Privacy Notice and GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is new legislation which came into effect on 25th May 2018.  Under this law you have a right to know what information we collect, how we use it and the circumstances in which it may be shared.

The personal information you provide to us will be used for legitimate business interests, that is, to provide you with a professional service.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Your personal details – Information kept includes

Any e-mail or telephone contact information you provide us. When we ask for information we will obtain your permission to hold this information. When it is no longer needed we will delete your information

What are your rights?

You have a right to request to see or have amended any personal information we may keep about you. You also have the right to request that we delete information that we hold about you. You also have the right to object to the processing and use of your personal data.

What information do we share?

We will not share any information about you with other organisations or people, except in the following situations:

Consent – you have given us permission to give your details to someone else, or have given permission for us to use your information for reviews/feedback on our services

Compliance with the law – for instance if we are required to by law

How your data is stored

Paper forms and correspondence are stored in a locked filing cabinet.  All electronic records are encrypted and require password access.  Your telephone number may be kept in our mobile phones which is also password protected.

Data Protection Accountability

If you wish to complain about how your data is handled, in the first instance please contact us. If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you can contact the Information Commissions Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling.