Data Protection Policy
Last updated: March 2026
1. Introduction
This website is operated in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679. We are committed to protecting your personal data and your right to privacy. If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at conor@ballineen.ie.
2. Who We Are
We are a web development company based in the EU that designs and builds websites using WordPress and Stripe. References to "we", "us", or "our" in this policy refer to our business and this website.
3. What Data We Collect
We may collect the following types of personal data:
- Name and email address (if you submit a contact form)
- Payment information (processed securely via Stripe — we do not store card details)
- IP address and browser information (collected automatically via cookies)
- Website usage data such as pages visited, time on site, and traffic sources (collected via Google Analytics)
- Any information you voluntarily provide when contacting us
4. How We Collect Data
We collect data through:
- Contact forms on this website
- Cookies placed by WordPress and WordPress plugins (see Section 7)
- Google Analytics, which tracks how visitors use this website
- hCaptcha, used to protect forms from spam and bots
- Stripe, used to process payments securely
5. How We Use Your Data
We use your personal data to:
- Respond to enquiries and provide our services
- Process payments securely via Stripe
- Analyse website traffic and improve website performance and user experience (via Google Analytics)
- Protect the website against spam and abuse (via hCaptcha)
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.
6. Legal Basis for Processing
Under GDPR, we process your data on the following legal bases:
- Contractual necessity — to provide services you have requested
- Legitimate interests — to maintain website security and functionality
- Consent — where you have opted in to cookies or communications, including analytics cookies set by Google Analytics
7. Cookies
This website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help the website function correctly and help us understand how visitors use the site.
We use cookies from:
- WordPress — core functionality cookies required for the website to operate
- WordPress plugins — various plugins may set cookies to support their functionality (e.g. forms, analytics, performance)
- Google Analytics — sets cookies to collect anonymised information about how visitors use this website, including pages viewed, time spent on the site, and how visitors arrived. This data is used to improve the website. Google Analytics cookies do not identify you personally. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, available at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
- hCaptcha — sets cookies to verify that form submissions are made by a human and not a bot
You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of this website.
8. Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services, each of which has its own privacy policy:
- Google Analytics — website analytics provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Data may be transferred to Google servers in the United States. See Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy
- Stripe — payment processing. See Stripe's privacy policy at stripe.com/privacy
- hCaptcha — bot protection. See hCaptcha's privacy policy at hcaptcha.com/privacy
- WordPress plugins — functionality may be provided by third-party plugin developers
We take reasonable steps to ensure that any third parties we work with handle your data in compliance with GDPR.
9. International Data Transfers
Google Analytics may transfer data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), including to the United States. Google relies on Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission as a safeguard for these transfers. For more information, see Google's data transfer documentation at business.safety.google/gdpr.
10. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law. Contact form submissions are retained for a reasonable period to allow us to respond to and follow up on enquiries. Google Analytics data is retained in accordance with your Google Analytics account settings (default retention is 26 months).
11. Your Rights
Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access — you can request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate data
- Right to erasure — you can ask us to delete your personal data
- Right to restrict processing — you can ask us to limit how we use your data
- Right to data portability — you can request your data in a portable format
- Right to object — you can object to our processing of your data, including profiling based on analytics
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at conor@ballineen.ie. We will respond within 30 days.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority. In Ireland, this is the Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.
12. Data Security
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Payment data is handled exclusively by Stripe, which is PCI-DSS compliant.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
14. Contact Us
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this Data Protection Policy or your personal data, please contact:
Email: conor@ballineen.ie