Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2 December 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how StethShop (the "Site", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and shares your personal information when you visit or make a purchase from www.stethshop.co.uk (the "Website").

1. Who we are

StethShop is a trading name of Vena Cava Ltd., a company registered in England and Wales.

• Company name: Vena Cava Ltd.
• Registration number: 15447154
• VAT number: GB489109650
• Registered office: 20 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU, United Kingdom
• Telephone: +44 20 8058 3531
• Email: contact@stethshop.co.uk

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR") and other applicable data protection laws, Vena Cava Ltd. is the "data controller" of your personal information.

2. Personal information we collect

We collect different types of information depending on how you interact with our Website and services.

(a) Information you provide directly

• Account and order details: name, billing address, delivery address, email address, phone number, payment method (last 4 digits only), and order history when you place an order or create an account.
• Engraving and customisation details: any text or symbols you request to be engraved on your stethoscope or accessories.
• Communications: information you provide when you contact us by email, phone, contact forms, or social media (e.g. enquiries, support requests, feedback).
• Marketing preferences: your choices about receiving marketing emails, newsletters, and offers.

(b) Information collected automatically

When you visit the Website, we automatically collect certain information about your device and how you use the site, including:

• Device and usage data: web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies installed on your device.
• Browsing information: the pages or products you view, search terms, referring websites, date and time of visits, and how you interact with the Website.

We collect this information using cookies, log files, tags, pixels, and similar technologies. For more detail, please see our Cookie Policy.

(c) Information from third parties

We may receive information about you from:

• Payment providers (such as Shopify Payments, PayPal, Klarna, or card processors) in order to process payments and prevent fraud.
• Delivery partners (such as Royal Mail, DPD, or other couriers) regarding delivery status and issues.
• Analytics and advertising partners (such as Google Analytics) to help us understand how our customers use the Website.

3. How we use your personal information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To process and fulfil your orders – including taking payment, arranging shipping, and providing order confirmations and invoices.
• To provide customer service and support – resolving enquiries, issues, returns, and warranty queries.
• To personalise engraving services – applying your requested text or symbols to products you order.
• To operate, improve and secure the Website – monitoring performance, troubleshooting, and protecting against fraud or misuse.
• For marketing and promotions – sending you emails about products, offers, news, and events (where permitted by law and your preferences).
• To comply with legal obligations – such as tax, accounting, and product safety regulations.

4. Legal bases for processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a legal basis to process your personal data. Depending on the context, we rely on:

• Contract: processing is necessary to fulfil a contract with you (for example, when you place an order).
• Legal obligation: processing is necessary to meet legal or regulatory requirements (e.g. accounting, tax, product safety).
• Legitimate interests: processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving the Website, preventing fraud, and marketing to existing customers, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Consent: where we rely on your consent (for example, for certain types of email marketing or non-essential cookies). You may withdraw your consent at any time.

5. How we share your personal information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information with trusted third parties in the following situations:

• Service providers: companies who help us operate our business, including payment processors, delivery partners, hosting providers, email and marketing platforms, and IT support.
• Shopify: our store is hosted on Shopify, which provides the e-commerce platform that allows us to sell products and services to you.
• Professional advisers: such as accountants, lawyers, and auditors where necessary.
• Authorities: law enforcement, regulators, or other authorities where we are legally required to do so or to protect our rights, customers, or the public.
• Business transfers: in the event of a merger, acquisition, restructuring, or sale of some or all of our assets, your information may form part of the transferred assets.

6. International transfers

Some of our service providers and partners may be located outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

• Transfers to countries deemed to provide an adequate level of protection by the UK government; or
• Standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards approved under applicable data protection laws.

7. Data retention

We keep your personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

• Orders and transaction records: usually kept for up to 7 years after the financial year in which the transaction took place, to comply with tax and accounting obligations.
• Customer service records: kept for as long as needed to handle your enquiry and for a reasonable period afterwards in case of follow-up.
• Marketing data: kept until you unsubscribe or object to marketing, at which point we will stop processing for this purpose.

8. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

• Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure: to ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restrict processing: to request that we limit how we use your information in certain situations.
• Right to object: to object to processing based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
• Right to data portability: to request that we provide your data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or transfer it to another controller.
• Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@stethshop.co.uk.

9. Marketing communications

If you have opted in to receive marketing emails from us, we may send you news, offers, and product updates. You can opt out at any time by:

• Clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email; or
• Contacting us at contact@stethshop.co.uk.

Please note that even if you opt out of marketing communications, we may still send you non-marketing messages related to your orders, account, or important service updates.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to run the Website, understand how it is used, and personalise your experience. You can manage your cookie preferences via your browser settings and our cookie banner, where available. For more details, please see our Cookie Policy.

11. Keeping your information secure

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or alteration. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12. Complaints

If you have any concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection authority:

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Website: www.ico.org.uk

13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this page regularly to stay informed about how we handle your personal information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at contact@stethshop.co.uk.