Privacy Policy

Last updated: 26 September 2026

WatchTheStars.co.uk is run by Ian Clayton in the United Kingdom. Ian is the data controller for any personal information collected through this website and our social media accounts. If you have a question about this policy or your data, email [email protected].

What we collect and why

Clear-night alerts and newsletter

If you sign up for clear-night alerts or our newsletter, we collect your email address and, for alerts, your postcode (or the first part of it) and country. We use these only to send you the alerts or newsletter you asked for, worked out for your location. Our lawful basis is your consent. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing stops all further emails.

Contact form

If you use our contact form, we receive your name, email address and message so we can reply. The form is processed by Formspree. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in answering your enquiry.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand which pages are read and how people find the site. It collects information such as pages visited, approximate location, device and browser type, using cookies. It does not tell us who you are. You can opt out with Google's browser add-on or by blocking cookies in your browser.

Browser storage

Some features remember small preferences in your browser, for example that you have closed a banner. This stays on your device and is not sent to us.

Facebook and Instagram

We publish to our Facebook Page and Instagram account using Meta's tools, including a Meta app that posts on our behalf. That app only accesses our own Page and Instagram account. It does not collect information about you. If you comment on, like or message our Page, Meta processes that under its own privacy policy, and we can see what you choose to share with the Page.

Affiliate links

Some equipment links go to First Light Optics or Amazon, and we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Those retailers may set their own cookies when you click through, under their own privacy policies. We do not receive your personal or payment details.

Who we share data with

We never sell your data. We only share it with the service providers that run the site for us: Cloudflare (hosting), Supabase (storing alert and newsletter sign-ups), our email delivery provider, Formspree (contact form) and Google (analytics). Some of these providers may process data outside the UK, under safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or equivalent.

How long we keep it

Sign-up details are kept until you unsubscribe, then deleted. Contact form messages are kept for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry, and no longer than two years. Analytics data is kept for Google Analytics' standard retention period.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask to see the personal data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or take a copy of it. You can withdraw consent at any time. Email [email protected] and we will reply within one month.

Data deletion requests

To have your data deleted, including anything connected to our Facebook Page or Instagram account, email [email protected] with the subject "Delete my data" and the email address or account name involved. We will confirm when it has been done.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page.