Privacy Policy

Who We Are

This website, Smiggy's World (smiggy.com), is the personal website of Martin "Smiggy" Smith, based in Rainhill, United Kingdom. For any privacy-related enquiries, please use the contact form.

What Data We Collect

We collect the minimum amount of data necessary to operate this website:

• Visitor Statistics: When you visit a page, we record the following for our private analytics dashboard:
  • Your IP address (used for unique visitor counting and approximate geolocation, anonymised after 90 days)
  • The specific page you visited (including individual blog post pages) and the date/time of your visit
  • Your browser name and version (e.g. Chrome 120, Firefox 121)
  • Your operating system (e.g. Windows 10, macOS, Android)
  • Your device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)
  • The referring URL (the page that linked you here), if any
  • Your approximate country and city, determined from your IP address via a third-party geolocation service (see Third-Party Services below)
  This data is used solely for our private visitor counter, site-wide analytics, and per-blog-post analytics (e.g. how many people read each article, where readers come from, and what devices they use). It is never shared with third parties or used for advertising.
• Site Search: When you use the site search feature, we log your search query, the number of results returned, your IP address, and your user agent string. This helps us understand what visitors are looking for and improve our content. Your IP address is also used for rate limiting to prevent abuse (a maximum of 20 searches per minute per IP address).
• Contact Form: If you submit the contact form, we store your name, email address, and message so we can respond to your enquiry. A notification email containing your name, email, and message is also sent to the site administrator via the server's email system.
• Blog Comments: If you leave a comment on a blog post, we store the name and email address you provide, along with your comment text. All comments are held for moderation and will only appear publicly once approved by the site administrator.
• Newsletter / Mailing List: If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect and store the following:
  • Your email address and first name (provided by you)
  • Your IP address at the time of subscription and confirmation (for fraud prevention and consent verification)
  • Your browser user agent string at the time of subscription (for consent verification)
  • The date and time of your subscription, confirmation, and any subsequent consent actions (subscribe, confirm, unsubscribe)
  • A consent audit log recording every consent-related action with timestamps, IP addresses, and descriptions — this log is maintained as an immutable record to demonstrate GDPR compliance
  We use a double opt-in process: after you submit the subscription form, we send a confirmation email to the address you provided. Your subscription only becomes active once you click the confirmation link in that email. This ensures you genuinely own the email address and consent to receiving our emails.
• Guestbook: If you sign our guestbook, we store the name, email address (if provided), location (if provided), and message you submit, along with your IP address for spam prevention. Guestbook entries are held for moderation before appearing publicly.
• Rehoming Bench Applications: If you submit an application or nomination via our Rehoming Bench, we collect and store the following:
  • Your name, email address, and location (town/city, county)
  • Your proposed project or intended use description
  • Your technical readiness description (supporting gear, skills, workspace)
  • If nominating someone else: the nominee's name and optionally their email address
  • Your consent confirmations (photo commitment, no-resale pledge, GDPR consent)
  • Your IP address at the time of submission (for spam prevention and rate limiting)
  • Any scores, notes, or status updates assigned during the internal review process
  This data is used solely to evaluate applications, select recipients, arrange delivery, and communicate with applicants. It is never shared with third parties or used for marketing purposes.
• Rehoming Bench — Legacy Log: If you are a rehoming recipient and submit a photo or story update, we may display your first name or chosen display name, your story text, and your photo publicly on our Legacy Log showcase section with your consent. No email addresses or location data are displayed publicly.
• Cookies: We use essential cookies only to remember your theme preference (dark/light mode) and cookie consent status. We do not use any third-party tracking cookies, advertising cookies, or analytics services such as Google Analytics.

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we process your data on the following legal bases:

• Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)): Visitor statistics (anonymised) to understand site usage and improve the website.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Contact form submissions and blog comments — you actively choose to provide this information.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Newsletter subscription — you explicitly opt in by submitting the subscription form and confirming via the double opt-in email link. You may withdraw this consent at any time by unsubscribing.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Rehoming Bench applications and nominations — you actively choose to provide this information and explicitly consent to its processing when submitting the application form.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Rehoming Bench Legacy Log — recipient stories and photos are published only with the recipient's knowledge and consent.
• Legitimate Interest (Article 6(1)(f)): Essential cookies for site functionality (theme preference).

How We Use Your Data

• To display a visitor counter on the website
• To view private site-wide analytics (visitor trends, popular pages, browser/device statistics, geographic distribution) — this data is only visible to the site administrator
• To view private per-blog-post analytics (individual article readership, visitor origins, traffic sources, and engagement patterns) — this data is only visible to the site administrator
• To improve search results and site content based on search query logs
• To prevent abuse via search rate limiting
• To respond to contact form enquiries
• To display approved blog comments (after moderation)
• To send newsletter emails about new blog posts, site news, and updates to confirmed subscribers only
• To evaluate Rehoming Bench applications using an internal scoring rubric and select recipients
• To contact applicants regarding the status of their rehoming application
• To arrange delivery of rehomed items to approved recipients
• To display approved Legacy Log stories and photos on the Rehoming Bench page
• To remember your theme preference

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third parties. We do not use your data for profiling or targeted advertising. We do not use Google Analytics or any third-party analytics platform. Newsletter emails are sent directly from our own mail server — we do not use third-party email marketing services.

