to enquiries, where those interests do not override your rights; and legal obligation, where we must keep records, comply with tax and consumer laws, or respond to lawful requests. ICO guidance states that privacy notices should clarify the lawful basis relied on, and if special-category data is used, the additional condition must also be identified. (ICO)

If you join our online community, some of your profile information and any posts you make may be visible to other members, depending on the platform's settings. We value user privacy, so please refrain from posting personal or sensitive information you wouldn't want other members to see. To ensure data protection, we may moderate, remove, restrict, archive, or retain community content when necessary to enforce our community standards, investigate abuse, or comply with legal obligations. Additionally, if you upload information about another person, you must have the right to share it.

We may send newsletters, promotions, product updates, event invitations, and content recommendations by email or similar channels where you have opted in, where the law permits it, or where an existing-customer exception applies. Under PECR, marketing emails or texts to individuals generally require specific consent unless the “soft opt-in” applies for similar products or services sold or negotiated previously. Consent for electronic marketing must be freely given, ensuring user privacy, and users must have the option to opt out easily. (ICO) Additionally, we adhere to strict data protection guidelines, including maintaining transparency regarding cookie usage and user consent. You can unsubscribe at any time by: clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email; updating your account preferences; or contacting us directly. We keep a suppression list where needed so we can honor opt-out requests.

We use cookies and similar technologies to: keep the website secure; remember your basket and settings; understand how visitors use the site; improve performance and design; measure campaign effectiveness; and [if applicable] support personalised advertising. 

In compliance with data protection regulations, particularly PECR, users must be informed about cookie usage, including their functions and reasons for use, and must actively consent to non-essential cookies. Essential cookies, which are strictly necessary for requested services like basket or security cookies, can be utilized without consent. (ICO) 

Our approach to cookies prioritizes user privacy: essential cookies load by default; analytics, advertising, and similar non-essential technologies are only activated after obtaining consent where required; users can modify cookie choices through our cookie banner or settings tool; and where applicable, we adhere to browser-based privacy signals and meet local legal requirements.

Payments are processed by third-party payment providers, ensuring user privacy while managing cookie usage. We receive payment confirmations, limited billing details, and transaction records, but we do not intentionally store full card details on our own systems, prioritizing data protection.

The Modern Mystic ® is an online spiritual community and store that offers a variety of resources, including content, events, readings, reports, courses, memberships, and services related to spirituality. For the purposes of applicable privacy law, The Modern Mystic serves as the controller of the personal data outlined in this policy, unless we explicitly state otherwise. Privacy laws often mandate a privacy notice to clarify who is collecting data, why it is being collected, how it is used, and how individuals can exercise their rights regarding user privacy. Additionally, we provide information about cookie usage to enhance your experience while visiting our online platform. (ICO)

This policy on data protection applies to personal data collected through: our website and online store; checkout, bookings, consultations, and reading requests; newsletter sign-up forms; customer support and direct messages; online community spaces, comments, forums, and memberships; digital downloads, events, webinars, and classes; and through cookie usage, analytics tools, pixels, and similar technologies that impact user privacy.

We handle personal data in line with the principles of: lawfulness, fairness, and transparency; purpose limitation; data minimisation; accuracy; storage limitation; integrity and confidentiality; and accountability. These principles guide our cookie usage and are expressly stated in the GDPR framework, ensuring robust data protection and user privacy. They are also consistent with the broader transparency and fair-handling approaches found in other major privacy laws. (European Commission)

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data to ensure user privacy and adhere to data protection standards: 

Identity and contact data includes your name, display name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, and account login details. 

Order and transaction data encompasses products or services you purchased, booking history, payment status, order history, refunds, and invoices. Please note that we do not store full payment card numbers ourselves; payments should be processed by PCI-compliant payment providers to protect your data. 

Profile and community data may include your profile photo, username, biography, interests, comments, posts, private messages within the platform, group participation, and event attendance. 

Reading and service data consists of the information you provide for services like astrology, tarot, mediumship, healing, or spiritual guidance, which may include your date, time, and place of birth, as well as the questions you ask and notes we take during sessions, in accordance with data protection principles. 

Technical and usage data captures your IP address, device type, browser, operating system, language, pages viewed, referral source, time spent on pages, event logs, cookie identifiers, and analytics information. We utilize this data, including cookie usage, to enhance your experience. 

Marketing and preferences data includes your email preferences, subscription status, wishlist activity, abandoned basket information, survey responses, and communication choices. 

Finally, customer support data encompasses messages, contact forms, complaints, review content, and any attachments you choose to send, all managed under strict data protection guidelines.

