Privacy Policy

Who we are

Surrey Extra is a hyperlocal community page covering Surrey. For the purposes of UK data protection law, Surrey Extra is the data controller responsible for your personal information. You can reach us any time at info@surreyextra.uk.

The information we collect

Information you give us directly. When you message us on Instagram, email us, submit a story or make an enquiry, we receive your name or username, your contact details, and any information, content, photos or video you choose to share with us.

Advertiser information. If you advertise with us, we process your business details and the content you supply. Payments are made through PayPal — we never see or store your card or bank details.

Information collected automatically. Like most websites, our site may collect limited technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, through cookies and similar technologies. Analytics cookies are only set if you accept them — see Cookies & website data below.

How we use your information

• To respond to your messages, enquiries and requests
• To publish stories or content you have asked us to share, in line with your stated preferences (including whether you wish to remain anonymous)
• To arrange, schedule and deliver advertising you have requested
• To operate, maintain and improve our website and Instagram page
• To keep records and meet our legal and regulatory obligations

Our legal bases

Under UK GDPR we rely on the following legal bases to process your information:

• Consent — for example, when you ask us to publish a story or content you have submitted, or when you accept analytics cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Contract — to provide the advertising services you have requested and paid for.
• Legitimate interests — to respond to enquiries, run and promote our community page, and keep proper records, in a way that respects your rights.
• Legal obligation — where we are required to process information to comply with the law.

Sharing your information

We do not sell your personal information. When you ask us to publish content, it is shared publicly on our Instagram page and may be reshared by others.

We use trusted third-party services that process information on our behalf, including Instagram / Meta (messaging and publishing), PayPal (payments), Google Analytics (website measurement, only with your consent), our website hosting provider and our email provider. Each has its own privacy policy. We may also disclose information where required by law or to protect our rights.

Cookies & website data

Our website sets only the cookies it needs to function until you tell us otherwise. The first time you visit, a banner asks whether you are happy for us to use analytics cookies. Nothing analytics-related is set unless you choose “Accept”.

If you accept, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand, in aggregate, which stories people read and how the site is used. Google Analytics sets cookies beginning _ga, which last up to two years, and processes your IP address to approximate the region you are in. We do not use Google Analytics for advertising: advertising and personalisation signals stay switched off under Google Consent Mode v2, and we never try to identify individual readers. Google Ireland Limited acts as our processor — see Google’s privacy policy.

If you reject, no analytics cookies are set and no data is sent to Google.

Either way we store one small cookie of our own, rhx_consent, for six months, purely to remember your choice so we do not ask again on every page.

You can change your mind at any time by reopening the cookie banner, or by clearing cookies for this site in your browser settings. Blocking cookies entirely may affect how parts of the site work.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, including to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements, after which it is securely deleted. Please keep your own copies of any content you submit, as we are not responsible for storing advertiser files after publication.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate
• Ask us to delete your information
• Restrict or object to how we use it
• Request a copy of certain information in a portable format
• Withdraw your consent where we rely on it

To exercise any of these rights, email info@surreyextra.uk. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Children & young people

We take extra care with content involving children or young people. Anyone submitting such content is responsible for obtaining the necessary parental or guardian consent — please see our Advertising Terms & Conditions for more. If you believe we hold information about a child that should be removed, contact us and we will act promptly.

Links to other websites

Our website and posts may link to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites, and we encourage you to read their own privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be published on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.

How to contact us

For any questions about this policy or your information, message us on Instagram or email info@surreyextra.uk.