Last updated, 6th June 2026

A Little Bit of Stone is operated by ALBOS Media Limited.

A Little Bit of Stone is the data controller for the personal information described in this privacy policy.

Company number, 17180015
Registered office, 82A James Carter Road, Mildenhall, IP28 7DE
Email, privacy@alittlebitofstone.com
Website, alittlebitofstone.com

This privacy policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we may share it with, and the rights you have.

Who we are

A Little Bit of Stone is a local news and community website covering Stone, Staffordshire and nearby areas where there is a clear local connection.

We publish local news, information, community updates, event information, local business coverage, advertising, sponsored content and directory listings.

Information we may collect

We may collect personal information when you:

1. Contact us through the website, email, phone or social media.
2. Send us news, photographs, video, event information or other material.
3. Comment on our website or social media channels.
4. Subscribe to our newsletter or other email updates.
5. Advertise with us or enquire about advertising.
6. Submit or manage a business directory listing.
7. Buy a paid listing, advertising package, sponsorship or other service.
8. Take part in a survey, competition or reader feedback request.
9. Visit our website and accept cookies or similar technologies.

The information we collect may include:

1. Your name.
2. Your email address.
3. Your phone number.
4. Your business or organisation name.
5. Your job title or role, where relevant.
6. Your postal address or location, where relevant.
7. Payment and billing details.
8. Information you choose to send us.
9. Website usage information, such as pages visited, device type and approximate location.
10. Images, video, comments or other material that may identify you or another person.

We only collect information where it is relevant to what we are doing.

How we use personal information

We use personal information to:

1. Respond to enquiries.
2. Assess and publish local news and community information.
3. Verify information sent to us.
4. Manage comments and community discussion.
5. Send newsletters or updates where people have signed up.
6. Provide advertising, sponsorship, directory listings and other commercial services.
7. Process payments and manage customer accounts.
8. Keep records for accounting, tax and legal purposes.
9. Improve our website, services and audience understanding.
10. Protect the website, our users and our business from misuse, spam, fraud or security issues.
11. Deal with complaints, corrections, legal queries or regulatory matters.

Our lawful bases

We use personal information under one or more lawful bases, depending on the situation.

We may use consent where you have actively agreed to something, such as receiving a newsletter or accepting non essential cookies.

We may use contract where we need the information to provide a paid service, directory listing, advertising package or other service you have requested.

We may use legal obligation where we need to keep records for tax, accounting, company law or other legal reasons.

We may use legitimate interests where it is necessary for the operation of a local news, community and commercial media service, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

For journalistic activity, we may use personal information where it is relevant to local reporting and publication is in the public interest. We take editorial judgement, accuracy, fairness and privacy into account when deciding what to publish.

The ICO explains that organisations must identify an appropriate lawful basis for using personal information, and that different uses may have different lawful bases.

Journalism and editorial use

As a local news outlet, we may receive, collect, check and publish personal information for journalistic purposes.

This may include names, roles, comments, images, video, public statements, public meeting information, planning information, court or public authority information, and other material where there is a local public interest.

We consider privacy, accuracy, fairness, public interest and potential harm before publication. We may not always be able to tell someone before publishing if doing so would be impractical, inappropriate or would undermine legitimate journalistic activity.

We may keep published articles in our archive where there is a continuing public interest in doing so. We may update, correct or clarify content where appropriate.

Concerns about published editorial content should be raised through our complaints procedure.

Comments and community discussion

If you comment on our website, we collect the information you provide, along with technical information needed to help manage spam, moderation and security.

Comments may be reviewed, edited, refused or removed in line with our commenting guidelines.

If you comment on our social media pages, your information is also handled by the relevant social media platform under its own privacy terms.

Newsletter and email updates

If you sign up to receive newsletters or email updates, we use your details to send those updates.

You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in the email or by contacting us.

We may use email platform data, such as opens and clicks, to understand whether our emails are useful and to improve them.

We do not add people to general marketing email lists without an appropriate basis.

Marketing emails and texts must comply with PECR as well as data protection law, and marketing messages must identify who is sending them and explain how to opt out.

Advertising, sponsorship and directory services

If you enquire about, buy or receive advertising, sponsorship, directory listings, website services or other commercial services from us, we may use your information to:

1. Respond to your enquiry.
2. Provide a quote.
3. Set up and deliver the service.
4. Process payment.
5. Send invoices, receipts and service messages.
6. Manage renewals.
7. Provide campaign or listing reports.
8. Keep accounting and business records.

Where you provide information for a public directory listing or advertisement, that information may be published on our website and associated channels as part of the service.

Payments

Payments may be processed by third party payment providers, such as Stripe.

We do not store full card details ourselves. Payment providers process payment information under their own security and privacy arrangements.

Cookies, analytics and advertising technology

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to work properly. Others may help us understand website use, improve the website, measure advertising, or provide relevant content and advertising.

Where required, we ask for consent before setting non essential cookies.

You can manage cookie choices through our cookie banner or your browser settings.

The ICO says online advertising cookies and similar technologies are not exempt from consent requirements.

Who we share information with

We may share personal information with trusted suppliers and service providers where needed to run ALBOS and provide our services.

This may include:

1. Website hosting and technical support providers.
2. Email and newsletter providers.
3. Payment processors.
4. Accounting and bookkeeping providers.
5. Customer relationship management and business administration tools.
6. Analytics, advertising and cookie consent providers.
7. Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers.
8. Regulators, public authorities, law enforcement or courts where required by law.

We do not sell personal information.

International transfers

Some of the services we use may process information outside the UK.

Where this happens, we expect those providers to use appropriate safeguards required by data protection law.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, unless we need to keep it longer for legal, accounting, tax, security, complaint handling or journalistic archive reasons.

Typical retention periods are:

1. General enquiries, kept for as long as needed to respond and manage any follow up.
2. Advertising, directory and customer records, kept for the life of the customer relationship and for accounting record periods after that.
3. Newsletter records, kept while you remain subscribed and for a reasonable period after unsubscribing to maintain suppression records.
4. Comments, kept while the relevant discussion or article remains live, unless removed earlier.
5. Published editorial material, kept as part of the ALBOS archive unless there is a strong reason to update, remove or restrict it.
6. Financial records, usually kept for at least six years where required for accounting and tax purposes.

We review what we hold from time to time and remove or anonymise information where it is no longer needed.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.

These steps may include access controls, secure passwords, software updates, backups, security tools and limiting access to people who need it.

No website or online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take data security seriously.

Your rights

You have rights under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, these may include the right to:

1. Be informed about how your information is used.
2. Access a copy of your personal information.
3. Ask for inaccurate information to be corrected.
4. Ask for information to be deleted.
5. Ask us to restrict how we use your information.
6. Object to certain uses of your information.
7. Withdraw consent where we rely on consent.
8. Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Some rights may not apply in every situation, especially where information is used for journalism, legal obligations, accounting records, security or the public interest.

We will respond to requests in line with data protection law.

In most cases, we do not charge a fee for responding to a subject access request.

How to contact us about privacy

For privacy questions or requests about your personal information, contact: privacy@alittlebitofstone.com

Please include enough information for us to understand your request and identify any relevant records.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we use your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK regulator for data protection.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time.

When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to make those changes clear, especially if they affect how we use personal information.