Privacy policy
PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated: September 2, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, disclosed and protected when you visit virtugather.co, purchase a VirtuGather product, communicate with us or otherwise use our website and related services.
VirtuGather is operated by Dean Coughlan using the VirtuGather brand.
For the purposes of applicable data-protection law, Dean Coughlan is the data controller of personal information processed by VirtuGather, except where another provider, such as Shopify, acts as an independent controller for particular processing activities.
Nothing in this Privacy Policy limits any rights available to you under applicable privacy or data-protection law.
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1. DATA CONTROLLER
Data controller:
Dean Coughlan
VirtuGather
Website:
hello@virtugather.co
Phone:
+353 85 764 0631
Business contact address:
10 Brooke Avenue
Togher
Cork
T12 A9DT
Ireland
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2. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT
The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with VirtuGather.
We may collect the following categories of information.
Contact and customer information
This may include your:
name;
email address;
telephone number;
billing address;
country or region; and
other contact information you provide.
Order and transaction information
This may include:
products viewed;
products added to your cart;
products purchased;
order number;
purchase date;
transaction value;
payment status;
refund or cancellation information; and
information needed to provide purchased digital content.
Payment information
Payments are processed through Shopify and the payment providers available during checkout.
VirtuGather does not normally receive or store your complete payment-card number.
We may receive payment confirmation, transaction status, billing information and other limited information required to process and manage an order.
Account information
If customer-account functionality is used, information may include:
account identifiers;
account preferences;
saved information; and
other information associated with your customer account.
Communications
If you contact VirtuGather, we may process information contained in your message, including:
your name;
email address;
order information;
support request; and
any other information you voluntarily provide.
Website, device and technical information
When you visit our website, technical information may be collected automatically.
This may include:
IP address;
browser type;
device type;
operating system;
general geographic information;
referring website or source;
pages visited;
interaction information;
date and time of visits;
technical identifiers; and
website-performance or diagnostic information.
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3. HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION
Personal information may be collected:
directly from you when you provide information, place an order or contact us;
automatically when you use our website, subject to applicable cookie and consent requirements;
through Shopify, which powers our ecommerce store;
through payment providers;
through analytics and technology providers; and
through other service providers used to operate the VirtuGather website and fulfil customer orders.
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4. WHY WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION
We process personal information only where we have an appropriate legal basis under applicable law.
Providing products and fulfilling orders
We use information to:
process purchases;
accept and confirm payments;
provide digital downloads;
manage orders;
provide customer support;
process permitted cancellations or refunds; and
perform our obligations to customers.
Where GDPR applies, this processing is generally necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
Legal and regulatory obligations
We may process and retain information where necessary to:
meet tax and accounting requirements;
maintain legally required business records;
respond to lawful requests;
comply with consumer-protection obligations; and
comply with other applicable legal requirements.
Where GDPR applies, the legal basis is compliance with a legal obligation.
Security and fraud prevention
We may process information to:
protect the website;
prevent fraudulent transactions;
investigate suspicious activity;
protect customers;
protect our legal rights; and
maintain the security and integrity of our systems.
Where GDPR applies, this processing may be based on our legitimate interests in protecting our business, customers and services, except where those interests are overridden by your rights and interests.
Customer support and business administration
We may use personal information to answer questions, manage customer relationships, resolve technical problems and administer our business.
Depending on the circumstances, this processing may be necessary to perform our contract with you or may be based on our legitimate interests in operating and supporting VirtuGather.
Analytics and website improvement
We use analytics to understand how people use VirtuGather, including which pages are visited, how visitors navigate the website and how our purchasing journey performs.
Where applicable law requires consent for analytics cookies or similar technologies, analytics processing takes place only after the required consent has been obtained.
Where consent is the legal basis, you may withdraw that consent at any time through the privacy or cookie controls made available on our website.
Marketing
Where permitted, we may use contact information to send information about VirtuGather products, updates or offers.
Where consent is required, marketing communications will be sent only with consent.
You may unsubscribe from promotional email at any time using the unsubscribe mechanism contained in the message.
Unsubscribing from marketing will not prevent us from sending transactional communications relating to an order or customer-support request.
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5. SHOPIFY AND SHOPIFY NETWORK INTELLIGENCE
VirtuGather uses Shopify to operate its ecommerce website, checkout, customer accounts, order management, payments and related ecommerce services.
Shopify may collect and process information relating to your interaction with our store, including:
customer and contact information;
device information;
transaction information;
checkout information;
payment information;
browsing and website activity;
technical identifiers; and
information relating to how you interact with Shopify-powered services.
In some circumstances, Shopify acts as a processor or service provider on behalf of VirtuGather.
For certain Shopify products, services and enhanced features, Shopify may also process personal information as an independent data controller in accordance with its own privacy terms.
