Privacy Policy

1. Controller

2. Website hosting through GitHub Pages

This website is hosted through GitHub Pages, a service provided by GitHub. When you visit the website, GitHub may process technical connection information such as your IP address, browser and device information, the requested page, date and time, and related server-log information. GitHub states that visitors’ IP addresses are logged and stored for security purposes.

This processing is necessary to deliver and secure the website. The legal basis, insofar as Louisa Webb determines the processing, is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR: the legitimate interest in providing a secure and reliable author website.

GitHub may process information in countries outside the European Economic Area, including the United States. Further information is available in the GitHub General Privacy Statement.

3. Age confirmation and local storage

After you confirm that you are at least 18, the website stores the value louisaWebbAgeVerified=yes in your browser’s local storage. It is used only to remember the confirmation on that device. The value is not transmitted to Louisa Webb, is not used for tracking and contains no name or other direct identifier.

You can remove it at any time using “Reset 18+ confirmation” in the footer or by deleting this website’s stored browser data.

4. Contact by email

If you contact Louisa Webb by email, the information you provide—including your email address and message—is processed to answer your enquiry. Depending on the subject, the legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR for pre-contractual or contractual communication, or Article 6(1)(f) GDPR for other correspondence. Messages are deleted when they are no longer needed, unless statutory retention obligations or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims require longer storage.

5. ARC applications through Google Forms

The ARC application button leads to an external Google Forms form. No information is transmitted to Google merely because you view this website; transmission begins when you follow the link.

If you submit an application, the information you enter is processed to assess your application, communicate with you and organise the ARC programme. Providing the information is voluntary, but an application cannot be considered without the information requested in the form. Google also processes technical and account-related information under its own terms. Please review Google’s privacy information before submitting the form.

ARC application information is retained for the application and ARC-reader selection process and deleted when no longer required, unless you consent to remaining on a future ARC list or legal retention obligations apply.

6. Facebook and Instagram

This website contains ordinary external links to Facebook and Instagram. It does not embed Meta feeds, pixels or social-media plugins. No data is sent to Meta merely by loading this website. If you follow a link, Meta’s own privacy terms and data-processing practices apply.

7. Cookieless visitor statistics through GoatCounter

This website uses GoatCounter to understand how often pages are visited, which homepage sections become visible, which principal reader links are selected, which pages are useful and how visitors reach the website. GoatCounter processes limited technical information such as the requested page, referrer, browser and operating-system category, screen size and approximate country.

GoatCounter does not place cookies or use local storage for analytics. According to GoatCounter, it does not permanently store visitors’ IP addresses, full user-agent strings or persistent tracking identifiers. Information used to distinguish repeat visits is held temporarily in memory for up to eight hours; the statistics available to Louisa Webb are aggregated and are not used to identify individual visitors or create advertising profiles.

The service is operated by Martin Tournoij in Ireland. Data is hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH on servers in Finland and Germany. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR: the legitimate interest in measuring the use and reach of this author website while minimising data collection. Further information is available in GoatCounter’s privacy information.

No advertising or marketing cookies are used.

8. Email newsletter through Brevo

You may voluntarily join Louisa Webb’s reader newsletter. The embedded subscription form is provided by Brevo (Sendinblue GmbH). When the form loads and when you submit it, Brevo may process technical connection data as well as the email address and consent information you provide.

Subscription uses a double-opt-in process: after submitting the form, you must confirm your request through a link sent by email before you are added to the mailing list. The legal basis is your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. The confirmation record may be retained to demonstrate that consent was obtained.

You can withdraw your consent at any time for the future using the unsubscribe link in any newsletter or by contacting Louisa Webb. Your newsletter data will then be removed unless another legal basis requires its retention. Further information is available in Brevo’s privacy policy.

9. Moderated blog comments

If you voluntarily submit a blog comment, the display name, email address, comment text, related article and submission time are processed through Google Apps Script and stored in a private Google Sheet. The email address is used only to administer and moderate the comment and is never displayed publicly.

Comments do not appear automatically. Louisa Webb reviews each submission first. If approved, only the display name, comment text, publication date and any author reply are made public. Rejected comments remain hidden and may be deleted when they are no longer required for moderation or abuse prevention.

Processing and publication are based on the consent requested beside the comment form under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. Consent may be withdrawn for the future by contacting Louisa Webb. Google may process technical connection and service data under its own terms. Further information is available in Google’s Privacy Policy.

10. Your data-protection rights

Where the relevant legal conditions are met, you have the right to request access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. Where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw that consent for the future.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority. The competent authority for the controller’s place of residence is the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Rhineland-Palatinate.

11. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated when the website, hosting arrangement or external services change. The current version is always available on this page.