Because The Modern Mystic operates in the spirituality and guidance space, some information users provide may be sensitive under certain laws. Under GDPR-style laws, data that reveals religious or philosophical beliefs is classified as special-category data; sensitive data may also include health information or details about sex life, depending on what a customer chooses to share. UK GDPR mandates that both a lawful basis and, for special-category data, an additional condition must be met before processing begins. Brazil’s LGPD similarly treats religious belief and health data as sensitive personal data. (ICO) 

For that reason, our data protection policy is: 

we only ask for sensitive information when it is genuinely needed for a service you requested; 

we ask customers not to send unnecessary sensitive information; 

where required by law, we rely on explicit consent or another valid legal condition before processing such data; 

we restrict access to this data to trained staff or trusted processors who need it to deliver the service; 

we do not use sensitive data for advertising profiling; 

we prioritize user privacy and are transparent about our cookie usage.

We collect personal data to ensure user privacy in several ways: directly from you when you create an account, place an order, book a service, fill in a form, attend an event, join the community, post content, or contact us; automatically through cookie usage, analytics, server logs, and similar technologies when you use our site; from service providers that help us process orders, bookings, payments, email marketing, shipping, fraud prevention, community hosting, and analytics; and in limited cases, from social platforms or third parties where you connect with us through those services and choose to share data. Privacy laws commonly require businesses to explain the categories of data collected, the sources of that data, the purposes of collection, and who data is disclosed to. (ICO)

We use personal data, including insights collected through cookie usage, to: create and manage customer and community accounts; process orders, payments, bookings, deliveries, and refunds; provide readings, reports, events, memberships, and customer support; personalise user experience and remember preferences; manage the community, moderate content, and maintain a safe environment for user privacy; send transactional messages about orders, bookings, and account activity; send marketing communications where permitted by law and with your consent, or via another lawful route; detect fraud, misuse, and security issues; maintain records for tax, accounting, legal, and dispute-resolution purposes; and improve our site, products, services, and content.

For users in the UK, EEA, and similar jurisdictions, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases to ensure user privacy and data protection: contract, to process orders, bookings, memberships, and service delivery; consent, for optional marketing, certain cookie usage, and where required for sensitive information; legitimate interests, to run and improve our business, secure our services, prevent fraud, moderate the community, and respond to enquiries, where those interests do not override your rights; and legal obligation, where we must keep records, comply with tax and consumer laws, or respond to lawful requests. ICO guidance states that privacy notices should clarify the lawful basis relied on, and if special-category data is used, the additional condition must also be identified. (ICO)

If you join our online community, some of your profile information and any posts you make may be visible to other members, depending on the platform's settings. We value user privacy, so please refrain from posting personal or sensitive information you wouldn't want other members to see. To ensure data protection, we may moderate, remove, restrict, archive, or retain community content when necessary to enforce our community standards, investigate abuse, or comply with legal obligations. Additionally, if you upload information about another person, you must have the right to share it.

We may send newsletters, promotions, product updates, event invitations, and content recommendations by email or similar channels where you have opted in, where the law permits it, or where an existing-customer exception applies. Under PECR, marketing emails or texts to individuals generally require specific consent unless the “soft opt-in” applies for similar products or services sold or negotiated previously. Consent for electronic marketing must be freely given, ensuring user privacy, and users must have the option to opt out easily. (ICO) Additionally, we adhere to strict data protection guidelines, including maintaining transparency regarding cookie usage and user consent. You can unsubscribe at any time by: clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email; updating your account preferences; or contacting us directly. We keep a suppression list where needed so we can honor opt-out requests.

We use cookies and similar technologies to: keep the website secure; remember your basket and settings; understand how visitors use the site; improve performance and design; measure campaign effectiveness; and [if applicable] support personalised advertising. 

In compliance with data protection regulations, particularly PECR, users must be informed about cookie usage, including their functions and reasons for use, and must actively consent to non-essential cookies. Essential cookies, which are strictly necessary for requested services like basket or security cookies, can be utilized without consent. (ICO) 

Our approach to cookies prioritizes user privacy: essential cookies load by default; analytics, advertising, and similar non-essential technologies are only activated after obtaining consent where required; users can modify cookie choices through our cookie banner or settings tool; and where applicable, we adhere to browser-based privacy signals and meet local legal requirements.

Payments are processed by third-party payment providers, ensuring user privacy while managing cookie usage. We receive payment confirmations, limited billing details, and transaction records, but we do not intentionally store full card details on our own systems, prioritizing data protection.