Privacy Policy — Vidcom Video Comments

This Privacy Policy explains how Vidcom Video Comments Limited ("Vidcom", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you use our platform at video-comments.co.uk. By using our platform you agree to this policy.

1. Who We Are

Vidcom Video Comments Limited is a company registered in England and Wales. Our platform enables consumers to record and share video reviews of products and services, and enables businesses to collect and display those reviews.

For data protection purposes, Vidcom Video Comments Limited is the Data Controller of personal data collected through this platform.

2. Data We Collect

2.1 Account Data

Email address (for authentication via magic link)
Name (if provided on your profile)
Account preferences and settings

2.2 Video and Review Data

Video recordings you submit as reviews
Audio content within those recordings
Star ratings and written descriptions you provide
Product and brand information associated with your review
Timestamp and submission metadata

2.3 AI Analysis Data

Speech transcripts generated from your video audio (via AssemblyAI)
Sentiment analysis scores derived from your speech
Facial expression analysis data (via AWS Rekognition)
AI-generated moderation scores and flags

2.4 Technical Data

IP address and approximate location
Browser type, version, and device information
Pages visited and time spent on our platform
Cookie and session data

2.5 Payment Data (Business Subscribers)

Billing details are processed by Stripe and are not stored on our servers
We retain Stripe customer IDs and subscription status only

3. How We Use Your Data

To provide, operate, and improve the Vidcom platform
To authenticate your identity and manage your account
To process and display your video reviews on brand pages
To perform AI moderation and quality analysis of submitted content
To enable businesses to discover, approve, and use your video reviews
To process subscription payments from business customers
To send you transactional emails (magic links, review confirmations)
To comply with legal obligations
To protect the safety and integrity of our platform

4. Video Content Ownership and Rights

In plain English

You keep your personal rights. By submitting a video review you allow VidCom and the reviewed business to display, edit and share your video for marketing and review purposes. Full details are in our Terms of Service.

Your video data, including the recording, transcript, and AI analysis, is stored securely on Vidcom's infrastructure (Cloudinary, Supabase) and may be accessed by the brand whose product or service you reviewed.

5. Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR)

Contract: Processing necessary to provide the services you requested
Legitimate interests: Platform security, fraud prevention, and service improvement
Consent: Where you have actively agreed to specific processing (e.g. recording and submitting a video)
Legal obligation: Where required by law

6. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with trusted third-party service providers who process it on our behalf under appropriate data processing agreements:

Supabase — database and authentication infrastructure
Cloudinary — video storage and delivery
AssemblyAI — speech transcription and sentiment analysis
AWS Rekognition — facial expression analysis
Stripe — payment processing (business subscribers only)
Netlify — web hosting and content delivery

We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, or regulatory authority.

7. Data Retention

Video reviews and associated data: retained for the duration of the business subscription plus 12 months
Account data: retained until account deletion is requested
AI analysis data: retained for the same period as the associated video
Payment records: retained for 7 years for legal and tax compliance
Server logs: retained for 90 days

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights:

Right of access — request a copy of your personal data
Right to rectification — correct inaccurate data
Right to erasure — request deletion of your data
Right to restrict processing — limit how we use your data
Right to data portability — receive your data in a portable format
Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at aaronthomas@videocomments.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Cookies

We use essential cookies to operate the platform (session management and authentication). We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. By using our platform you consent to essential cookies.

10. Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), row-level security on our database, rate limiting, and input sanitisation. Despite these measures, no system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

11. Children

Our platform is strictly for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has submitted content, please contact us immediately and we will remove it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of material changes by email. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact and Complaints

For privacy queries: aaronthomas@videocomments.co.uk

If you are unsatisfied with our response you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.