Privacy Policy

This is the Privacy Policy of my site. Your data is of my utmost importance when browsing my site which is why I’ve written this (admittedly rather long) policy to be as transparent as possible over all the services that may have access to your data and the rights you have over it.

As the Data Protection Officer for the site please email me at [email protected] with any questions or use the contact details included in the policy.

Privacy Policy Header Image (2)

Last Updated: 14th May 2021 (Merged Cookie Policy into “Cookies” section)

Introduction

This long wall of text is my privacy policy. In it, I’ve broken down what data I may collect from you, who that data is shared with, and what rights you have over it. This policy applies domain-wide across JakeSymons.com, including subdomains example.jakesymons.com and any subpage (e.g. jakesymons.com/about).

I process some of your data directly (for example if you fill out my contact form) while some data is processed by my advertising, analytics and social media partners. I’ve linked their privacy policies throughout where applicable. 

This policy is meant to be jargon-free and completely transparent in detailing my privacy practices. If you wish to exercise any of your rights or have any questions or feedback on this policy, you can contact me below.

Contact Details

I am the data protection officer for this site. You can contact me by email or phone. I do not have a postal address at this time, I’m afraid. 

Name: Jake Symons

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (+44) 7939 670980 – Direct / WhatsApp / Signal 

Personal data you may give me.

It’s completely voluntary if you wish to give me your personal data. However, choosing not to provide it may limit your ability to access the full JakeSymons.com experience. For example, if you decide not to leave your email address, you’ll be unable to leave a comment. 

Comments

See Also: Comments Policy

Anyone can leave a comment on this site if it complies with the comments policy. When you comment, I collect the following data. If you object to any of the following being processed, please do not leave comments on this Site. 

Name: I use your name to distinguish comments from each other. It’s accepted to use a nickname or alias, providing it’s not offensive or impersonates another commentator.

Email: As part of my obligations to you, I need to allow you to delete your data. Linking comments to an email is an easy way of confirming your identity and picking up all comments under that email. It can also be used to link your comment to the Gravatar service mentioned under “Operations Partners”.

Comment Contents: When posting comments, you’re welcome to write about any topic you like. I strongly discourage you from posting personal information in your comments. While I make every effort, I can’t moderate any comment, and as such, I’m not responsible for any consequences you experience as a result of your comment. 

Further to this, it’s important to stress that the responsibility of the comment lies solely with the commentator.

I also reserve the right to delete any comment on this site at my sole discretion. Comments are kept indefinitely unless you ask them to be removed or I delete them. 

Even if your comments are deleted on this site, they may still be screenshotted by other users or cached by archiving services such as the Wayback Machine. If that happens, I’m unlikely to even know, let alone be able to delete your comment from third parties. Please think before you post.

To delete your comment, please send an email from the same address you used to leave the comment so I can verify it’s you. Other forms of identification are not required, and I will never ask for identification documents. If your unable to verify it’s you, I may decline your deletion request. 

Do not use temporary email addresses that you will lose access to when commenting. 

Contact Forms: 

I have various contact forms on the site, which allow you to get in touch with me directly. 

I use contact forms because I can request the specific info I need (specific to each form) straight away, and it provides a user-friendly way of you getting in touch. 

These forms are sent straight to my email address. I don’t disclose your message to any third party unless I am required to by law. 

I keep contact forms for seven (7) years, which is my standard email archiving process. You’re welcome to request deletion sooner. To do this, please send an email using the same email address you left on the contact form requesting your data to be deleted. 

Please note that on some occasions, there may be a legal/regulatory need to keep your contact form submission (for example, it relates to a paid services contract between us). I’ll let you know if that’s the case. 

There may be times when I delete contact form submissions sooner, such as spam or general enquiries. If this is the case, I’ll let you know if you try and exercise your data rights that I don’t hold such data anymore.

In limited circumstances (such as an ongoing partnership), this data may be kept longer. 

Email

You have the option to get in touch via email. This policy applies to any @jakesymons.com email address.

I keep emails for seven (7) years. Please send data deletion requests on the same email you wish for my to delete.

Like contact forms, there may be a legal/regulatory reason why I have to keep some of your emails. I’ll let you know if that’s the case. 

Data that is collected automatically 

When browsing this site, data is automatically collected about your computer hardware and software. This includes your operating system and browser type, your IP address, the pages you’ve viewed, any widgets or downloads you’ve interacted with, clickstream data, access times and the website you’ve come from. This is collected automatically, and cookies also help with this. 

I store server logs under Recital 49 of GDPR as they’re required to ensure network security. Logs are deleted automatically after eights (8) weeks. Learn more.  

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data in the form of text files that are stored on your device when you use my website. They can last for any duration of time. 

I use cookies and similar technologies across this site in order to improve your experience, monitor analytics and advertising performance, and maintain functionality. The software listed below may use cookies to make them work.

You can clear cookies at any time using a variety of tools. A guide by Lifewire explains how to remove these cookies from every major browser. Using a search engine, you should be able to find how to delete cookies in your specific case. 

Embedded content from other websites

I may embed content on this site from other third party sites. This content acts in the same way as if you visited the third-party sites directly. 

Twitter – Official embed tool used to display tweets in an interactive format rather than an s screenshot. Privacy Link

Instagram – Used to pull my Instagram feed into the site. Privacy Link.

YouTube

Used to display uploaded and upcoming video content

YouTube offers a “privacy-enhanced mode” which is enforced across all YouTube media on the site. YouTube claims this prevents them from recording any data on this site until the video is played (I am unable to verify this). If you are signed into YouTube (Google) when viewing the site, YouTube may associate the videos you watch here with your account. 

Privacy Link

Who I share your data with.

I do not sell your data.  

I partner with the following third-party services to bring you the best experience possible on the site. Some providers track how my ads are performing, while others identify how the site is being used to identify areas of improvement. 

I only select industry-leading topflight companies who have robust privacy and security policies in place, and I’ve linked them below where appropriate. 

However, I cannot guarantee the security of the Internet and because of that, I am not liable for the security of your data (to the fullest extent permitted by law), and as such, any transmission of your data is at your own risk. 

The technologies below may use cookies to help them function. 

Advertising Partners

From time to time, I may run ads on a variety of different sites. This may include displaying ads on this site, displaying my own ads on third-party sites, or using cookies to retarget you when you visit third party sites. 

To opt out of personalised advertising, I recommended the following third-party tools. 

  1. https://networkadvertising.org
  2. https://youronlinechoices.com

Google Ads

I may use Google Ads to send you remarketing adverts when you visit third-party sites. This could be across Google’s Display Network or on Google Search.

You can learn more about how this works here or opt out of such personalised ads here

Please note you may still see Google Ads from me based on the keywords you search (for example “Jake Symons” even if you opt-out of personalisation. 

Google AdSense

I use Google Adsense to serve ads across this site to fund some of my content development & hosting costs. The service uses a cookie to serve you relevant ads. You’re able to opt out of personalised ads here.

Facebook

I use Facebook Custom Audiences to serve ads on Facebook to people who have visited th site. You can opt out of Facebook remarketing here

If you’ve contacted me on my business page, “Advanced Matching” may link your Facebook account and your visit to this website. Facebook can also process this data for their own purposes. 

Facebook Privacy Policy

Facebook GDPR Policy

Twitter Pixel

I have a Twitter pixel tag installed on this website. This service allows me to track how you interact with the site after viewing one of my ads on Twitter to measure results and make improvements. 

Twitter Privacy Policy. 

MailChimp

I use MailChimp as my newsletter sign up, and you’re able to opt into this across the site. 

Filling out a contact form, leaving a comment, or sending an email does not automatically sign you up to MailChimp. It has its own separate form, and it’ll be explicit in what you’re signing up for. 

You can unsubscribe at any time using the links provided in the emails.

MailChimp Privacy Policy

Analytics Partners

My analytics partners help me monitor the usage of the website to track and prevent issues, as well as optimising content and generating reports to see progress over time. 

Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is a leading analytics platform, and it’s the main source of data I have on the usage of my site. 

This data may include the following:

  • Browser data (such as version, e.g. Chrome 81) 
  • Operating System (e.g. Windows 10) 
  • The website that referred you to this Site (such as clicking a link on Twitter)
  • What pages you’ve viewed on the Site, and for how long
  • The time and date of your visit to the Site
  • Any errors you may have come across while visiting this Site
  • Interaction with video content on the Site

This service also collects your IP address. IP anonymisation is in force across my website. This makes your IP address anonymous as soon as it is technically feasible to do so.

To request deletion of this data, I need your client ID. 

If you’re using Chrome or Firefox, navigate to the developer tool’s console while open on the website. Other browsers may or may not have similar features, please check or use the two mentioned. Once there, copy and paste in the following code.

ga.getAll()[0].get(‘clientId’);

This should then return a client ID. For example:

ga.getAll()[0].get(‘clientId’);

“515853260.1595086045”

Please include your own client ID in your request. 

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is a solution to manage the HTML and JS tags which are used for tracking on this website. This lets me improve the user experience. Currently in my GTM container:

Both have been mentioned above under “Advertising”. 

Operations Partners

I use a variety of software on this site to ensure that I’m providing high quality, efficient and secure service to every visitor that comes to JakeSymons.com.

JetPack

The following section is from Jetpack’s Privacy Helper – a tool to inform site owners what personal data its plugin collects – so I can pass that on to you. 

I use the following modules from JetPack that impact your privacy.

Notifications

Data Used: IP address, WordPress.com user ID, WordPress.com username, WordPress.com-connected site ID and URL, Jetpack version, user agent, visiting URL, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, country code. Some visitor-related information or activity may be sent to the site owner via this feature. This may include: email address, WordPress.com username, site URL, email address, comment content, follow actions, etc.

Activity Tracked: Sending notifications (i.e. when we send a notification to a particular user), opening notifications (i.e. when a user opens a notification that they receive), performing an action from within the notification panel (e.g. liking a comment or marking a comment as spam), and clicking on any link from within the notification panel/interface.

WordPress.com Stats

Data Used: IP address, WordPress.com user ID (if logged in), WordPress.com username (if logged in), user agent, visiting URL, referring URL, timestamp of event, browser language, country code. Important: The site owner does not have access to any of this information via this feature. For example, a site owner can see that a specific post has 285 views, but he/she cannot see which specific users/accounts viewed that post. Stats logs — containing visitor IP addresses and WordPress.com usernames (if available) — are retained by Automattic for 28 days and are used for the sole purpose of powering this feature.

Activity Tracked: Post and page views, video plays (if videos are hosted by WordPress.com), outbound link clicks, referring URLs and search engine terms and country. When this module is enabled, Jetpack also tracks performance on each page load that includes the JavaScript file used for tracking stats. This is exclusively for aggregate performance tracking across Jetpack sites in order to make sure that our plugin and code is not causing performance issues. This includes the tracking of page load times and resource loading duration (image files, JavaScript files, CSS files, etc.). This does not honour browser DNT settings.

Gravatar

Gravatar is part of the Automattic (WordPress) family, and it allows users to have a custom avatar in their comments. Gravatar checks your email address against the Gravatar database, and if it finds a match (i.e. you have a Gravatar account), it displays your Avatar with your comment.

Gravatar is a popular plugin and is used by many sites such as Hootsuite and Stack Overflow. I’ve also installed the Avatar Privacy plugin to protect your email address further.

However, there is still the possibility that in using the Gravatar service, may make your email address public, and I cannot guarantee your privacy using the service. Gravatar may also be able to log the sites you visit. If this is something of concern to you, please do not use the Gravatar service or leave a comment on this site. 

Privacy Link

Google reCAPTURE

I use this Google service to prevent spam and abuse of contact forms, comments and login pages. This service uses your IP address to verify if you are a human user on this site. Learn more.

WordFence

I use Wordfence to reduce the security risk of a WordPress site. This service stores your IP address, user agent and referrer in my database for the purposes of network security. 

Privacy Link

WP Forms

I use WP Forms on my site in order to accept contact form submissions. WP Forms claim that this data is handled on our site, and they do not collect any data at their end. 

WP Forms collects your IP address and user agent when filling out a contact form on the Site.

Off-Site

Facebook Page Insights

I actively monitor Facebook Page Insights, which is Facebook’s built-in analytics software that shows the actions that are taken on my business’ Facebook page. My team processes these insights to see what content is performing well on the Facebook Page. You can view Facebook’s policies in relation to this data here. We do not have access to your personal Facebook data in these insights. Click here for more information on Facebook’s GDPR compliance.

Other Third Party Sites

I cannot be liable for your data or privacy after you leave the Website, even when interacting with us, such as on social media. When sharing posts or communicating with us on other platforms, the website in question is responsible for your data. 

Private messages to my official social accounts are kept confidential and will never be shared unless there is a legal obligation to do so or I have your permission. 

I am not in control of, nor can I be responsible for, you sharing personal information or having your data shared publicly if you contact an account impersonating me. If you see such an account, please report it to me in confidence straight away. 

If you require your data to be deleted on a third party site, then please contact the social media site in question to have your data deleted. These sites should also have their own privacy policies to use as a reference on how to do this. 

I have an active presence on other social media platforms, which also collect their own analytics data. I have no control over the analytics which are collected by the sites you visit (such as Facebook or Twitter). However, the platforms choose to share some of that data with me in an aggregated form. 

Your Data Rights

Right to be informed.

You have the right to be informed about how I use your personal data when visiting this site. This policy has been created to be completely transparent and fully inform you of what happens with your data.

