Privacy Policy

Last updated: 5 March 2026

1. Who We Are

Digital Sprout is a trading name operated by Mike Dodgson, based in Darlington, County Durham, United Kingdom. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at hello@digital-sprout.co.uk or call 07484 815296.

2. What Data We Collect

We may collect the following personal information:

  • Contact form submissions: Your name, email address, phone number (optional), website URL (optional), and message content.
  • Analytics data: Anonymous usage data collected via Google Analytics, including pages visited, time on site, device type, browser, and approximate geographic location.
  • Cookies: Small text files stored on your device (see Section 5 below).

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

  • Respond to enquiries submitted via our contact form.
  • Provide SEO services and communicate about ongoing projects.
  • Analyse website usage to improve our site and services.
  • Send relevant communications if you have opted in.

We will never sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we process your data on the following legal bases:

  • Consent: When you submit a contact form or accept cookies.
  • Legitimate interest: To analyse website performance and improve our services.
  • Contractual necessity: To deliver services you have engaged us to provide.

5. Cookies

This website uses cookies from Google Analytics (Google Tag Manager, tag ID: G-XCM2KL120V) to understand how visitors interact with the site. These cookies collect anonymous data including:

  • Pages viewed and time spent on each page
  • How you arrived at the site (referral source)
  • Your approximate geographic location, device type, and browser

Google Analytics data is processed by Google LLC. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

6. Data Retention

Contact form submissions are retained for as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry and maintain business records. Analytics data is retained according to Google Analytics' default retention settings (14 months).

7. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you.
  • Rectify any inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Erase your data (the "right to be forgotten").
  • Restrict or object to processing of your data.
  • Data portability – receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
  • Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please email hello@digital-sprout.co.uk.

8. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

  • Google Analytics – website analytics and usage tracking.
  • Lovable Cloud – secure hosting and data storage for contact form submissions.

9. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or destruction. Data transmitted via our contact form is encrypted in transit (HTTPS).

10. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Visit ico.org.uk for more information.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date.