An overview of Privacy Policy (GDPR) and Links for this site.
Thanks for looking at this website and for reading this. In short, there are in place automatic cookie programs, they are mostly used for information analysis (how many visitors there are). There are also automatic spam checkers and protection against programs trying to damage the site, hackers. No information is given to any entity and you will not be contacted by email after leaving a comment, unless you specifically indicate you wish it. There are also external links to websites that have their own GDPR and some lead to products for sale, such as my books, a small income is earned from this – at no extra cost to you.
The long version follows.
Your privacy is respected, you will not be spammed.
What data, if any, is collected and why
Cookies
When you visit this site, cookies (information code used on almost all websites) are used to record the visit, this is automatic and there is no manual control over them as its part of the website coding; your own computer is set to choose how you want these to be dealt with. These cookies may last for one year.
There are also various services to protect the site from hacking or other malicious damage; this is automatic because there are so many ‘hackers’ that try do this automatically and its best to protect before a problem than try and fix all the damage caused if the site is hacked.
Comments (if available – currently they are turned off.)
In the comments form all visitor’s IP address and browser user agent are automatically collected. This means that possible ‘spam’ is deleted (as the spammy IP address is checked) – so you don’t see spam and its not dealt with after its posted – as its automatically done.
If you choose to leave a comment on the site you may opt in to variously – leave your name, email address or website. If you have an account on this site and you log in to this site, a cookie is set and contains no personal data.
If you make a comment, and after approval of your comment, the comment is visible to the world and in the context of your Gravatar service, if you are using it, your public profile picture and other public information is visible to the anyone who reads the comment. This is automatic and based on your Gravatar service privacy policy – which is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. Your email address is not shown.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. Youtube videos, images, articles, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook etc etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you are visiting the other website; their privacy policy is outside the control of this website.
Analytics
These analyse automatically, through cookies, things like, how many people visit the site, pages visited, this data is not shared.
How long is your data retained
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata (information) are retained indefinitely. This may apply if the site is transferred to a different server or to a different domain name. If any user chooses to register on this website, the site automatically stores the personal information provided in their user profile. Other cookies are in some cases valid for a year.
Where your data is sent
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated ‘spam’ detection service and if considered spam are not permitted, it saves time retroactively deleting spam (inappropriate comments etc) and saves you and me from reading it.
Your contact information
If you choose to leave contact information in comments, it is not public. You are only replied to in the comment box – if you want to see my reply you need to enable that or check back later.
Contact forms
Naturally, the information you add on an email contact form is collected and used to reply to you – which is done through an external email provider such as Gmail/Yahoo systems. The contact information is not given to any other organisation and is not used after the email conversation is finished. If you sign up for a newsletter then you may receive emails and information from me in accordance with that sign up agreement; you will be able to unsubscribe.
Additional information
Outbound links go to other websites so that you have additional information, especially if it is the key information source and these will have different website policies than this website.
Some of the links on this site are affiliate links – such as to my books, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, a small commission is earned. This commission comes at no additional cost to you and helps maintain this website.
Some of the activities listed on this site may involve elements of danger and are included as informative only (such as visits to Yemen or travelling through the desert)- not as a suggestion that anyone else undertakes them; if they do then it is at their own risk
Always verify the most recent information on anything noted in this website as changes can and do happen.