Privacy Policy
1. Who We Are
Romintel ("Romintel", "we", "us", or "our") is a market intelligence platform for independent romance and romantasy authors. Our registered office is in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Contact: hanna@romintel.com
Website: romintel.com
For GDPR purposes, Romintel is the data controller for personal data collected through this website.
2. What Information We Collect
Information you provide directly
- Email address — when you join our waitlist or subscribe to our newsletter via MailerLite.
- Name — if provided when signing up.
- Account information — if you create a paid account, we collect the details you enter at registration.
- Communications — if you contact us by email, we retain that correspondence.
Information collected automatically
- Usage data — pages visited, time on site, referrer URLs, browser type, device type, and IP address.
- Session recordings and heatmaps — we use Microsoft Clarity to record anonymised sessions showing how visitors interact with the site (mouse movements, clicks, scrolls). These recordings do not capture passwords or payment details.
- Cookies and similar technologies — see Section 7 for details.
Information we do not collect
We do not collect payment card details directly. Any payments are processed by our third-party payment provider and subject to their privacy policy.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information for the following purposes:
- To operate and improve the Romintel platform and website.
- To send you market intelligence reports, product updates, and promotional emails (where you have opted in).
- To manage your account and provide customer support.
- To analyse site usage and understand how our audience engages with our content.
- To comply with our legal obligations.
- To detect and prevent fraud or abuse.
Legal bases (GDPR)
For users in the EU or UK, we rely on the following legal bases:
- Consent — for email marketing and non-essential cookies.
- Contract — to provide the service you signed up for.
- Legitimate interests — for security, analytics, and fraud prevention.
- Legal obligation — where required by applicable law.
4. How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share data only in the following circumstances:
- Service providers — third-party tools that help us operate the platform, including:
- MailerLite — email marketing and newsletter delivery. MailerLite Privacy Policy
- Google Analytics (GA4) — website analytics. Google may receive your IP address and usage data. We use Consent Mode v2, so analytics cookies are only set if you accept them. Google Privacy Policy
- Vercel — website hosting, infrastructure, and anonymised analytics. Vercel Privacy Policy
- Supabase — database and authentication. Supabase Privacy Policy
- Stripe — payment processing and subscription management. Stripe Privacy Policy
- Microsoft Clarity — session recording and heatmap analytics. Clarity captures anonymised recordings of how visitors interact with our site. Microsoft may process usage data in accordance with their privacy policy. Microsoft Privacy Statement
- Legal requirements — if required by law, court order, or governmental authority.
- Business transfers — in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred. We will notify you before your personal information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
5. Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. Specifically:
- Email subscribers: retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
- Account data: retained for the life of your account plus 12 months after closure.
- Server logs and analytics: typically retained for 12 months.
6. Your Rights
All users
Regardless of your location, you may:
- Unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the link in any email.
- Contact us to access, correct, or delete your personal information.
South Africa (POPIA)
As a South African data subject you have the right to: access your personal information; request correction or deletion; object to processing; and lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator of South Africa at inforegulator.org.za.
EU / UK (GDPR)
If you are located in the EU or UK, you have the right to: access; rectification; erasure ("right to be forgotten"); restriction of processing; data portability; and to object to processing. You may also lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
California (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have the right to: know what personal information we collect, use, and share; request deletion of your personal information; opt out of the sale of your personal information (we do not sell personal information); and not be discriminated against for exercising your rights.
To submit any of these requests, email us at hanna@romintel.com. We will respond within 30 days.
7. Cookies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate the site and understand how visitors use it. Cookie types we may use include:
- Strictly necessary — required for the site to function. Cannot be disabled.
- Analytics — set by Google Analytics (GA4) and Vercel Analytics to help us understand traffic patterns and improve the platform. Only activated if you accept analytics cookies.
- Session recording — Microsoft Clarity uses cookies to record anonymised visitor sessions (mouse movements, clicks, scrolls) for usability analysis. No passwords or payment details are ever captured. You can opt out at Microsoft's privacy portal.
- Marketing — used to deliver relevant content if we run advertising campaigns.
You can manage your cookie preferences via the cookie banner displayed when you first visit our site, or by adjusting your browser settings. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
8. International Data Transfers
Romintel is based in South Africa. If you are located in the EU, UK, or California, your data may be transferred to and processed in South Africa and other jurisdictions where our service providers operate. Where required by law, we put appropriate safeguards in place (such as standard contractual clauses) to protect your information.
9. Security
We implement reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. However, no internet transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Children
Romintel is intended for adults (18+). We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
11. Third-Party Links
Our website may contain links to third-party sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites and encourage you to read their privacy policies.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top. If changes are material, we will notify subscribers by email. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
13. Contact Us
For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights:
Romintel
Johannesburg, South Africa
hanna@romintel.com