Who we are
The Watercolourist is an independent editorial publication about watercolour painting. Our website is thewatercolourist.com.
What data we collect and why
Comments
If you leave a comment, we collect the information you submit in the comment form, along with your IP address and browser information. These are used to help detect spam. Your IP address is never shared publicly.
If you have a Gravatar account, an anonymised version of your email address may be sent to that service to retrieve your profile picture. Gravatar’s own privacy policy is published at automattic.com/privacy. Once a comment is approved, your profile picture will appear alongside it on the site.
Images
If you upload images to the site, be aware that image files can contain embedded location data (EXIF GPS). We recommend removing this before uploading. Visitors to the site are able to download images and extract any location data they contain.
Cookies
If you leave a comment and choose to save your details, your name, email address and website will be stored in cookies for one year. This is purely for convenience so you do not have to re-enter them next time.
When you visit our login page, a temporary cookie is set to check whether your browser accepts cookies. It contains no personal data and is deleted when you close your browser.
Logging in sets additional cookies to retain your login state and display preferences. Login cookies last two days; display preference cookies last one year. Selecting “Remember Me” extends login persistence to two weeks. Logging out removes all login cookies.
Publishing or editing an article sets a short-lived cookie recording the ID of that post. It contains no personal data and expires after one day.
Embedded content
Articles on this site sometimes include embedded content from other websites, such as video players or image galleries. That embedded content behaves as though you had visited the originating site directly. Those sites may collect data about you, set their own cookies, and track your interaction with the content, particularly if you are logged in to an account there.
Who we share your data with
We do not sell or share personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. If you request a password reset, your IP address is included in that reset email as a security measure. Comments may be passed through an automated spam detection service.
How long we keep your data
Comments and their associated metadata are retained indefinitely. This allows us to recognise and approve follow-up comments without holding them in a moderation queue.
If you register an account on the site, your profile data is stored for as long as the account exists. You can view, edit or delete your personal information at any time through your account settings. You cannot change your username, and we retain any data we are legally or operationally required to keep.
Your rights
You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you, and to ask us to delete it. To make either request, contact us directly. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.
If you are based in the UK or EU, you also have the right to object to certain types of processing, and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, including the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.
Contact
For any privacy-related queries, contact us at thewatercolourist.com.