Privacy Policy

This policy explains which personal data we process when you visit this website, buy from us or contact us, why we do it and what your rights are under the GDPR.

Controller. João Patrício Esteves Coelho, NIF 256 429 669, Rua das Oliveiras, Bloco D, 4710-088 Braga, Portugal, sole trader operating the brand Portuguese Experience. For any privacy matter, write to hello@portugueseexperience.com.

Orders and payment. When you buy, you enter your name, email, delivery and billing address, phone number if requested and payment details in the checkout hosted by Shopify. Payment is processed by Shopify and the payment providers shown at checkout; we do not receive your full card details. Your cart (wine, cheese, quantity and any gift recipient, message, date or gift-receipt choice you enter) is sent from this website to Shopify to create the order. Basis: performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and, for invoicing and accounting, our legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c)).

Delivery. We share the name, delivery address and contact details needed for delivery with DPD, the carrier. Basis: performance of the contract.

Customer support. When you email us, we use your message and contact details to reply and resolve your request. Basis: performance of the contract or our legitimate interest in answering enquiries (Art. 6(1)(f)).

Account and wishlist. If you create an optional account, we process your email address and login details and the items you save to your wishlist, visible only to you. Basis: performance of the account service you requested.

Founders List and marketing. If you join the Founders List, we process the details you submit (name, country, email, optional phone, wine and cheese preferences, language, source page and campaign tags, consent choice and dates). Marketing emails are sent only if you tick the separate, never pre-ticked marketing box; it is never required to buy. Basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time.

Corporate enquiries. If you use the corporate form, we process your contact and company details and your message to answer the enquiry. Basis: steps at your request before a contract or our legitimate interest.

“Find Yours” suggestions. The answers you give are sent to an AI service only to generate the suggestion and are not saved in our database; the AI service provider processes them technically to produce the answer. Avoid entering unnecessary personal information in the notes field.

Advertising measurement (Meta). Only if you choose “Accept all”, the Meta Pixel loads and sends Meta page views and shopping events (product viewed, added to cart, checkout started) with product identifiers and values. Our events do not include your name, email or address, but the Meta script itself may process personal data such as your IP address, browser and device information and cookie identifiers, under Meta's own terms. With the same consent only, we keep the campaign tags (utm_*) and the Facebook/Instagram click identifier (fbclid) from the link you arrived with for your browser session and add them to your cart, so we know which campaign led to an order. Without that consent, or after you withdraw it, they are not stored or sent and anything stored is deleted. Basis: consent (Art. 6(1)(a)).

Service providers. Shopify (store, checkout, payments, order emails); DPD (delivery); Lovable and Lovable Cloud (website hosting, database, authentication, email sending and the AI service), which also provide aggregated visit statistics; Meta, only with your consent. Some providers may process data outside the European Economic Area; such transfers are subject to the GDPR rules on international transfers, and you can ask us for information about them. We do not sell your personal data.

Retention. Founders List data: up to two years from registration, or less if you withdraw consent or ask for deletion. Order, invoice and accounting data: for the periods required by tax and accounting law. Account and wishlist data: until you delete the account or ask us to. Support and corporate messages: as long as needed to handle the request and any resulting relationship. Data may be kept longer only where needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Your rights. You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection, and you can withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing. Write to hello@portugueseexperience.com. You can also complain to the Portuguese data protection authority, the CNPD, or the authority of your country.

Withdrawal statements. If you use the online withdrawal form, we process your name, email, order reference, the goods concerned, your statement and the time of receipt to handle the withdrawal and the refund and to meet our legal obligations. Basis: performance of the contract and legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(b) and (c)). We keep this data for as long as needed to process the withdrawal and any related complaint or legal obligation.