Privacy policy

Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is Ciaran Whiteside. You can contact me at privacy@ciaranwhiteside.com.

What data is collected?

• Contact form: name, email address, the message you submit, the form name, and the page URL you submitted it from.
• Articles waitlist: email address, the form name, and the page URL you submitted it from. The form generates the message body so you do not have to type it.
• Essential analytics: Cloudflare Web Analytics records anonymized counts of page views, referrers, device-type, and approximate country so I can understand which parts of the portfolio people actually read. Cloudflare truncates IP addresses and never sets cookies.
• Server logs: Cloudflare Pages records standard web metadata (IP address, user agent, requested URL) to protect the site from abuse. I do not combine these logs with other data.
• No tracking cookies: there are no marketing pixels, cross-site trackers, or ad networks embedded on this site.

Legal Basis for Processing

I process your data under the following legal bases as defined by UK data protection law:

• Consent: When you submit the contact form or join the articles waitlist, you give your consent for me to process the personal information you provide (name and email) to respond to your message or add you to the list. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
• Legitimate Interest: I have a legitimate interest in maintaining the security and functionality of this website. This is the legal basis for processing anonymized analytics and temporary server logs, which help me understand site traffic and protect against malicious activity.

How the forms work

Whether you use the contact modal or the articles waitlist, the input is validated in your browser (including a hidden honeypot field to reject most bots) and then posted directly to Web3Forms over HTTPS. I use your details only to reply or confirm the waitlist. I never sell or share that data with advertisers.

• Included fields: name, email address, your message, form name, and the page URL where you submitted it.
• Web3Forms: receives valid submissions over HTTPS and relays them to my inbox. Their privacy policy explains how they process and retain submitted data.
• Proton Mail: stores the delivered email so I can reply and keep a conversation history. Proton encrypts mail at rest and is hosted in Switzerland or Germany.

The honeypot fields are discarded immediately when legitimate visitors submit the form.

Third-party services

The following services help me run the site:

• Cloudflare Pages & CDN: Hosts the site, serves assets over HTTPS, and processes your interactions as an "End User" under their privacy policy. Cloudflare logs standard web metadata (such as IP address, user agent, and referring URL) to provide their services and protect the site from abuse.
• Cloudflare Web Analytics: Provides anonymous page view and performance metrics without cookies. Cloudflare aggregates counts (page URL, referrer, country, device type) so I can see which sections are popular.
• Web3Forms: Receives validated form payloads directly from your browser over HTTPS and relays them to my inbox. The form access key is public form configuration, not a private server credential.
• Proton Mail: Encrypted inbox where I read and respond to messages. Proton Mail processes email metadata (sender/recipient, originating IP address of incoming messages, subject, attachment names) and stores data on servers in Switzerland or Germany, under strong privacy laws.
• GitHub: Optional outbound link; their own privacy practices apply once you click through.
• LinkedIn: Optional outbound link; their own privacy practices apply once you click through.

When you follow outbound links (for example to GitHub or LinkedIn) their respective privacy policies apply.

Data retention & your rights

I keep emails only as long as they are relevant to ongoing work or conversations. You can request deletion of your messages at any time by replying to the thread or emailing privacy@ciaranwhiteside.com. I will remove the conversation from Proton Mail within a reasonable timeframe.

If you live in the UK or EU, you also have the right to request a copy of the personal data I hold about you and to ask for corrections if anything is inaccurate.

Should you have any concerns about how I handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights.

Client-side preferences

The site stores small preferences in localStorage so you do not have to reconfigure things every visit. Specifically:

• Projects/articles sort and filter choices.
• Your preferred theme (light, dark, or system) so the interface matches what you last picked.
• Timestamp of the last contact or waitlist submission to prevent rapid repeats (this never leaves your device).

These values never leave your device and can be cleared by wiping browser storage. Keyboard shortcuts, the command palette, and on-site search run entirely in your browser. They use static data that ships with the site and do not send keystrokes or queries to my servers.

Questions

If you have any questions about this policy or need a copy of your data, contact me via the form or email privacy@ciaranwhiteside.com.