Privacy Policy

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected and we shall endeavor to use any information that you provide when using this website in accordance with this privacy policy. This privacy policy explains what information we collect, how we protect any information you submit to us, and how we use it. We may amend this policy from time to time by updating this page. Therefore, we suggest you check this page occasionally to ensure you are aware of and are happy with any amendments.

Information we collect

Personal information may be collected from you in various ways, for example: –

1. Information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website (these are information about your browser, your IP address, your general location as determined from your IP address and provided by your browser, the site from which you come, and the links followed when leaving our site). This information is also collected through cookies

2. When you register and voluntarily provide information in response to questionnaires or download forms, or to register for newsletters, or start or contribute to petitions. (this includes your name, email address, and any other details asked for and which you provide)

How information is used

We use this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

Your information will not be disclosed to any third party unless you have given your consent to such disclosure. If you would like us to destroy information we hold about you, please let us know. However, please note that if you use any of our services which require you to provide personal information, deleting our records may mean that you will need to resubmit it to continue using such services.

Cookies

Cookies are text files stored on your computer, and accessible only to the websites which create them.

Our website may from time to time use cookies and log files for statistical analysis, to understand user behavior, to administer the site, to tailor the information presented to a user based on their preferences, and to improve user experience. Any information gathered by our use of cookies is compiled on an aggregate, anonymous basis.

If you leave a comment or post a question 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 or post a question. These cookies will last for one year.

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, however you may delete, or disable cookies by following the instructions at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/. Please note that you may not be able to take full advantage of a website if you disable cookies.

Further information about cookies can be found on the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s website www.allaboutcookies.org.

Log Files

Our systems automatically gather some anonymous information about visitors, including IP addresses, browser type, language, and the times and dates of webpage visits. The data collected does not include personally identifiable information and is used, as described above, for statistical analysis, to understand user behavior, and to administer the site.

Social Media

If you share our content through social media, for example by liking us on Facebook, following or tweeting about us on X (Twitter), or giving us a ‘+1’ via Google Plus, those social networks will record that you have done so and may set a cookie for this purpose.

In some cases, where a page on our website includes content from a social network, such as a Twitter feed, or Facebook comments box, those services may set a cookie even where you do not click a button. As is the case for all cookies, we cannot access those set by social networks, just as those social networks cannot access cookies we set ourselves.

Media

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.

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/.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behave 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 tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

We do not intentionally share or sell your data to anyone.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment or post a question, the comment/question and their 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 left comments or posted questions, 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 your data is sent

Visitor comments and/or questions may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Analytics

Our website uses WP Statistics, a web analytics service provided by Verona Labs. The information generated by cookies about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be stored in our website database on our server. The information is for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.

Security

The internet is not a secure medium. However we take reasonable technical and organizational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.

We have put in place various security procedures as set out in this policy. For example, our security and privacy policies are periodically reviewed and enhanced as necessary. Only authorized personnel have access to user information. We use secure server software (SSL) to encrypt financial information you input before it is sent to us, and our database is hosted in a secure data center. Whilst we cannot ensure or guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration of data will not occur, we use our best efforts to prevent this.

Changes

We may make changes to this privacy policy from time to time. If we change our privacy policy we will post the changes on this page. If the change in our privacy policy affects the use of your personal information we will use our best endeavors to contact you by email to seek your consent to the use. Continued use of the service will signify that you agree to any such changes.