Your privacy matters to us. This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, and how we protect it. We do not sell your personal data to anyone.
1. Who We Are
This website is operated by DE Watson London Ltd (www.dewatson.co.uk). We are the data controller for the personal information collected through this site.
If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us at: contact@dewatson.co.uk
2. What Data We Collect
We only collect information that is necessary to provide our services. This includes:
- Contact form submissions — your name, email address, and the message you send us
- Account information — if you create an account, we store your username, email address, and encrypted password
- Analytics data — anonymised information about how visitors use our site (pages visited, time on site, browser type, approximate location). See Section 5 for more detail.
- Technical data — IP addresses and server logs for security purposes
3. How We Use Your Data
We use the information we collect to:
- Respond to your enquiries submitted through our contact form
- Manage your account and provide you with access to our services
- Improve our website based on how visitors use it
- Protect our website from unauthorised access and security threats
- Comply with legal obligations
We will never use your data for unsolicited marketing without your explicit consent.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
Under UK GDPR and applicable data protection law, we process your data on the following legal bases:
- Legitimate interests — for website security, analytics, and improving our services
- Contract performance — to fulfil a service you have requested
- Consent — where you have actively provided your information (e.g. contact form)
- Legal obligation — where required by law
5. Analytics
We use a self hosted privacy-focused analytics platform. Unlike Google Analytics, it runs on our own server, your data is never shared with third parties or transferred outside our hosting environment.
Data collected are anonymised data including pages visited, approximate geographic location (country/city level), browser type, and visit duration. IP addresses are anonymised before storage. You can opt out of analytics tracking below.
6. Cookies
We use a small number of cookies to make our website function:
- Essential cookies — required for the site to work (e.g. login sessions). These cannot be disabled.
- Analytics cookies — set by Matomo to understand how visitors use our site. These are anonymised and stored on our own server.
You can control cookies through your browser settings at any time.
7. Data Sharing
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We may share data only in the following limited circumstances:
- Hosting provider — our website is hosted in Switzerland, the host process data on our behalf under a data processing agreement
- Legal requirements — if required to do so by law or a court order
We do not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or any other third-party tracking services.
8. Data Retention
- Contact form messages — retained for up to 2 years, then deleted
- Account data — retained for as long as your account is active. You may request deletion at any time.
- Analytics data — retained in anonymised form for up to 13 months
- Security logs — retained for up to 90 days
9. Your Rights
Depending on where you are located, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Right to rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data
- Right to erasure — ask us to delete your data
- Right to restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data
- Right to portability — receive your data in a portable format
- Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at contact@dewatson.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.
10. Data Security
We take the security of your data seriously. Our website uses HTTPS encryption, a web application firewall, brute force protection, and regular security monitoring. Our hosting is based in Switzerland.
Despite these measures, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you have concerns about a specific communication, please contact us directly.
11. International Transfers
Our website and data are hosted in Switzerland, which is recognised by the UK and EU as providing an adequate level of data protection. We do not transfer personal data to countries without adequate protection.
12. Children’s Privacy
Our website is not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
14. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at: