Welcome to www.distantlately.com

This website (referred to as the "Website", "Site", or "distantlately.") is owned and operated by Greg Howard, trading as distantlately. (referred to throughout this site as "I", "me", or "my").

I am committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with complete transparency and care. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data I collect when you visit my website, how I use it, how cookies and analytics function, and your rights under UK data protection law—including the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

For the purposes of UK data protection legislation, I am the Data Controller responsible for your personal data.

1. Information I Collect

When you interact with www.distantlately.com, I may collect and process the following types of personal information:

Order Data: When you purchase a physical or digital product, I collect your name, email address, billing address, and shipping address in order to fulfil the order.

Contact Information: If you reach out to me via my contact form or email, I collect your name, email address, and any details included in your message.

Technical & Usage Data: When you browse the site, certain automated data is collected, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, and how you interact with pages on the site.

2. How I Use Your Information & Lawful Bases

I only process your personal data where I have a valid lawful basis under UK data protection law:

To Perform a Contract: Processing your order details to send digital download links, ship physical prints, or respond to any inquiries.

Legitimate Interests: Monitoring aggregate website traffic and usage patterns to optimise site navigation, fix technical issues, and improve my portfolio presentation.

Legal Obligation: Retaining sales records to comply with statutory UK accounting and tax laws (HMRC).

3. Payment Processing & Third-Party Services

I do not store or process your credit or debit card details on my servers. All payment transactions are handled securely through established third-party payment processors (such as Stripe or PayPal). These providers process your payment data in accordance with strict PCI-DSS security standards. I share necessary personal data only with trusted third-party service providers who assist me in running the website:

E-Commerce & Website Hosting: Providers that host the website infrastructure and secure shop checkout.

Shipping & Postal Services: (e.g., Royal Mail or courier networks) To deliver physical prints to your address.

Analytics Services: To help me understand aggregated, anonymous website traffic.

4. Cookies & Analytics

www.distantlately.com uses cookies and similar technologies to ensure the website functions correctly and to gather anonymous analytics data.

Essential Cookies: Necessary for basic site functionality, such as remembering items in your shopping basket or maintaining secure checkout sessions.

Analytics Cookies: Used to collect anonymous information about how visitors navigate the site (e.g., page views, session duration, and general geographic location). This helps me understand which work resonates best with visitors.

In accordance with UK PECR rules, non-essential cookies (such as analytics) are set only with your consent. You can manage or block non-essential cookies at any time via your browser settings or via the site's cookie options. Please note that blocking essential cookies may impact checkout functionality.

5. Data Retention

I retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected:

Order Records: Retained for up to 6 years to comply with statutory UK accounting and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) regulations.

General Enquiries: Retained until your query has been resolved or until you request its deletion.

6. Your Statutory Rights (UK GDPR)

Under UK data protection law, you hold the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of Access: You can request a copy of the personal information I hold about you.

Right to Rectification: You can ask me to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.

Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can request that I delete your personal data (where I am not required to retain it by law).

Right to Restrict or Object: You can object to or request restrictions on certain types of data processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact me via my contact page.

7. Right to Complain

If you have concerns about how your data is handled, please get in touch with me first so I can resolve the issue. You also have the legal right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection authority:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): www.ico.org.uk | Helpline: 0303 123 1113

8. Data Security

I take the security of your personal data seriously. www.distantlately.com uses HTTPS encryption (SSL) to protect data transmitted between your browser and the site. While no internet transmission can be guaranteed 100% secure, I maintain appropriate administrative and technical measures to protect your information.

9. External Links

My website may contain links to third-party sites (such as social media platforms or affiliate gear links). I am not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites, and I recommend reviewing their privacy policies when leaving my site.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements or site functionality. Any updates will be published on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date.

11. Contact Information

If you have any questions, permissions requests, or inquiries regarding these Terms & Conditions, please reach out via my contact page on www.distantlately.com/contact