Your privacy is important to us. It is The Elegance Guide’s policy to respect your privacy and comply with any applicable law and regulation regarding any personal information we may collect about you, including across our website, the-elegance-guide.com, and other sites we own and operate.

Personal information is any information about you which can be used to identify you. This includes information about you as a person (such as name, address, and date of birth), your devices, payment details, and even information about how you use a website or online service.

In the event our site contains links to third-party sites and services, please be aware that those sites and services have their own privacy policies. After following a link to any third-party content, you should read their posted privacy policy information about how they collect and use personal information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to any of your activities after you leave our site.

Effective date: May 18, 2025

Last updated: May 18, 2025

Governing Law

This privacy policy is governed by the laws of Sweden and complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (“GDPR”).

Ownership and Contact Information

This website and service is owned and operated by:
Elegansguiden (Swedish) / The Elegance Guide (English), a product of Aalva AB
Organization number: 559289-8570
Registered address: Östermalmstorg 1, 114 42 Stockholm, Sweden
Email: grace@the-elegance-guide.com
Websites:
www.elegansguiden.se (Swedish)
www.the-elegance-guide.com (English)

Your Rights Under GDPR

As an individual located in the EU or EEA, you are entitled to the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right to Access
  You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you at any time.

• Right to Rectification
  You can request that we correct any inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated personal data.

• Right to Erasure ("Right to Be Forgotten")
  You have the right to request deletion of your personal data, under certain conditions—such as when it is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected, or if you withdraw your consent.

• Right to Restrict Processing
  You can ask us to temporarily restrict how we use your data if:
  (i) you contest its accuracy;
  (ii) you believe it’s been processed unlawfully;
  (iii) you need us to retain it for legal claims; or
  (iv) you’ve objected to processing and we are reviewing your request.

• Right to Object
  You may object to the processing of your personal information based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing. If your objection is valid, we must stop unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

• Right to Data Portability
  You may request to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and/or request we transfer it to another data controller, where feasible.

• Right to Be Informed
  You have the right to receive clear, transparent, and easily understandable information about how your personal data is used.

• Right to Withdraw Consent
  Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew your consent.

• Right to Lodge a Complaint
  You may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe your rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at grace@the-elegance-guide.com.

Information We Collect

Information we collect falls into one of two categories: “voluntarily provided” information and “automatically collected” information.

“Voluntarily provided” information refers to any information you knowingly and actively provide us when using or participating in any of our services and promotions.

“Automatically collected” information refers to any information automatically sent by your devices in the course of accessing our products and services.

Legal Bases for Processing Your Personal Information

We process your personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently based on one or more of the following legal bases:

• Your consent

• The performance of a contract with you

• Compliance with our legal obligations

• Our legitimate interests (e.g., site functionality, analytics, fraud prevention)

Log Data

When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log the standard data provided by your web browser. It may include your device’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on each page, and other details about your visit.

Additionally, if you encounter certain errors while using the site, we may automatically collect data about the error and the circumstances surrounding its occurrence. This data may include technical details about your device, what you were trying to do when the error happened, and other technical information relating to the problem. You may or may not receive notice of such errors, even in the moment they occur, that they have occurred, or what the nature of the error is.

Please be aware that while this information may not be personally identifying by itself, it may be possible to combine it with other data to personally identify individual persons.

Device Data

When you visit our website or interact with our services, we may automatically collect data about your device, such as:

• Device type

• Geo-location data

Personal Information

We may ask for personal information — for example, when you subscribe to our newsletter or when you contact us — which may include one or more of the following:

• Name

• Email

• Home/mailing address

User-Generated Content

We consider “user-generated content” to be reviews, ratings, image, and/or video materials voluntarily supplied to us by our users for the purpose of publication on our website or re-publishing on our social media channels. All user-generated content is associated with the account or email address used to submit the materials.

