Privacy Policy

Catch Comics (we, us, our) is a price-comparison service for comics, graphic novels, and manga, operated as an independent project based in the United Kingdom. This policy applies to all visitors to catchcomics.com and any associated subdomains.

We are not registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a data controller at this time, as we do not hold personal data that requires registration. We intend to register if our data-processing activities change.

For data-protection enquiries, contact us at hello@catchcomics.com.

1. Session cookie — __cc_session

When you click an affiliate link on Catch Comics, we set a cookie named __cc_session. This is a randomly generated UUID (for example, f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479). It contains no personal information and is not linked to your name, email address, or any other identifying detail.

• Purpose: to count affiliate clicks and attribute them to an anonymous browsing session so we can measure which retailers are popular and detect duplicate clicks.
• Stored for: 1 year from the date of issue.
• Type: HttpOnly, SameSite=Lax — not accessible to third-party scripts on our site.
• When set: only when you actively click a retailer link — not on page load or passive browsing.

2. Click-event log

Each time you click a retailer link, we record:

• The anonymous session token (above)
• The listing ID of the product you clicked
• The referring page URL on our site
• Your browser's user-agent string (e.g., “Chrome 124 on Windows”)

We do not record your IP address in click-event logs.

• Purpose: affiliate commission tracking and traffic analytics.
• Retained for: 13 months, then deleted.

3. Server and infrastructure logs

Catch Comics is hosted on Vercel. Vercel's infrastructure automatically records standard server log data for every request, including your IP address, the URL requested, HTTP status code, timestamp, and user-agent string. This logging is handled by Vercel, not by Catch Comics directly.

• Purpose: infrastructure performance, error diagnosis, and DDoS protection.
• Retention: governed by Vercel's data retention policy. See vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Catch Comics does not access or analyse Vercel's infrastructure logs in the course of normal operations. We may access them in the event of a security incident or to diagnose a site fault.

We do not ask for or store:

• Your name, email address, or any account credentials (there are no user accounts on Catch Comics).
• Payment information of any kind.
• Your IP address in our own application logs.
• Location data (we do not geolocate visitors).
• Any data from social media integrations (there are none).

We use Vercel Analytics, a privacy-friendly analytics service provided by Vercel (our hosting provider). It records anonymous pageview data — the URL visited, referrer, and approximate country — to help us understand how the site is used. It does not set cookies, does not fingerprint your device, and does not track you across sites. See Vercel Analytics privacy information.

We do not use Google Analytics, Plausible, or any other third-party analytics service. We do not load advertising networks, remarketing pixels, or social media tracking scripts.

The __cc_sessioncookie is set only when you actively click an affiliate link — it is not placed on page load. We consider this cookie to be closely analogous to the “strictly necessary for the transmission of a communication” exemption under PECR, because it is triggered by your deliberate action and used solely to correctly attribute your affiliate click.

We acknowledge that the “strictly necessary” exemption under PECR is primarily intended for technical communications rather than commercial affiliate tracking. We make no claim of guaranteed legal compliance. If you have concerns, you can block all cookies via your browser settings — the site will continue to work normally without the session cookie.

No other cookies are set by Catch Comics on page load or during normal browsing.

When you click a retailer link, you leave Catch Comics. Some links pass through affiliate network tracking before reaching the retailer. The following networks may set their own cookies or use tracking technology on their redirect pages:

• AWIN (Affiliate Window):Used for some UK retailers. AWIN's tracking operates on AWIN's own infrastructure after you leave Catch Comics. See AWIN's privacy policy.
• Amazon: Amazon has its own tracking and cookies when you arrive at amazon.co.uk. See Amazon's privacy notice.
• Other retailers: Each retailer you visit has its own privacy policy and cookie use. Catch Comics is not responsible for data collected by any third-party site after you follow a link from our site.

Catch Comics uses the following third-party services to operate the site:

• Vercel — hosting and serverless infrastructure. Processes request data including IP addresses. Based in the United States; operates under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where applicable.
• Vercel Analytics — anonymous pageview analytics (no cookies, no cross-site tracking). Data is processed by Vercel under their privacy policy.
• Neon (PostgreSQL) — our database provider. Stores our product catalogue, retailer listings, and click-event logs (anonymous). Data is encrypted at rest and in transit.
• Cloudflare R2 — used to store cover images. Does not process personal data.

We do not sell or share your data with any third party beyond the service providers listed above, which are necessary to operate the site.

• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): We have a legitimate interest in understanding how our affiliate links perform so we can operate and improve the service. The data we process for this purpose is fully anonymous (a UUID with no personal identifiers) and you can opt out at any time by blocking cookies in your browser.
• Legal obligation: Server infrastructure logs (held by Vercel) may be retained for security and legal compliance purposes.

• Session cookie (__cc_session): 1 year from issue date, or until cleared by your browser.
• Click-event logs: 13 months from the click date, then deleted.
• Vercel infrastructure logs: governed by Vercel's own retention policy.

We do not retain any other personal data beyond the above. Because our session identifiers are anonymous UUIDs with no link to any personal identifier, we cannot retrieve data for a specific individual without their session token.

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of data we hold associated with your session token.
• Erasure — ask us to delete click-event records associated with your session token.
• Restriction — ask us to stop processing data associated with your session token.
• Object — object to processing based on legitimate interests.

Because we only hold an anonymous UUID, exercising most rights requires you to provide the value of your __cc_session cookie so we can locate the relevant records. To exercise any right, email hello@catchcomics.com.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk.

Our infrastructure providers (Vercel, Neon) may process data in the United States or other countries outside the UK. Where this occurs, we rely on the providers' own legal mechanisms (such as Standard Contractual Clauses or the UK-US Data Bridge) to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

Catch Comics is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children. If you believe a child has provided data to us, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top will reflect any changes. We will not retroactively change how we use data that has already been collected without providing clear notice.