Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8 December 2025

If policy pages are hard to read, you can:

start with the Summary just below,
then dip into the sections that feel most relevant.

1. Summary (the short version)

I collect as little personal data as I reasonably can.
I use Google Analytics, Matomo Analytics and (in future) Google AdSense to understand how the site is used and, where you consent, to show ads and measure them.
You get a cookie / consent banner where you can choose:
- Essential only (no analytics or ads),
- Analytics (Google Analytics / Matomo),
- Advertising (Google AdSense – personalised or non-personalised, depending on your choice).
You have rights over your data, including to see it, correct it and, in some cases, ask me to delete it.

This policy explains all of that in more detail.

2. Who I am

This website, Quietly Neurodivergent (the “site”), is run by:

Name: Andrew Wright
Email: [email protected]

For data protection law, this person is the data controller. That means they decide how and why personal data on this site is used.

3. What this policy covers

This policy explains:

what personal data I collect,
how and why I use it,
when I share it,
how long I keep it,
your rights and how to use them.

It covers this website only. If I link to other websites or services, please check their own privacy information.

4. Personal data I collect

4.1 Data you give me directly

You may give me personal data when you:

send me an email,
use a contact form,
sign up for a mailing list (if/when offered).

This can include:

your name (or the name you choose to use),
your email address,
the contents of your message,
your preferences for receiving emails.

I use this information to:

reply to your messages,
send newsletters or updates you’ve asked for,
keep basic records (for example, of consent to receive emails).

4.2 Data collected automatically when you use the site

When you visit the site, some technical data is collected automatically. This usually includes:

which pages you visited and when,
links you clicked,
the type of device and browser you use,
your rough location (country/region),
IP address or an identifier linked to your browser/device (often anonymised or shortened).

This happens mainly through:

Google Analytics (GA4),
Matomo Analytics,
and, if you consent to advertising cookies, Google AdSense.

I use this information to:

keep the site secure,
understand which content is being read,
improve the site over time,
show and measure advertising (when you have consented to that).

I do not use this data to try to work out who you are as an individual, but some of it is still considered “personal data” under privacy law.

5. Cookies and similar technologies

5.1 What cookies are

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They can:

remember your settings,
help keep the site secure,
let me count visitors and see which pages are popular,
support advertising and measure how well ads are working.

Other technologies (like local storage or similar identifiers) work in a similar way and are treated the same in this policy.

5.2 Types of cookies used on this site

I aim to keep cookie use as simple and minimal as possible.

a) Essential cookies

These are needed for the site to work, for example:

remembering that you closed the cookie banner,
saving your cookie preferences.

You can’t turn these off in my settings, but you can block all cookies in your browser if you wish (the site may not work as expected).

b) Analytics cookies (optional)

These help me understand how the site is used and which content is helpful. I currently use:

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
- Google Analytics collects information like pages visited, time on page, links clicked, and general device information.
- According to Google, GA4 does not log or store IP addresses for EU users, but other data may still count as personal data.
Matomo Analytics
- Matomo is a privacy-focused analytics tool. It collects information similar to Google Analytics to provide statistics about site use.

I configure these tools so that:

they only run when you’ve given consent via the cookie banner (for visitors in the UK/EEA/Switzerland),
data is used for statistics and site improvement, not to identify you personally.

c) Advertising cookies (optional)

When ads are active on this site, I use:

Google AdSense

AdSense may set cookies and use similar technologies to:

show ads on this site,
prevent fraud and abuse,
limit how often you see the same ad,
measure how effective ads are,
where you consent, personalise ads based on your interests or previous browsing.

For visitors in the UK/EEA/Switzerland, Google requires that I:

obtain valid consent for cookies or similar storage and for the use of personal data for personalised ads,
give you a choice between personalised and non-personalised ads (or no advertising cookies at all),
let you withdraw consent easily.

On this site, that happens through the cookie / consent banner.

No other tracking:
I do not use social media pixels (e.g. Meta/Facebook, TikTok), nor other advertising networks beyond Google AdSense, nor any third-party “fingerprinting” or similar trackers.

5.3 Cookie categories in the banner

In the cookie / consent banner you’ll see options like:

Essential – always on; needed for the site and your choices to work.
Analytics – lets me use Google Analytics and/or Matomo.
Advertising – lets me use Google AdSense to show and measure ads, including personalised ads if you choose that.

