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Privacy Policy

We are reviewing all our policies and will update this page when the review is complete. Last updated: 4 October 2026.

Who we are

This website, theskipper.ie, is run by Mara Media, publishers of The Skipper. Mara Media is the trading name of Foilseachán na Mara Teoranta, a private company limited by shares, registered in Ireland (company number 402309), with its registered office at 2nd Floor, Unit 4, Gteic, Gweedore, Co. Donegal, F92 PT38. In this policy, “The Skipper”, “we” and “us” mean the publisher of The Skipper.

This policy explains what personal information The Skipper collects, why we collect it, who we share it with and what your rights are. It covers theskipper.ie, The Skipper’s print and Digital Edition subscriptions, our email lists, and the Irish and Scottish Skipper Expos. Please read it together with our Terms and Conditions.

Contact: editor@theskipper.ie
Post: The Skipper, 2nd Floor, Unit 4, Gteic, Gweedore, Co. Donegal, F92 PT38, Rep. of Ireland

What we collect and why

When you visit the website

  • You can read most of theskipper.ie without giving us any personal information.
  • Our web host keeps standard server logs (your IP address, browser type, the pages you visit and the time). These are used for security and to keep the site working, and are kept for about 30 days.
  • Our security software checks visitors’ IP addresses to block attacks and spam.

Cookies

When you first visit, our cookie banner asks which cookies you allow. You can change your choice at any time using the cookie settings button on the site. The banner lists every cookie we use, what it does and how long it lasts.

  • Necessary: needed for the site to work, for example remembering your cookie choice and keeping you logged in to your subscription. These are always on.
  • Functional and performance: remember your settings, such as your last tide or weather location, and help the site run smoothly. Only used if you allow them.
  • Analytics: if you allow it, we record your visit, including which website or social media post (such as Facebook) brought you here and which articles you read. We use Google Analytics for this. We do not use Facebook’s tracking pixel or other advertising trackers.

Your location (tide and weather tools)

Our Tide Calculator and Weather Forecast tools do not ask for your location. You choose a port or place yourself. If we ever add a “use my location” option, it will only work if you choose it and allow it, and we will update this policy before it goes live.

Subscriptions and your account

  • When you subscribe, we collect your name, email address and password (stored encrypted), and for print subscriptions your postal address. If you buy a gift subscription, we collect the details you give us for the person receiving it.
  • We use these to provide your subscription, post your magazine, give you access to the Digital Edition, and email you about your subscription, including a reminder before it ends.
  • Card payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. Some older subscriptions were paid through PayPal.

Email lists

You can choose to receive any of these emails from The Skipper:

  • The Skipper Editor’s Newsletter: monthly, on the day each new issue is published, with a look inside the issue from the Editor, the latest Expo visitor news, and advertising and subscription offers.
  • Irish Skipper Expo visitors: in the months before the show, with show dates and visitor registration.
  • Scottish Skipper Expo visitors: in the months before the show in Aberdeen, with show dates and visitor registration.
  • Exhibiting at our Expos: when stand bookings open, plus details and important updates for exhibitors when needed before the show.
  • Advertising with The Skipper: a few times a year, with our media pack, rates and advertising opportunities.

You choose each one separately, and nothing is ticked for you. When you sign up, The Skipper records your email address, your name if you give it, which lists you chose, the date and time, the wording you were shown, and how you reached the sign-up page. We use this record to show that you agreed, and we email you a copy.

We use your details only to send you the emails you chose. Our email lists are never uploaded to Facebook, Google or any other platform for advertising. Every email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom, which opens a page where you can stop any list or unsubscribe from everything. We email you to confirm any change. After you unsubscribe, The Skipper keeps your email address and the date you left on a “do not send” list, so that you are never emailed again by mistake.

Our emails are sent by our website host, SiteGround, using its email service. SiteGround stores our lists in the European Union and only uses them on our instructions.

Comments

If you comment on an article, we collect your name, email address (never published), your comment and your IP address. Every comment is checked for spam on our own server and approved by a member of our team before it appears.

When you contact us

If you email us or use a form on the site, we keep what you send so we can reply and deal with your enquiry.

The Skipper Expos

  • Visitors: when you register for an Expo, we collect the details on the registration form, such as your name, company or vessel, country and email address. We use them to register you, issue your badge and run the show. We only send you show news by email if you choose to receive it.
  • Exhibitors and sponsors: we collect contact and billing details to manage your booking.
  • Registration may be handled for us by a registration partner, who acts only on our instructions.

Our legal reasons for using your information

  • To provide what you asked for: your subscription, your Expo registration or booking, or a reply to your enquiry.
  • Your consent: our email lists and cookies that aren’t necessary. You can withdraw consent at any time.
  • Our legitimate interests: keeping the website secure and working, moderating comments, and dealing with business contacts about matters relevant to their work.
  • The law: keeping financial records, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Who we share it with

The Skipper never sells your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run The Skipper and who may use it only on our instructions:

  • SiteGround: website hosting, email sending and our email lists.
  • Stripe: card payments.
  • Google: analytics, only if you allow it.
  • CookieYes: runs our cookie banner and records your cookie choices.
  • The company that posts our print magazine: your name and postal address, for print subscribers only.
  • Our Expo registration partner: to register visitors.
  • Professional advisers and authorities: where the law requires it.

Information sent outside Europe

Some of these providers, such as Google and Stripe, may process information outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Where they do, they use the safeguards the law requires, such as the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

How long we keep it

  • Your account and subscription: while you are a subscriber, and for up to two years after your subscription ends so you can renew easily. After that it is deleted, apart from the records below.
  • Payment and accounting records: six years, as Irish tax law requires.
  • Email lists: while you are subscribed. After you unsubscribe, only your email address and the date you left are kept, on our “do not send” list.
  • Comments: for as long as the comment is published.
  • Messages and enquiries: for as long as we need them to deal with your enquiry.
  • Expo registrations: until the next edition of that show, unless you have joined one of our email lists.
  • Server logs: about 30 days.

Your rights

You can ask The Skipper to:

  • show you the personal information we hold about you;
  • correct anything that is wrong;
  • delete your information, unless we must keep it by law;
  • stop or limit how we use it, or give you a copy to take elsewhere.

Email editor@theskipper.ie. There is no charge, and we will reply within one month. We may ask you to confirm who you are first.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right (see our Complaints Policy). You can also complain to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland (dataprotection.ie). If you live in the UK, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).

Keeping your information safe

The website uses encryption (https) for everything you send us. Only staff who need your information can see it, and we use security software to protect the site. No website can be completely secure, but we work to keep your information safe and will tell you and the authorities if anything goes wrong, as the law requires.

Children

The Skipper is written for people who work in the fishing industry and is not aimed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

We will post any changes on this page and update the date at the top. If a change significantly affects how we use information you have already given us, we will tell you by email.