My Gardening Journey

Practical UK growing, chicken keeping and self-sufficiency from a real garden

Seasonal advice, tried and tested tips and honest experiences from a UK Gardener; so you can grow more and worry less.

Privacy Policy

mallr
6–8 minutes

Last updated: 7 March 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how My Gardening Journey collects, uses, stores and shares personal data when you visit this website, contact us, sign up to receive emails, leave a comment, interact with our content, or where relevant, where we use our internal tools to create and publish content to Pinterest.

Please read this policy together with any specific notices shown when we collect your data, such as comment forms, email sign-up forms or cookie notices.

1. Who we are

My Gardening Journey is a UK-based gardening and self-sufficiency website.

Data controller: My Gardening Journey.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us via our contact page:

Contact My Gardening Journey

2. What personal data we may collect

Depending on how you use the site, we may collect and process the following categories of personal data.

a) Website usage data

  • IP address;
  • browser type and version;
  • device information;
  • operating system;
  • pages viewed and navigation paths;
  • dates, times and referring websites;
  • technical logs and diagnostics.

b) Contact and correspondence data

  • name;
  • email address;
  • the contents of your message;
  • any other information you choose to send us.

c) Comment data

  • name or username;
  • email address;
  • website URL if you provide one;
  • the content of your comment;
  • IP address and browser information associated with comment submission;
  • moderation records connected to comments.

All comments are held for moderation before publication.

d) Email subscription data

  • name if provided;
  • email address;
  • subscription preferences;
  • engagement information such as opens or clicks, where available through the email platform.

e) Social media and Pinterest publishing data

We operate an internal tool to create and publish social media posts, including Pins to Pinterest. In connection with that process, we may process:

  • Pinterest account ID;
  • board IDs and board names;
  • Pin content we create or publish, such as titles, descriptions and media URLs;
  • basic analytics or performance information returned by Pinterest;
  • internal operational records connected with scheduling, publishing or reporting.

f) Marketing, advertising and affiliate data

If this site displays ads, affiliate links or embedded third-party content, third parties may collect data through cookies, pixels, local storage or similar technologies, subject to their own privacy notices and your cookie choices where applicable.

3. How we use personal data

We may use personal data to:

  • operate, maintain and improve the website;
  • respond to messages, enquiries and requests;
  • moderate and manage comments;
  • detect spam, abuse, unlawful use or security issues;
  • send emails or newsletters where you have signed up;
  • analyse how the site and content are used;
  • draft, schedule, publish and review social posts or Pins;
  • measure content performance and reporting;
  • comply with legal, regulatory or safeguarding obligations;
  • protect our rights, users, content and systems.

4. Our lawful bases for processing

Under UK data protection law, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases depending on the activity:

  • Consent – for example, where you sign up to receive marketing emails or where non-essential cookies are used based on your choices.
  • Contract – where processing is necessary to provide a service you have requested or to take steps at your request.
  • Legitimate interests – for example, operating and improving the website, managing comments, understanding content performance, securing the site, and running our internal Pinterest publishing workflow in a proportionate way.
  • Legal obligation – where we need to process data to comply with applicable law, regulation, law enforcement requests, safeguarding duties or formal rights requests.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we aim to do so in a way that is proportionate and does not override your rights and interests.

5. Who we share personal data with

We do not sell personal data.

We may share personal data with trusted service providers where reasonably necessary to run the site and related services, such as:

  • website hosting and website platform providers;
  • comment moderation, anti-spam and security tools;
  • analytics providers;
  • email marketing providers;
  • Pinterest, where needed to draft, schedule, publish or analyse Pins;
  • advertising, affiliate or embedded content providers where relevant;
  • professional advisers, regulators, law enforcement or courts where required or appropriate.

We only share data where there is a valid reason to do so.

6. International transfers

Some of our providers or platforms may process personal data outside the UK. Where a restricted transfer of personal data takes place, we aim to rely on appropriate safeguards or other lawful transfer mechanisms required by applicable data protection law.

7. How long we keep personal data

We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including operational, security, legal, moderation, reporting and record-keeping needs.

As a general guide:

  • contact enquiries are kept for as long as needed to deal with the enquiry and any reasonable follow-up;
  • comment data may be retained while comments remain on the site and for moderation, abuse prevention or record-keeping purposes;
  • newsletter subscription data is kept until you unsubscribe or we no longer need it for that purpose;
  • Pinterest content and analytics are stored locally on our systems and retained for operational and reporting needs;
  • technical logs may be kept for security, troubleshooting and performance monitoring for an appropriate period.

We may keep data for longer where necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, investigate misuse or protect our rights.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

This site may use cookies, pixels, local storage and similar technologies to keep the site working, understand traffic and performance, remember preferences, support embedded content, and where applicable, support advertising or affiliate functions.

Some cookies are essential to make the site function properly. Others are optional and may be used only where you give the required consent.

We are reviewing and expanding our separate cookies information so users can see more detail about the cookies and tracking technologies used on the site, their purposes and their providers.

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.

For our internal Pinterest publishing workflow, credentials are stored locally using operating system protected storage where possible, and access is limited to authorised staff or administrators.

No system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we aim to use proportionate safeguards for the nature of the site and the data involved.

10. Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

  • be informed about how your data is used;
  • request access to your personal data;
  • request correction of inaccurate data;
  • request deletion of your data;
  • request restriction of processing;
  • object to certain processing;
  • request transfer of your data in some circumstances;
  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the reason we hold the data.

To exercise your rights, please contact us using our contact page:

https://mygardeningjourney.com/contact/

11. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first so we have the opportunity to review and respond.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK if you are unhappy with how your data has been handled.

12. Third-party websites and embedded content

This site may link to third-party websites or include embedded content such as videos, images, social widgets or other tools. These third parties may collect data according to their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites or services.

13. Children’s privacy

This website is a general-interest gardening website and is not specifically directed at children. We ask that users do not submit unnecessary personal information, especially in public comments. Parents or guardians who have concerns about a child’s personal data can contact us using our contact page.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, site features or how we process personal data. The latest version will always be published on this page.

15. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our handling of personal data, please contact us via:

https://mygardeningjourney.com/contact/