Please be aware that any content you submit for the purpose of publication will be public after posting (and subsequent review or vetting process). Once published, it may be accessible to third parties not covered under this privacy policy.

Legitimate Reasons for Processing Your Personal Information

We only collect and use your personal information when we have a legitimate reason for doing so. In which instance, we only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to provide our services to you.

Collection and Use of Information

We may collect personal information from you when you do any of the following on our website:

• Register for an account

• Purchase any products and/or services

• Purchase a subscription

• Sign up to receive updates from us via email or social media channels

• Use a mobile device or web browser to access our content

• Contact us via email, social media, or on any similar technologies

• When you mention us on social media

We may collect, hold, use, and disclose information for the following purposes, and personal information will not be further processed in a manner that is incompatible with these purposes:

• To provide you with our platform's core features and services

• To enable you to customize or personalize your experience of our website

• To process any transactional or ongoing payments

• To deliver products and/or services to you

• For analytics, market research, and business development, including to operate and improve our website, associated applications, and associated social media platforms

We may combine voluntarily provided and automatically collected personal information with general information or research data we receive from other trusted sources. For example, if you provide us with your location, we may combine this with general information about currency and language to provide you with an enhanced experience of our site and service.

Security of Your Personal Information

When we collect and process personal information, and while we retain this information, we will protect it within commercially acceptable means to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.

Although we will do our best to protect the personal information you provide to us, we advise that no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure and no one can guarantee absolute data security.

You are responsible for selecting any password and its overall security strength, ensuring the security of your own information within the bounds of our services. For example, ensuring any passwords associated with accessing your personal information and accounts are secure and confidential.

How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need to. This time period may depend on what we are using your information for, in accordance with this privacy policy. For example, if you have provided us with personal information as part of creating an account with us, we may retain this information for the duration your account exists on our system. If your personal information is no longer required for this purpose, we will delete it or make it anonymous by removing all details that identify you.

However, if necessary, we may retain your personal information for our compliance with a legal, accounting, or reporting obligation or for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific, or historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

Disclosure of Personal Information to Third Parties

We may disclose personal information to:

• A parent, subsidiary or affiliate of our company

• Third-party service providers for the purpose of enabling them to provide their services, including (without limitation) IT service providers, data storage, hosting and server providers, ad networks, analytics, error loggers, debt collectors, maintenance or problem-solving providers, marketing or advertising providers, professional advisors, and payment systems operators

• Our employees, contractors, and/or related entities

• Our existing or potential agents or business partners

• Credit reporting agencies, courts, tribunals, and regulatory authorities, in the event you fail to pay for goods or services we have provided to you

• Courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities, and law enforcement officers, as required by law, in connection with any actual or prospective legal proceedings, or in order to establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights

• Third parties, including agents or sub-contractors who assist us in providing information, products, services, or direct marketing to you

• Third parties to collect and process data

• An entity that buys, or to which we transfer all or substantially all of our assets and business

Third parties we currently use include:

• Google Analytics

• Thinkific

• Stripe

• Paypal 

International Transfers of Personal Data

Some of our third-party providers are based outside the EU/EEA. When your data is transferred outside this area, we ensure it is protected by appropriate safeguards, such as:

• EU-approved Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)

• Provider participation in recognized data protection frameworks (e.g., Privacy Shield, if applicable)

Business Transfers

If we or our assets are acquired, or in the unlikely event that we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, we would include data, including your personal information, among the assets transferred to any parties who acquire us. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any parties who acquire us may, to the extent permitted by applicable law, continue to use your personal information according to this policy, which they will be required to assume as it is the basis for any ownership or use rights we have over such information.

Limits of Our Policy

Our website may link to external sites that are not operated by us. Please be aware that we have no control over the content and policies of those sites, and cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy practices. 

Changes to This Policy

At our discretion, we may change our privacy policy to reflect updates to our business processes, current acceptable practices, or legislative or regulatory changes. If we decide to change this privacy policy, we will post the changes here at the same link by which you are accessing this privacy policy.

