Privacy notice

Who I am

This website belongs to Darren Hickling Ltd, registered in England and Wales with company number 17554637. Registered office: 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, England, IP28 7DE. You can reach me at info@id.darrenhickling.com (opens in a new tab). My registration number with the Information Commissioner's Office is ZC294247.

When you visit this website

The site has no analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. Netlify hosts it, so Netlify receives your IP address and the pages you ask for. It keeps them in its logs for as long as it needs to run and secure its service, and doesn't publish a fixed period. I rely on my legitimate interest in keeping the site working and secure.

Two switches remember your choice in your own browser, and only once you press them: light or dark theme, and pausing the animations. Neither reaches me. You can clear them by clearing this site's data in your browser.

When you email me

I hold your name, your email address and whatever you write, so that I can reply and work out whether I can help. I rely on my legitimate interest in answering, or on taking steps towards a contract if you've asked about working together. Fastmail hosts my email. I keep these messages for two years if no work follows.

If you or your employer work with me

I hold business contact details, messages, notes of meetings and invoices. I rely on the contract, on my legitimate interest in running the work well, and on my legal duty to keep accounting records, which I keep for six years. Only the people who help me run the company see this information: my accountant, Xero for the books, Fastmail for email, GitHub for my working files, and my insurers and professional advisers when a claim or a legal question needs them.

I use Claude, an AI tool from Anthropic, to help with notes and drafts. Anthropic handles what I send it under its own privacy policy (opens in a new tab), and I've switched off its use of my chats to train its models. Where I handle personal information only on a client's instructions, that client decides how it's used, and its own privacy notice applies.

Where your information goes

Some of these suppliers keep information outside the UK. Netlify and GitHub are based in the United States, and certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Anthropic, also in the United States, and Xero, in New Zealand, use contract clauses approved for UK transfers. Fastmail is Australian, stores email in the United States, and protects it with the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. Email me if you'd like the details for any of them.

I don't sell personal information, and I don't make automated decisions about anyone.

Your rights

You can ask me for a copy of what I hold about you, and ask me to correct it, delete it or stop using it. Email me and I'll reply within one month. These rights have limits, such as records the law makes me keep, and I'll tell you if one applies.

If you're unhappy

Please email me first, and I'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and tell you what happens next. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint (opens in a new tab) or on 0303 123 1113.