Lyth House Privacy Policy
Last updated: 31 July 2026
1. Introduction
Lyth House respects your privacy and is committed to processing personal information responsibly, transparently and securely.
This Privacy Policy explains what information may be collected through the Lyth House website, why it is collected, how it may be used and the rights available to individuals whose information is processed.
Lyth House operates from South Africa and processes personal information in accordance with applicable privacy and data-protection requirements, including the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 where applicable.
2. Who is responsible for your information
The responsible party for personal information processed through this website is:
Lyth House
Website: https://lythhouse.com
Email: contact@lythhouse.com
Questions or requests concerning personal information may be submitted through the Contact page or sent to the email address above.
3. Information we may collect
Suggested text: If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
Depending on how the website is used, Lyth House may collect:
- Names and surnames
- Email addresses
- Telephone numbers where voluntarily provided
- Contact-form messages
- Manuscript and editorial-enquiry information
- Book, author and contributor information
- Newsletter subscription preferences
- Account information if user accounts are introduced
- Transaction and billing information if paid services or products are introduced
- Internet Protocol addresses
- Browser, device and operating-system information
- Website activity and referral information
- Cookie and consent preferences
- Correspondence and service records
- Information contained in files voluntarily submitted for editorial work
Please do not submit sensitive personal information that is unnecessary for the purpose of your enquiry.
4. How information is collected
Personal information may be collected when a person:
- Completes a contact or editorial-enquiry form
- Corresponds with Lyth House by email
- Subscribes to communications
- Requests editorial or publishing-support services
- Submits author, book or contributor information
- Purchases a product or service
- Creates an account
- Comments on website content, if comments are enabled
- Browses the website
- Accepts or rejects cookies
- Interacts with embedded media or third-party services
Some technical information may be collected automatically by the website, hosting provider, security systems and permitted analytics tools.
5. Purposes of processing
Lyth House may process personal information to:
- Respond to enquiries
- Assess requests for editorial services
- Prepare quotations, project scopes and agreements
- Provide editorial and publishing-support services
- Communicate with authors, clients and contributors
- Maintain editorial and publication records
- Process payments and maintain financial records
- Manage book and author profiles
- Send communications where consent or another lawful basis exists
- Improve website content, usability and performance
- Maintain website security
- Prevent fraud, abuse and unauthorised access
- Comply with legal, regulatory, contractual and accounting obligations
- Establish, exercise or defend legal rights
Information will not be used for purposes materially incompatible with the reason for which it was collected unless permitted by law or authorised by the affected person.
6. Lawful grounds for processing
Personal information may be processed where:
- Consent has been provided
- Processing is necessary to respond to a request
- Processing is required to enter into or perform an agreement
- Processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation
- Processing protects a legitimate interest of Lyth House or another person
- Processing is otherwise permitted by applicable law
Consent may be withdrawn where processing depends on consent, although withdrawal does not invalidate processing that occurred before withdrawal.
7. Editorial submissions and manuscripts
Unpublished manuscripts, proposals, samples and related project information will be treated as confidential, subject to applicable law and any agreement with the author or rights holder.
Submitted material may be accessed by authorised persons or service providers only where reasonably necessary to assess, manage or perform the requested work.
Authors must avoid including unnecessary personal information concerning third parties in manuscripts or supporting files. The author remains responsible for having an appropriate basis for sharing personal information contained in submitted material.
Submission of a manuscript does not transfer copyright or ownership to Lyth House.
8. Publication and author information
Information intended for public author profiles, book pages, contributor records, certificates or publication notices may be published with the relevant author’s, contributor’s or rights holder’s authority.
Once information has been published online, it may be indexed, copied, archived or shared by search engines, retailers, libraries, social platforms and other third parties beyond the direct control of Lyth House.
Requests to correct or remove public information will be considered subject to legal, contractual, archival and publication-record requirements.
9. Cookies and similar technologies
The website may use cookies and similar technologies for:
- Essential website operation
- Security
- Remembering user preferences
- Contact-form functionality
- Website performance
- Analytics
- Embedded media
- Marketing or audience measurement where enabled
Essential cookies may operate without optional consent where required for the website to function.
