Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-09-10

This policy describes how we (“we”, “us”) collect, use, and protect your personal data when you visit gardencalcs.uk. It is written to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). It says what the site actually does; when the site changes, this page changes in the same update.

1. Data controller and how to reach us

GardenCalcs operates this site and is the data controller for personal data processed through it. You can reach us in two ways: the feedback box on every calculator page (choose “General comments” and include contact details if you want a reply), or by email at [email protected]. We answer requests about your data within one calendar month.

2. What we collect

We collect only the minimum data needed to run and improve the site.

2.1 Data you provide

Calculator inputs. Anything you type or choose in a calculator form (numbers, text, units and dropdown choices, each paired with the field’s on-screen label) is processed in your browser. It reaches our servers only when you press a “helpful” vote or send an issue report: the vote or report then carries the values in the form and a short summary of the results shown, up to about 1,000 characters in total, so we can check the answer you saw; anything beyond that is dropped before sending. Some values are also saved automatically on your own device (see §3).
Feedback. If you use the feedback box (helpful vote, a reason for a down-vote, the optional one-tap question about who you are, report an issue, request a calculator, suggest a feature, general comments), we receive your message, the page address, coarse device type and viewport size, your country (derived by our host from your connection, not stored as an address), and, for votes and issue reports, the calculator inputs and results described above. Feedback is voluntary and anonymous unless you choose to include contact details. It is stored on our servers and kept for up to 24 months.
Enquiries. If you email us, we keep your message and any details in it for as long as we need to answer you, and for up to 24 months after the last correspondence.

2.2 Data collected automatically

Aggregate usage statistics (first-party, no consent needed). We operate our own counter that records, in aggregate only, which pages are used, on which day, and from which country. When your browser requests a page it sends your IP address and browser type; our system combines these with the site, the calendar date and a secret into a one-way code that changes every day and cannot be joined across days or across our sites. The code is kept for about 30 minutes to avoid counting the same reader twice and to stop an identical vote being recorded twice, then discarded. A separate one-way digest of your address alone serves a one-minute abuse counter at the network edge. Neither the address nor your browser type is ever written to our database. We store only totals (for example “this calculator: N visits today”), never individual profiles, and nothing on your device for this. You can object at any time with the “Anonymous usage statistics” toggle in the first-visit notice or on our Cookie Policy page; your choice is remembered on your device.
Consent record. When you answer the first-visit notice or change the statistics toggle, we record the choice itself as an anonymous daily count with no identifier, kept for 24 months, so we can show that choices are honoured. This record is not affected by the toggle.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4), statistical purposes only. Measures page views and feature usage solely so we can improve these calculators, under the PECR statistical-purposes exception (Data (Use and Access) Act 2025; ICO guidance April 2026). We run GA4 with Google acting strictly as our processor: Google data-sharing settings off, no advertising features or Google Ads links, no Google Signals, and event data retention of 14 months (so we can compare how the calculators are used year on year; the standard aggregated reports keep their history regardless). We verify these settings against Google’s Analytics Admin API and record each check in our compliance file; the last check was 4 September 2026. GA4 sets _ga cookies with a pseudonymous client ID. As with any request to Google, GA4 receives your IP address, which Google uses to derive an approximate location and does not store as an address. You can switch GA4 off at any time with the “Anonymous usage statistics” toggle (first-visit notice or Cookie Policy page): opting out asks your browser to delete the _ga cookies we can see, switches the Google tag off so it sends nothing more in this browsing session, and stops it loading at all the next time you open the site.
Microsoft Clarity (session replay), only if you allow it. Records session replays and heatmaps, with Microsoft’s default masking of typed text, to show us where the site confuses people. It loads only after you actively choose “Allow replay” in the first-visit notice, and never otherwise. Microsoft is our processor and retains recordings under its own policy; see Microsoft’s privacy statement. To change your choice, use the “Change my session-replay choice” button on the Cookie Policy page: it stops Clarity loading from then on and removes the Clarity cookies set on this site. Cookies Microsoft has set on its own domains are not ours to delete; clear those from your browser’s site data if you want them gone.
Hosting logs. Cloudflare, our host, may keep short-lived access logs for security and abuse prevention. We do not use them to profile anyone. Request logging for our own counter service is switched off.

