Last updated: 29 July 2026
This policy explains what GearAndGrowth (gearandgrowth.com) collects, why, and what you can do about it. We have tried to write it in plain language rather than boilerplate.
Who is responsible for your data
GearAndGrowth is operated by an individual sole trader. We are the data controller for the information described below.
For any question about your personal data — including requests to access, correct or delete it — contact us through the contact page. Enquiries reach the site operator directly and are answered within 30 days.
What we collect
When you contact us
Our contact form collects the name, email address and message you provide. This is used only to reply to you. Submissions are stored in the website database.
When you subscribe to email updates
If you subscribe, your name and email address are sent to Sender.net, our email service provider, and stored on their systems. You can unsubscribe from any email we send, at any time, and that removes you from the list.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which articles are read and how people arrive. This collects information such as pages viewed, approximate location, device and browser type, and referring site. IP anonymisation is enabled.
Analytics does not load at all until you accept it. If you choose Deny, or simply ignore the banner, no analytics script runs and no analytics cookie is set. We do not track logged-in administrators. We also record when an outbound link to a software product is clicked, so we can tell which recommendations are useful — this is aggregate and not tied to your identity.
Comments
If you leave a comment, the name, email address and comment content you submit are retained, along with your IP address and browser user agent, to help with spam detection.
Cookies
Cookies are small files stored by your browser. This site uses them for:
- Your cookie preferences — remembering the choice you made in the consent banner
- Analytics — Google Analytics, only where permitted by your preferences
- Comments — optionally remembering your name and email so you need not retype them
- Security and performance — set by Cloudflare, which sits in front of this site, and by our caching layer
You can change your choices at any time on the Manage Preferences page, or clear cookies in your browser.
The cookies actually set on this site, what each one does and how long it lasts, are listed on the cookie policy page.
Our legal basis for using your data
Under the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR we have to tell you not just what we do with your data, but what entitles us to do it. For each thing we do:
- Analytics cookies — your consent. Nothing analytical loads until you agree, and you can withdraw at any time on the Manage Preferences page.
- Newsletter — your consent, given when you subscribe. Every email carries an unsubscribe link.
- Replying to your message — our legitimate interest in answering people who contact us.
- Comments and spam filtering — our legitimate interest in keeping the site usable.
- Security, backups and keeping the site online — our legitimate interest in running the site safely.
Where we rely on legitimate interest, you can object — see your rights below.
Affiliate links
This site contains affiliate links. When you click one, the destination company may set its own cookie to attribute the referral. That cookie is governed by their privacy policy, not ours. See our affiliate disclosure for how this works.
Who your data is shared with
- Google (Analytics) — anonymised usage data
- Sender.net — email address and name, if you subscribe
- Cloudflare — all traffic passes through their network for security and performance. Cloudflare also collects aggregate performance measurements at their network edge; these are not tied to your identity and set no cookie.
- Hostinger — our hosting provider, which stores the site database
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not run display advertising, so no advertising networks are given access to your data.
Where your data is processed
Some of the providers above are based outside the European Economic Area, or may process data on servers outside it — Google and Cloudflare in particular are US companies. That means your data can be transferred out of the EEA and the UK.
Where that happens, the transfer is covered by the safeguards in each provider’s own data processing terms — generally the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision where one applies to that provider. We do not transfer your data anywhere ourselves beyond using these services.
How long we keep it
- Contact form submissions — kept while needed to handle your enquiry
- Newsletter subscriptions — until you unsubscribe
- Comments — retained indefinitely so follow-up replies make sense
- Analytics — per Google Analytics retention settings
Your rights
If you are in the EU or the UK, the EU GDPR and the UK GDPR give you the rights below. We extend the same rights to everyone, wherever you live, because maintaining two standards would be worse for both.
- Access — ask what personal data we hold about you, and get a copy of it
- Rectification — ask us to correct anything inaccurate
- Erasure — ask us to delete it
- Restriction — ask us to stop using it while a dispute about it is resolved
- Portability — receive the data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format, or have it sent to another provider
- Objection — object to processing we base on legitimate interest
- Withdraw consent — at any time, without affecting anything done before you withdrew it
Exercising any of these is free, and we will not treat you differently for it.
Complaining about how we handle your data
If you think we have handled your data wrongly, please tell us first — it is usually the fastest way to put something right. You do not have to, though. You have the right to complain directly to a data protection regulator: in the EU, the supervisory authority of the country you live or work in (the EDPB publishes the full list), and in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
To exercise any of these, contact us. We will respond within 30 days.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS and sits behind Cloudflare. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, and we do not claim otherwise.
Children
This site is aimed at working professionals and is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes
If this policy changes materially, the “last updated” date above will change. Significant changes will be noted on the site.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or about your data, go through the contact page.