HERDsay (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains what data we collect when you visit our blog, comment, or interact with us on social media, why we collect it, and what rights you have.

1. Who is responsible for your data?

HERDsay is the data controller responsible for the personal data collected through this website. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us via our contact page.

2. What data do we collect?

2.1 Data you provide directly

  • Name
  • Email address, for example when subscribing to updates or leaving a comment
  • Comments and messages you post or send to us
  • Story or topic suggestions you share via our contact page or social media channels
  • Social media handle, if you interact with us on our social channels

2.2 Data collected automatically

  • IP address
  • Browser type and device information
  • Pages visited, articles read and browsing behaviour on our website
  • Cookies and similar technologies (see section 6)

3. Why do we process your data?

  • To publish and manage your comments on the blog
  • To respond to your enquiries and story suggestions
  • To send, with your consent, newsletters or updates about new articles
  • To analyse and improve our website and content
  • To comply with legal obligations

4. Legal basis

We process your personal data on the basis of the following legal grounds: your consent, a legal obligation, and/or our legitimate interest in running and improving our blog.

5. Sharing with third parties

We may share your data with:

  • Hosting, email and comment-management service providers
  • Analytics and advertising tool providers
  • Authorities, where we are legally required to do so

Comments you post publicly on the blog are visible to other visitors. We never sell your data to third parties.

6. Cookies

Our website uses cookies to ensure functionality, analyse website usage and improve the user experience. You can refuse or delete cookies at any time via your browser settings. Please note this may affect the functioning of the website.

7. Data retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Comments may remain visible on the blog for as long as the related article is published, unless you request removal.

8. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access and unauthorised alteration.

9. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:

  • The right to access your personal data
  • The right to rectification of inaccurate data
  • The right to erasure of your data, including removal of a published comment
  • The right to restrict processing
  • The right to data portability
  • The right to object to processing, including for marketing purposes
  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

You can exercise these rights by contacting us via our contact page.

10. Changes to this privacy policy

We reserve the right to update this privacy policy from time to time. The most current version will always be available on this page. We encourage you to review it periodically.

11. Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please get in touch via our contact page.