YOUR DATA. YOUR CONTROLS.

CONTROLLER & INFORMATION WE PROCESS

Luke Bray trading as ViceTrace is the controller for ViceTrace service data. Contact details and the business correspondence address appear above.

• Account/authentication data: Wix manages account email, credentials and necessary sessions. Readable passwords are not stored in ViceTrace CMS.
• Private research: member identity, chosen handle, saved entities, collections, private notes/tags/statuses, personal progress/resume, followed entities/preferences, saved presets and in-product change acknowledgements.
• Support/submissions: email, optional handle, message, evidence link, selected interest, source form and dated consent wording.
• Commercial records where applicable: order/subscription and transaction identifiers, payment/refund status and references, plan and entitlement state, reconciliation receipts and Original 500 historical provenance. Connected commercial infrastructure does not mean sales are open.
• Operational/security information: submission attempt counters, expiry times and daily HMAC-derived email identifiers, plus request/error information needed for service security. Rate-limit records do not store raw email, IP address or message.

Do not add sensitive personal information about yourself or others to notes or evidence. ViceTrace does not need complete payment-card details; payment processing is handled by Wix and the relevant payment provider when sales are authorised.

PURPOSES & LAWFUL BASES

We use account and private research information to provide the service you request and administer membership (performance of a contract or steps you request before one). We use support data to answer enquiries and resolve service problems; security and editorial review rely on legitimate interests in running a safe, accurate service. Launch-update emails rely on your consent, which you may withdraw through Support. Following an entity is not marketing consent. Records may also be retained to meet legal obligations or address disputes. We do not sell personal data.

COOKIES & DEVICE STORAGE

Wix supplies necessary authentication and security cookies. The ViceTrace member session cookie lasts up to seven days after successful sign-in or renewal, subject to Wix credential validation. The temporary secure callback cookie lasts up to 30 minutes. Logging out ends the member session.

Guest saves, device Progress notes/goals, Story/Online and spoiler preferences remain in browser storage. Guest choices upload only when you choose Merge; device copies remain. Signed-in saves are account records. Session storage can retain a pending save you explicitly request while signed out. Clearing browser data removes device copies; logout does not clear guest data on a shared device. Use Progress export before clearing its local data.

Optional first-party usage measurement is off by default. Use “Optional usage measurement” at the foot of any page to allow, decline or withdraw it. When allowed, a random browser identifier and last-visit day are stored on this device for up to 90 days to deduplicate broad usage counts. We record page/offer use, returning-use observations, a first successful account save and a successfully created Wix checkout session. With fresh optional consent, we also observe a recently created Wix member record when its signed-in account loads successfully within 24 hours of creation. Its creation day comes from Wix, not a login timestamp; the member identifier is hashed for deduplication and is not stored in the signal. This is a limited observation, not a complete registration census. Older measurement consent does not automatically enable this expanded observation. We do not collect search text, private notes, email addresses, IP addresses or payment-card details in these signals. Raw browser identifiers are hashed before storage; known owner and preview testing is excluded from independent-growth reporting. Signals expire after 90 days and are removed in bounded batches during measurement traffic, so removal may be later when no traffic occurs. Declining does not affect account access, saves or checkout. Payment, refund and entitlement outcomes continue to come from the separate authoritative service records, not browser events. Google Fonts loads externally and receives normal browser request information. External links/services have their own notices. No advertising pixels or external analytics provider are introduced by this measurement.

WHAT OPTIONAL JOURNEY COUNTS MEAN

With optional measurement allowed, we also count broad Search use, successful save additions and My Vice use. A recognised search-engine referrer can produce a search-referral observation; the referring address and query are checked only in the browser and are not transmitted or stored. Known paid-campaign markers are excluded, but this observation is not proof of organic traffic. Search Console is the separate source for Google search performance.

Client observations are deduplicated per consented browser, event and UTC day. They are not counts of unique people, individual saves or completed purchases, and may include unidentified testing. Server-observed registration, first account saves and checkout creation remain separately labelled. Consent, withdrawal, internal-test exclusion and retention work as described above.

ADVERTISING STATUS & AD-FREE PRO

No advertising network is active. The advertising component remains off pending publisher approval, a supported certified consent-management setup and placement checks. Optional usage measurement is not advertising consent. Declining measurement never opts you into advertising.

Active Pro includes ad-free ViceTrace browsing while signed in, including Original 500 members. External websites and third-party video services have their own advertising. If advertising is introduced on selected Free editorial pages, separate advertising choices and vendor information will be available before requests begin; refusal will leave the underlying content usable.

PROVIDERS & INTERNATIONAL PROCESSING

Wix provides hosting, CMS, member authentication and the connected plans/payment infrastructure. Google provides external fonts and, when you choose it, Google sign-in. Relevant payment processors receive data necessary for their payment service when used; we do not claim an unused provider is active. Wix/Google infrastructure may process information outside the UK. Provider arrangements and applicable safeguards govern those transfers; contact us for information about safeguards applicable to your data.

RETENTION & SECURITY

We keep data while needed for the requested service, support, security, consent administration, legal obligations or dispute resolution. We review retention against those purposes; there is no claim that all records have automated deletion after a fixed period. Private Pro data is retained/readable after paid access ends according to the service design. Account deletion requests are verified; records that must be retained are separated from normal use.

Original 500 allocation numbers are not recycled. A minimal historical allocation record is retained to preserve that provenance and prevent reallocation even after refund/revocation; public recognition can be removed. This does not mean every associated personal field must remain forever.

Protected collections, owner-only private research access, server-side authority and abuse controls help protect data. Expired submission counters are cleaned during submission traffic in bounded batches, not by a guaranteed scheduled expiry job. No system can guarantee absolute security.

YOUR RIGHTS & CONTACT

You can request access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability or object to processing where applicable, and withdraw consent. We may need proportionate identity verification; never send passwords or login codes. Use support@vicetrace.com or the private Support form. Account Settings supports research export and account deletion requests. Subscription cancellation and account deletion are separate actions.

You can raise a concern with us or complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. ICO complaints.