Written in plain words, because a privacy notice nobody reads protects nobody. If anything here is unclear, write to me and I’ll answer it myself.
I collect an email address if you ask for the poem, and whatever you choose to tell me if you write about a commission. I don’t sell anything to anybody, I don’t build profiles, and there is no advertising on this site. You can be removed at any time by asking, and I’ll do it the same day.
If you sign up for the poem on the last Sunday of the month, I keep your email address and the date you joined. Nothing else — not your name, not your location.
The lawful basis is your consent. You give it by entering your address and then clicking the confirmation link in the email that follows. Both steps are needed, so nobody ends up on the list by accident or because somebody else put them there.
Every email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom. It works immediately and I’m not told why you left.
The commission form on this site doesn’t send anything anywhere. It opens your own email programme with the details laid out, and you decide whether to press send. So the only copy of what you write is the email in your outbox and the one in my inbox.
Commission enquiries often contain something private — a name, an illness, a death, a marriage. I treat that as told in confidence. I don’t forward it, quote it, or use it in a poem for anybody else, and I don’t put it on social media unless you have asked me to and agreed the wording.
There is no analytics on this site, no advertising, and no tracking pixels. I don’t know who you are or how you got here.
The site sets no cookies of its own. Some pages load things from other companies, though, and those companies can see your IP address as a result — that’s how the web works, and it’s listed below so you know.
I run this on my own, so a few companies do jobs I can’t do myself. These are the only ones that touch anything of yours.
If you buy something on Etsy or Amazon, that purchase is between you and them — their privacy notices apply, not mine, and I never see your card details. Same for the App Store if you download one of the apps.
Your email address stays on the list until you unsubscribe or ask me to remove it. If you unsubscribe, MailerLite keeps a note that you did so, which is what stops you being added again by mistake.
Commission emails I keep while the work is going on and for a year afterwards, in case you come back wanting another copy or a change. After that I delete them. Anything to do with a payment I have to keep for six years, because Irish tax law says so.
Under the GDPR you have rights over anything I hold about you, and you don’t need a reason or a solicitor to use them. One email is enough.
The poem list is for adults. The children’s books are written for children but sold to the grown-ups around them, and I don’t knowingly collect anything from anybody under sixteen. If you think I have, tell me and I’ll delete it.
Come to me first and I’ll put it right. If you’re not satisfied, you can complain to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland at dataprotection.ie. That right stands whatever I say.
James Mooney, writing as The Wandering Paddy. Based in Dublin, Ireland. I work from home, so everything goes through hello@thewanderingpaddy.com — it reaches me directly and I answer it myself.
If this notice changes I’ll change the date at the top. If the change is a significant one, I’ll say so in the monthly email rather than hope you notice.