1. Who we are
This policy explains how Dong VShop, an online shop selling beekeeping equipment to hobby beekeepers in the United Kingdom, handles personal data when you visit dongv.shop, place an order or write to us.
The data controller is DONG VSHOP LIMITED, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17404720, registered office: 37 Duxford Close, Bicester, England, OX26 4FW.
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +44 7723 418596
We process personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer; please send any privacy questions to the email address above.
2. Data we collect
Order and delivery details
When you complete the checkout form we collect your full name, email address, phone number, delivery address, town or city, postcode and any order notes you choose to add, together with the items ordered, quantities, prices and the order number.
Clothing sizes for exchanges
If you ask to exchange a bee suit, jacket or gloves, we record the size you ordered, the size you need and any body measurements you send us (such as chest size and height) so we can pick the right replacement.
Email correspondence
When you email us — for example through the “Email Us a Question” button, which opens your own email program — we receive your email address, name as shown by your email provider and the content of your message and any attachments, such as photos of your apiary or of a damaged delivery.
Payment information
Card and payment details are entered directly with our payment provider. We do not see or store your full card number or security code; we receive only a payment confirmation, the amount, the date and limited reference details (for example the card type and last four digits).
Technical data
When you load the website, our hosting provider and the font service we use automatically receive your IP address, browser type and the pages requested, as part of normal server logs.
We do not collect special category data and ask that you do not send us any.
3. Purposes and legal bases
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis (UK GDPR Art. 6) |
|---|---|---|
| Processing, confirming and delivering your order, including arranging delivery of large items such as hives and extractors | Order and delivery details | Contract |
| Handling returns within 14 days under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, refunds and size exchanges | Order details, clothing sizes, correspondence | Contract; legal obligation |
| Answering questions you send us by email or phone | Contact details, correspondence | Legitimate interests (responding to customer enquiries); contract where the question relates to an order |
| Keeping accounting and tax records | Order and payment records | Legal obligation |
| Preventing fraud and keeping the website secure | Order details, technical data | Legitimate interests |
| Sending occasional seasonal beekeeping tips and offers, only if you ask to receive them | Name, email address | Consent |
We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
4. Who we share data with
We never sell your personal data. We share it only with the following categories of recipients, and only as far as they need it:
- Payment provider — to take payment securely and process refunds.
- Courier and delivery services — your name, delivery address, postcode, phone number and any delivery notes, so parcels and pallet deliveries can reach you.
- Email and website hosting providers — who store our mailbox and serve the website on our behalf.
- Accountants and professional advisers — where needed to keep our books and meet legal requirements.
- Public authorities — such as HMRC or the police, where we are legally required to disclose information.
Our service providers act as processors under written contracts and may use your data only on our instructions.
5. International transfers
Some of our providers (for example payment, email or font services) may process data outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens we make sure the transfer is protected by UK adequacy regulations, the International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or another safeguard permitted by UK GDPR. You can ask us for details of the safeguards used.
6. How long we keep data
- Order, delivery and payment records — 6 years after the end of the financial year in which the order was placed, to meet tax and accounting rules.
- Clothing sizes and measurements for exchanges — until the exchange is complete, then kept only as part of the order record above.
- Email correspondence — 2 years from our last contact, unless it forms part of an order record or a dispute.
- Marketing consent — until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.
- Server logs — kept by our hosting provider for a short period, normally no longer than 90 days.
The cart on our website lives only in your browser’s memory while the page is open. It is not saved to your device or sent to us until you place an order, and it disappears when you close or reload the page.
7. Security
The website is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection. Access to order records and our mailbox is restricted to people who need it and protected by strong passwords and two-factor authentication. Card details are handled by our payment provider and never stored by us. No system is completely secure, but if a breach occurs that is likely to put your rights at risk we will notify you and the ICO as the law requires.
8. Cookies and local storage
dongv.shop does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and it does not use local storage or session storage. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means your browser sends your IP address to Google when the page loads; Google states that it does not use this to build profiles. If we ever add non-essential cookies we will ask for your consent first and update this policy.
9. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access — get a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erasure — ask us to delete your data where we no longer have a reason to keep it.
- Restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data, for example while a correction is checked.
- Data portability — receive data you gave us in a structured, machine-readable format, or ask us to send it to another organisation.
- Objection — object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
- Withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, withdraw it at any time.
To use any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will reply within one month and may ask for information to confirm your identity. Making a request is free unless it is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
10. Withdrawing consent
If you have agreed to receive seasonal tips or offers, you can withdraw that consent at any time by replying “unsubscribe” to any of our emails or by writing to [email protected]. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing carried out before you withdrew it, and it does not affect order-related emails we need to send to fulfil a purchase.
11. Complaints and the ICO
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection:
- Website: ico.org.uk
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
12. Age restriction
Our shop is intended for adults. You must be 18 or over to place an order. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children; if you believe a child has sent us their details, please contact us and we will delete them.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when our services, providers or legal requirements change. The current version is always published on this page with the date of the latest update shown below. If a change significantly affects how we use your data, we will tell customers with open orders by email.
Last updated: 7 October 2026