Privacy Policy

Who we are: The Private Collection ("we", "us", "our") is a private watch brokerage operating from the United Kingdom. The data controller is the proprietor trading as The Private Collection. Contact: contact@theprivatecollection.org.

Information we collect: (a) Enquiry details you choose to provide, name, email address, telephone number, the pieces or references you are interested in, any budget indication, and the content of your message. (b) Technical and security data, your IP address, used transiently to protect the site from spam and abuse and stored only as a salted, one-way hash, never in raw form. (c) Aggregate, cookieless analytics, anonymous usage statistics that do not identify you.

How and why we use it (lawful bases under UK GDPR): to respond to and handle your enquiry and take steps at your request prior to any contract (Article 6(1)(b)); our legitimate interests in responding to enquiries, running and securing the site, and preventing abuse (Article 6(1)(f)); and to meet legal or regulatory obligations where they apply (Article 6(1)(c)).

Sharing: We never sell your personal data. We share it only with service providers who process it on our behalf and on our instructions, our website hosting and database provider and our email-delivery provider, and where required by law. Any international transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards.

Retention: We keep enquiry records only for as long as necessary to handle your enquiry and to meet legitimate business and legal record-keeping needs, after which they are deleted.

Your rights: You have the right to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to our use of your personal data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk). To exercise any right, email contact@theprivatecollection.org.

Security: The site is served over HTTPS. We do not collect payment card details on this website. Access to enquiry records is restricted.

Children: This site and service are intended for adults and are not directed at anyone under 18.

Changes: We may update this policy from time to time; the date above shows the latest version.