Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 April 2026

Solace ("we", "us", "our") operates the website www.solace-news.com. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, and your rights under the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR.

1. Data We Collect

• Account data — Name and email address when you create an account (directly or via Google sign-in).
• Subscription data — If you subscribe to Solace+, Stripe processes your payment. We store your Stripe customer ID, plan type, and billing period — not your card details.
• Newsletter — Email address when you subscribe to our newsletter.
• Engagement data — Likes, comments, bookmarks, and article views linked to your account.
• Contributor submissions — Name, email, and story pitch content submitted via the Contribute page.
• Technical data — IP address, browser type, and pages visited (collected automatically by our hosting providers).

2. How We Use Your Data

• To provide and personalise the Solace service (reading, saving, commenting).
• To process Solace+ membership payments via Stripe.
• To send transactional emails (account welcome, subscription confirmation, submission status updates).
• To send our newsletter (only if you opted in — you can unsubscribe at any time).
• To track aggregated engagement for our impact counter (reads, likes, shares).
• To improve the service and fix issues.

3. Legal Basis

• Contract — Processing your account data and Solace+ subscription is necessary to provide the service you signed up for.
• Consent — Newsletter emails are sent based on your opt-in consent.
• Legitimate interest — Aggregated analytics, security monitoring, and service improvement.

4. Third-Party Processors

We use the following services to operate Solace. Each has their own privacy policy and processes data on our behalf:

• Supabase (database hosting) — stores account data, engagement, and content.
• Stripe (payments) — processes Solace+ subscription payments. Stripe is PCI-DSS compliant.
• Vercel (web hosting) — serves the website and runs our serverless functions.
• Cloudflare (DNS) — routes traffic to our servers.
• Resend (email) — sends transactional and newsletter emails on our behalf.
• Google (authentication) — if you sign in with Google, we receive your name and email from Google OAuth.

5. Data Retention

• Account data is retained for as long as your account exists.
• If you delete your account, we remove your personal data within 30 days.
• Stripe retains payment records as required by financial regulations.
• Newsletter subscribers can unsubscribe at any time; we delete your email within 7 days of unsubscribing.

6. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Access — Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification — Ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Erasure — Ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Portability — Request your data in a machine-readable format.
• Object — Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
• Withdraw consent — Unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@solace-news.com.

7. Cookies

We use localStorage (not cookies) to store your preferences (dark mode, bookmarks) and session data. We do not use third-party tracking cookies. Our cookie consent banner covers this usage.

8. Children

Solace is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top will change. Significant changes will be communicated via email or a banner on the site.

10. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, contact us at:
hello@solace-news.com