Privacy Policy

Last updated: 3 November 2026

We want finding your next boots to be straightforward—and understanding what happens to your information should be too.

Who we are

The site is operated as TheBootScout, based in Northern Ireland. We are responsible for the personal information we collect through this service. For privacy questions or requests, use our Contact us page or email [email protected].

Information we use

  • Enquiries: your name, email address, subject, message and submission time. Form submissions are stored in our database and available to authorised administrators. Email correspondence is handled through our Gmail mailbox.
  • Retailer-link clicks: product, offer and retailer identifiers, the time, a selected size if included in the link, a technical identifier for that request, and the referring page path when your browser supplies it. The request identifier is not a shopper account or persistent visitor identifier.
  • Technical information: information needed to deliver and protect the website, such as IP addresses, browser information and requested pages. Hosting services may retain diagnostic or access logs. Your IP address is also used temporarily to limit repeated contact-form requests.
  • Administrator accounts: account and security information needed by authorised people to manage the site.
  • Optional analytics: if you accept analytics, Google Analytics 4 measures page visits, product views and retailer-link clicks as explained below.

You do not need a shopper account to browse. Please do not send passwords, payment details or sensitive personal information through our contact form.

Why we use it

We use information to answer enquiries, operate and secure the site, prevent misuse, investigate faults and understand referrals to retailers. Our lawful basis for these activities is our legitimate interests in running a useful, reliable comparison service and responding to people who contact us. Those interests must be balanced against your rights.

Where a specific legal obligation requires processing, we rely on that obligation. Where consent is required for optional tracking, it must be obtained before that tracking takes place. Consent can be withdrawn without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

We rely on your consent for optional Google Analytics. Essential website functionality and our separate server-side retailer-click records do not depend on accepting analytics.

Contact-form submissions do not sign you up to marketing. Our comparison service does not make solely automated decisions about you with legal or similarly significant effects.

Retailers, affiliate links and images

Some links are affiliate links. If you follow one and buy something, we may earn commission at no extra cost to you. Links may pass through an affiliate network, such as TradeTracker, before reaching a retailer. Those services receive information from your browser and may use tracking to attribute referrals or purchases. Their own privacy and cookie notices explain their processing. Following a link does not itself mean you have consented to non-essential tracking.

Orders and payments take place with retailers. We do not collect payment or delivery details through our comparison service. Contact the retailer about purchases, delivery, returns or its handling of your information.

Some product images and retailer logos load from external servers. Fetching an image can disclose your IP address, browser information and referrer information to that provider, according to your browser settings.

Sharing and processing locations

Authorised administrators and providers supporting hosting, security, maintenance and communications may process information needed for those tasks. Google processes email sent to or from our Gmail mailbox and, when you accept analytics, the Google Analytics information described below. Retailers and affiliate networks receive information when you follow their links. Information may also be disclosed where legally required or necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Being based in Northern Ireland does not mean all processing takes place in the UK. External providers may process information in other countries. Contact us for information about our provider arrangements. Any restricted transfer we arrange must meet applicable UK data-protection requirements, including an appropriate transfer mechanism and safeguards where required.

Retention

Retention depends on the purpose of the information. Relevant criteria include whether an enquiry is open, whether follow-up or a dispute is reasonably expected, whether records are needed to investigate security or referral issues, and whether a legal obligation requires retention. Administrator records are needed while access is authorised and, where justified, for subsequent security investigations. Backup copies are subject to the applicable backup lifecycle.

You can ask about retention of your information or request deletion. We will explain any reason we need to retain it. We do not promise immediate removal from all backups.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may ask to access or correct your information, request erasure, restrict processing, receive a portable copy, or object to processing based on legitimate interests. You may withdraw consent where we rely on it. Rights are subject to legal conditions and exemptions.

Use our contact form or email us to make a request. We may ask for proportionate information to confirm your identity and locate records. We will respond within the applicable statutory timeframe, normally one month, and explain any permitted extension.

You may complain to the UK's Information Commissioner's Office. Where EU data-protection law applies, you may also contact the relevant EU supervisory authority; in Ireland, this is the Data Protection Commission. You do not have to contact us first.

Optional Google Analytics

With your consent, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages and guides people visit, which products they view and which retailer links they choose. This helps us improve our catalogue, guides and comparisons. Google Analytics does not load until you choose Accept analytics. Rejecting analytics leaves essential website features available.

Analytics information can include cookie-based browser and session identifiers, page paths, event times, browser/device information, product identifiers, brands, collections, retailer names and listed prices. Requests also disclose technical information such as your IP address to Google. This information is not fully anonymous. We do not send contact-form contents, names, email addresses, account identifiers, search queries, URL query strings or affiliate destination URLs in our analytics events. Our integration disables advertising signals and ad personalisation.

You can accept or reject analytics in the banner and change or withdraw consent at any time using Cookie Settings in the footer. Withdrawal stops further collection by this integration and removes accessible first-party Google Analytics cookies; it does not undo information already sent. Our separate server-side retailer-click record continues to support affiliate referrals as described above.

Your analytics choice and our analytics cookies last up to 180 days. Analytics data stored by Google has a separate retention period controlled by our Google Analytics property settings; contact us for the current period. Aggregated reports may be retained for longer. Google may process information outside the UK; its processing terms and applicable transfer safeguards govern that processing. See Google’s Privacy Policy and Google Analytics data collection information.

Cookies and changes

Our Cookie Policy explains cookies and related technologies. We will update this notice when our practices change and revise the date above.