Privacy Policy and Cookies

Keswick.net ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under UK GDPR.

This site is operated by KCS Solutions. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

1. Information we collect

When you create an account

Your name and email address
A hashed password (we never store your password in plain text)

When you list a business

Business name, address, contact details and description
Photos you upload
Category-specific details (e.g. opening hours, facilities)

When you send an enquiry

Your name, email address, phone number (optional) and message
This information is passed directly to the business you are contacting

When you share a tip

Your name, email address and tip, and the area, whether you are happy to be credited, and any photos you choose to add
Photos are sent to us by email and are not kept on the website unless we publish them with your permission. Your email address is never published

Automatically collected information

Standard server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited), used for security and debugging only, not for tracking or profiling
With your consent only, we use Google Analytics to see how the site is used. See Cookies and analytics below
We count visits to business, event, offer and blog pages, and clicks on the links on a listing (website, booking, phone and so on). To count each visitor once a day we use a scrambled, one-way version of the IP address; the address itself is not stored with these counts
We do not use advertising trackers
What people type into the site search is counted, without any IP address or account, so we can see what visitors are looking for. Please do not put personal details into the search box

2. How we use your information

To provide and maintain your account and business listing
To pass enquiries to the relevant business owner
To send transactional emails (account creation, password reset, enquiry notifications)
To improve the site based on usage patterns

We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising purposes.

3. Legal basis for processing

We process your data on the basis of:

Contract: to provide the service you have signed up for
Legitimate interests: to operate and improve the directory, and to prevent fraud and abuse
Consent: where you have explicitly agreed (e.g. optional marketing communications, if introduced)

4. Data retention

Account data is kept for as long as your account is active
Accounts that have not submitted a business listing within 30 days of signing up are removed, along with any unsubmitted draft listing. We email you first, at about 14 and 25 days, and you are welcome to sign up again later
Enquiry messages are retained for 24 months, then deleted
If you delete your account, your personal data is removed within 30 days

5. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

Access: request a copy of the data we hold about you
Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate data
Erasure: ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten")
Portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format
Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

6. Cookies and analytics

Essential: a session token stored in your browser's local storage keeps you signed in. We also remember your cookie choice there. These are needed for the site to work.

Analytics (only if you accept): if you press Accept on the cookie banner we use Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used, such as which pages are visited, what device is used and roughly where visitors are from. It sets cookies in your browser (named _ga and _ga_…), and IP addresses are anonymised. The data is processed by Google. If you press Decline, no analytics cookies are set and no analytics data is collected.

We do not use advertising cookies. You can change your choice at any time using "Cookie settings" at the bottom of any page.

7. Third-party services

Webcam streams: embedded from view.h264.cam, subject to their own privacy policy
Maps: embedded from OpenStreetMap, subject to their privacy policy
Google Analytics: website usage statistics, only if you accept analytics cookies, subject to Google's privacy policy
Google reCAPTCHA: protects our forms (sign-up, contact, enquiries and submissions) from spam. It may receive your IP address and browser details, subject to Google's privacy policy
Google Fonts: the typefaces on the site are loaded from Google's servers, which receive your IP address when a page loads, subject to Google's privacy policy
Cloudflare: the site is delivered through Cloudflare, which processes visitor IP addresses to keep the site fast and protect it from attack, subject to Cloudflare's privacy policy
Email delivery: transactional emails are sent via SMTP2GO, subject to their data processing agreement

8. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and access controls. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.