Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Darwon Letters is an independent editorial publication focused on everyday nutrition practices and weight awareness. The publication is not affiliated with any commercial, governmental, or institutional body. The editorial office is located at 32 Myddleton Square, London EC1R 1YE, United Kingdommdom.

For data privacy enquiries, contact us at: [email protected] or by post at the address above.

This Privacy Policy explains how Darwon Letters collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data when you visit our website at darwon.info, in accordance with the UK General Data Processing Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

• Contact form data: When you submit our contact form, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message. This data is used solely to respond to your enquiry.
• Technical log data: Our web server automatically records standard log data including IP addresses, browser type, referring URLs, pages visited, and timestamps. This data is used for site security and performance analysis only.
• Cookie data: The site uses cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. Cookie consent preferences are stored in your browser.

We do not collect sensitive personal data (such as data relating to physical characteristics, identity documentation, or financial information) through this website.

3. How We Use Your Data

Personal data collected through this website is used for the following purposes:

• Responding to enquiries submitted via the contact form.
• Maintaining the security and stability of the website.
• Understanding aggregate patterns of website use to improve the publication's online presence.
• Complying with legal obligations applicable to the publication as a UK-based data controller.

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making or profiling. We do not sell, rent, or share personal data with third parties for their own commercial purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we process personal data on the following legal bases:

• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): For non-essential cookies placed with your permission via the cookie consent banner.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): For server log data used to maintain site security and monitor performance. Our legitimate interests do not override your rights in this context.
• Contract performance (Article 6(1)(b)): For contact form data processed to respond to your direct enquiry.

5. Data Retention

Contact form submissions are retained for a maximum of 12 months from the date of submission, after which they are deleted. Server log data is retained for a maximum of 90 days before automatic deletion. Cookie consent preferences are retained in your browser for up to 12 months, after which they expire.

Data is not retained beyond the periods stated above unless required to comply with a legal obligation.

6. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights with respect to personal data we hold about you:

• Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: to request correction of inaccurate personal data.
• Right to erasure: to request deletion of personal data we hold about you, subject to legal retention obligations.
• Right to restrict processing: to request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability: to receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the legality of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you believe your data rights have not been respected.

7. Third-Party Services

This website loads resources from third-party content delivery networks (CDNs) including jsDelivr, Cloudflare, and Google Fonts. These services may log requests to serve their content. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies. We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of these providers if you have concerns.

The website embeds a Google Maps iframe on the contact page. Google may set cookies or collect data when you interact with the map. This is governed by Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy.

8. Data Security

This website operates over HTTPS. All data transmitted between your browser and our server is encrypted in transit. Access to stored personal data is restricted to authorised members of the editorial team. We maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, and unlawful processing.

In the event of a personal data breach that poses a risk to your rights, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and affected individuals without undue delay, as required by UK GDPR.

9. Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in our data handling practices or applicable law. The date at the top of this page reflects when the policy was last revised. Continued use of the website after any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy. For significant changes, a notice will be displayed on the site for a period of at least 30 days.