The small print
Privacy policy

This policy only applies to www.medievalbookshop.co.uk and www.medievalbookshop.com

Any other domains reached by links from this web site are operated by third parties, and have no connection with medievalbookshop. Their own privacy policies should be posted on their web sites. You can notify the email address above if you feel there is any reason to object to any third-party link being included on the medievalbookshop site.

In particular, if you use PayPal you should be aware that all transactions take place outside the medievalbookshop web site, and that they are operated by a third-party that has no connection with medievalbookshop. Such transactions are governed by PayPal's own terms and conditions posted on their web site, and are outside the control and responsibility of medievalshop or its owners or operators.

Summary The objective of this policy is that in so far as allowed by law, any personal information that you supply is kept for internal use only; it will be treated as strictly confidential and will not be disclosed to any third party. 

The exceptions to this policy are: 
(1) where an official body can legally demand any disclosure or where it can be shown that non-disclosure would be illegal; 
(2) where you have requested or permitted medievalbookshop to pass your email address or other details on in connection with any enquiry you make (e.g., to other booksellers or enquiry agents).

Further details are given below.

Contact You can contact medievalbookshop at any time through the email link at the top of this page. The business is part-time, so email may not be checked every day, but any non-spam email that is received will be replied to. No liability is accepted for any email not received, so you might wish to activate a "receipt request" if your email program allows it.

Personal information is stored in the two following categories.

Subscribers No information is held other than an email address, unless any further information is volunteered, such as your specialist interests. The mailout list may be used on behalf of third parties who supply goods or services similar to medievalbookshop's, or that match your stated interests, but your details will not be disclosed to such parties except where you specifically permit or request this. Mailouts are sent using a bcc. facility, which means that in normal circumstances your email address should not be visible to other recipients.

Customers In order to supply goods to you, it is necessary to request other information (such as your postal address), which will be kept after your goods are posted in case queries should arise, and which may be used for any official purposes where it could be required (in tax records, for example). In all cases such information will be treated as strictly confidential, unless you request that any of your details should be passed on to a third party, such as another book dealer. You will only ever be asked for information that is necessary to provide the goods or services you request, subject only to any legal requirements.

Abuse Any email originating from medievalbookshop will normally be about books or the operation of this web site, or will at least have some kind of medieval connection: if you receive anything else you can reasonably suspect that it is not genuine. If you receive any spurious emails from a medievalbookshop domain I'd be grateful if you let me know at the email address at the top of this page - if possible with a copy of the relevant email(s) including all headers and other information. You should also contact your own internet service provider, who will be better equipped to try and track the real origin of spoofed emails. Hijacking of email addresses and other such misbehaviour is a serious problem on the web, so thanks in advance for your help. Please note, you will never be asked for sensitive data such as credit card or PIN numbers, passwords, access codes, etc. Any email asking for these should be regarded as a forgery and you should not reply to it. Please contact your internet service provider for more detailed advice about how to protect yourself while you are online.

Ad servers medievalbookshop includes links to Amazon and Google ads: these are third parties, and you should check their own sites for their privacy policies. 

Children None of the site's content is specifically targeted at children so no attempt is made to verify anyone's age. The page listing "kid's books" is not designed to stand out for children more than any other page, and is more likely to appeal to nostalgic adults. For additional security, credit card details are not processed by medievalbookshop, and first-time orders are despatched only when funds have been received and cleared. However, if a parent feels any aspect of this web site or service gives cause for comment, please contact the email address at the top of this page.

Complaints can be submitted via the links at the top of this page, and will be acknowledged as soon as possible. Any dispute will be treated in confidence, and every reasonable attempt will be made to resolve it within thirty working days. 

Cookies and information gathering This web site does not transmit cookies, nor does it use any other means to gather personal details from your computer without your knowledge. The web server that hosts this site generates statistics, but these only provide generic information which cannot be used to identify you - this includes data such as which browsers and operating systems are used by visitors, originating IP addresses (usually those assigned by ISPs), which pages have been visited, which words are used in search terms, and other similar information that helps in maintaining and designing the web site (all web sites do this, they just don't usually mention it). 

Electronic tagging It is not medievalbookshop policy to tag books or other goods with RFID chips or any other similar form of monitoring or stocktaking device; however, much of medievalbookshop's stock is secondhand, so no guarantee can be made about whether previous owners have fitted or properly deactivated such items (this particularly applies to ex-library items). 

Future developments It is always possible that new and currently unanticipated uses for customer information will be developed. Should this happen, medievalbookshop's policy at present is that anyone on the email subscriber list would not have their details shared with third parties - as at present, their details would continue to be used only by medievalbookshop, though if any development requiring this to change were thought to be potentially beneficial, all subscribers would be offered the opportunity to participate or to opt out. Anyone on the mailout list would be notified before any such new uses were implemented so that they would have the opportunity to opt out.

Law medievalbookshop is based in the United Kingdom and is subject to English law, which in turn may be modified by European Community law in many matters including data protection. Among other things, this currently means that any communication could be monitored and that in certain circumstances the operators of any UK web site, including medievalbookshop, can be required by police or other official bodies to surrender some or all of any data held. This privacy policy will be adjusted to reflect changes in legislation, with the emphasis remaining on respect for your privacy as far as legally possible, although at any time UK law might override any statement made in this paragraph or elsewhere on this web site. I have no information about ongoing reports of plans to monitor "all email" that have been published in various news media. If this is of concern to you, you should contact your Member of Parliament or nearest British diplomatic office, as appropriate. You can use the email link at the top of this page if you feel that that in any respect this site contravenes any local legal requirement, and every reasonable attempt will be made to find a remedy that does not conflict with English law. 

Mailing list You will only be added to the medievalbookshop subscribers' mailing list if you make a specific request: as of December 2003 this has become a legal requirement in the UK. All non-subscriber contact details are kept separately from the mailing list, and this site does not attempt to gather your email address or any other personal details from your PC. However, where you provide your email address or other details, these might be kept on file for future reference in some circumstances (for instance, if you have enquired about a particular book that is not in stock, your email address will usually be kept on file so that you can be notified if a copy becomes available): email addresses kept in this way will not be used for promotional purposes. 

Security medievalbookshop does not currently have the use of a secure server, so you should not send credit card or PIN numbers, passwords, access codes or other sensitive details by email. The medievalbookshop server is not used to store the mailing list or other personal details.

Spam Email booklists and admin notices are sent out using a bcc. mailout facility, but they are only sent to email addresses from which a subscribe request has been received. You may find that your internet service provider will treat this kind of message as spam, in which case you will have to adjust the settings to your account before you can receive them: please contact your provider for further details. You can be removed from the mailing list at any time by sending an email to the address at the top of this page.

Storage Any personal details that you supply may be kept on digital, paper-based or other media. Digital records will be copied onto removable media and stored away from the main computer, and this may in the future include backup onto a remote server operated by a third party (this does not breach the guarantee given above that personal information won't be made available to third parties). Your email address will be kept on the medievalbookshop computer for mailing purposes, but there is no permanently open channel to that computer. Some of your details may be required to be kept for tax or other official purposes, but your details not be kept indefinitely (current UK law requires tax records to be kept for five years after the end of each tax year).