Privacy Policy

AnimeVault (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the website at animevault.co.uk, a community marketplace for anime collectors in the UK. We are the data controller for personal data collected through this site.

We collect information you provide directly:

• Account information: email address, username, password (hashed).
• Profile information: optional bio and any other fields you add.
• Listing information: item descriptions, photos, prices, and condition.
• Communications: messages sent through the contact-seller relay, forum posts, and thread replies.

We also collect information automatically:

• Usage data via privacy-friendly analytics (no cross-site tracking, no advertising cookies).
• Log data: IP addresses, browser type, pages visited, and timestamps.
• Session data stored in cookies required for authentication.

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, operate, and improve the AnimeVault platform.
• Create and manage your account.
• Facilitate contact between buyers and sellers via email relay.
• Send transactional emails (account confirmation, password reset, reply notifications).
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service.
• Comply with legal obligations under UK law.

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with the third-party service providers necessary to operate the platform, including providers for:

• Database and authentication hosting.
• Website hosting and analytics.
• Transactional email delivery.
• Inbound email handling for the contact-seller relay.
• Listing image storage.

Each provider processes data only as necessary to provide their service and is bound by appropriate data processing agreements.

We use strictly necessary cookies for authentication and session management. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies. Our analytics provider operates without cookies.

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you request account deletion, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or legitimate business interests (e.g. fraud prevention records).

Forum posts and listings are soft-deleted and masked — content is replaced with [deleted] but the record structure is preserved to maintain thread integrity.

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Erasure — request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Restriction — ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances.
• Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

For privacy-related enquiries or to exercise your rights, contact us at support@animevault.co.uk.