Where applicable, visitors will be given a choice concerning non-essential cookies. Cookie preferences may also be managed through browser settings, although disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.
10. Contact forms
Information submitted through a contact form may include the sender’s name, email address, message and other information voluntarily provided.
This information will be used to respond to the enquiry, maintain appropriate correspondence records and take steps requested by the sender.
Contact-form information will not be used for unrelated marketing without an appropriate legal basis.
11. Analytics and website security
Lyth House may use privacy-conscious analytics, security monitoring, firewall, spam-prevention and performance tools.
These services may process technical information such as IP addresses, browser details, page requests, login attempts and security events.
At present, the website uses Wordfence for security and may use hosting and caching services supplied through Hostinger and LiteSpeed. Their systems may process technical information necessary to protect and operate the website.
12. Embedded content and external links
Pages may contain embedded videos, images, social-media features, retailer links or other content supplied by third-party websites.
Embedded content may behave as though the visitor accessed the third-party website directly. Those providers may collect information, use cookies or track interaction according to their own privacy policies.
Lyth House is not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites or platforms.
13. Sharing of information
Personal information may be shared with:
- Authorised Lyth House personnel
- Website hosting and technical-service providers
- Security, backup and email-service providers
- Payment processors where purchases are enabled
- Professional advisers
- Contractors performing agreed editorial or publishing work
- Publishers, distributors or platforms where authorised by the client
- Regulators, courts or public authorities where legally required
Service providers should receive only the information reasonably necessary for their function and may be required to process it confidentially and securely.
Lyth House does not sell personal information.
14. International processing
Some hosting, security, email, analytics, publishing or distribution providers may process information outside South Africa.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, Lyth House will take reasonable steps to use lawful transfer arrangements and providers offering appropriate protection, where required.
15. Retention
Personal information will be retained only for as long as reasonably required for:
- The purpose for which it was collected
- Providing requested services
- Maintaining editorial and publication records
- Fulfilling contractual obligations
- Accounting and tax requirements
- Resolving disputes
- Protecting legal rights
- Complying with applicable laws
Information that is no longer required may be deleted, anonymised or securely archived.
Publication and certificate records may be retained for longer periods where necessary to preserve an accurate editorial or publishing history.
16. Information security
Lyth House takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.
These measures may include:
- HTTPS encryption
- Access controls
- Security monitoring
- Firewall protection
- Software updates
- Backups
- Restricted administrative access
- Appropriate confidentiality arrangements
No internet-based system can guarantee absolute security.
17. Your rights
Subject to applicable law, a person may request:
- Confirmation that Lyth House holds their personal information
- Access to that information
- Correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
- Deletion or destruction where legally appropriate
- Restriction of certain processing
- Objection to processing
- Withdrawal of consent
- Information about the source or use of their information
- Review of certain automated decisions, if such processing is introduced
Lyth House may require reasonable proof of identity before completing a request.
Some requests may be refused or limited where information must be retained for legal, contractual, security, freedom-of-expression, archival or publication-record purposes.
18. Marketing communications
Marketing or newsletter communications will be sent only where an appropriate legal basis exists.
Recipients may unsubscribe using the link provided in the communication or by contacting Lyth House.
Service-related communications concerning an enquiry, agreement, manuscript or publication record are not necessarily marketing communications.
19. Children’s information
The website and editorial services are not intentionally directed at children without appropriate adult involvement.
A parent, guardian or authorised representative should provide consent where personal information concerning a child is submitted and such consent is legally required.
20. Information Regulator
A person who believes that their personal information has been processed unlawfully may contact Lyth House so that the matter can first be investigated.
They may also submit a complaint to the South African Information Regulator in accordance with applicable procedures.
21. Changes to this policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated when the website, services, plugins, legal requirements or data-processing practices change.
The revised policy will be published on this page with an updated revision date.
22. Contact
Privacy questions, access requests, correction requests or objections may be submitted through the Lyth House Contact page or sent to:
Email: contact@lythhouse.com