Last updated: 6 May 2026
1. Who we are
This website, calicoarts.com (“the website”), is operated by V22 Communities, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales under number 1180229, trading as Calico Projects (“we”, “us”, “our”). Our registered address is 35 Old Road, Manor House, London, SE13 5SY.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, V22 Communities is the data controller for personal data collected through this website.
2. How to contact us about your data
Our Data Protection Officer is Simon Higgs. For any questions about this policy or to exercise your rights, please contact us at contact@calicoarts.com or by post at the address above.
3. What personal data we collect and why
Website visitors. When you browse the site, our hosting provider and analytics tools may automatically collect technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, and pages visited. We use this for security, to keep the site running, and to understand aggregate visitor patterns.
Contact forms and email enquiries. If you contact us, we collect the information you provide (typically your name, email address, and the contents of your message) so we can respond.
Artist Portal accounts. If you register as an artist, we collect your name, email address, biography, and portfolio images. We use this information to publish your profile on the website, to communicate with you about Calico Arts, and to administer your participation in our programmes. Please note that portfolio images may contain embedded metadata (such as EXIF location data); we recommend removing this before upload if you don’t want it published.
Comments. If you leave a comment on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, plus your IP address and browser user-agent string for spam detection. An anonymised hash of your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to display your profile picture; the Gravatar privacy policy is at https://automattic.com/privacy/.
Purchases (when our online store launches). If you make a purchase via our WooCommerce store, we will collect billing details, delivery address, order history, and payment information. Payment card details are handled directly by our payment processor (Stripe) and are not stored on our servers. This policy will be updated with full details before the store goes live.
4. Lawful bases for processing
We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:
- Legitimate interests — for site security, basic analytics, responding to enquiries, and administering artist relationships. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests at any time.
- Consent — for non-essential cookies and any marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Contract — to administer artist participation and (when the store is live) to fulfil orders.
- Legal obligation — for accounting records, tax compliance, and responding to lawful requests from regulators.
5. Who we share your data with
We share personal data only with service providers who help us run the website and our charitable activities. These currently include:
- Our website hosting provider, who stores the website and its database.
- Automattic Inc. (Jetpack Stats, Akismet spam filtering, Gravatar) — based in the United States; transfers are protected under the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses.
- Sourcebuster JS — used to record how visitors arrived at the site (e.g. referring source).
We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes. We may disclose data where legally required (e.g. to law enforcement under a valid order).
When new services are added (for example payment processing via Stripe when the store launches, or email marketing), this policy will be updated.
6. International transfers
Some of our processors are based outside the UK, principally in the United States. Where this is the case, we rely on UK-recognised transfer mechanisms (the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or standard contractual clauses with additional safeguards) to protect your data.
7. How long we keep your data
- Contact form enquiries: typically up to 24 months after our last interaction, unless an ongoing relationship requires longer.
- Artist Portal accounts: for as long as you remain an artist with us, plus a reasonable period afterwards. You can request deletion at any time.
- Comments: retained indefinitely so we can recognise follow-up comments, unless you ask us to delete them.
- Order records (once the store is live): retained for 6 years to comply with UK accounting and tax law.
- Server logs: typically 30–90 days.
8. Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you;
- have inaccurate data corrected;
- have your data erased (subject to legal exceptions);
- restrict or object to certain processing;
- data portability;
- withdraw consent where we rely on it; and
- not be subject to solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects (we don’t make any).
To exercise these rights, contact us at contact@calicoarts.com. We will respond within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.
9. Cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details and to manage your preferences.
10. Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including HTTPS encryption, access controls, and regular software updates. No system is completely secure; if a breach occurs that affects you, we will notify you and the ICO as required by law.
11. Children
Our website is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The “last updated” date at the top will reflect the latest revision. Material changes will be highlighted on the site.