Cookies

This website uses only the following cookies:

• smiggy_theme — Stores your dark/light mode preference. This is an essential functionality cookie. Duration: 1 year.
• smiggy_cookie_consent — Records that you have acknowledged our cookie notice. Duration: 1 year.
• PHPSESSID — A standard PHP session cookie required for the admin panel. This is deleted when you close your browser.

We do not use any third-party cookies, tracking pixels, or external analytics services.

Data Retention

• Visitor statistics: IP addresses are retained for up to 90 days, after which they may be anonymised or deleted. Aggregated, non-identifying analytics data (e.g. page view counts) may be retained indefinitely.
• Search queries: Search logs (including IP address and user agent) are retained for up to 90 days for analytics purposes, after which they may be anonymised or deleted.
• Contact messages: Retained until the enquiry is resolved, then deleted within 12 months.
• Blog comments: Retained for as long as the blog post exists, unless you request removal. Unapproved comments may be deleted at the administrator's discretion.
• Newsletter subscriber data: Your email address and first name are retained for as long as your subscription is active. If you unsubscribe, your record is marked as unsubscribed and retained for up to 12 months to prevent accidental re-subscription and to honour your opt-out preference, after which it may be fully deleted. The consent audit log (recording when you subscribed, confirmed, and/or unsubscribed) is retained for up to 3 years as evidence of lawful consent under GDPR. You may request full deletion of all your data at any time by contacting us.
• Newsletter campaign logs: Records of which emails were sent to which subscribers are retained for up to 12 months for troubleshooting and compliance purposes.
• Rehoming Bench applications: Application data (including name, email, location, intended use, and scoring) is retained for 24 months after the application is resolved (approved, rejected, or the item is rehomed). This allows us to enforce the one-item-per-household-per-12-months policy and to resolve any disputes. After this period, data may be anonymised or deleted. You may request deletion of your application data at any time by contacting us, provided no active rehoming is in progress.
• Rehoming Bench Legacy Log: Published stories and photos are retained for as long as the Rehoming Bench section exists, unless the contributor requests removal.

Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

• Right of Access: You can request a copy of any personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate data.
• Right to Erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal data ("right to be forgotten").
• Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data.
• Right to Object: You can object to our processing of your data.
• Right to Data Portability: You can request your data in a machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We will respond within 30 days.

Newsletter — Your Subscription Rights

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you have the following additional rights:

• Right to Unsubscribe: Every newsletter email contains a one-click unsubscribe link in the footer. You can also unsubscribe at any time by visiting our unsubscribe page. Unsubscribe requests are processed immediately.
• List-Unsubscribe Header: All newsletter emails include a standard List-Unsubscribe header (RFC 8058), allowing your email client to offer a built-in unsubscribe button.
• Right to Data Export: You may request a complete export of all personal data we hold about your newsletter subscription, including your consent history. Contact us via the contact form to request this.
• Right to Erasure: You may request complete deletion of your subscriber record and all associated data at any time by contacting us.
• No Third-Party Sharing: Your newsletter data is never shared with, sold to, or processed by any third party. Emails are sent directly from our own mail server.
• Email Frequency: We send newsletters only when we have genuine updates to share (new blog posts, site news, project updates). We do not send daily or automated marketing emails.

Data Security & Backups

We take reasonable measures to protect your data. The site administrator may create encrypted backups of the website files and database (which may include visitor logs, comments, and contact messages) for disaster recovery purposes. These backups are stored securely and are only accessible to the site administrator. Backups are managed and deleted in accordance with our data retention periods.

Third-Party Services

This website uses the following third-party services:

• Google Fonts: We load fonts from Google's servers. Google may collect your IP address when fonts are loaded. See Google's Privacy Policy for details.
• ip-api.com: We use this free geolocation service to determine your approximate country and city from your IP address. Your IP address is sent to ip-api.com for this purpose only. The lookup happens server-side and the result is stored in our database. See ip-api.com's terms for details. No personal data beyond your IP address is shared with this service.
• flagcdn.com: Small country flag images are loaded from flagcdn.com in our admin area only. This does not affect public visitors.

We do not use any advertising networks, social media tracking pixels, third-party analytics platforms, or third-party email marketing services (such as Mailchimp, SendGrid, etc.). All newsletter emails are sent directly from our own SMTP mail server hosted by our domain provider.

Children's Privacy

This website is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has submitted data to us, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your data rights, please use our contact form.