Privacy Policy
Introduction
At UKFootballTrading.com we are keen advocates for online privacy and security.
In this modern digital age, personal data is collected about users with almost every single stroke of the keyboard. It is our strict policy to respect your privacy regarding any information we collect about you. By default we make every effort to avoid collecting any data about you. However the running of a modern website makes it impossible to prevent any data being collected whatsoever, such as your IP Address, browser type and screen size (so that the website can be displayed properly for you).
Whilst we limit data collection as much as possible, when you interact with our site you may submit information to us, not just through your browsing of the site's pages, but possibly in other ways, for example if you leave a comment on our articles or sign up to the email list you will obviously be handing over your email address. These types of data collection will be explained below in more detail.
N.B. We do not take part in any data sharing arrangements, and we certainly do not (and never will) seek to use your personal browsing data for profit in any way.
Website Visitors
Like most website operators, this website collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Our purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how ukfootballtrading.com's visitors use its website and to improve functionality for the user.
Personally-Identifying Information
Some visitors to ukfootballtrading.com choose to interact with the site in ways that require our site to gather personally-identifying information. For example if you purchase a product from the site then you will be required to provide additional information, including as necessary the personal and financial information required to process the transaction. In such cases, ukfootballtrading.com collects information only insofar as is necessary to fulfill the purpose of your interaction, such as a purchase of a betfair trading ebook.
At ukfootballtrading.com we do not disclose personally-identifying information other than as described below. Visitors can always refuse to supply personally-identifying information, with the caveat that it may prevent them from engaging in certain website-related activities, for example subscribing to the email list, commenting on articles, or purchasing products.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on our content, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help prevent spam submissions.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it (and if so it can save you the effort of signing up for an account to place your comment). The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, if you uploaded a real profile picture of yourself, that picture may be visible to the public in the context of your comment. (Note that the hashed data above prevents your real email address being shared with the Gravatar service, so no personally identifiable information is sent.)
Aggregated Statistics
UKFootballTrading.com may collect user statistics to inform us about the general behavior of visitors to the website. This is used solely by the site administrators to analyse which content is most popular, how people find our content, and to look for any errors such as missing pages.
This data is not, and will never be, shared with third parties to profit from your online browsing habits or any other behavioural analysis/marketing programs (unlike Facebook and friends!)
Media
Unlikely as it is, if you were to upload an image to the site (for example in a comment form), you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS and other data) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website. Search for free exif data removal programs online as there are many of these and they will remove all metadata from your images with one click. This is good practice for all your online activities in modern times.
Cookie Usage
A cookie is a small string of data that websites (including ours) store on your computer as you browse to each new site/page. Your browser then provides this to the website each time you return.
UKFootballTrading.com uses these cookies to help the site recognise repeat visitors and to analyse how our visitors use the site, as well as saving any preferences you choose to set. For example, if you leave a comment on our site you may opt to save your name and email address to save you time entering it again for any subsequent comments. That process (which is optional) would set a cookie in your browser so our website recognises you and allows you to comment faster in future without signing up from scratch all over again.
None of the above data/cookies are sold or rented to 3rd parties, and are only used internally for the administration and improvement of the website.
Cookies generally last for a maximum of one year if not deleted by the user, but they can be very easiliy removed in your browser settings (clear cookies/browsing history). Better still, there are some very useful free browser extensions/plugins such as Cookie Auto Delete or Clear Browsing Data (both highly recommended by us!) If you don't wish to install browser extensions to facilitate your deletion of cookies, the simplest way to avoid this type of cookie activity is to use your browser's "Private Browsing" mode, sometimes called "Incognito Mode". Please note that some features may not work without cookies being enabled.
Embedded content from other websites
The content and articles on UKFootballTrading.com may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor had visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
That's scary isn't it! Yes! For this reason we rarely embed content from other sites and we recommend that you understand the implications of this (for all of your internet usage) and defend yourself from it accordingly.
