Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated 2 June 2026

This policy explains what personal data we collect through the Vinealto website, how we use it, and the rights you have under United Kingdom data protection law. Vinealto is a brand operated by Honest Glass Group Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17202326. We are the controller of the personal data described here.

1. Who we are

The controller is Honest Glass Group Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 17202326, registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration reference ZC168256. For any question about this policy or your data, email us at elise@vinealto.com.

2. The data we collect

• Newsletter — your email address, when you subscribe to the Vinealto newsletter.
• Account — your name, email address, region and the Vinealto awards you hold, if you create a Wine Coach account.
• Public Register — your name, region, highest award and the date you achieved it, shown only if you choose to opt in.
• Submissions — content you choose to send us, such as a photograph of a restaurant's menu or wine list, together with any account or contact details attached to it.
• Usage — basic device and usage data gathered through cookies and analytics, so we can understand and improve the site.
• Messages — anything you send us when you get in touch.

3. How we use it, and our lawful basis

• To send the Vinealto newsletter — on the basis of your consent.
• To run your account and any subscription you take, and to send the service and account messages that go with it (such as security or billing notices) — to perform our contract with you.
• To show your entry on the Public Register — on the basis of your consent (opt-in).
• To use the content you send us to inform and improve our pairing reasoning and restaurant assessments — on the basis of our legitimate interests in building a good guide.
• To understand how the site is used and to improve it — on the basis of our legitimate interests in running a good service.
• To meet our legal obligations where the law requires it.

4. Learning from you, to tailor what we show you

Vinealto improves with use. As you rate pairings, work through the Wine Coach, or use the Pairing Library, we learn your tastes and preferences and use them to tailor our recommendations and the way the Coach is delivered to you — on the basis of our legitimate interests in giving you a better service, and your consent where it applies. From time to time we may ask you to tell us your preferences directly, or to update them, so that we can serve you better. You can review, change or reset your preferences in your account at any time. We do not use this to advertise to you.

5. Our use of artificial intelligence

Some of what Vinealto does is helped by artificial intelligence — for example, the engine that reasons about food and wine pairings, parts of the Wine Coach, and some of our correspondence. AI helps us work quickly and consistently, but our published content is created and checked under human editorial control, and we do not make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects on you by automated means alone. Where a feature reads a photograph of a menu (At the Table, on the app), we design it to process the image on your own device wherever possible, so it need not leave your phone.

6. The Public Register

The Public Register is a standing page that lists individuals who hold a Vinealto Wine Coach award and have chosen to appear, so that a potential employer can verify a candidate's qualification. Inclusion is opt-in and unticked by default. An entry shows your name, region, highest award and the date achieved — no contact details. You can ask to be removed at any time and we will take your entry down.

7. Marketing

To individuals, we only send marketing email with your consent, and every message carries an unsubscribe link you can use at any time. We use Mailchimp (Intuit) to manage and send the Vinealto newsletter.

Separately, we sometimes contact restaurants and other businesses we have not dealt with before — for example, to let a restaurant know it features in the Guide, or to tell it about Vinealto for Business. We do this on the basis of our legitimate interests in reaching the trade: we identify ourselves clearly, we keep it relevant to their business, and every message lets them opt out. This is business-to-business contact with an organisation, not consumer marketing.

We never sell your data.

8. Who we share it with

We share data only with service providers who act on our instructions — for example our email provider (Mailchimp), and, where used, payment and analytics providers. They may only use the data to provide their service to us. We may also disclose data where we are required to by law. We do not sell your personal data to anyone.

9. International transfers

Some of our providers are based outside the United Kingdom. Where your data is transferred abroad, we rely on appropriate safeguards — UK adequacy regulations for the destination country, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses) — so that your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.

10. How long we keep it

We keep newsletter data until you unsubscribe; account data for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards; and Public Register entries until you opt out. Where the law sets a minimum retention period, we keep data for that period.

11. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access your data, to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to its use, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these, email elise@vinealto.com. If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

12. Cookies

The site uses cookies and similar technologies. Our Cookie Policy explains which cookies we set and how to manage them.

13. Children

The site is intended for adults of legal drinking age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us their data, contact us and we will remove it.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed.