Privacy Policy

A Real Gardener (‘I’ or ‘my’ or ‘me’) gathers and processes your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and in compliance with the relevant data protection regulation,

• the Data Protection Act 2018 (as amended) (“DPA”) and
• the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 No. 419 as amended by the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (“UK GDPR”), or
• any legislation that amends or replaces it.

For the purpose of the UK GDPR, I am the data controller.

This Policy explains how, why and when I collect and process your personal data, and provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights.

If you wish to contact A Real Gardener, please email floyd@arealgardener.co.uk. Your privacy is important to me and I am committed to protecting your personal information.

For communication purposes, I collect the following personal information when you provide it to me:

• Your full name, email address, postal address and telephone number. Your IP address is also recorded by my mailing list provider, MailChimp.

The information I process for the purposes listed above is restricted to what is necessary. I take your privacy very seriously and will never disclose, share or sell your data without your consent, unless required to do so by law.

I use the personal information you provide to me to:

• Communicate with you about past, present or future projects
• Send you newsletters about my work and any upcoming events or offers that may be available

I rely on Consent (that you have given clear consent for me to process your personal data for a specific purpose) or Legitimate Interests as the lawful bases on which I collect and use your personal data.

You can unsubscribe from my communication at any time by either following the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of my newsletters or contacting me directly at floyd@arealgardener.co.uk.

You have the right to access any personal information that A Real Gardener processes about you and to request information about:

• What personal data I hold about you
• The purposes of the processing
• The categories of personal data concerned
• The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
• How long I intend to store your personal data for
• If I did not collect the data directly from you, information about the source

If you believe that I hold any incomplete or inaccurate data about you, you have the right to ask me to correct and/or complete the information and I will strive to update/correct it as quickly as possible; unless there is a valid reason for not doing so, at which point you will be notified.

You also have the right to request erasure of your personal data or to restrict processing in accordance with data protection laws.

If I receive a request from you to exercise any of the above rights, I will ask you to verify your identity before acting on the relevant request; this is to ensure that your data is protected and kept secure.

If you exercise your right to be forgotten and request for the data I hold on you to be deleted, I will anonymise your information so that it does not personally identify you. This action can only be taken once I am no longer legally required to store the information e.g. legal obligations relating to financial accounting.

Mailchimp
I use MailChimp, a US-based email service, to store your details and send you my newsletter. In the process of working with Mailchimp your data may be transferred outside the EEA, to the US. Mailchimp is self-certified under Privacy Shield and lawfully transfers EU/EEA personal data to the US according to its Privacy Shield Certification.

You can read MailChimp’s privacy policy here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/ and  find out more about the steps the company has taken to comply with the UK GDPR here: https://kb.mailchimp.com/accounts/management/about-the-general-data-protection-regulation/

Google Analytics
My website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google, Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA, www.google.com (“Google Analytics” or “Google”). Google Analytics employs cookies that are stored to your computer in order to facilitate an analysis of your use of the site. The information generated by these cookies, such as time, place and frequency of your visits to my site, including your IP address, is transmitted to Google’s location in the US and stored there.

Google uses this information to analyze your use of my site, to compile reports on internet activity and to provide other services relating to my website.

Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law or where such third parties process this data on Google’s behalf. Google states that it will never associate your IP address with other data held by Google. You can prevent cookies from being installed by adjusting the settings on your browser software accordingly. You should be aware, however, that by doing so you may not be able to make full use of all the functions of my website. Please see the section on ‘Cookies & embedded content’ for more information on this.

Google Analytics also offers a deactivation add-on for most current browsers that provides you with more control over what data Google can collect on websites you access. The add-on tells the JavaScript (ga.js) used by Google Analytics not to transmit any information about website visits to Google Analytics. However, the browser deactivation add-on offered by Google Analytics does not prevent information from being transmitted to me or to other web analysis services I may engage.

Google Analytics also uses electronic images known as web beacons (sometimes called single pixel gifs) and are used along with cookies to compile aggregated statistics to analyze how my site is used.

You can find additional information on how to install the browser add-on referenced above at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

For the cases in which personal data is transferred to the US, Google has self-certified pursuant to the EU-US Privacy Shield (https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework).

Apple iCloud
I use Apple iCloud to store contact details of my customers and to keep data protection records. Apple Privacy Policy is available here: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/ 

Other
The third-party service providers A Real Gardener uses may be updated from time to time as my business needs and legal requirements change.

I have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. I limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

If there is a need to dispose of your information, hard copies are shredded and soft copies are permanently deleted.

My website makes use of cookies to save and retrieve information about your visit to my site. Cookies are small files of software which save and retrieve information about your visit to a website or application. They reside in your internet browser to help remember your preferences and previous activity. You can find more information about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org and www.youronlinechoices.eu.

Cookies currently used on my site identify you as an anonymized number. My partners (e.g., marketing partners, affiliates, or analytics providers) and I use cookies and log files to analyze trends, administer the website, track users movements around the website, and gather demographic information about my user base. I may receive anonymized reports based on the use of these technologies by my partners on an aggregated basis. I also use this data to provide the site’s content, ensure the functionality of my information technology systems, and to optimize my website. The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR. The data of log files will be stored separately from your other personal data.

Users can control and refuse the use of cookies at the individual browser level. Cookies installed can be deleted. If you have visited my website in the past and would like to make changes to your cookie preferences, please first clear the cookies from your browser and then update your cookie preferences. If you reject cookies, you may still use my website, but your ability to use some features or areas of my website may be limited.

When you visit my website, the following categories of cookies will be set in your browser:

Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around a site and use its features. Without these cookies, services you have asked for cannot be provided. Registered Visitor Cookie – A unique identifier given to each registered user, used to recognize you anonymously through your visit and when you return to the site.

Performance cookies
These cookies collect information so that I can analyse how visitors use my site. These cookies do not collect information that identifies you. All information these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how my site works.

Functional cookies
These cookies allow websites and applications to remember choices you make (e.g., such as your name if you leave a comment on the website) and provide enhanced, more personal features.

These cookies cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. They do not gather any information about you that could be used for advertising or to record where you’ve been on the Internet outside of my site.

Targeting cookies
In order to keep my website services relevant, easy to use and up-to-date, I use web analytics services to help me understand how people use the site.

Cookies allow web analytics services to recognise your browser or device and, for example, identify whether you have visited my website before, what you have previously viewed or clicked on, and how you found my site. The information is anonymous and only used for statistical purposes, and it helps me to analyse patterns of user activity and to develop a better user experience.

Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

I retain your information only as long as is necessary and in line with my Data Retention Policy. For more information, please get in touch with me at floyd@arealgardener.co.uk.

I only process your personal information in compliance with this Privacy Policy and in accordance with the relevant data protection laws. If, however you wish to raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how I have handled your information please contact me at floyd@arealgardener.co.uk.

Alternatively, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. Please find the address below.

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

For more information on lodging a complaint with the ICO, please visit https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.