If the changes are significant, or if required by applicable law, we will contact you (based on your selected preferences for communications from us) and all our registered users with the new details and links to the updated or changed policy.

If required by law, we will get your permission or give you the opportunity to opt in to or opt out of, as applicable, any new uses of your personal information.

Do Not Track

Some browsers have a "Do Not Track" feature that lets you tell websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked. At this time, we do not respond to browser "Do Not Track" signals.

We adhere to the standards outlined in this privacy policy, ensuring we collect and process personal information lawfully, fairly, transparently, and with legitimate, legal reasons for doing so.

Third-Party Provided Content

We may indirectly collect personal information about you from third-parties who have your permission to share it. For example, if you purchase a product or service from a business working with us, and give your permission for us to use your details in order to complete the transaction.

We may also collect publicly available information about you, such as from any social media and messaging platforms you may use. The availability of this information will depend on both the privacy policies and your own privacy settings on such platforms.

Additional Disclosure for Collection and Use of Personal Information

In addition to the aforementioned purposes warranting the collection and use of personal information, we may also conduct marketing and market research activities, including how visitors use our site, website improvement opportunities and user experience.

Children’s Privacy

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it.

Personal Information No Longer Required for Our Purposes

If your personal information is no longer required for our stated purposes, or if you instruct us under your Data Subject Rights, we will delete it or make it anonymous by removing all details that identify you (“Anonymisation”). However, if necessary, we may retain your personal information for our compliance with a legal, accounting, or reporting obligation or for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific, or historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

Consent From You

We will collect and use your personal information only where you have given us consent to do so for a specific purpose. You may withdraw your consent at any time using the facilities we provide; however this will not affect any use of your information that has already taken place. When you contact us, we assume your consent based on your positive action of contact, therefore you consent to your name and email address being used so we can respond to your enquiry.

Where you agree to receive marketing communications from us, we will do so based solely on your indication of consent or until you instruct us not to, which you can do at any time.

While you may request that we delete your contact details at any time, we cannot recall any email we have already sent. If you have any further enquiries about how to withdraw your consent, please feel free to enquire using the details provided in the Contact Us section of this privacy policy.

Performance of a Contract or Transaction

Where you have entered into a contract or transaction with us, or in order to take preparatory steps prior to our entering into a contract or transaction with you. For example, if you contact us with an enquiry, we may require personal information such as your name and contact details in order to respond.

Our Legitimate Interests

Where we assess it is necessary for our legitimate interests, such as for us to provide, operate, improve and communicate our services. We consider our legitimate interests to include research and development, understanding our audience, marketing and promoting our services, measures taken to operate our services efficiently, marketing analysis, and measures taken to protect our legal rights and interests.

Compliance with Law

In some cases, we may have a legal obligation to use or keep your personal information. Such cases may include (but are not limited to) court orders, criminal investigations, government requests, and regulatory obligations. For example, we are required to keep financial records for a period of 7 years. If you have any further enquiries about how we retain personal information in order to comply with the law, please feel free to enquire using the details provided in the Contact Us section of this privacy policy.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies to understand how you interact with our site, improve your browsing experience, and support our analytics and marketing efforts. A cookie is a small text file stored on your device that allows us to recognize your browser and remember certain information.

We use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies – Required for the website to function properly (e.g., account login, shopping cart).

• Analytics cookies – Help us understand how users interact with our website (e.g., Google Analytics).

• Marketing cookies – Used to deliver relevant advertising and measure the effectiveness of campaigns.

Cookie Consent

In compliance with EU regulations, we display a cookie banner that allows you to:

• Accept or reject non-essential cookies

• Change your preferences at any time

Your consent is stored for legal compliance and to improve your experience on future visits.

Managing Cookies

You can also manage or disable cookies directly through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block cookies entirely or delete those stored on your device. Please note that disabling some cookies may affect website functionality.