Privacy & Cookies Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy & Cookies Policy explains how Oliver Gathercole (“I”, “me”, or “my”), a Digital Marketing Specialist based in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data when you visit this website at olivergathercole.com (“the Website”).

I handle personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).

The Website is a personal portfolio. It has no user accounts, contact forms, newsletter sign-up, comments or advertising, so it collects very little personal data. This policy sets out exactly what it does collect.

2. Who Is the Data Controller?

The data controller for personal data collected through this Website is:

Oliver Gathercole
Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Email:

3. What Personal Data I Collect

Emails you send me. The Website shows my email address rather than a contact form. If you email me, I receive your email address, your name (if you include it) and whatever you write, and use them only to reply to you.

Analytics data — only if you agree. If you accept analytical cookies, Google Analytics collects information about how you use the Website (see Section 5.2). If you don’t accept them, no analytics data is collected.

Technical data needed to deliver the Website. Like any website, loading a page means your browser shares technical information, such as your IP address and browser type, with the servers that deliver it. That includes my web hosting provider and a small number of third-party services that supply parts of some pages (see Section 5.3).

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, I rely on the following legal bases:

• Consent — for analytical cookies and the Google Analytics data they collect. You can withdraw your consent at any time (see Section 5).
• Legitimate interests — to reply to emails you send me, and to run the Website securely and reliably: serving its pages, keeping hosting logs, remembering your cookie choices and delivering the resources listed in Section 5.3.

5. Cookies and Similar Technologies

A cookie is a small text file saved on your device when you visit a website. Similar technologies, such as your browser’s local storage, work in much the same way. Under PECR, only those that are strictly necessary can be used without your consent; everything else needs your permission first.

When you first visit, a cookie banner lets you accept, reject or choose which categories of cookies to allow. Analytical cookies are blocked until you accept them. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the button below, or by clearing this Website’s cookies in your browser, which brings the banner back on your next visit.

The banner also lists Functional and Advertisement categories. The Website doesn’t currently use any cookies in those categories.

5.1 Strictly Necessary

These are needed for the Website to work as you’d expect and are always active. Neither is used to track you.

5.2 Analytical Cookies — Only With Your Consent

I use Google Analytics 4, added through Google’s Site Kit plugin (Google tag ID GT-KDQJQP2B), to understand how visitors use the Website so I can improve it. The Website uses Google Consent Mode: analytics is set to “denied” by default, and the Google tag doesn’t load at all unless you accept analytical cookies.

With your consent, Google Analytics collects: the pages you visit and how long you spend on them, how you arrived (for example, from a search engine or a link), interactions such as scrolling and link clicks, your device and browser type, and your approximate location (country or region), which is derived from your IP address. Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. I cannot use this data to identify you personally. You can read Google’s privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

5.3 Third-Party Services That Supply Parts of the Website

These services don’t set cookies on this Website, but when they deliver a file to your browser they receive the technical information every web request includes, such as your IP address and browser type.

The Website also links to my LinkedIn and Instagram profiles. These are ordinary links: nothing is shared with LinkedIn or Instagram unless you click one and visit their site, where their own privacy policies apply.

6. How I Use Your Data

• To reply to emails you send me
• To understand how the Website is used and improve it, using Google Analytics (only with your consent)
• To keep the Website secure and working properly

I do not sell, rent or trade your personal data, and I don’t use it for advertising or marketing.

7. Data Retention

• Emails you send me — kept only as long as needed to deal with your enquiry, and deleted within 12 months after our conversation ends, unless we go on to work together
• Google Analytics data — kept for the retention period set in Google Analytics, which is no more than 14 months
• Your cookie choices — stored in your browser until they expire or you clear them
• Your light/dark mode choice — stored in your browser until you clear your site data
• Hosting server logs — kept for a short period by my hosting provider for security purposes

8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal data I hold about you
• Right to rectification — you can ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — you can ask me to delete your personal data in certain circumstances
• Right to restrict processing — you can ask me to limit how I use your data in certain circumstances
• Right to data portability — you can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing

To exercise any of these rights, please contact me at . I will respond within one calendar month.

If you are unsatisfied with how I handle your request or your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Website: ico.org.uk

9. Data Security

I take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss or misuse, and the Website is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and I cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International Data Transfers

Google (Google Analytics), Cloudflare (cdnjs) and WordPress.org (emoji images) may process data outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States. Where this happens, I rely on the safeguards those providers put in place for UK data, such as the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or contractual protections approved by the ICO.

11. Changes to This Policy

I may update this Privacy & Cookies Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, my data practices or the services used on this Website. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly. Where changes are material, I will take reasonable steps to inform you.

12. Contact

If you have any questions about this policy or how I handle your personal data, please contact me at: