Privacy notice

Data collected on this site

The Carer's Room is a static, editorial site and it collects very little personal information from readers. When you visit a page, our hosting provider records a minimal set of technical details in server logs, which typically includes the IP address that made the request, the User-Agent string sent by your browser, the URL requested, the referring page if any, the HTTP response code returned, and the exact date and time of the request. These logs are kept for a short period for security, abuse-prevention and diagnostic purposes, and they are not used to build a profile of any reader. We do not require sign-up, we do not run reader accounts, and we do not solicit personal information from anyone browsing the site.

If you write to the editor at the address published on the site, we will retain the message and any personal information contained in it for as long as reasonably needed to answer your query and to keep a record of the exchange for editorial audit. If you request to be forgotten, we will delete the message on request unless we are required to keep it to comply with a legal obligation. We do not sell, rent, or otherwise share reader correspondence with third parties, and no third-party advertising broker, data broker or gambling operator has any access to any part of the site's data.

Cookies and analytics

The Carer's Room does not set any advertising cookies, does not use behavioural retargeting cookies, and does not carry third-party advertising scripts. The site uses only cookies that are strictly necessary for the site to function, and where such cookies are set they carry no personal identifiers. Because we do not set non-essential cookies, the site does not require a cookie consent banner under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 as amended, and none is displayed. If our cookie footprint ever changes, this notice will be updated first and a consent banner will be added before any non-essential cookie is set.

We do not use Google Analytics, we do not use Facebook Pixel, we do not use LinkedIn Insight Tag, and we do not use any equivalent third-party analytics platform that would place a persistent identifier on your device or share your data with an advertising ecosystem. Aggregate readership figures are inferred from server logs on an anonymised basis and used only to understand which pages are read, so we can prioritise updates. No individual reader is identified, and no reader is contacted on the basis of their browsing.

How long we retain data

Server logs are retained for a rolling period of up to thirty days, after which they are automatically overwritten in the ordinary course of operation. This is the retention window our hosting provider offers as a security baseline, and it is short by design. Editorial correspondence, meaning email you send to the editor and our replies, is retained for as long as it is needed to answer the query and to keep an audit trail; in practice this is typically twelve to twenty-four months, unless a longer retention is required by law or a shorter retention is requested by the sender.

We do not maintain a mailing list, a marketing database, a subscriber list, or any equivalent collection of reader records. Because we do not build such records, the risks associated with them do not arise. If we ever start any form of newsletter or reader research, this notice will be updated in advance of any data collection, and any new processing will be described plainly here before it begins.

Your rights under UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018

Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 you have the right to be informed about how we use your personal data, the right to access the data we hold about you, the right to rectify inaccurate data, the right to erasure in certain circumstances, the right to restrict processing, the right to data portability, the right to object to processing, and rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling. In the ordinary running of this site none of these rights is likely to be engaged, because we do not hold reader data beyond short-term server logs and editorial correspondence.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights above, please write to the editor at the address given below with enough information to identify the data you are asking about. We will respond within the statutory period of one calendar month, and we will not charge a fee for reasonable requests. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, which is the UK's independent data protection authority.

How to reach us and the ICO

The editor is reachable at [email protected] and this address is monitored during ordinary working hours. Please put "privacy" or "data protection" in the subject line so the message is routed to the correct queue. We will acknowledge receipt within a few working days and respond substantively within one calendar month as required by UK GDPR. If your query is urgent because it concerns a live gambling harm rather than a data issue, please do not wait for our reply; ring GamCare on 0808 8020 133, which is free, confidential and answered twenty-four hours a day.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK regulator for data protection. You can contact the ICO through ico.org.uk, by post at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or by telephone on 0303 123 1113. You do not need to raise a complaint with us before contacting the ICO, but where possible we would appreciate the chance to answer any concern first so that we can resolve it directly. This notice was last reviewed on 5 August 2026 and will be updated as needed to reflect any material change in what the site does with reader data.