Privacy Statement

In compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), here is my privacy notice. This sets out how I process and store any data you share with me, including the third-party websites which store this data.

To begin: I only ask for the minimum in terms of data for you to sign up to my website which is maintained for the purpose of informing interested parties about writing news and new books. Most of the news is also available via Facebook or Twitter.

The information you are required to provide is shared when you click the Follow button which shares your WordPress profile with me. These are managed by third parties, and the information is held by them. I do not store it myself nor do I refer to it beyond occasionally consulting my stats, which are behind a login process on WordPress.

Website

  • This website is hosted by WordPress, and you can read their privacy policy here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. Information about their cookie policy is here: https://en.support.wordpress.com/cookies/.
  • I do not use any plug-ins on this site.
  • If you comment on my posts, the data is held by this WordPress.com website and is visible to visitors. If someone shares the page or blog post via social media, your comments will be shared with it, at the bottom of the page.
  • If you use the contact form to get in touch with me, the data you share, including your email address, will be shared with my email provider, gmail. Googles’s privacy statement is here: https://policies.google.com/u/1/privacy/update?utm_source=pp-email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EU&pli=1. Your email address will remain stored within my gmail account until or unless deleted, and will not be shared with anyone.
  • If you follow my blog on WordPress, your WordPress profile name or your email address (depending on how you choose to follow the blog) is stored by WordPress in the Followers/Email Followers section of my admin. I do not export any of this information, or share it, or use it for any purpose.
  • Any other data which WordPress collects about you is held by WordPress and only available to me in an anonymised form, for example as visitor stats.

Newsletter subscription

Further information

  • For any of the following queries, please get in touch using my Contact Form or the alternatives given at the end.
  • The right to access: if you wish to know more about, or to see a copy of, the personal data I hold on you, you can. Just contact me.
  • The right to correct: if you think some of the information I hold is incorrect, you can ask for it to be amended.
  • The right to erasure: You can unsubscribe from my website/blog. This should remove your information. If, having done so, you wish to check, please contact me. If you require something more than that, contact me. I will find out what I am able to do.
  • The right to restriction of processing: if you want me to stop processing your data but do not wish to ‘unfollow’ me, please contact me and I will find out how it is done (although as stated above, I will not use your information for any purpose and the ‘processing’ is by third parties). In the meantime, I am allowed to store your personal data (e.g. your email address only) as stated above within the admin part of my website and processed, as stated, by third parties. You can unsubscribe from my website by clicking ‘unfollow’ at any time.
  • The right to data portability: you can ask me to transport any personal data you have supplied to me to a new provider.
  • The right to object: you have the right to object to me processing your personal data for several reasons, and if you do so and your reason is valid, I am required to stop.
  • The right to complain: if you live in the EU and wish to raise a concern about my use of your information, you have the right to do so with your local data protection authority.
  • If I become aware of a data breach via any of the third-party sites I use – WordPress or gmail – I will notify you as soon as I can (the GDPR standard is within 72 hours). It hasn’t happened yet, fingers crossed.
  • If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, please get in touch via my Contact Form. Alternatively, you can send me a message via my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Paula-Harmon-Downes-912406582182849/ or via Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulaHarmon789

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and this is my interpretation of the legislation. If you are a lawyer and believe I have made an error, please contact me. Further information about GDPR can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.