Who we are
CheapBikes ("we", "us") is operated by [Lovell Developments Ltd / Lee Lovell — confirm legal entity], a controller of personal data for the purposes of UK GDPR. You can reach us at privacy@cheapbikes.co.uk.
What we collect and why
- Server access logs — IP address, user-agent, request URL, timestamp, status code. Kept for up to 30 days for diagnostics, abuse prevention, and capacity planning. Lawful basis: legitimate interests.
- Account data (if you create an account) — email address, hashed password, sign-in history. Used only to operate your account. Lawful basis: contract.
- Cookie preferences — your choices stored in a first-party cookie. Lawful basis: legitimate interests / legal obligation.
- Optional analytics — only if you accept analytics cookies, we may collect aggregated, pseudonymised usage data. Lawful basis: consent.
We do not sell personal data, run third-party advertising trackers, or build behavioural profiles.
Children
CheapBikes publishes buying guides for adult cyclists, including adults shopping for kids' bikes. The site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
Cookies
We use a small number of strictly-necessary cookies (authentication, anti-forgery, your cookie choice). Anything else is opt-in — see our cookie policy for the full list and how to change your preferences.
Affiliate links
Some links on CheapBikes are Amazon Associate links. If you click through and buy something on Amazon, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, CheapBikes earns from qualifying purchases. Affiliate placement does not influence which categories or products we cover — editorial decisions are made independently. Affiliate links are tagged with rel="sponsored" in the page source.
Embedded video
Some articles include embedded video from YouTube or TikTok. To minimise tracking, video embeds use a click-to-load placeholder — we do not contact YouTube's or TikTok's player until you click play, and we use YouTube's youtube-nocookie.com domain. For YouTube embeds, the placeholder image (the video thumbnail) is loaded from Google's i.ytimg.com when the page renders; this does not set cookies on its own. Once you click play, YouTube or TikTok may set their own cookies according to their privacy policies. Self-hosted clips on cheapbikes.co.uk are served from us directly and do not contact third parties.
How AI is used in our content
Our buying guides are drafted using AI tools (currently Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service) and structured around our editorial template. We do not pass any visitor data to those AI services as part of the publishing pipeline. Article generation runs server-side and is unrelated to your visit.
Where your data is stored
Operational data is stored on a single hosting server located in [host country — confirm with VPS provider]. We do not knowingly transfer personal data outside the UK / EEA. If a transfer ever becomes necessary we will rely on UK-approved transfer mechanisms (UK IDTA / EU SCCs) and update this policy.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to be informed, access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, and to withdraw consent at any time (where consent is the lawful basis). To exercise any of these, email privacy@cheapbikes.co.uk. We aim to respond within one calendar month.
Complaints
You have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
Changes to this policy
If we make material changes we'll update the date above and, if you have an account, attempt to notify you by email.