Cotswolds Business Connect Privacy Policy
At Cotswolds Business Connect, we’re passionate about fostering genuine connections among local businesses while ensuring your privacy and trust remain at the forefront of everything we do. This policy explains how we handle your personal data when you interact with us online, making your experience with our website secure and straightforward.
Gravatar and Your Profile Picture
If you comment on our site, an anonymised version of your email address (a hash) may be sent to the Gravatar service to see if you use it. This helps us display your profile picture alongside your comments, adding a personal touch to our vibrant community. The Gravatar privacy policy can be found here. Once your comment is approved, your profile picture will appear publicly alongside it.
Media Uploads
When sharing images on our website, please ensure they do not include embedded location data (EXIF GPS). While we love seeing your photos, others could potentially download and extract location data from them.
Cookies
We use cookies to make your interactions with our site more seamless:
- Comment Cookies: If you leave a comment, you can save your name, email, and website in cookies for a year, so you don’t have to re-enter them next time.
- Login Cookies: If you visit the login page, we set a temporary cookie to check if your browser accepts cookies—this is discarded when you close your browser. Once logged in, cookies save your login info for two days (or two weeks if you select “Remember Me”) and your screen preferences for a year. Logging out removes these cookies.
- Editing Cookies: If you edit or publish an article, a cookie stores the post ID for a day to streamline your work.
Embedded Content from Other Sites
Our website may include content such as videos or articles from external sources. Interacting with embedded content on our site functions the same as visiting the originating website. These sites might collect data, use cookies, or track your interactions—especially if you’re logged into their platform.
Data Sharing and Retention
- Comment Data: Comments and their metadata are stored indefinitely to make follow-up easier.
- User Accounts: Registered users can view, edit, or delete their information anytime (except usernames). Website admins can also manage user profiles.
- Password Resets: If you request a reset, your IP address will be included in the email.
Your Rights
You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you or ask us to erase it—except for data we’re legally required to keep.
Where Your Data Goes
Visitor comments may be screened through automated spam detection tools to keep our site safe and welcoming for everyone.
At Cotswolds Business Connect, we’re all about bringing local businesses together while respecting your privacy and providing a supportive, secure digital space. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!