You can:

accept all,
reject all (except essential),
or choose per category.

Your choices are stored and sent to Google Analytics, Matomo and Google AdSense so they act in line with what you’ve chosen (for example, using Google’s Consent Mode where relevant).

5.4 Changing your cookie choices

You can change or withdraw your consent at any time:

by clicking [“Change cookie settings” link or icon] on the site, or
by adjusting your browser settings.

If you withdraw consent, I will:

stop using the relevant cookies for future visits, and
respect your choice as far as the technology allows (some existing cookies may remain until they expire or you clear them).

6. How I use your personal data

I use personal data for:

Running the site
- hosting and security,
- essential cookies,
- making sure pages load and work properly.
Communicating with you
- replying to messages,
- sending newsletters or updates you have signed up for.
Analytics and improvement (with your consent)
- understanding which posts are visited,
- spotting broken links or confusing navigation,
- planning future content.
Advertising (with your consent)
- showing ads via Google AdSense,
- measuring which ads are seen or clicked,
- limiting the number of times you see the same ad.

I do not:

sell your personal data,
use automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you.

7. Legal bases for using your data

Under UK GDPR / EU GDPR, I need a legal reason (“lawful basis”) to use personal data.

On this site, I mainly rely on:

Consent – for:
- analytics cookies and scripts (Google Analytics, Matomo),
- advertising cookies and scripts (Google AdSense),
- newsletters or similar emails,
- any other non-essential processing where I ask you to actively opt in.
Legitimate interests – for:
- basic site security and performance,
- keeping minimal records of correspondence or consent (for example, to prove that you did give consent, if needed),
- very limited analytics where data is fully anonymised and not linked to a device or person.

If I ever need to use a different legal basis for a specific feature, I will explain it clearly in the relevant part of this policy.

8. How long I keep your data

I keep personal data only as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above, or to meet legal obligations.

In general:

Emails and contact form messages: up to 2 years unless there is an important reason to keep them longer (for example, legal or safeguarding reasons).
Newsletter data: until you unsubscribe, plus a short period to record that you opted out.
Analytics data: kept in Google Analytics / Matomo for [e.g. 14–26 months, depending on your settings], mostly in aggregated form.

Where possible, I anonymise or delete data earlier if I no longer need it.

9. Sharing your data

I share personal data only with:

Service providers who help run the site, such as:
- website hosting,
- email and newsletter services,
- analytics providers (Google Analytics, Matomo),
- advertising provider (Google AdSense).

These providers are only allowed to use data to provide their services to me and must protect it appropriately.

Authorities if required by law
- for example, if a court or regulator lawfully requires me to share certain information, I may have to comply.

I do not sell your data or share it with random third parties for their own marketing.

10. International transfers

Some of my service providers are based outside the UK/EEA, especially Google (Google Analytics and AdSense), which is based in the United States.

When personal data is transferred outside the UK/EEA, I take steps to ensure it is protected, including:

using providers like Google LLC, which participate in recognised data transfer frameworks (such as the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and UK extensions),
where needed, using standard contractual clauses or other recognised safeguards.

You can read more about Google’s approach to data transfers and privacy in Google’s own privacy notice.

11. Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example, in the UK or EEA), you may have some or all of these rights:

Right to be informed – to know how your data is used (this policy).
Right of access – to ask for a copy of your personal data.
Right to rectification – to ask me to correct inaccurate data.
Right to erasure – to ask me to delete your data in some circumstances.
Right to restrict processing – to ask me to limit how your data is used.
Right to object – to object to certain uses, such as some types of analytics or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – to receive some data in a structured, machine-readable format and/or ask me to transfer it to another provider (where technically possible).
Right to withdraw consent – where I rely on consent (for example, for cookies or newsletters), you can withdraw it at any time.

How to use your rights

You can contact me at:

Email: [email protected]
Subject line suggestion: “Data request – Quietly Neurodivergent”

Please say:

what you are asking for, and
roughly which interactions it relates to (e.g. “newsletter”, “contact form”, “comments”).

If proving your identity is difficult or stressful, you can say so. We can agree a simple way to confirm who you are that still protects your privacy.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how I handle your data, you can:

Contact me first, so I can try to fix the problem.
If you are in the UK, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can find details on the ICO website.

12. Children and young people

This site is mainly written for people aged 16 and above.

I don’t knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you think a child has provided personal data and you want me to delete it, please contact me.