Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information this website collects, why, and what your rights are. It is written to be read by a human, not a lawyer. If anything here is unclear, please get in touch using the contact details at the end.
Who is responsible for your data
This website is run by Tom West ("we", "us", "I"), the data controller responsible for your personal information under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Malta's Data Protection Act.
You can contact us about anything in this policy at: [email protected]
What we collect, and why
We only collect what we need for the specific things below. We do not collect more "just in case".
| What | When | Why (legal basis) |
|---|---|---|
| Your email address (and any name you give) | If you subscribe to the "Letters from Tom" newsletter | To send you the newsletter you asked for (consent) |
| Your name, email and message | If you use a contact form or leave a comment (a feature that may be added in future) | To reply to you, or to display your comment (consent / legitimate interest) |
| Anonymous, aggregated usage statistics | When you visit any page | To understand which pages are useful and improve the site (legitimate interest) |
| Basic technical information needed to block spam and abuse | If you submit a form or comment | To keep the site secure and stop automated abuse (legitimate interest) |
| Payment information | If you make a voluntary donation | Handled entirely by our donation provider — we never see or store your card details (contract) |
Analytics — and why there's no cookie banner
We want to know simple things like which pages people read and whether the site works well on phones, so we can make it better. To do this we use privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics (currently Cloudflare Web Analytics, or a similar service such as Plausible).
This kind of analytics is deliberately chosen because it:
- does not use cookies;
- does not track you across other websites;
- does not build a profile of you or identify you personally;
- only produces anonymous, aggregated numbers (page views, rough country, device type).
Because no personal data is stored and no cookies are set for analytics, you won't see an annoying cookie consent banner. That's the point.
Third parties we use
Some features rely on trusted external services. When you use one of these, your information is handled under that provider's own privacy policy. We only share what each feature needs to work, and we never sell your data to anyone.
| Service | Used for | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Beehiiv (and possibly other newsletter providers such as Substack in future) | Sending the newsletter | Your email address, and newsletter open/click activity |
| Buy Me a Coffee | Voluntary donations | Your payment details and any name/message you give them directly |
| YouTube (Google) | Watching embedded videos | If a video is embedded on a page, YouTube may set its own cookies when you play it |
| Cloudflare | Hosting, security, and cookieless analytics | Standard technical request information needed to serve and protect the site |
Where we can, we link out to these services rather than embedding them, so their cookies stay on their site and not ours.
Where we publish our content
The Tom West Show publishes videos and posts across a range of social and video platforms. To do this we use social media management tools (such as Postiz) to connect to those platforms' official APIs and publish on our behalf. The platforms we publish to may include — and we intend to expand this over time — YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and other similar services.
This is about us pushing our own content out to those platforms. It does not involve sharing your personal information with them. If you interact with our content on one of those platforms, that interaction is governed by that platform's own terms and privacy policy, not this one.
What we don't do
We think this is worth saying plainly:
- We never sell your personal data to anyone.
- We don't use advertising networks or retargeting/tracking pixels (such as the Meta or TikTok pixel) on this site.
- We don't build advertising profiles of you or track you across other websites.
- We don't collect more than we need for the specific features described above.
Cookies
At present this site sets no tracking cookies of its own. If you play an embedded YouTube video, YouTube may set cookies — that's controlled by Google, not us. If we ever add a feature that needs its own cookies, we'll update this policy and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent first.
How long we keep your information
- Newsletter: until you unsubscribe (there's an unsubscribe link in every email).
- Comments or contact messages: for as long as needed to handle your message or keep the discussion available, after which they're removed on request.
- Analytics: kept only as anonymous aggregated figures — there's nothing personal to delete.
Your rights under GDPR
You have the right to:
- ask what personal data we hold about you (access);
- have it corrected if it's wrong (rectification);
- have it deleted (erasure / "right to be forgotten");
- object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it;
- receive a copy of it in a portable format;
- withdraw consent at any time (for example, by unsubscribing).
To exercise any of these, just email [email protected]. We'll respond within one month.
Complaints
We hope you'll come to us first so we can put things right. But you also have the right to complain to the data protection authority in Malta:
Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC)
Website: idpc.org.mt
Children
This site is not directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we'll remove it.
Accessibility
We want this site to be usable by everyone. If you have trouble accessing any part of it, or you spot something that could work better for you, please let us know at [email protected] and we'll do our best to help and to fix it.
Changes to this policy
As the site grows we may add features (such as comments or a contact form) and update this policy to match. When we make a meaningful change, we'll update the "last updated" date at the top. Significant changes affecting how we use your data will be made clear.