This privacy notice is to inform you about how I collect personal information about you and how it is used. There are two ways that you might give me your personal data on this site. One – by leaving a comment, or two – by signing up to receive an email from me. Comments are stored on the site by WordPress and my mailing list is maintained through HubSpot.
If you have any questions about this privacy notice, or would like to know what data I hold about you, please contact me at ailsa.stuart@yahoo.com. You can always ask for your information to be deleted.
This policy may be updated without notice. This version was last updated on 17 May 2023.
Definitions
The key terms that we use throughout this privacy notice are defined below, for ease:
Data Controller: under UK data protection law, this is the organisation or person responsible for deciding how personal information is collected and stored and how it is used.
Data Processor: a Data Controller may appoint another organisation or person to carry out certain tasks in relation to the personal information on behalf of, and on the written instructions of, the Data Controller. (This might be the hosting of a site containing personal data, for example, or providing an email marketing service that facilitates mass distribution of marketing material to a Data Controller’s customer-base.)
Personal Information: in this privacy notice we refer to your personal data as ‘personal information’. ‘Personal information’ means any information from which a living individual can be identified. It does not apply to information which has been anonymised.
Special Information – certain very sensitive personal information requires extra protection under data protection law. Sensitive data includes information relating to health, racial and ethnic origin, political opinions, religious and similar beliefs, trade union membership, sex life and sexual orientation and also includes genetic information and biometric information. We do not collect or hold any special information about you.
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.
How and why we use your personal information
We are only able to use your personal information for certain legal reasons set out in data protection law. There are legal reasons under data protection law other than those listed below, but in most cases, we will use your personal information for the following legal reasons:
Contract Reason: this is in order to perform our obligations to you under a contract we have entered into with you;
Legitimate Interests Reason: this is where the use of your personal information is necessary for our legitimate interests, so long as that legitimate interest does not override your fundamental rights, freedoms or interests;
Legal Obligation Reason: this is where we have to use your personal information in order to perform a legal obligation by which we are bound; and
Consent Reason: this is where you have given us your consent to use your personal information for a specific reason or specific reasons.
Your data will not be shared with any other third parties.
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.
If you sign up to the newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of the email.
What rights you have over your data
Under data protection laws you have certain rights in relation to your personal information, as follows:
a) Right to request access: (this is often called ‘subject access’). This is the right to obtain from us a copy of the personal information which we hold about you. We must also provide you with certain other information in response to these requests to help you understand how your personal information is being used.
b) Right to correction: this is the right to request that any incorrect personal data is corrected and that any incomplete personal data is completed.
c) Right to erasure: (this is often called the “right to be forgotten”).This right only applies in certain circumstances. Where it does apply, you have the right to request us to erase all of your personal information.
d) Right to restrict processing: this right only applies in certain circumstances. Where it does apply, you have the right to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information.
e) Right to data portability: this right allows you to request us to transfer your personal information to someone else.
f) Right to object: you have the right to object to us processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes. You also have the right to object to us processing personal information where our legal reason for doing so is the Legitimate Interests Reason (see section 4 above) and there is something about your particular situation which means that you want to object to us processing your personal information. In certain circumstances you have the right to object to processing where such processing consists of profiling (including profiling for direct marketing).
Where we rely on consent as the legal reason for using your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent. If you want to exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal information, please contact me using the details set out at the beginning of this notice.