Shopify Network Intelligence
Shopify Network Intelligence is enabled on our store.
Where Shopify Network Intelligence applies, Shopify may use information from your interactions with VirtuGather together with information from your interactions with other Shopify merchants and Shopify services to provide and improve Shopify's Enhanced Services.
These Enhanced Services may include functions relating to:
fraud prevention and security;
analytics and measurement;
product and service improvement;
personalization;
advertising and marketing effectiveness;
recommendations;
checkout and commerce functionality; and
other Shopify services designed to improve shopping and merchant experiences.
Shopify may process information for these purposes independently from VirtuGather where permitted under applicable law.
Shopify may also use information to develop, improve and provide its services to merchants and consumers.
Where applicable law requires consent or provides a right to opt out of particular processing, relevant consent and privacy choices may be collected and communicated through Shopify's privacy controls made available on our website.
Customers may use the cookie banner, privacy-preference interface or other privacy-choice mechanisms available on our website to manage applicable choices.
Shopify also provides its own Consumer Privacy Policy explaining how it processes personal information.
Customers may use Shopify's Privacy Portal where available to exercise applicable rights relating to information controlled by Shopify, including rights that may relate to access, deletion, objection, withdrawal of consent, targeted advertising or data sharing.
Information supplied through our Shopify store may be transmitted to and processed by Shopify and other providers used to deliver Shopify services.
Shopify may process personal information in countries outside your country of residence.
Where applicable law requires safeguards for international transfers, appropriate legal safeguards will apply.
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6. POSTHOG ANALYTICS
VirtuGather uses PostHog to measure and understand website and ecommerce activity.
PostHog may process analytics information including:
page visits;
website navigation;
clicks and interactions;
referring sources;
browser and device information;
operating-system information;
technical identifiers;
website performance information;
diagnostic information;
purchase or checkout events; and
other information necessary to understand website usage and conversion performance.
Our PostHog configuration uses IP anonymisation.
At the date of this Privacy Policy, PostHog session recording is not enabled for VirtuGather.
Where permitted and relevant to ecommerce measurement, analytics events may be associated with order or customer information supplied during the purchase process so that VirtuGather can understand whether website activity results in a purchase.
We use this information to:
measure traffic;
understand customer journeys;
identify technical or usability problems;
measure checkout and purchasing performance;
improve product pages; and
improve the VirtuGather website.
For visitors in jurisdictions where consent is required for analytics or similar tracking technologies, PostHog analytics will not be activated until the required analytics permission has been granted.
Our Shopify checkout analytics pixel is also configured to require analytics permission.
If analytics permission is declined, the PostHog analytics implementation is designed not to collect analytics page-view data through that consent-controlled tracking.
You may change or withdraw your analytics consent through the privacy or cookie controls available on the website.
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7. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES
VirtuGather, Shopify and approved service providers may use cookies, pixels, local storage and similar technologies.
Some technologies are strictly necessary for functions such as:
website operation;
shopping-cart functionality;
checkout;
security;
fraud prevention; and
remembering essential user choices.
Where legally permitted, strictly necessary technologies may operate without consent because they are required to provide functionality requested by the user.
Other technologies, including analytics, personalization or advertising technologies, will be subject to consent where applicable law requires consent.
Visitors may be provided with a cookie banner or privacy-preferences interface through which they can accept, reject or manage non-essential technologies.
Where available, customers may separately manage categories including analytics, marketing and personalization or preference technologies.
Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that lawfully occurred before consent was withdrawn.
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8. WHO WE MAY SHARE INFORMATION WITH
We may disclose personal information to service providers where reasonably necessary to operate VirtuGather.
These may include:
Shopify for ecommerce hosting, checkout, store operation, Network Intelligence and related services;
payment providers selected or made available during checkout;
PostHog for website and ecommerce analytics;
email and communication providers;
fraud-prevention and security providers;
digital-delivery providers;
professional advisers such as accountants, legal advisers or tax advisers where necessary; and
government, regulatory, judicial or law-enforcement authorities where disclosure is legally required.
Service providers are given access to information as reasonably necessary for the applicable purpose, subject to applicable contractual and legal safeguards.
Some providers may act as independent controllers for particular processing activities and apply their own privacy terms.
We may also disclose information where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
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9. PAYMENT PROVIDERS
Customers may be offered one or more third-party payment methods during Shopify checkout.
Depending on the selected payment method, information may be processed by Shopify Payments or another payment provider made available at checkout.
Payment providers process payment information under their own applicable privacy and security terms.
VirtuGather does not normally receive the complete card details entered into a payment provider's secure payment system.
Payment providers may use information for purposes including:
processing payments;
authentication;
fraud prevention;
regulatory compliance;
refunds; and
dispute management.
