What data we collect
If you sign up for our newsletter using the form on this site, we collect your email address and limited sign-up metadata such as the page or campaign source that sent you to the form. Where a sign-up form offers it, we also collect the UK growing region you choose (for example “Midlands”), so the seasonal timings we send you match your part of the country. Choosing a region is optional — leave it alone and the sign-up works exactly the same.
We don't ask for your name, postal address or payment details in the newsletter form. We also describe cookie-based data below in the Cookies section.
How we use your data
Your email address is used to send you the GardenCalc newsletter with seasonal gardening tips, calculator updates and the occasional useful link. Sign-up metadata helps us understand which forms and campaigns are working and troubleshoot subscription issues. Your growing region, if you give one, is used only to tailor the timings in what we send you.
We never sell, rent or share your email address with anyone for their own marketing. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every newsletter.
Our lawful basis for each purpose
UK GDPR requires us to tell you the legal basis we rely on for each thing we do with your data:
- Sending you the newsletter — your consent, given when you sign up. You can withdraw it at any time using the unsubscribe link in any edition.
- The growing region you choose at sign-up — your consent, given by choosing it. It is optional, it is used only to tailor what we send you, and withdrawing consent through the unsubscribe link ends its use too.
- Sign-up metadata (which page or campaign sent you to the form) — our legitimate interests in understanding which pages work and in troubleshooting failed sign-ups. You can object to this at any time.
- Analytics and advertising cookies — your consent, given through the cookie banner. No analytics or advertising cookies are written, and no device identifiers are stored, until you accept: those categories start in a denied state on every visit. Before you choose, Google's Consent Mode may still send an anonymous, cookieless measurement ping that tells us traffic shape only and cannot identify you or your device. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer.
- Essential site operation (serving pages, security, preventing abuse) — our legitimate interests in running the site safely.
- Anonymous cookieless measurement before you choose — our legitimate interests in knowing roughly how many people reach the site. These pings set no cookie, store nothing on your device and carry no identifier, so they cannot be traced back to you. You can object to this at any time by emailing us.
Withdrawing consent does not make our earlier use of your data unlawful — it only stops that use from the point you withdraw.
Do you have to give us your email address?
No. Giving us your email address is entirely voluntary — it is not a legal or contractual requirement and you are not obliged to provide it. The only consequence of not giving it is that we cannot send you the newsletter. Every calculator and guide on this site works without it.
Processors and service providers
We use trusted processors to run GardenCalc and manage newsletter sign-ups:
- Vercel — hosts this site and the serverless subscribe API. Vercel may process request metadata while delivering the site and API; its data processing addendum is at vercel.com/legal/dpa. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and Vercel is SOC 2 Type 2 certified. Runtime logs are retained by Vercel for between 1 hour and 30 days depending on the hosting plan and observability settings, and are not used by us for marketing. Under normal operation we do not log your email address — only the timestamp and the sign-up's traffic-source tags (UTM source and medium) are recorded. If a sign-up arrives with a growing region we don't recognise, we also record that one was rejected and how long it was, so we can spot a broken form — never the value itself. In the rare deadletter-recovery case where neither Convex nor Beehiiv was able to store your sign-up, your email address is written once to Vercel's runtime logs so we can re-enter it by hand rather than lose it; that entry is purged at Vercel's standard log-retention horizon and is never used for marketing.
- Convex — stores subscriber records for email addresses and sign-up metadata. Convex's data processing agreement is at convex.dev/legal/dpa. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest, and database access is restricted to administrative API keys held only by the site owner. Subscriber records are kept while needed to run the newsletter or honour legal and unsubscribe requests; deletion requests are completed within 30 days.
- Beehiiv — delivers the newsletter and manages unsubscribe preferences. Beehiiv's data protection addendum is at beehiiv.com/dpa. When we send the newsletter through Beehiiv, it processes your email address plus delivery and unsubscribe data needed to provide the service, and stores the growing region you chose against your subscriber record where you gave one; every newsletter includes a one-click unsubscribe link, and API access is restricted to administrative keys held only by the site owner. Beehiiv's DPA says customer personal data is destroyed within 30 days after account termination unless law requires longer storage.
These providers process personal data only to provide their services to GardenCalc, under their published data processing terms. We remain responsible for how your data is used and do not sell or rent your email address.
Cookies
This site uses cookies from two third-party services:
- Google AdSense — serves adverts on this site. AdSense may use cookies to show you relevant ads based on your browsing history. You can manage your ad preferences in Google's Ad Settings.
- Google Analytics — helps us understand how people use the site (which pages are popular, how long visits last). No personally identifiable information is stored. You can opt out using the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
When you choose to save your plot, we keep your postcode area, region and crop choices in this browser until you clear them or they expire after 12 months.
You can disable cookies entirely in your browser settings. The calculators will still work, but some features may not function as expected.
Your rights (GDPR)
If you're based in the UK or EU, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Ask us to correct data that is wrong or incomplete
- Ask us to delete your data
- Ask us to restrict how we use your data — while you contest its accuracy, if the processing is unlawful but you would rather we restricted it than deleted it, if we no longer need it but you need it for a legal claim, or while we consider an objection you have made
- Object to processing we carry out under legitimate interests, including the sign-up metadata described above
- Data portability — receive the data you gave us in a common machine-readable format, or have us send it to another provider, where that applies
- Withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of anything we did with your data before you withdrew it.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you're unhappy with how we handle your data
To exercise any of these rights, just email us. We do not charge for this and we aim to respond within one month.
How long we keep your data
- Newsletter subscription and sign-up metadata — kept while you are subscribed. If you unsubscribe, our newsletter provider retains a minimal record of your address on its suppression list so you are not emailed again by mistake. If you want that record erased as well, email us and say so.
- Analytics data — event-level data is held by Google Analytics for 2 months, after which Google deletes it automatically. User-level data (the identifiers tied to a browser) is held for 14 months from that browser's last visit, and the 14 months restart each time the same browser returns. Aggregate reports built from this data are kept indefinitely and contain no identifiers.
- Server logs — retained by our host for between 1 hour and 30 days depending on plan and settings, then deleted. We do not use them for marketing.
Where your data goes (international transfers)
Some of our processors are based in, or store data in, the United States: Vercel (hosting), Convex (subscriber storage), Beehiiv (newsletter delivery) and Google (analytics). Transferring personal data outside the UK requires a safeguard under UK GDPR Article 46. For these providers we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, which forms part of each provider's data processing terms, and where applicable their certification under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Copies of the relevant terms are linked in the processor list above, and we will point you to the specific safeguard for any provider on request.
Who we are (data controller)
GardenCalc.uk is run by Gary Hodson, a sole trader based in the United Kingdom, who is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. You can reach the controller by email at hello@gardencalc.uk, and a postal address is available on request to the same address.
If you believe we have handled your personal data unlawfully, you have the right to complain to a supervisory authority. In the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. If you are in the EU or EEA, you may instead complain to the supervisory authority in your own country — the list is at edpb.europa.eu.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email hello@gardencalc.uk. We aim to reply within 48 hours.