3. Storage on your device

The site saves a few things in your browser’s localStorage automatically, for your own convenience. None of these entries is uploaded to our servers.

Calculation history (gardencalcs-history). When you run a calculator, its name, a short result summary and the page address are saved so you can revisit it. Up to 100 entries are kept, newest first.
Unit preferences (calc-unit-prefs). If you switch a calculator between units (mm and m, kg and lb), the choice is remembered.
Your privacy choices (gardencalcs-notice-v3 and cb_opt_out). Whether you have answered the first-visit notice, your session-replay choice, and your statistics opt-out if you exercise it.

You can clear all of this from your browser’s settings (clear site data for gardencalcs.uk). The “Clear history” button on the home page, shown when you have saved calculations, removes your history.

4. Legal basis for processing

Statistical-purposes exception and legitimate interests (PECR Schedule A1 paragraph 5; UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) for the first-party usage counter and Google Analytics 4 in processor-only configuration (§2.2), both used solely to improve the service, with a free opt-out at any time.
Consent (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) and PECR reg. 6) for session replay (Microsoft Clarity) only. It never runs unless you actively allow it, and you can withdraw on the Cookie Policy page.
Legitimate interests (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) for hosting security logs, abuse prevention, the consent record, and for reading and acting on feedback and enquiries you send us.
Preference storage (PECR Schedule A1) for unit preferences, which adapt the site to choices you have made on it; and legitimate interests (UK GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)), with storage you control and can clear at any time, for the calculation history, which is a convenience record held only on your device.

5. Who we share data with

Personal data is shared only with our processors: Google (analytics), Microsoft (session replay, only if you allowed it), and Cloudflare (hosting, the counter service, and the database that stores feedback and the aggregate totals). We do not sell personal data and we do not use it for advertising targeting.

6. International transfers

Google, Microsoft and Cloudflare may process data outside the UK under safeguards recognised by UK law (adequacy regulations, or the UK Addendum to the Standard Contractual Clauses), as set out in their own terms.

7. Retention

First-party usage counter: your IP address and browser type are never written to our database (a one-way digest of the address lives for about a minute at the network edge as an abuse counter, and the daily session code for about 30 minutes); the aggregate totals contain no personal data and are kept as long-term statistics.
Feedback messages, votes and issue reports: up to 24 months.
Consent record (anonymous daily counts): 24 months.
GA4 event data: 14 months, so we can compare how the calculators are used year on year. The _ga cookies Google sets last up to two years unless you delete them or opt out.
Clarity session data (only if you allowed replay): under Microsoft’s retention policy.
Storage on your device (§3): until you clear it.
Enquiry emails: up to 24 months after the last correspondence.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

access the personal data we hold about you (Art. 15);
rectify inaccurate personal data (Art. 16);
have personal data erased (Art. 17);
restrict processing (Art. 18);
port your data to another provider (Art. 20);
object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21);
withdraw consent at any time without detriment;
complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The site needs no account. The only personal data we hold on our servers is what you choose to put in feedback or an email, such as contact details. To see or erase it, write to us at the address in §1 and quote roughly when and on which page you sent it, because feedback carries no identifier of its own. The analytics data held by Google and Microsoft is pseudonymous and we cannot tie it to you; you control it by opting out (statistics) or changing your replay choice, both on the Cookie Policy page, and through Google’s and Microsoft’s own privacy controls.

9. Security

The site is served over HTTPS from Cloudflare with standard security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy). Calculations run in your browser, so your inputs reach our servers only when you send them with a vote or a report, and then over the same encrypted connection.

10. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the law, our processors, or our practices change. The “last updated” date above is the date this page was last revised.