Last updated: 8 October 2026.
This notice explains how HandyGarden uses personal information when you browse the website, send us a message or leave a comment.
Who is responsible for your information?
HandyGarden is operated by Artem Bryzh, based in the United Kingdom. Artem Bryzh is the controller responsible for the personal information described here. For privacy questions or requests, email contact@handygarden.co.uk.
Questions and messages
Our contact form asks for your email address and message. Your name is optional. We also receive any details you choose to include, such as the plants you grow and your approximate gardening location. Please leave out sensitive information that we do not need to answer your question.
Messages are sent to our editorial mailbox at contact@handygarden.co.uk through Hostinger email. Contact Form 7 does not keep a separate database of submitted messages in our current setup. Copies remain in the mailbox, replies and relevant email delivery records.
We use this information to answer questions, investigate corrections and handle editorial enquiries. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests: running the publication and responding to people who contact us. Sending a question does not subscribe you to marketing emails. We will ask before publishing an identifiable private message.
Comments on articles
Where comments are open, WordPress collects your comment, name, email address and any website address you provide. It also records your IP address, browser information and submission time for moderation and security. You do not need a reader account to comment.
Approved comments, the name you supply and any website link are public. Your email address is not displayed in the comment. Please do not include private information in text intended for publication. We process comment information on the basis of legitimate interests in allowing discussion and managing spam, abuse and site security.
Gravatar avatars are enabled. WordPress uses a hash derived from your email address to request an avatar from Gravatar, an Automattic service. A hash is not a guarantee of anonymity. When an avatar loads, your browser also connects to Gravatar, which can receive technical information such as your IP address. If you have a matching Gravatar profile, its image may appear beside your comment. See Automattic’s privacy policy.
Browsing, cookies and technical information
Our hosting and email provider, Hostinger, processes technical records needed to deliver and protect the site and email. These can include IP addresses, requested URLs, browser information, access times and email delivery details. Our basis for using these records is legitimate interests in keeping the service available, troubleshooting faults and preventing misuse.
The optional “save my name, email, and website” checkbox in the comment form allows WordPress to remember those details in your browser for about a year. These convenience cookies are set when you choose that option. You can leave it unticked and still comment, or remove the cookies through your browser settings.
WordPress also uses login and session cookies for people signing in to administer the site. Ordinary readers do not need to sign in. Our current site does not have advertising pixels or a visitor analytics service configured. We will update this notice before adding services that change how reader data is used.
The Hostinger Reach plugin currently loads a script from Hostinger’s content delivery service. Loading that resource can disclose your IP address and browser request information to Hostinger. Reach is not connected to a mailing list in our current setup, and the contact form does not enrol you in a newsletter.
Service providers and links to other websites
Hostinger provides our website hosting and email services. Authorised site administrators can access messages and comment records where needed to run HandyGarden. Gravatar receives information for avatars as explained above. We do not sell your personal information. Information may also be disclosed where we are legally required to do so.
Hostinger and Automattic use international infrastructure and service providers, so information may be processed outside the UK. Hostinger’s Data Processing Addendum describes its processors and transfer safeguards, including standard contractual clauses and the UK transfer addendum where applicable. Automattic describes its international processing and safeguards in its privacy policy. Contact us if you need more information about these arrangements.
Links to Facebook and other websites take you to services with their own privacy notices. A link is different from an embedded social feed: following it lets the destination process information about your visit under its own terms.
How long information is kept
We keep editorial correspondence while an enquiry is being handled and afterwards where it is needed for follow-up, a correction record, a dispute or a legal obligation. We remove information when that purpose ends; there is no automatic expiry for messages in the editorial mailbox.
WordPress does not automatically expire comments. Approved comments and their associated records are kept while the discussion remains relevant to the article, unless we remove or anonymise them following a valid request or moderation decision. Unapproved or abusive submissions are kept only as needed to manage spam, abuse or disputes.
Hosting logs, delivery records and backups follow the provider’s retention arrangements. Removing information from the live site does not necessarily remove it immediately from an existing backup; backup copies remain until they are replaced or expire under those arrangements.
Your choices and rights
You can ask for access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate details, deletion or restriction of its use. These rights depend on the circumstances and applicable exemptions. Email contact@handygarden.co.uk; we may need enough information to confirm your identity before releasing records.
You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests. Tell us what processing you object to and why. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw that consent. This does not affect processing already carried out lawfully.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your information, please contact us. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator.
Changes to this notice
We will update this page when the site’s forms, services or use of personal information change. The date at the top shows when this notice was last revised.