At thepeopleprotectors, we are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data responsibly and in accordance with UK data protection laws. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, share, and retain your personal data when you visit our website, engage with our content, and interact with us.

By accessing or using our website, you acknowledge and agree to the practices described in this notice.

1. Who We Are and How to Contact Us

thepeopleprotectors is the data controller responsible for your personal data.

You can contact us at:

– Email: info@thepeopleprotectors.com
– Mailing Address: Telford House, Telford Street, Herne Bay, CT6 5LX

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Comments: When you leave comments on our website, we collect the data shown in the comments form, your IP address, and browser user agent string1 to help with spam detection.

• Media: If you upload images to the website (e.g., through a comment or contact form), we may collect metadata associated with the images. Please be aware that uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) could allow others to extract this information.

• Cookies: We use cookies to collect information about your visit to improve user experience, track website usage, and enhance functionality. This may include your IP address, browser type, and preferences. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings.

• Embedded Content from Other Websites: Our website may contain embedded content from external sites (e.g., YouTube, social media). These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, and track your interaction with the embedded content, according to their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party websites.

• Contact Information: If you contact us via email or contact forms, we will collect your name and email address, and any other information you chose to give us.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data

We process your personal data based on the following lawful bases:

• Consent: For certain activities, such as placing non-essential cookies, we will obtain your explicit consent.
• Legitimate Interests: We may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (e.g., to improve our website, prevent fraud, or respond to your enquiries), provided that your rights and interests do not override those interests.
• Legal Obligation: We may process your data to comply with legal obligations.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

• To process and manage comments and interactions on our site.
• To improve the content and functionality of the website.
• To track and analyse website traffic and engagement.
• To communicate with you if you provide contact information.
• To prevent spam and abuse.

5. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties.

However, we may share your data with the following:

• Trusted service providers: These include website hosting and analytics services (e.g., Google Analytics), and comment and media management services (e.g., Akismet for spam protection). We ensure that these providers comply with UK data protection laws.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your data if required by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

– Comply with a legal obligation.
– Protect and defend our rights or property.
– Prevent fraud or other illegal activity.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

• Comments and media are retained indefinitely unless you request deletion.
• User data collected through forms is retained for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose it was collected for.

7. Your Rights

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

• Right to access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: You can request corrections to any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to erasure (right to be forgotten): You can request the deletion of your personal data, subject to legal or contractual obligations.
• Right to restrict processing: You can request to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: You can request to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to object: You can object to the processing of your personal data4 in certain circumstances.
• Right to withdraw consent: If we process your data based on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
• Right to complain to the ICO: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe we have not complied with data protection laws.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided above.

8. International Data Transfers

If we transfer your personal data to countries outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or other approved mechanisms, to protect your data.

9. Data Security

We take reasonable precautions to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or alteration. However, no method of internet transmission or electronic storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

We encourage you to periodically review this notice.

11. Cookies

Please review our cookie policy for full details of the cookies we use.

This Privacy Notice was last updated on 01 January 2025.