Privacy policy

Most people don’t have time to read privacy policies. Since you’re here, let’s make this as easy as it can possibly be…

This page tells you about the kind of information I collect from you when you visit The Word Engine website. It also explains how and why I use that information. (There’s some useful information about cookies here too!)

The GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the regulation for data privacy in the EU, became enforceable on May 25th, 2018. The GDPR is being retained in domestic law post-Brexit, although the UK has the independence to keep the GDPR framework under review.

The Word Engine complies with the GDPR as a data controller (me holding your data) as well as a data processor (me having access to my clients’ customer data) as described below.

That’s the most boring bit out of the way, so keep going!

Who I am

My name is Julia Lister and my business is called The Word Engine. I’ve been writing copy for websites, newsletters and blogs since 2014, initially under the name The Cairngorms Webhelper. My office is here:

Croftnahaven Farm Cottage,
Dulnain Bridge,
Grantown on Spey PH26 3PB

You can contact me by phone, on 07918 558994, or by email.

Julia at work, chatting with a client over a coffee and taking notes about the client’s business

The data I collect from you

The information on this website is designed to help you work out whether you need a content-writer and, if so, whether I’m the writer you need. There’s also information about the experts I work with so that, if you want organize your own thing, you can get in touch with them directly.

My aim is to be useful. To make sure I’m succeeding, I use Google Analytics and cookies to give me information about visitors to my website, such as:

  • Which pages of my website you visit and which you stay on longest,
  • How you found out about me, and
  • What page you visited before you got to my site.

If you don’t want me to be able to see all this, you can disable cookies in your browser or have a look at my cookie policy.

As data controller, I only have access to your personal data if you have given it to me because you’re interested in working with me either as a client or as a collaborator.

You might have given me your information by sending me an email, getting in touch via the contact form on this website, calling me on my mobile phone or giving me your business card or contact details (at a networking event, for instance).

What I use this data for

I will only ever use your personal data for the purpose of informing you about and delivering my services. That might include sending you an estimate or quote, getting in touch to arrange a meeting or sending you an invoice.

As a business, I don’t have a mailing list and I don’t run targeted advertising/marketing campaigns on- or offline. If that changes in the future, I will not send you anything before you have explicitly consented to receive such advertising/marketing content.

The data I don’t collect

I don’t collect any personal contact details like your email address while you’re visiting my website. Unless you give me your email address when filling out my contact form, I won’t have your details.

I don’t do the hard sell and I don’t do cold-calling. My preferred way of working involves creating meaningful connections with the people I work with, based on trust, transparency and honesty.

Getting in touch with me

If you get in touch with me to arrange a meeting, or to ask for more information about my services, I will keep your email address or phone number to reply to your request.

Paying me

My clients pay me by BACS or direct transfer, so I only know what my bank tells me about you: the name of the person or company who paid me, how much money has been paid in and ideally the reference number from my invoice. That’s it.

Sharing your customer data with me

If you’re a client, I may also act as a data processor for you. This could be the case, for instance, if you hire me to create your email newsletters, as this can give me access to your company’s customer data.

I won’t bring in another data processor (e.g., a subcontractor) without your written consent and I will always process your data securely, following the regulations (GDPR) and, most importantly, your instructions.

Usually, my access to your customer data is through third-party software (e.g., MailChimp). If possible, I’ll set up my own account within the software so that you don’t need to give me your own access details and passwords. This is my preferred way of working.

In any case, I’ll keep passwords and access details to this data secure, using a third-party app that encrypts passwords to the current standard. At the end of our business relationship, I’ll hand over any access or data I have.

Storing your data

The data I hold will never be sold or shared with others; not for selling to you, nor for research nor for any other purposes – unless you tell me otherwise (e.g., if you’d like an introduction to a contact of mine).

Any information I hold from you is strictly confidential. Only secure and reliable software (e.g., Windows 10, Dropbox), as well as the most secure passwords, are used to store your data. My hard drives are password-protected and I am the only one who can export or download data for backups.

Data retention

To comply with existing regulations (e.g., accounting and insurances) and for internal reporting purposes, I will keep client data for 10 years after the completion of our business relationship.

I aim to delete data of prospects and possible collaborators 1 year after the last contact.

How to find out what data I hold on you

You can withdraw your consent at any time and you can request an overview of what data I hold on you. Get in touch and give me your name and email address(es) to find out what information I hold about you. (I know this sounds counterintuitive, but I’ll need to find your data in order to tell you what I’ve got!)

I will search my data and send you an overview of what I have and will remove you from my customer database if you wish.

Cookie policy

This section tells you about the cookies this site uses.

What are ‘cookies’ and how do they benefit you?

In common with most websites, the Word Engine website uses cookies to help provide you with the best experience possible.

A cookie is a small text file sent from a website you’re browsing and stored on your computer or mobile phone by your web browser.

The Word Engine cookies help me:

  • Make my website work as you’d expect
  • Improve the speed/security of the site
  • Continuously improve the website for you
  • Make my marketing more efficient (ultimately helping me to offer the service I do at the price I do).

I don’t use cookies to:

  • Collect any personally identifiable information (without your express permission)
  • Collect any sensitive information (without your express permission)
  • Pass data to advertising networks
  • Pass personally identifiable data to third parties
  • Pay sales commissions.

Granting me permission to use cookies

If the settings on the software you’re using to view this website (your browser) are adjusted to accept cookies I take this, and your continued use of my website, to mean you’re fine with this.

Should you wish to remove or not use cookies from my website you can learn how to do this below. However, doing so may mean my site won’t work as you’d expect.

More about visitor statistics cookies

I use cookies to help me analyse how my site’s visitors use my website and to see how well it and the services it describes are performing.

The kinds of visitor statistics my cookies give me include:

  • How many people have visited my website.
  • What type of technology they’re using (e.g., Mac or Windows); this helps me identify when my site isn’t working as it should for particular technologies.
  • How much time visitors spend on my site, what page(s) they look at, etc.

These statistics help me continuously improve my website for you.

The analytics programs I use also tell me how people reached this site (e.g., from a search engine) and whether they’ve been here before. All this helps me divert money I would have spent on marketing into developing my services for you instead!

I use: WordPress and Google Analytics.

Turning cookies off

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. How you do this varies from browser to browser (and from version to version). You can get information about blocking and deleting cookies here:

An alternative… Since cookies are a standard part of most modern websites, blocking all cookies can have a bad impact on the usability of a lot of the world’s websites. If you’re worried about cookies because of potential spyware, consider installing anti-spyware software instead of turning off all cookies in your browser.