With thanks to Writers’ HQ, supreme writing commanders, glorious leaders and excellent but tiny overlords, who have verily granted me permission to use a version of their splendid and sweary Privacy Policy. Though I removed the sweary bits. Mostly.
TL;DR
I’m a one-man-band. Not even a business. I’ve removed the ads from this site and I don’t have the time or energy to do anything nefarious with your data. It’s not that I’m not evil – I’m probably as corruptible as anyone – I’m just too tired to think up a malevolent plot to steal your identity.
Cookies
Seriously who actually cares? Do you even know what a cookie is or does? Well then. Yes, I use cookies because that’s kinda how the Internet works. If you don’t want my delicious home-baked chocolate chip scripts, then you need to block cookies on your browser but don’t come crying to me when nothing does what it’s supposed to.
Stalky Visitor Stats
Look, I’m following you, ok? I use Google Analytics, primarily to stare at the real-time stats because they’re cool but also to see what stuff people looking at so I can write more of the stuff you like.
I don’t think this stores any super personal data about you but probably they nab your IP address. All I see is that a person or many people have interacted with the website in a particular way. You can mess with me by doing something totally unexpected on the website and skewing my stats. Or you could do something way more fun and useful with your time.
Storage
DATA!! It’s all about the data, baby. A tonne of petabytes whirring around the world and what? What’s it all for? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? What will future historians actually see of us and our slowly collapsing society? So. I store your data on this website. You ready for this?
If you register with the site (e.g. to leave a comment) I will store your name and email address.
I’ll be honest: I do absolutely nothing unsurprising or radical with your info.
Your right to be deleted
Off you go then… If you want to go undercover, just chuck me an email via the contact page and I’ll delete all the info I have on you from my systems while having a passive-aggressive huff about what I could have possibly done wrong.
Social media
I use social media a lot. If you talk to me on one medium (e.g. Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and I become familiar with you, I might find you on Twitter and say hello (and vice versa). You can ask me to be less friendly if you wish and I will, of course, respect your boundaries.
You are not required to follow my social media accounts.
I sometimes embed Tweets and YouTube content in my posts. I have no idea what data they collect.
The serious version
The owner and author of this website (http://www.markwilson.co.uk/ and subdirectories thereof – also available via http://www.markwilson.it/) is Mark Wilson.
Personal data
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this website does not collect any personal data, with the following exceptions:
- The IP address of any visitor who leaves a comment on the weblog is stored within the content management database for the sole purpose of identifying spammers (users who leave unsolicited commercial comments). Under certain circumstances, this IP address information may uniquely identify a user on the Internet. Visitors may voluntarily provide their name, e-mail address and website details when posting a comment but these details are not required.
- The IP address and web browser details of any visitor that uses the contact form are appended to the message for the purpose of identifying spammers and understanding the type of browser in use (for troubleshooting purposes).
- The server on which the website is hosted stores the IP addresses of all computers that make a connection to the server.
Any personal data collected by the site will remain confidential and will never be shared with a third party (unless required in order to comply with a legal request from the United Kingdom authorities).
The website does store information about visitors using cookies (files which are sent by the website to a computer or other access device). These cookies are used to verify logged-in users and for convenience when posting comments (so that repeat visitors only need enter their details once). They are also used to provide social media features and to analyse website traffic.
To delete any cookies that already exist on a computer, please refer to the instructions for the appropriate file management software to locate the file or directory that stores cookies (generally accessed through web browser options or preferences).
Further information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at AboutCookies.org. A Wikipedia article about cookies is also available. Please note that by deleting cookies or disabling future cookies you may not be able to access certain areas or features of the website.
Third-party services
The website also makes use of third-party services, each of which will have their own policies relating to privacy and data protection and over which this website’s owner has no control. These services include (but may not be limited to):
- Akismet to reduce comment spam.
- Google Analytics for site traffic analysis.
- Social media platforms such as Flickr, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube which may be embedded within posts on this website.