Privacy and Cookies Policy

1. Introduction

1.1 We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors and service users.

1.2 This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our website visitors and service users; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.

1.3 We use cookies on our website. Insofar as those cookies are not strictly necessary for the provision of our website and services, we will ask you to consent to our use of cookies when you first visit our website.

1.4 Our website incorporates privacy controls which affect how we will process your personal data. By using the privacy controls, you can specify which cookie types can set on your device. Renew or change your cookie consent.

1.5 In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" refer to Neil Hale For more information about us, see Section 11.

2. How we use your personal data

2.1 In this section we have set out:

(a) the general categories of personal data that we may process;

(b) in the case of personal data that we did not obtain directly from you, the source and specific categories of that data.

(c) the purposes for which we may process personal data; and

(d) the legal bases of the processing.

2.2 We may process data about your use of our website and services ("usage data"). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is Google Analytics. This usage data may be processed for the purposes of analysing the use of the website and services. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services.

2.3 We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us ("correspondence data"). The correspondence data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. The correspondence data may be processed for the purposes of communicating with you and record-keeping. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business and communications with users.

3. Retaining and deleting personal data

3.1 This section sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal data.

3.2 Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

3.3 In some cases it is not possible for us to specify in advance the periods for which your personal data will be retained. In such cases, we will determine the period of retention based on the following criteria:

(a) the period of retention of email addresses and email content will be determined based on the length of time required to satisfy your query.

3.4 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

4. Security of personal data

4.1 We will take appropriate technical and organisational precautions to secure your personal data and to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal data.

4.2 We will store all your personal data on secure servers.

4.3 Data relating to your enquiries that is sent from your web browser to our web server, or from our web server to your web browser, will be protected using encryption technology.

4.4 You acknowledge that the transmission of unencrypted (or inadequately encrypted) data over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

5. Amendments

5.1 We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.

5.2 You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.

6. Your rights

6.1 In this section, we have summarised the rights that you have under data protection law. Some of the rights are complex, and not all of the details have been included in our summaries. Accordingly, you should read the relevant laws and guidance from the regulatory authorities for a full explanation of these rights.

6.2 Your principal rights under data protection law are:

(a) the right to access;

(b) the right to rectification;

(c) the right to erasure;

(d) the right to restrict processing;

(e) the right to object to processing;

(f) the right to data portability;

(g) the right to complain to a supervisory authority; and

(h) the right to withdraw consent.

6.3 You have the right to confirmation as to whether or not we process your personal data and, where we do, access to the personal data, together with certain additional information. That additional information includes details of the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned and the recipients of the personal data. Providing the rights and freedoms of others are not affected, we will supply to you a copy of your personal data. The first copy will be provided free of charge, but additional copies may be subject to a reasonable fee.

6.4 You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, taking into account the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.

6.5 In some circumstances you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay. Those circumstances include: the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure. The general exclusions include where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

6.6 In some circumstances you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are: you contest the accuracy of the personal data; processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of our processing, but you require personal data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; and you have objected to processing, pending the verification of that objection. Where processing has been restricted on this basis, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only otherwise process it: with your consent; for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.

6.7 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is that the processing is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. If you make such an objection, we will cease to process the personal information unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

6.8 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (including profiling for direct marketing purposes). If you make such an objection, we will cease to process your personal data for this purpose.

6.9 You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes on grounds relating to your particular situation, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.

6.10 To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is:

(a) consent; or

(b) that the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract, and such processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. However, this right does not apply where it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

6.11 If you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do so in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement.

6.12 To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.

6.13 You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by written notice to us.

7. Third party websites

7.1 Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.

7.2 We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.

8. About cookies

8.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

8.2 Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

9. Cookies used by our service providers

9.1 Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.

9.2 We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google's privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/. The relevant cookies are: _ga (used to anonymously distinguish users), _gid (used to anonymously count and track pageviews) and _gat (used to filter requests from bots).

9.3 We publish Google AdSense interest-based advertisements on our website. These are tailored by Google to reflect your interests. To determine your interests, Google will track your behaviour on our website and on other websites across the web using cookies. You can view, delete or add interest categories associated with your browser by visiting: https://adssettings.google.com. You can also opt out of the AdSense partner network cookie using those settings or using the Network Advertising Initiative's multi-cookie opt-out mechanism at: https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1. However, these opt-out mechanisms themselves use cookies, and if you clear the cookies from your browser your opt-out will not be maintained. To ensure that an opt-out is maintained in respect of a particular browser, you may wish to consider using the Google browser plug-ins available here. The relevant cookies are: DSID (used to link user activity across devices), IDE (used to optimise, report and personalise ads), 1P_JAR (used to gather website statistics and track conversion rates of ads), AID (used to link user activity across devices), ANID (used to link user activity across devices), APISID (used to link user activity across devices), CONSENT (used to gather user consent), HSID (used to identify a returning user's device for ad targeting), NID (used to identify a returning user's device for ad targeting), SAPISID (used to store user preferences), SID (used to identify a returning user's device for ad targeting), SIDCC (used to protect user data against unauthorised access), SSID (used to measure user behaviour on our website), TAID (used to link user activity across devices).

9.4 We use Quantcast to obtain consent. This service uses cookies to keep track of your consent choice. You can view the privacy policy of this service provider at https://www.quantcast.com/privacy/. The relevant cookies are: _cmpQcif3pcsupported (used to check visitor consent), euconsent (used to record vendor consent) and eupubconsent (used to record publisher consent) and googlepersonalization (used to store consent choice for Google and Google Partners).

10. Managing cookies

10.1 Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:

(a) Chrome;

(b) Firefox;

(c) Opera;

(d) Internet Explorer;

(e) Safari; and

(f) Edge.

10.2 You can view, delete or add interest categories associated with your browser by visiting: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated. You can also opt out of the AdSense partner network cookie using those settings or using the Network Advertising Initiative's multi-cookie opt-out mechanism at: https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1. However, these opt-out mechanisms themselves use cookies, and if you clear the cookies from your browser your opt-out will not be maintained. To ensure that an opt-out is maintained in respect of a particular browser, you may wish to consider using the Google browser plug-ins available here.

10.3 Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

11. Our details

11.1 This website is owned and operated by Neil Hale.

11.2 You can contact us by email, using [email protected]

12. Data protection registration

12.1 We are registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

12.2 Our data protection registration number is ZA396215.