Privacy policy

Who runs Tube Academy

Tube Academy is operated by:

Greg Machray, Tube Academy
greg@mechanise.co.uk

Under UK GDPR, Greg Machray, Tube Academy is the "data controller" for any personal data this website processes. That means the party responsible for deciding what to collect and why.

What personal data we collect

Tube Academy has no user accounts, no logins, no contact forms, no comments, no newsletter. The only personal data the site processes is what visiting browsers send automatically:

Analytics data (consent required)

If you click Accept on the cookie banner, Google Analytics 4 collects standard web-analytics data:

• An anonymous client ID stored in a first-party cookie (_ga)
• Pages you visited and the order you visited them
• Approximate location (country and city, derived from IP; your full IP is not stored)
• Device type, browser, operating system, screen size
• Referring URL (which site sent you to us)

We have IP anonymisation switched on at the GA property level so Google truncates your IP before storing.

If you click Reject, none of the above is collected. Google Analytics still loads but runs in "consent denied" mode and does not set cookies or store an identifier.

Server logs (no consent required, security and operations)

Our hosting provider (Vercel) keeps short-term operational logs of requests (IP address, request URL, response status, timestamp) for spam, abuse, and security troubleshooting. These are kept for a few days and not used for any other purpose.

Consent preference (no consent required, strictly necessary)

When you make a choice on the cookie banner, your choice is stored in your browser's localStorage so we don't re-ask on every page. This data never leaves your device. See the cookie policy for details.

Lawful basis for processing

Under UK GDPR, every kind of personal data processing needs a lawful basis. Ours are:

• Analytics data: your consent (Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR; Regulation 6 PECR). We do not collect analytics data without it.
• Server logs: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR) in keeping the site secure and operational. Limited retention; never used for marketing.
• Your consent preference (localStorage): remembering it is a strictly necessary purpose under PECR (Regulation 6(4)) so it does not require a separate consent.

Who we share data with

Google (analytics)

If you accept analytics, the data above goes to Google LLC, who operates GA4 as our data processor. Google's own privacy policy is at policies.google.com/privacy.

Vercel (hosting)

The website is hosted on Vercel Inc., a US-based platform with edge servers worldwide. Vercel processes server logs as a sub- processor on our behalf. Their privacy notice is at vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Amazon (affiliate links, click-through only)

Some shopping-list items link to Amazon UK with the Tube Academy affiliate tag mechanise-21. We do not share any data with Amazon. But if you click an Amazon link and visit amazon.co.uk, Amazon then processes you as a visitor to their own site under their own privacy notice: Amazon's privacy notice. If you make a qualifying purchase, Amazon pays Tube Academy a small commission; we don't see who bought what.

YouTube (video thumbnails and click-to-load embeds)

Module pages show a YouTube thumbnail. Only when you click to play does an embed from youtube-nocookie.com load, at which point YouTube processes you under Google's privacy policy.

International transfers

Google and Vercel are both US-headquartered. Personal data sent to them may be processed in or transferred to the United States. These transfers are protected by:

• The EU–US Data Privacy Framework and the UK Extension thereto. Both Google LLC and Vercel Inc. self- certify under the DPF, which the UK government has recognised as providing adequate protection for transfers from the UK.
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum as a backup.

How long we keep data

• Analytics data in GA4: retained for 14 months at the property level (the default Tube Academy keeps).
• Analytics cookies on your device: up to 2 years; cleared sooner if you click Reject in the banner, or if you delete them via your browser.
• Server logs: a few days (Vercel default).
• Your consent preference: up to 12 months in localStorage on your device.

Your rights under UK GDPR

UK GDPR gives you rights over personal data we process about you. Even though Tube Academy processes very little, your rights apply in full. You can:

• Be informed: what this policy is for.
• Access: ask for a copy of any personal data we hold.
• Rectification: ask us to correct anything inaccurate.
• Erasure ("right to be forgotten"): ask us to delete data. In practice for an analytics-only site this usually means clearing your client ID in GA4.
• Restrict processing: ask us to stop processing while we investigate a query.
• Data portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format.
• Object: to processing based on legitimate interests, including any profiling.
• Withdraw consent: at any time, via Cookie settings in the footer. Withdrawing only affects future processing.
• Rights related to automated decisions: Tube Academy doesn't make any.

To exercise any of these, email greg@mechanise.co.uk. We aim to respond within 30 days, the UK GDPR statutory deadline. We may ask for proof of identity to make sure we're acting on the right person's request.

Complaints

If you're not happy with how we've handled your data, please email us first so we can fix it. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

Children

Tube Academy is not aimed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from them. There are no accounts, so a child cannot register or submit information.

Changes to this policy

If we materially change how we process data, for example by adding a new analytics tool or a newsletter, we'll update this page and re-open the cookie banner so you can review the change. The effective date at the top reflects the last substantive change.

Contact

Questions, data requests, or anything else:

Greg Machray, Tube Academy
greg@mechanise.co.uk