Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The data controller for embern.info is Embern Notebook, based at 39 Pentonville Road, London N1 9HF, United Kingdom. You can reach us by email at [email protected] or by telephone at +44 20 7294 5183.

We are registered under United Kingdom data protection law. Our processing activities fall within the scope of the UK GDPR as retained in domestic legislation following the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union.

2. Data We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to operate the publication and respond to reader enquiries. This falls into two categories:

Information You Provide Directly

When you use the contact form on this site, we collect your name, email address, and the content of your message. We do not collect payment information, date of birth, national identity numbers, or any other sensitive personal data through this site.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit embern.info, our hosting infrastructure and analytics services may collect technical information, including your IP address (anonymised where possible), browser type, operating system, the pages you visit, the time and duration of your visit, and the referring URL. This information is collected in aggregate and is not used to identify individual readers.

We do not collect special category data as defined under UK GDPR — that is, information about racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, or information about a person's health status.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Responding to enquiries. Contact form submissions are handled solely for the purpose of replying to the sender. We do not add correspondents to mailing lists without explicit consent.
• site functioning and security. Technical log data is used to maintain the availability and security of embern.info. This includes monitoring for unusual access patterns that may indicate attempted unauthorised access.
• Analytics and improvement. Aggregated, anonymised analytics data is used to understand how readers navigate the site and which articles receive engagement. No personal profiles are created from this data.

The legal basis for processing contact enquiries is our legitimate interest in responding to reader correspondence. The legal basis for technical log data is our legitimate interest in operating a functional and secure website.

4. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information with third parties. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:

• Hosting and infrastructure providers. Our site is hosted by a third-party hosting provider. Technical data, including server logs, is handled by this provider under a data processing agreement that limits their use of the data to providing the hosting service.
• Analytics services. We use a third-party analytics service to process aggregated traffic data. Where this involves transferring data outside the United Kingdom, we ensure that appropriate transfer mechanisms are in place.
• Legal obligation. We may disclose personal information if required to do so by law, or in response to a valid request from a public authority, including law enforcement.

5. Cookies

Embern Notebook uses cookies to enable basic site functionality and to collect anonymised analytics data. A full description of the cookies we use, their purpose, and how to manage your preferences is available in our Cookie Policy.

When you first visit the site, a consent banner allows you to choose which categories of cookie you accept. You can update your preferences at any time using the Cookie Settings link in the footer of every page.

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to personal data we hold about you:

• Right of access. You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification. You may request that we correct inaccurate personal data.
• Right to erasure. You may request that we delete personal data about you, subject to our legal obligations to retain certain records.
• Right to restrict processing. You may ask us to limit how we use your personal data in certain circumstances.
• Right to object. You may object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis.
• Right to data portability. Where we process your data by automated means on the basis of consent or contract, you may request a copy in a machine-readable format.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. If you believe we have not handled your data correctly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

7. Data Retention

Contact form submissions are retained for a period of 12 months from the date of receipt, after which they are permanently deleted. Server logs are retained for 90 days for security purposes. Anonymised analytics data may be retained indefinitely, as it does not constitute personal data.

We do not retain personal data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this policy.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us:

This policy was last reviewed in March 2026. We may update it from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in applicable law. Significant changes will be indicated by an updated date at the top of this page.