Right to Access

You have the right to access your personal data at any time. I match comments and emails to your email address. 

To access your personal data, please send an email using the same email address tied to your data so I can verify your identity. You’ll then be sent a zip/pdf with your personal data within 30 days.

Right to rectification

You have the right to correct any data I may have about you. 

I will use my discretion as to whether your comment is edited or deleted. 

Previous correspondence (such as emails) cannot be modified. 

Right to erasure

Also known as the right to be forgotten, you can request your data to be deleted at any time. 

To ask for your data to be deleted, please send an email using the same address attached to the data you want to be deleted. 

There is no set format for this email, a simple list of the data you want to be deleted acceptable; however, you can also use a template if you prefer. 

You will be informed within 24 hours when your request has been received, and your personal data will be removed within 30 calendar days. 

I will inform you of any data I retain and the legal/regulatory reason why that is the case. 

Right to restrict processing

You have the right to restrict me from processing your data. 

For example, you may no longer want to be contacted after filling out a contact form.

Please let us know this is the case by sending an email to [email protected], and you won’t be contacted further.

Right of Portability

You have the right to take the data I hold about you and use it for your own purposes. Please file an access request for a downloadable zip containing your data.

Right to object

You have the right to object to me processing your data. If you wish to exercise this right, terminate your visit to this website, and do not visit this website again.

Additionally, do not send me an email or contact me on any third party site.

Right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw your consent to having your data processed at any time by contacting me.

California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

As a resident of California, you have the right to know how I collect, use and share your data as a business. I do not sell your personal data to third parties though I may share it for the reasons stated above. The reasons I may share your personal data are as follows:

  • Understand how users are interacting with my website so that I can optimise it
  • Send marketing and promotional material to generate business sales to opted-in users.
  • Send outreach emails to relevant, targeted businesses who could benefit from my services.
  • Promote relevant information to you from our partners, including advertising partners.
  • Contact you in regards to an enquiry or an existing order.
  • Meet legal and regulatory requirements.

Right to know

You also have the right to know the categories of information we’ve collected in the last 12 months. 

Contact Information – I get this directly from you – used to respond to your comment, email or contact form submission. 

Financial Data – I get this from you if you make a purchase from me – used for processing payment in exchange for my products or services. 

Geolocation – collected by third-party analytics partners – used to see what parts of the world visitors are coming from to inform my marketing/business strategy.

Internet/electronic activity – collected by third party analytics partners – used to understand the site better and in error diagnostics (for example, seeing if users of a particular browser have an increase in errors). 

Right to non-discrimination

You have the right to non-discrimination, so if you choose to exercise your privacy rights, you will not be discriminated against. 

However, exercising some of your privacy rights may prevent you from fully accessing my services. For example, if you do not provide financial information, I will be unable to offer you any paid products or services.

Right to access

You have the right to access the personal information I’ve collected from you in the last 12 months. Please email me ([email protected]), and I’ll send you a PDF or ZIp file with your data. 

Right to deletion

You have the right to deletion, subject to the exemptions above. Please email me (Jake Symons) with your request, and you’ll be notified in 24 hours we’ve received your request and informed when your data has been deleted (and what we’re unable to delete) within 14 days. 

Security

I take reasonable steps to provide electronic and physical safeguards against your personal data to prevent its theft, unauthorised access, modification or loss. 

I have a number of administrative processes in place to limit the number of individuals that have access to your data to the smallest number possible. 

I only work with third-party providers that have a rigorous privacy and security policy which have been linked above, for your reference. 

However, as already stated, no transmission over the Internet cannot guarantee to be secure, and as such, I am unable to guarantee the security of any personal data that you transfer over the Internet to me.

Security Notice

To verify your identity all that is required is an email on the same address attached to the data you wish to exercise your rights over. My team and I will never ask you for card details or other identification documents. Any email that does so is a scam. Please do not take action upon such emails and report them to the authorities and ourselves so we are able to take action to keep our community safe. All correspondence regarding this website will come from a @jakesymons.com email. 

Contact

This privacy policy has the aim of being as clear as possible. If you have any questions or wish to use any of your rights outlined above, then please reach out to me. 

Data Protection Officer

Domain: jakesymons.com

Name: Jake Symons

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (+44) 07939 670980 – Direct / WhatsApp / Signal 

Last Updated: 14th May 2021

 

Changelog

14.05.2021: Merged Cookie Policy into “Cookies” section. 

16.4.21: Started Changelog. Updated DPO’s details and changed contact form provider from Jetpack to WP Forms.