Privacy Policy

This policy explains how Free the Verse collects and uses your personal information. It is split into three parts: poetry submissions, mailing lists, and website analytics and cookies.

Part 1: Poetry submissions

What we collect

When you submit your poetry we collect:

  • Your name and email address

  • Your poem or poems

  • A short bio

  • Any other details you include in the submission form

If you pay a contest entry fee, your payment is processed by Stripe. Stripe handles your card details directly. We receive only a record of the payment, such as your name, email address and the amount paid. We never see your full card number.

If your poem is accepted or wins a contest and you are paid for it, we also collect the details needed to pay you through PayPal.

How we use it

We use your submission to:

  • Review your work and let you know our decision

  • Process contest entry fees

  • Publish your poem and bio, if your work is accepted

  • Pay you, if your work is accepted

Submitted poems may also be used for volunteer training and assessment, including trial readings by prospective volunteers. Poems used in this way are never published, and are shared only with the people doing the reading. We remove poets’ names and contact details first, and ask readers to keep the poems confidential.

Copyright

You keep the copyright in any poem you submit. Submitting a poem gives us permission to store it and review it internally.

We will only publish your poem with your agreement. After a poem is published, all rights revert back to the author.

Where it is stored

Submissions are collected through Tally and stored in Notion. Notion may store data outside the UK, under the safeguards required by data protection law.

Lawful basis

We process submissions on the basis of our legitimate interest in reviewing work for publication. When you pay a contest entry fee, we process the payment to fulfil our agreement with you. For accepted poems, we process your information to fulfil our agreement to publish and pay for your work.

Part 2: Mailing lists

If you sign up to our newsletter or our submission reminders, we collect your email address and use it only to send you those emails. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email.

Our emails are sent by Brevo. Our sign-up forms use Google reCAPTCHA to prevent spam, so Google may receive information about your device and browser.

We rely on your consent to send these emails.

Part 3: Website analytics and cookies

Cookies

Our website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace always uses the functional cookies needed to run the site securely. Analytics, performance and advertising cookies are used only if you accept them through our cookie banner. For details, see Squarespace’s cookie guide.

What we collect

With your consent, we collect:

  • Information about your browser, network and device

  • Your IP address

  • The page you visited before arriving on our site

  • How you use our site, such as the pages you visit, clicks, scrolling, searches and timestamps

Who we share it with

  • Squarespace uses this data to run the site and to improve its services, and analyses it in a de-personalised form.

  • Google Analytics helps us understand how visitors use the site.

  • Hotjar shows us how visitors interact with our pages.

Our fonts are provided by Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts. Their servers receive your IP address and browser information when displaying the site.

Lawful basis

We rely on your consent for analytics, performance and advertising cookies. We rely on our legitimate interests for the cookies needed to run the site.

Your rights

Under data protection law, you have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you

  • Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete

  • Ask us to erase your information

  • Ask us to restrict how we use your information

  • Object to how we use your information

  • Ask us to transfer your information to you or another organisation

Some of these rights apply only in certain circumstances. There is no charge to make a request, and we will respond within one month.

To make a request, email team [at] free-the-verse.com

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we use your information, please contact us first at team [at] free-the-verse.com.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113