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10. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS
Some service providers used by VirtuGather may process information outside Ireland, the European Economic Area or the country in which you live.
This may include Shopify, PostHog, payment providers and other technology providers.
Where GDPR or other applicable law requires safeguards for an international transfer, appropriate transfer mechanisms will be used.
These may include:
an adequacy decision;
the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses;
another legally recognised transfer mechanism; or
another safeguard permitted under applicable data-protection law.
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11. DATA RETENTION
Personal information is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
The retention period depends on the nature of the information and why it was collected.
For example:
order and transaction information may be retained for periods required by tax, accounting, consumer-protection and other legal obligations;
customer-support communications may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve the request and maintain appropriate business records;
marketing information may be retained until you unsubscribe or otherwise withdraw the applicable permission, subject to any information required to maintain an opt-out record; and
analytics information is retained according to our analytics settings, provider settings and business requirements and may be reviewed periodically.
Information may be retained for longer where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or where retention is required by law.
When information is no longer required, it may be deleted or anonymised.
Third-party providers may apply their own retention periods to information they process as independent controllers.
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12. SECURITY
We take reasonable administrative, organisational and technical measures intended to protect personal information against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss or misuse.
Our ecommerce website and checkout are operated using Shopify's infrastructure and security systems.
However, no internet transmission, website or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Customers should avoid sending highly sensitive information through ordinary email or other unsecured communication channels.
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13. YOUR RIGHTS
Depending on applicable law and your location, you may have rights concerning your personal information.
For individuals protected by the GDPR, these may include the right to:
request access to personal information;
request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
request deletion of personal information in applicable circumstances;
request restriction of processing;
object to certain processing;
receive certain information in a portable format;
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority.
These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal conditions, limitations and exemptions.
To exercise a right concerning personal information controlled by VirtuGather, contact us using the details at the end of this Privacy Policy.
Where personal information is independently controlled by Shopify or another third-party provider, you may also need to exercise relevant rights directly with that provider.
We may need to verify your identity before completing a request.
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14. WITHDRAWING CONSENT AND PRIVACY CHOICES
Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.
Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
Analytics, marketing and other applicable cookie preferences can be managed through the privacy controls available on virtugather.co.
Where available, the website may provide:
a cookie banner;
cookie preference controls;
analytics consent controls;
marketing consent controls;
personalization controls;
data-sharing opt-out mechanisms; and
other privacy-choice tools provided through Shopify.
Marketing email consent can be withdrawn using the unsubscribe option provided in promotional emails or by contacting VirtuGather.
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15. DATA SHARING, TARGETED ADVERTISING AND OPT-OUT RIGHTS
VirtuGather does not sell personal information for money.
Certain privacy laws use broader definitions of terms such as "sale", "sharing", "cross-context behavioural advertising" or "targeted advertising".
Where applicable law gives you the right to opt out of covered data sharing, targeted advertising or similar processing, Shopify or VirtuGather may provide a privacy-choice mechanism allowing you to exercise that right.
Our Shopify store currently provides a data-sharing opt-out mechanism in jurisdictions where Shopify determines that such functionality should be available.
Where supported and legally required, recognised browser-based privacy preference signals may also be processed.
The classification of a particular activity under privacy law depends on the applicable jurisdiction and the circumstances of the processing.
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16. CHILDREN
VirtuGather products and services are not directed specifically at children.
We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information directly from children who do not have legal capacity to provide the relevant information or consent under applicable law.
If you believe that a child has supplied personal information improperly, please contact us so that the matter can be reviewed and appropriate action taken.
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17. THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND SERVICES
Virtugather.co may contain links to third-party websites, platforms or services.
VirtuGather does not control the privacy practices of independent third-party websites or services.
If you follow an external link or use a third-party service, you should review the privacy information supplied by the relevant third party.
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18. DATA SUBJECT COMPLAINTS
If you have concerns about how VirtuGather processes personal information, please contact us so that we can investigate the issue.
Individuals in Ireland also have the right, where applicable, to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission.
Individuals in another EEA country may have the right to complain to the competent data-protection supervisory authority in their country.
Contacting VirtuGather first does not remove or limit your right to contact a supervisory authority directly.
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19. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect:
changes to our website;
changes to Shopify or other service providers;
changes to Shopify Network Intelligence or Enhanced Services;
new technology;
changes to our data-processing practices; or
legal and regulatory requirements.
When this Privacy Policy is materially updated, the Last updated date at the beginning of the Policy will be changed.
Where legally required, additional notice will be provided.
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20. CONTACT
For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact:
Dean Coughlan
VirtuGather
Email:
hello@virtugather.co
Phone:
+353 85 764 0631
Business contact address:
10 Brooke Avenue
Togher
Cork
T12 A9DT
Ireland
Website:
virtugather.co