Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy — Last updated: 22 April 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how BritFarmers (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you visit britfarmers.com (the “Site”) or subscribe to the BritFarmers Weekly newsletter. We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Data Controller — Privacy Policy

BritFarmers is an independent publication run personally by Tim Harfield, a full-time UK farmer based in Suffolk, England. BritFarmers is not a registered company and is not affiliated with any trade body or government agency. Tim is the data controller for personal data collected through the Site. For all data-protection matters, contact privacy@britfarmers.com. As a small independent publisher we do not require a designated Data Protection Officer under UK GDPR Article 37.

2. What Data We Collect

Newsletter subscriptions. When you subscribe to BritFarmers Weekly we collect your email address and (optionally) your first name. We use a double opt-in process — you must click a confirmation link before you are added to the list.

Contact form submissions. When you send us a message via the Contact page we collect your name, email address, subject and the content of your message. We retain submissions only as long as needed to respond to you (usually under 90 days).

Technical data. When you visit the Site, our servers automatically log your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited and timestamps. This data is used for security, rate-limiting, performance monitoring and aggregated analytics.

Cookies and similar technologies. We use cookies for essential site functionality, and — with your consent — for analytics and personalised advertising. Full details, including how to manage your preferences, are in our Cookie Policy.

BritFarmers does not currently offer user accounts, forums, profiles, comments or community features. We do not collect data about your farming operation, financial position, location or any other category of sensitive information unless you choose to share it directly in a contact form.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)) — for newsletter subscriptions and non-essential cookies (analytics, advertising). You can withdraw consent at any time.
Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — for site security, fraud prevention, rate limiting, performance monitoring and aggregated analytics.
Contract (Article 6(1)(b)) — for replying to contact-form messages you send us.
Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) — where we must retain or disclose data to comply with UK law.

4. How We Use Your Data

To send you the BritFarmers Weekly newsletter when you subscribe.
To reply to your contact-form messages.
To monitor the Site for security incidents and abuse.
To produce aggregated, anonymised analytics about how the Site is used.
To meet our legal obligations.

We do not sell your data. We do not share your email address or contact-form content with any third party for marketing purposes.

5. Third-Party Services and International Transfers

The Site uses the following processors and service providers. Each has its own privacy policy describing how it handles your data.

Hostinger International Ltd (Lithuania) — web hosting and email infrastructure for hello@britfarmers.com. Server logs and database content are processed under Hostinger’s data processing agreement. Hostinger privacy policy.
Zoho Corporation (Netherlands / India) — outbound newsletter and confirmation emails are sent through Zoho Mail using SMTP. Your email address is processed by Zoho to deliver these messages. Zoho privacy policy.
Google Ireland Limited (Ireland) — we use Google Site Kit for analytics (Google Analytics 4) and Google AdSense for advertising. Both set cookies on your device when you consent. Google Analytics provides anonymised usage statistics. Google AdSense may use your IP address, browsing history and cookies to deliver personalised or non-personalised ads. Google privacy policy. How Google uses ad data.
Cloudflare, Inc. (USA) — provides DNS, anti-bot protection, and Cloudflare Web Analytics. For security and anti-bot functions your IP address and request metadata may be processed. Cloudflare Web Analytics is a cookieless, privacy-preserving analytics service that processes aggregated request data (URL, referrer, country, approximate timestamp) to produce site-usage statistics; it does not set cookies, does not fingerprint visitors, and does not build cross-site profiles. Cloudflare privacy policy. Cloudflare Web Analytics.

International transfers. Some of these providers store or process data outside the United Kingdom (notably the United States and India). Where this happens we rely on the UK Government’s adequacy decision (for the EEA), the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (for transfers to the US), and Standard Contractual Clauses (for other countries) as the legal basis for transfer.

6. Data Retention

Newsletter subscribers: retained while your subscription is active. Unsubscribing removes your email from the list within 24 hours. We retain a hashed unsubscribe record indefinitely so we don’t accidentally email you again.
Contact-form messages: retained for up to 90 days after the matter is resolved, then deleted.
Server access logs: retained for up to 90 days for security and diagnostics.
Analytics and advertising data: retained by Google according to its default retention settings (currently 14 months for GA4 user-level data).

7. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Rectification — correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure — request deletion of your personal data.
Restriction — ask us to limit how we process your data.
Data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
Object — object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing.
Withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent (such as the newsletter), withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@britfarmers.com. We will respond within one calendar month. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on a request.

8. Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you believe we have not handled your personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data-protection regulator: ico.org.uk or by phone on 0303 123 1113. We’d appreciate the chance to address your concerns first — please contact us before approaching the ICO.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:

HTTPS / TLS encryption for all data in transit.
Secure SMTP authentication for outbound email.
Server-level firewalls, intrusion detection and rate limiting.
A strict Content Security Policy and security headers (HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy).
Regular software, plugin and security updates.
Access controls limiting administrative access to authorised personnel.

No system is completely secure. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it to privacy@britfarmers.com — we’ll take it seriously and act quickly.

10. Children’s Privacy

BritFarmers is intended for adult readers in the UK farming sector. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

11. Third-Party Links

The Site contains links to external websites — for example to Defra, AHDB, NFU and gov.uk. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these sites and encourage you to read their own privacy policies before sharing personal data.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page indicates the most recent revision. Material changes will be communicated via a notice on the Site or by email to newsletter subscribers.

13. Contact

For privacy questions, data-subject requests, or anything covered by this policy: privacy@britfarmers.com. For general site enquiries: hello@britfarmers.com.