Privacy Policy
Effective date: 14 April 2026 · Last updated: 14 April 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Swagboat ("we", "us", "this site"), operated by Thomas Whitfield as a private individual, collects, uses and protects your personal data. We are committed to handling your information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Data Controller
The Data Controller for this website is:
Thomas Whitfield
31 Deansgate, Manchester M3 4LQ, United Kingdom
Email: privacy@swagboat.com
2. What Data We Collect
- Usage data: pages visited, browser type, device type, approximate location (country/region), session duration — collected via anonymised analytics cookies (only after consent).
- Contact data: if you submit a contact form, we collect your name and email address.
- Cookie preferences: your acceptance or rejection of cookies is stored in your browser's local storage.
We do not collect payment information. No account registration is required to use this site.
3. Legal Basis for Processing
- Consent — for analytics cookies and marketing communications (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a))
- Legitimate interests — for responding to contact form enquiries and maintaining website security (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f))
4. How We Use Your Data
- To understand how the site is used and improve content (analytics, consent-based only)
- To respond to enquiries submitted through the contact form
- To remember your cookie consent preference
We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling.
5. Cookies
This site uses cookies for analytics. We use a cookie consent banner that gives you a genuine choice to accept or decline non-essential cookies. If you decline, only strictly necessary cookies (e.g. your consent preference itself) are stored.
Third-party websites linked from this site — including product retailers — may set their own cookies when you follow external links. We have no control over those cookies. Please refer to each third party's own privacy policy.
6. Affiliate Links and Third Parties
This site contains affiliate links to product retailers. When you click an affiliate link and make a qualifying purchase, we may receive a commission. The retailer's own privacy policy governs any data collected on their website. The principal retailer linked from this site is SoTrends; please review their privacy policy before purchasing.
We use Formspree (formspree.io) as our contact form processor. Formspree operates under its own privacy policy and processes submitted form data on our behalf under a data processing agreement.
7. International Data Transfers
Some third-party services we use (such as Formspree) may process data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), in line with UK GDPR requirements.
8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR
As a UK resident, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
- Right of Access — to request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Right to Rectification — to request correction of inaccurate data
- Right to Erasure — to request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
- Right to Restriction — to request that we limit how we process your data
- Right to Data Portability — to receive your data in a portable format
- Right to Object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Right to Withdraw Consent — at any time, without affecting lawfulness of prior processing
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@swagboat.com. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
9. Data Retention
Contact form submissions are retained for up to 12 months and then deleted. Analytics data is retained in anonymised, aggregated form with no individual expiry.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.