Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 November 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how freeoftie.com/ collects, uses and looks after your personal data when you visit the website, sign up to our newsletter or get in touch. We've tried to keep it short and in plain English. If anything isn't clear, email us at hello@freeoftie.com.

Who we are

freeoftie.com/ is run by Colin Toner, a sole trader based in England, UK. For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), freeoftie.com/ is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. In the rest of this policy, "Free of Tie", "we", "us" and "our" mean freeoftie.com/.

You can contact us about anything in this policy at hello@freeoftie.com.

What personal data we collect

We only collect what we need. Depending on how you use the site, this may include:

• Newsletter sign-ups: your email address (and your name, if you choose to give it) when you subscribe to The Free House Weekly, plus basic information about whether emails are delivered and opened.
• Emails you send us: your name, email address and anything you include in your message when you contact us.
• Comments (if enabled): if we open comments on articles, the name, email address and comment you submit, and the IP address and browser details recorded with the comment to help prevent spam.
• Server logs: like most websites, our hosting servers automatically record technical information when you visit, such as your IP address, browser type, the pages you request, the referring page and the date and time of your visit.
• Cookies and similar technologies: small files stored on your device. Non-essential cookies are only set with your consent. See our Cookie Policy for details.
• Analytics (when enabled): if we turn on Google Analytics, it will collect information about how visitors use the site, such as pages viewed, time on site and approximate location, but only if you consent through the cookie banner.

We don’t knowingly collect any special category data (such as health information), and we ask that you don’t send us any.

How we use your data and our lawful bases

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for using your personal data. Here’s what we do and why:

• Sending The Free House Weekly: we rely on your consent, given when you sign up. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email.
• Replying to your emails: we rely on our legitimate interests in answering enquiries and running the site. If your enquiry is about something you’d like to do with us, such as advertising or a listing, we may also rely on taking steps towards a contract.
• Publishing and moderating comments (if enabled): we rely on our legitimate interests in hosting discussion on the site and keeping it free of spam and abuse.
• Server logs and site security: we rely on our legitimate interests in keeping the website secure, working properly and protected against misuse.
• Non-essential cookies and analytics: we rely on your consent, managed through our cookie banner. Strictly necessary cookies don’t need consent, as permitted under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
• Legal obligations: occasionally we may need to keep or share information to comply with the law.

We don’t sell your personal data, and we don’t use it for automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you.

How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as we need it:

• Newsletter subscribers: until you unsubscribe. After that we may keep a record of your email address on a suppression list so that we don’t email you again by mistake.
• Emails: generally up to two years after our last contact, unless we need them for longer for an ongoing matter or a legal reason.
• Comments (if enabled): for as long as the comment is published on the site. You can ask us to remove a comment at any time.
• Server logs: for a limited period set by our hosting provider, usually no more than a few months.
• Cookies: for the periods described in our Cookie Policy and the cookie banner.

Who we share your data with

We use a small number of trusted service providers (“processors”) to run the site. They only handle your data on our instructions:

• Krystal Hosting Ltd (UK) hosts the website and its server logs, and may handle email for our domain.
• beehiiv will provide our newsletter, The Free House Weekly, once it launches. It stores subscriber details and sends the emails.
• Google provides Google Search Console, which helps us understand how the site appears in search results, and, if and when we enable it, Google Analytics.

We may also share information if required by law, to protect our rights, or with professional advisers where necessary. We’ll never share your data with other businesses for their own marketing.

International transfers

Some of our providers, including beehiiv and Google, are based in the United States or may process data outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on safeguards recognised under UK law, such as the UK–US “data bridge” (for providers certified under it), the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your data;
• ask us to restrict how we use your data;
• object to us using your data where we rely on legitimate interests;
• ask for your data in a portable format, where applicable;
• withdraw your consent at any time, for example by unsubscribing from the newsletter or changing your cookie settings. This won’t affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

To use any of these rights, email hello@freeoftie.com. We’ll respond within one month, and there’s normally no charge. We may need to ask you to confirm your identity first.

Complaints

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, please contact us first and we’ll do our best to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator, at https://ico.org.uk.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal data. The site is served over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, administrator accounts are protected with two-factor authentication and login-attempt limits, and we keep WordPress and its plugins up to date. No website can be completely secure, though, so we can’t guarantee the security of information sent over the internet.

Children

freeoftie.com/ is aimed at people working in the pub and hospitality trade. It isn't intended for children, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us their details, please let us know and we'll delete them.

Other websites

Our articles may link to other websites. We’re not responsible for how those sites handle your data, so please read their own privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we launch the newsletter or add new features such as job listings or a directory. We’ll post the updated version on this page and change the “Last updated” date. If the changes are significant, we’ll make that clear on the site or by email.