Privacy & Cookies

Who we are

Curious Workings is an independent children’s publishing imprint and a trading name of Shuya Zhong.

For the purposes of applicable UK data protection law, Shuya Zhong trading as Curious Workings is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy, except where another organisation, such as Shopify, is responsible for particular processing as explained below.

You can contact us at:

Email: hello@curiousworkings.com

Address:

Information we collect

Depending on how you use the website or shop, we may process:

• your name, email address, billing and delivery address and, where provided, telephone number;
• information about your orders, payments, returns, refunds and delivery;
• information associated with your Shopify customer account;
• communications that you send to us;
• your marketing preferences;
• technical information such as your IP address, browser and device information, and information collected through cookies or similar technologies; and
• information supplied to us by Shopify, fulfilment providers, payment providers or delivery carriers in connection with your order.

Payment-card information is processed through Shopify and its payment providers. Curious Workings does not directly store your full payment-card details.

If you do not provide information that is necessary to process an order, such as your contact, delivery or payment information, we may be unable to accept or fulfil that order.

How and why we use your information

We use personal information only where we have an appropriate lawful basis.

We use information that is necessary to perform our contract with you to:

• process and manage orders and payments;
• arrange production, fulfilment and delivery;
• provide customer-account functionality;
• deal with returns, refunds and order-related requests; and
• communicate with you about your order.

We use information where necessary for our legitimate interests in operating and protecting Curious Workings, including to:

• respond to enquiries and provide customer support;
• prevent and investigate fraud or misuse;
• maintain the security and proper operation of our services;
• manage and protect our legal rights; and
• administer and improve our business in ways that do not override your rights and interests.

We process information where necessary to meet our legal obligations, including accounting, tax, regulatory and legal requirements.

Where required, we rely on your consent for:

• email marketing;
• non-essential cookies and similar technologies; and
• related marketing, personalisation or advertising processing.

You may withdraw consent at any time.

Who we share information with

We share personal information only where reasonably necessary to operate the shop, fulfil your order, provide services or meet legal requirements.

This may include:

• Shopify, which provides our checkout, payments, customer accounts and related ecommerce services;
• BookVault, where necessary to produce and fulfil book orders;
• Printful, where necessary to produce and fulfil sticker orders;
• delivery and postal providers;
• email, website-hosting and technical service providers;
• payment and fraud-prevention providers; and
• professional advisers, regulators, courts or public authorities where required by law or reasonably necessary to protect our legal rights.

We provide these organisations only with information needed for the relevant purpose.

Shopify and Shopify Network Intelligence

Our online shop uses Shopify for checkout, payments, customer accounts and related ecommerce services. Our custom website integrates with Shopify.

Shopify processes information in order to provide these services, including when you visit or interact with Shopify-powered parts of our shop and when you make a purchase.

We have also enabled Shopify Network Intelligence. This allows Shopify to use information from interactions with our store, together with information from Shopify and other participating merchants, to provide enhanced services including personalisation, fraud prevention, measurement and marketing features.

Information submitted through Shopify services may be shared with Shopify and other service providers, including organisations located outside the United Kingdom, where necessary to provide these services.

For visitors in the UK, Shopify processing involving non-essential cookies or similar technologies that requires consent is subject to your cookie and privacy choices.

For more information about how Shopify processes personal information, please see the Shopify Consumer Privacy Policy.

Where Shopify is responsible for particular processing, you can also use the Shopify Privacy Portal to learn about and exercise relevant privacy rights.

Marketing

We send Curious Workings marketing emails only where you have chosen to receive them.

For example, you may choose “Email me with news and offers” during checkout or sign-in. We use a double opt-in process for Curious Workings email marketing, so you will also be asked to confirm your subscription.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in the email.

Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop service messages that are necessary for your orders, payments, delivery, returns or customer account.

Where you use Shopify’s Shop services, Shopify may also provide reminders or other communications relating to Curious Workings products in accordance with your Shop settings and applicable privacy choices.

Customer accounts and enquiries

Curious Workings does not operate a separate customer-account database. Customer-account functionality is provided by Shopify.

Customers can use their email address and Shopify’s authentication process to access eligible order information and account features.

The custom Curious Workings website does not operate a separate enquiry database. If you contact us by email, your message and any attachments will be processed through our email service and retained as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and related records.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to operate the website and ecommerce services, for example for security, shopping-cart and checkout functionality, customer accounts and remembering privacy choices.

Shopify may also use non-essential cookies and similar technologies for purposes such as preferences, analytics, personalisation and marketing. Where consent is required, these technologies will not be used for those purposes unless you choose to allow them.

Curious Workings does not currently use separate third-party analytics services, advertising pixels or session-recording tools on its custom website.

For more information about cookies used by Shopify, please see the Shopify Cookie Policy.

When you first visit the website, you can choose to:

• Accept all;
• Reject non-essential; or
• Manage preferences.

You can change your choices later using Cookie preferences.

Strictly necessary cookies cannot generally be disabled through the consent tool because they are required to provide services that you request, such as shopping-cart, checkout or security functionality.

Children’s information

Our books and products may be intended for children, but the Curious Workings website, online shop, customer accounts and marketing subscriptions are intended to be used by adults purchasing or enquiring on their behalf.

We do not knowingly ask children to create customer accounts, place orders or subscribe to marketing.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us inappropriately, please contact us at hello@curiousworkings.com.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

The retention period depends on factors including:

• whether an order or customer relationship remains active;
• whether information is needed to provide customer support;
• accounting, tax or other legal record-keeping requirements;
• fraud prevention and security;
• disputes or legal claims; and
• whether you have asked us to delete information where a right to deletion applies.

When information is no longer required, it will be deleted or anonymised where appropriate.

International transfers

Shopify and some of our service providers operate internationally. Personal information may therefore be processed outside the United Kingdom.

Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, the relevant organisation will use an applicable recognised mechanism, such as an adequacy regulation or appropriate contractual safeguards.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information and use established service providers to operate our ecommerce and fulfilment services.

However, no website, internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Please do not send unnecessary sensitive or confidential information to us by email.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights to:

• request access to your personal information;
• ask us to correct inaccurate information;
• ask us to delete information;
• ask us to restrict certain processing;
• object to certain processing;
• receive or transfer certain information in a portable format; and
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to object to direct marketing at any time.

To exercise a right relating to information controlled by Curious Workings, contact hello@curiousworkings.com. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

Where Shopify is responsible for particular processing, you may also use the Shopify Privacy Portal.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we use your personal information, please contact hello@curiousworkings.com first so that we can try to resolve it.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data-protection regulator.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy & Cookies policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, practices or legal requirements.

The latest version will be published on this website with an updated date.

Contact

For questions about this policy or the way Curious Workings handles personal information, contact:

hello@curiousworkings.com