Your data
Privacy & cookie policy
This policy explains what personal information The Auld House collects when you use this website or get in touch with us, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. We keep it to the minimum we need to answer your enquiry.
1. Who we are
The Auld House, 27 Church Road, Moneyreagh, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 6BB (“we”, “us”, “our”) is the controller of the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide how and why it is used, and we are responsible for looking after it under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
For any question about this policy or your data, call us on 028 9044 8446, email [email protected], or write to us at the address above, marked for the attention of the manager.
2. What we collect
Information you give us
When you send us an enquiry or booking request through a form on this website, we collect:
- your name;
- your email address and, if you provide it, your phone number;
- details of your enquiry, such as the date, time and number of guests, the type of event, and anything you write in your message.
If you join our mailing list, we collect your email address and a record that you agreed to hear from us.
If you tell us about allergies, dietary needs or accessibility requirements, this can count as health information. Please share only what we need to look after you; we use it solely to prepare for your visit.
Information collected automatically
- Spam protection. Our contact and mailing list forms use Google reCAPTCHA, which collects information such as your IP address, browser and device details, and how you interact with the page, to check that a real person is submitting the form.
- Analytics, only if you agree. If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics records which pages you visit, roughly where you are (town or region level), the device and browser you use and how you arrived at the site. We use this in aggregate and do not use it to identify you.
- Server logs. Our hosting provider keeps short-lived technical logs, including IP addresses, to deliver the site and protect it from attack.
We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 through this website.
3. How and why we use it
| Purpose | Data used | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Replying to your enquiry, and arranging table bookings, functions and events | Contact details and enquiry details | Taking steps at your request before entering a contract (Article 6(1)(b)); otherwise our legitimate interest in answering questions put to us (Article 6(1)(f)) |
| Catering for allergies, dietary or accessibility needs | Health information you choose to give us | Your explicit consent, given when you provide it (Articles 6(1)(a) and 9(2)(a)) |
| Sending occasional news about Sunday sittings, function dates and menus, if you join our mailing list | Email address | Your consent, given when you sign up (Article 6(1)(a)). You can unsubscribe at any time. |
| Protecting our forms from spam, fraud and abuse | reCAPTCHA data, IP address | Our legitimate interest in keeping the website secure (Article 6(1)(f)) |
| Understanding how the website is used so we can improve it | Google Analytics data | Your consent, given through our cookie banner (Article 6(1)(a)) |
| Keeping records we are legally required to hold | Booking and payment records | Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) |
We only send marketing emails to people who have joined our mailing list, and we do not sell or rent your personal data to anyone. Apart from reCAPTCHA’s automated check for spam, we make no automated decisions about you.
4. Who we share it with
We use a small number of trusted service providers who process data on our behalf, under contracts that require them to keep it secure and use it only on our instructions:
- Mailgun (Mailgun Technologies, Inc., part of Sinch) delivers the messages you send through our forms to our inbox. It processes the contents of the form and keeps delivery logs for a short period. Mailgun privacy policy.
- Google reCAPTCHA (Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC) protects our forms from spam. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
- Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited / Google LLC) provides website statistics, only if you consent.
- Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc.) hosts this website and protects it from attack.
- Google Fonts serves the typefaces used on this site, which means your browser connects to Google’s servers and shares your IP address with them.
We may also share information where the law requires it, for example with the police or a regulator, or with professional advisers such as our accountants.
Our links to Facebook and Google Maps take you to those services, which have their own privacy policies. We do not embed their tracking on this site.
5. International transfers
Some of our providers, including Mailgun, Google and Cloudflare, are based in or process data in the United States. Where personal data leaves the UK, it is protected by the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, or by the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
6. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that do not lead to a booking: up to 12 months, so we can follow up on any question about them, then deleted.
- Bookings and functions: up to 2 years after the date of your event. Records needed for tax and accounting are kept for 6 years, as the law requires.
- Allergy and dietary details: deleted once your visit or event has taken place, unless you ask us to remember them.
- Mailing list: until you unsubscribe, after which we delete your address.
- Cookies: for the periods listed in the table below.
7. Keeping it secure
This website is served over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection and form submissions are sent securely. Access to enquiries is limited to staff who need it to handle your booking. No method of sending data over the internet is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- ask us to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete;
- ask us to delete your data;
- ask us to restrict how we use it, or object to our use of it based on legitimate interests;
- ask for your data in a portable format;
- withdraw your consent at any time, including for analytics cookies, using the “Cookie settings” button below or at the foot of every page.
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. There is normally no charge, and we will reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please talk to us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.
9. Cookies
Cookies are small files stored in your browser. Some are essential for the site to work; others are optional and are only used if you agree. When you first visit, we ask for your choice and set nothing optional until you make one. Rejecting optional cookies is as easy as accepting them.
Strictly necessary
These do not need your consent because the site or its forms cannot work securely without them.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
ah-cookie-consent |
The Auld House (browser storage) | Remembers your cookie choice so we do not ask on every page | 12 months |
_GRECAPTCHA |
Google reCAPTCHA | Distinguishes people from automated bots to protect our forms from spam | 6 months |
Analytics (optional)
Only set if you choose to accept analytics cookies.
| Name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga |
Google Analytics | Distinguishes one visitor from another to count visits | 2 years |
_ga_8V3ZSNGZQD |
Google Analytics | Keeps track of your current visit (session) on this site | 2 years |
We do not use advertising or social media tracking cookies.
Changing your choice
You can change or withdraw your consent at any time. If you withdraw it, we delete the analytics cookies from your browser. You can also block or delete cookies through your browser settings, although some parts of the site, such as our forms, may then not work.
10. Changes and contact
We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we add new features to the website. The date at the top shows when it last changed, and if the change affects the optional cookies we use, we will ask for your choice again.
Questions? Call 028 9044 8446, email [email protected] or write to The Auld House, 27 Church Road, Moneyreagh, Newtownards, BT23 6BB.