Privacy & Cookie Policy

This policy explains what personal data Maggie Search collects, why, how long we keep it, who processes it for us, and the rights you have under the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

Who we are

Maggie Search is operated by KG Global Commerce Ltd, registered in England and Wales (Companies House number 17266029). Registered office: 8 Barnstock, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8EH, England. We are the data controller for the personal data described here.

For any privacy question or request: [email protected].

Summary

• You can use the whole site without giving us any personal data.
• If you sign up for a price-drop alert, we keep your email address to send you that alert.
• If you click Accept analytics, we record which pages are visited using a visitor code that changes every day. We never store your IP address.
• We do not sell your data, and we do not use advertising cookies.

1. Price-drop alerts (only if you sign up)

What we collect: your email address, the medicine you asked to watch, the search you made, the price shown when you signed up, and the date and time of sign-up.

Why: to email you about the price of that medicine. We do not use your email for anything else, we do not send unrelated marketing, and we never share or sell it.

Lawful basis: your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)), given when you submit the form.

Stopping alerts: email [email protected] with the word "unsubscribe", or use the unsubscribe link in any alert we send. We delete your email address when you unsubscribe.

2. Site analytics (only if you accept)

Nothing in this section happens unless you click Accept analytics in our cookie banner. If you click Reject, or ignore the banner, no analytics data is sent or stored.

On our server, when you view a page we record:

• the date and the address of the page you viewed;
• the website you came from, reduced to its name only (for example "google" or "direct");
• a visitor code: a one-way scrambled value calculated from your IP address, your browser type and a secret key. It changes every day, so it cannot follow you from one day to the next, and we never store your IP address itself;
• search terms typed into our search box, stored on their own and not linked to a visitor code.

In your own browser (local storage), we keep a record of the searches you make and the medicines you view on this site, together with your time zone (for example "Europe/London"). This stays on your device and is not sent to us.

Why: to understand which medicines people compare, count visits, and improve the site.

Lawful basis: your consent (PECR regulation 6 and UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of our home page.

3. Running and protecting the site

Like every website, our host receives your IP address and basic browser information each time you load a page, in order to deliver the page and protect the site from attacks and abuse. When you submit the price-alert form, we also use your IP address for a few minutes, in memory only, to block repeated automated sign-ups; it is not saved.

Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in running a secure website (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)).

Who processes data for us

Cloudflare, Inc. hosts this website and the database where alert sign-ups and analytics records are kept. Cloudflare acts as our processor under a data processing agreement. Cloudflare may process data outside the UK, including in the United States; such transfers are protected by the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and/or the International Data Transfer Addendum issued by the Information Commissioner.

We do not use Google Analytics, advertising networks or social media tracking pixels.

Affiliate links

Some links to pharmacies and shops are affiliate links run through Awin. When you click one, Awin and the retailer may set cookies on their own websites to record that you arrived from Maggie Search, so that we can earn a commission. Awin reports back to us which clicks led to a sale (date, product and order value) so that commissions can be paid; we do not receive your name, address, email or payment details. Awin's and the retailer's own privacy policies apply once you leave our site.

Sharing

We never sell personal data. We may share aggregated, anonymous statistics with pharmacies (for example "120 searches for Apoquel 16mg this month"). We never share email addresses or visitor codes. We will disclose data if the law requires us to. If Maggie Search is ever sold or merged with another business, the personal data described here may pass to the new owner, who must use it in line with this policy.

Do you have to give us your data?

No. Giving your email for a price-drop alert and accepting analytics are both optional. If you do not give your email we simply cannot send you the alert; the rest of the site works the same.

We do not make any decisions about you by automated means, and we do not build profiles of individual visitors.

Keeping your data secure

Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and stored in a database that only we can access, protected by a password. Access is limited to the people who run Maggie Search. If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to put your rights at risk, we will tell the Information Commissioner's Office within 72 hours and tell you without undue delay, as the law requires.

How long we keep data

• Price-alert sign-ups: until you unsubscribe, and deleted automatically no later than 24 months after you signed up.
• Analytics records on our server: deleted automatically after 120 days.
• Data in your browser: stays until you clear your browser's storage for this site.

Cookies and local storage

We do not set advertising or third-party tracking cookies. We use your browser's local storage for:

• maggie_consent — remembers whether you accepted or rejected analytics. This is strictly necessary and is set without consent.
• maggie_events and maggie_search_counts — the on-device analytics described in section 2, only after you accept.

You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of our home page, or by clearing this site's data in your browser.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to its use, to receive it in a portable format, and to withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect processing that already took place). To exercise any right, email [email protected]. We will reply within one month; if a request is complex we may extend this by up to two further months and will tell you why. There is normally no fee. We may ask you to confirm your identity (for example, by replying from the email address you signed up with) before acting on a request.

Because our analytics visitor codes change daily and are not linked to your name or email, we usually cannot identify which analytics records relate to you.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, telephone 0303 123 1113.

Links to other websites

Our pages link to pharmacies, shops, official bodies and other websites. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for how they handle your data; please read their privacy policies when you visit them.

Children

Maggie Search is intended for adult pet owners. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we use personal data, we will update this page and the date below before the change takes effect.