ShowbizUK.co.uk is owned and operated by Spotlight Showbiz Media Ltd., a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 17028463) with its registered office at 22 Soho Square, 4th Floor, London W1D 4NS, United Kingdom. We act as the data controller for the personal data we collect through our website and editorial operations. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share your personal data in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It covers everyone who interacts with us – readers, subscribers, sources, PR professionals, artists and industry contacts.
Information We Collect
We collect personal data in the following ways:
- Email correspondence – when you email us at any of our function addresses (e.g. contact@showbizuk.co.uk, tips@showbizuk.co.uk, editorial@showbizuk.co.uk) we receive your email address, name (if provided) and the content of your message.
- Newsletter subscriptions – when you sign up via our Newsletter page, we collect your email address and, if you choose to provide it, your name and content preferences.
- News tips and submissions – when you send us a tip, press release, pitch or other editorial submission via our Tip Us page, we collect your name, email address, organisation/agency, phone number (if supplied) and any information you include in the submission. This also applies to artist, PR and agency contact details provided for editorial coverage.
- Technical and analytics data – our servers and analytics providers (e.g. Google Analytics) automatically collect IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, referral source and time of visit. This data is aggregated and anonymised where possible.
- Advertising and affiliate tracking cookies – we use cookies and similar technologies for display advertising, affiliate link tracking and audience measurement. Details are set out in our Cookie Policy.
Purposes and Lawful Bases
We process your personal data only for specific purposes and rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:
- Consent – for newsletter subscriptions, cookie preferences (except strictly necessary cookies) and voluntary data submitted via contact forms. You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us or updating your preferences.
- Legitimate interests – for editorial correspondence, fact-checking, source verification, responding to reader queries, managing tips and submissions, improving our website and services, and for direct marketing (where permitted by law). Our legitimate interest is delivering high-quality entertainment journalism and maintaining editorial standards.
- Performance of a contract – where we have a commercial relationship (e.g. sponsored content, advertising partnerships, affiliate programme agreements), we process data necessary to fulfil that contract.
- Legal obligation – when we are required to retain or disclose data by law, regulation or court order, or in connection with legal proceedings.
Data Retention
We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. Email correspondence and tip submissions are typically kept for the duration of the editorial process plus a reasonable period for follow-up inquiries. Newsletter subscriber data is retained until you unsubscribe. Analytics and cookie data are retained in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Where data is used for legal or regulatory purposes, it is retained for the applicable statutory period.
Data Sharing and Third Parties
We never sell your personal data. We only share data with trusted processors who act on our instructions and are contractually bound to protect your data. These include:
- Email service providers for newsletters (e.g. Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor)
- Analytics providers (e.g. Google Analytics)
- Hosting and infrastructure providers
- Affiliate network partners that track click-throughs and conversions (affiliate links are clearly disclosed on our site – see our Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure)
- Professional advisers, insurers and regulators, where necessary
We require all processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data. We may also share aggregated, anonymised data for reporting or research purposes.
Your Rights
Under UK GDPR you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
- Access – request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Rectification – ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
- Erasure – request deletion of your data, subject to legal or editorial obligations
- Restriction – ask us to limit processing in certain circumstances
- Portability – receive your data in a structured, commonly used format (where processing is based on consent or contract)
- Objection – object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing
To exercise any of these rights, please email us at privacy@showbizuk.co.uk. We will respond within one month. Please note that we may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first so we can resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection supervisory authority. You can contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk/ or via their helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Data Protection Officer
We do not have a formally appointed Data Protection Officer because we are not required to do so under UK GDPR. However, our Editor-in-Chief, Victoria Winslow, oversees data protection compliance. For any privacy-related queries, please contact privacy@showbizuk.co.uk or write to us at the registered office address above.
Source Confidentiality
We are committed to protecting the confidentiality of our sources. If you send us a tip or submit information you wish to keep off the record, please state this clearly. We will not disclose your identity without your consent unless required by law. For more details, see our Tip Us page and our Sources & Standards policy.
Contact
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact:
- Email: privacy@showbizuk.co.uk
- Post: Spotlight Showbiz Media Ltd., 22 Soho Square, 4th Floor, London W1D 4NS, United Kingdom
- General enquiries: Contact us
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be published on this page (/about-us/privacy-policy/) with the date of the last revision. This policy was last updated on 1 April 2025.