UK to Bulgaria - Expat Journey

Privacy Policy

Last reviewed: August 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information UK to Bulgaria (uktobulgaria.org) collects, why we collect it, how it is used and how long we keep it. We have tried to write it in plain English rather than legal jargon. If anything is unclear, please ask us.

1. Who we are

UK to Bulgaria is a small, personally run website that shares practical guidance for British people moving to, or already living in, Bulgaria. We act as the data controller for the information described below. You can reach us through our contact page.

2. Information we collect

We only collect what we actually need to run the website and your membership.

  • Accounts and membership registration — your email address, an encrypted password (we never see the password itself), your membership status and the dates you registered or purchased.
  • Email addresses — collected at sign-up, when you contact us, when you request the free checklist, and when you are invited to join.
  • Payments — the one-off membership payment is taken by Stripe. Stripe processes your card details securely; UK to Bulgaria does not receive or store full card numbers. We keep a record of the payment reference, amount, date and the email used, so we can confirm your access and handle any refund request.
  • Contact forms — your name, email address, chosen subject and the message you send.
  • Free checklist downloads — the email address you give us so we can send the checklist and occasional related updates.
  • Member-generated content — anything you choose to submit, including property listings, recommendations, events, Community Board posts, Expat Noticeboard notices, member stories, business listings, photographs and feedback. This includes any contact details you decide to add to a listing, plus any images you upload.
  • Website analytics — if you consent, basic usage data such as pages viewed, approximate location, device type and referring site. We also record simple, de-duplicated page-view counts so we can see which guides are useful.
  • Bulgaria Information Assistant / AI features — the questions you type (or dictate) into the assistant, together with your member ID, so we can provide an answer, apply fair-use limits and prevent misuse.
  • Cookies — see section 7.

Please do not put sensitive personal information (for example health details, ID document numbers or financial account details) into contact forms, listings or the AI assistant.

3. Why we collect it and our lawful basis

  • To provide your membership and the website (accounts, payments, access to members' content, community submissions) — lawful basis: performance of a contract with you.
  • To reply to enquiries and support requests — lawful basis: legitimate interests in running the site and helping visitors, or performance of a contract where it concerns your membership.
  • To send the free checklist and occasional related emails — lawful basis: your consent. You can unsubscribe at any time.
  • To moderate and publish member content — lawful basis: legitimate interests in keeping the community safe, accurate and useful.
  • Analytics and AI assistant usage limits — lawful basis: your consent for analytics cookies, and legitimate interests in keeping the service secure and affordable to run.
  • To meet accounting, tax and legal obligations — lawful basis: legal obligation.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for automated decision-making.

4. How long we keep information

  • Membership accounts — for as long as your account is open, and normally deleted within 30 days of you asking us to close it.
  • Payment records — kept for as long as accounting and tax rules require (typically several years).
  • Contact form messages — normally kept for up to 24 months so we can follow up on related questions.
  • Free checklist email addresses — until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove you.
  • Noticeboard notices — published notices expire automatically after around 30 days, and expired or rejected items are removed periodically.
  • Other member content — kept while it remains published, or until you ask us to remove it.
  • Analytics data — retained according to the analytics provider's standard retention settings.

5. Third-party services we use

We use a small number of trusted providers to run the site. They only process your data on our instructions, or as independent controllers under their own privacy policies.

  • Stripe — payment processing and fraud prevention.
  • Supabase — database, secure file storage and authentication for the website.
  • Lovable — website hosting, deployment and outgoing email delivery.
  • Google Analytics — website usage statistics, loaded only with your consent.
  • AI model providers — used to generate answers in the Bulgaria Information Assistant. Your question text is sent to the model provider to produce a reply.

6. International transfers

Some of the providers above are based outside Bulgaria and the EU, or use servers in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, those providers rely on recognised safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.

7. Cookies and analytics

Essential cookies keep you signed in and remember your cookie choice; these cannot be switched off. Google Analytics cookies are only loaded if you select "Allow analytics" in the cookie banner. You can change your mind at any time by clearing this site's cookies in your browser, and the banner will reappear. Full details are in our Cookie Policy.

8. Keeping your information secure

The site uses encrypted connections (HTTPS), passwords are stored in hashed form, and access to member data is restricted by database-level security rules and admin-only controls. No website can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

9. Your rights

Under UK and EU GDPR you have the right to:

  • ask what personal data we hold about you and get a copy;
  • have inaccurate information corrected;
  • ask us to delete your data (subject to records we must keep by law);
  • object to, or ask us to restrict, certain processing;
  • withdraw consent at any time, for example to analytics or marketing emails;
  • ask for your data in a portable format;
  • complain to a data protection authority, such as the Bulgarian Commission for Personal Data Protection or the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

10. How to make a request

You can update your email address and some account details yourself from your account page, and you can edit or delete your own listings and notices. For anything else, send us a message through the contact page using the email address linked to your account and tell us what you would like us to do. We aim to respond within 30 days.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the website develops. The review date at the top shows when it was last checked.