The most common culprits are Facebook Like Buttons and embedded YouTube videos. Both of these (and most other similar 'social network' embedded site content/elements) have data gathering processes inside those elements, so they are beyond our control. There are many browser extensions (for example Facebook Container) which provide protection from such things, by 'sandboxing' those elements and preventing your other browsing data being fed back to these silicon valley evil empires and dragnet surveillance operations.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment on our site, that comment and its metadata (IP address, browser type etc) are retained indefinitely unless deletion is requested by you. (To do simply get in touch with us and we will happily purge all such data from our records.) This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue. If you delete your cookies regularly this functionality will cease to work so you will be asked to login again as if you are a new 'unrecognised' user.
Your rights over your own data
If you have interacted with, purchased from, or left comments on UKFootballTrading.com, you can request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. We will of course be glad to do so, but please note this may not include any data we are obliged to retain for legal or financial reasons (such as a receipt of a purchase you made.)
Advertisements
Whilst we rarely published advertising for third party companies or products, we may do so in the future.
Any advertisements appearing on UKFootballTrading.com may be delivered to users by advertising partners, who may set cookies in your browser. These cookies allow the ad server to recognize your computer each time they send you an online advertisement to compile information about you or others who use your computer. This information allows ad networks to, among other things, deliver targeted advertisements that they believe will be of most interest to you.
This Privacy Policy covers the use of cookies by UKFootballTrading.com and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers, since we have no way to control their use of such data. It is partly for this reason that we are not keen on third party adverts and thus will either never publish such adverts, or will do so extremely rarely and with care taken to consider the privacy implications on our site visitors.
Email Newsletter Subscribers' Data
If you choose to subscribe to our email newsletter then you are giving your 'active consent' to our processing of your personal data, specifically your Name and Email Address. This consent remains until you revoke it either by contacting us or by using the Unsubscribe link found in all emails.
We commit to processing that data (name and email address) responsibly, securely and conscientiously at all times. We will never sell or rent your data to any person, company or organisation.
Your name and email address will be used solely to deliver the information you were promised when signing up, such as articles and information about sports trading, specific trade alerts, commentary on my own trades, product announcements or promotional subscriber discounts, and any free ebooks offered to you when you signed up. In short, your data will be used just to send you what you asked for by subscribing, and nothing else.
Email list subscribers can unsubscribe at any time with one click, simply click the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of any and all emails. Next to the "Unsubscribe" link there is another link entitled "Change Subscriber Options", you can use this link to edit your personal information held by us, such as if you need to change your name or email address.
We use Aweber to manage the email newsletter, to handle subscriptions, and to send the emails. Aweber will therefore also have access to your name and email as the database is held on their servers, however if you were to reply to a newsletter email, or to email us directly, those emails will not go via Aweber and will only pass through our hosting servers. Aweber is one of the longest-running email list management services, they are proven and trusted in the industry, and they are fully compliant with data protection laws. If you wish, you can read more about Aweber's Privacy Policy here.
UKFootballTrading.com has always required subscribers to perform a "Double Opt-In", and we always will. What this means is that after signing up using the email newsletter sign-up form, you will be required to give your consent a second time by "actively" clicking a confirmation link in the first email you receive after subscribing. If you do not click to confirm the subscription, you will not be subscribed to the list. This process is, in our view, the only ethical way to manage subscriptions. The requirement for a second 'click to confirm' opt-in by you prevents your email address being subscribed to our list without your knowledge (maliciously or otherwise), and it also reduces the likelihood that a recipient of one of our emails will report it as 'spam'.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may change from time to time, although our general ethos certainly will not and likewise our consideration and care towards your privacy will always be a strong theme in the running of this website.
That said, we encourage our visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to our Privacy Policy. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such changes.
Data Protection & Privacy Questions?
As already stated, we are strong advocates for online privacy. We also have knowledge of the subject, most importantly in how to protect privacy when using the web. We will happily answer any questions you have about our site's handling of your data, and we welcome questions or requests for advice on protecting your data privacy more generally. The single biggest tip would be 'Get off Facebook'!