The small print

Privacy policy

Last updated: 9 July 2026

Refinery Editing (“we”, “us”) is run by Nicci Schmidt, its founder and lead editor. This policy explains what personal information we collect through refineryediting.com and in the course of our work, and what we do with it. The short version: we collect only what we need to reply to you and to do the work, and we never sell or share it.

What we collect

• Enquiries. When you use the quote form or email us, we receive your name, your email address, and whatever you include in your message.
• Project work. The documents you send for editing, and our correspondence about them.
• Billing. The details needed to invoice you, such as your name, and your company or institution and its address where relevant.
• Technical logs. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages requested) for security purposes.

What we don’t do

• This website sets no cookies and runs no analytics, advertising, or tracking scripts.
• If you use the light/dark theme switch, your preference is stored in your own browser and is never sent to us.
• We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information, and we do not use it for marketing.

How we use your information

We use your information to reply to your enquiry, prepare a quote, carry out the work you commission, invoice you, and keep the accounting records the law requires. For clients in the EU or UK, our legal bases under the GDPR are: taking steps at your request before entering a contract and performing that contract; our legitimate interest in keeping the website secure; and compliance with legal obligations such as tax record-keeping.

Your documents

Documents you send us are confidential. They are read only by the editor or editors working on your project, are never published or shared, and are never used for any purpose other than your project. We are happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement before you send anything. We keep project files for twelve months after delivery so we can answer follow-up questions, then delete them. If you would like them deleted sooner, just ask.

Who else processes your data

Two service providers touch your data on our behalf:

• Netlify hosts this website, processes quote-form submissions, and keeps the server logs described above.
• Our email provider stores our correspondence with you.

These providers may process data on servers outside South Africa and the EEA. We share personal information with no one else, unless the law requires it.

The client testimonials on this site are published with each client’s permission.

How long we keep things

Enquiries that don’t become projects are deleted within twelve months. Invoices and related records are kept for at least five years, as tax law requires.

Your rights

Under South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), and under the GDPR if you are in the EU or UK, you can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, or object to how we use it. Email us and we will sort it out. You also have the right to complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) or to your local data protection authority, though we would appreciate the chance to fix things first.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with an updated date at the top.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data: hello@refineryediting.com.