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Privacy and cookie policy

Last updated 6 September 2026.

This policy explains what personal data visithawkhurst.org.uk collects, why, who else is involved, how the archived content on this site is handled, and what you can do about any of it.

Who we are

visithawkhurst.org.uk is an independent website, published in the United Kingdom, that preserves the former Hawkhurst village guide. For data protection purposes the publisher of this website is the data controller. You can reach us through the contact page or by email at [email protected].

Archived content and the people in it

The directory listings, event diary and message board here are copies of pages that were published openly on the original site between 2010 and 2018. They contain business names, addresses and telephone numbers, and — on the message board — the first names or usernames people chose to post under, with what they wrote. We publish this material on the basis of our legitimate interest in preserving a public record of the village, and of its having already been public.

We have removed the old site's user profile pages and the mechanisms for contacting individuals. If you appear in the archive and want something amended or removed — a business listing, a message you posted, a photograph — tell us which page and we will act on it. We do not need you to prove why.

What we collect

Information you give us

If you use the contact form we collect the name, email address and message you provide, solely to read and reply to your message. There is no mailing list and your details are not passed to anyone else. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries. Messages are kept only as long as the correspondence needs, then deleted.

Information collected automatically

Our web server keeps standard access logs: the IP address making a request, the time, the page requested, the referring page and the browser's user-agent string. These keep the site running securely and help diagnose faults. They are retained briefly and then rotated out. The site is served through Cloudflare, which processes the same request data to protect against abuse; see Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Cookies and similar technologies

This site sets no tracking cookies of its own. Cookies that are set come from the third-party services below.

Google AdSense

We show advertising supplied by Google. Google and its partners may use cookies and similar identifiers to serve ads, to limit how often you see a particular ad, and — if you have consented — to personalise advertising based on your prior browsing. Google's use of advertising cookies is described in how Google uses information from sites that use its services. You can control the ads you see, including turning off personalisation, at Google My Ad Center.

Content delivery networks

Styling and font files load from jsDelivr and Google Fonts. Requesting those files discloses your IP address to those providers, as any request to any server does. They are not used to track you across this site.

Managing cookies

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking third-party cookies will not stop this site working, although advertising may become less relevant.

Data sharing and transfers

We do not sell personal data and do not share it with third parties for their own marketing. The services described above process data as part of providing their service; some are based outside the UK, so data may be transferred internationally under the safeguards those providers operate.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

  • ask what personal data we hold about you, and get a copy of it;
  • have inaccurate data corrected;
  • have data erased, where we have no continuing reason to keep it;
  • restrict or object to our processing of it — including the archived content described above;
  • ask for data you gave us to be provided in a portable form;
  • withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.

To exercise any of these, contact us at [email protected]. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk; we would appreciate the chance to put it right first.

Children

This site is a general reference and is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of the page. Material changes will be described here rather than made silently.