Who owns this website
This site is the personal website of, and owned and managed by Gary Allman from Portsmouth, UK, a resident of Springfield, Missouri, USA. I can be contacted via this form.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site I collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection provided by Akismet.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) is provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on my site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
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.
Who I share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
My site uses (as much as I hate Google) Google Analytics to track this site’s visitors and how they traverse the site. The data is anonymized and aggregated to protect your identity — depending on how much you trust Google to stick to their terms and conditions.
Your IP address is shared with the Wordfence site security software provided by Defiant. This is to enable me to block known criminals, and countries known to host criminals (scammers, spammers, and hackers).
Your IP address is stored in the server’s access logs for a period of seven days. This is to enable me to perform diagnostic tracking if something goes wrong, and for me and others to perform detective work in the case of security or criminal activity. Notionally my hosting company WPX Hosting has access to this information.
If you contact me via the provided forms or email, your data will be retained by my email provider, Microsoft.
How long I retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so I can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users who register to receive email updates from this website, I store the information they provide. You can opt out of receiving update emails at any time. Website administrators can see and edit the information provided. Email addresses are not shared with any third parties, except those essential for sending the updates you have signed up to receive. Period.
If you complete my contact forms or email me, I will retain your message indefinitely — if I don’t delete it sooner.
What rights you have over your data
If you have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data I hold about you, including any data you have provided to me. You can also request that I erase any personal data I hold about you. This is subject to the clauses provided below and does not include any data I am obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Except where expressly provided otherwise by me, all comments, feedback, information, or materials submitted to this site or to me shall be considered non-confidential and my property. By submitting such comments, feedback, information, or materials to me, you agree to a free of charge assignment to me of all worldwide rights, title, and interest in copyrights and other intellectual property rights to the comments, feedback, information, or materials. I shall be free to use such comments, feedback, information, or materials on an unrestricted basis.
In plain English: I want to be able to use any material you provide to me here and elsewhere without having to contact you first and without fear of your trying to charge me for using something you have already freely given to me.
Where I send your data
- Visitor comments are checked through an automated spam detection service.
- Contact form data and emails are sent to my email service provider.
- Site access information is sent to the automated site security and analytics services.
- Site access information is held by the site’s hosting provider.