This policy explains what Crochetilly collects when you visit crochetilly.com, why, who else can see it, and what you can require us to do about it. It covers this website only. It is written to be checked rather than skimmed, so the cookie names, retention periods and legal bases are all stated rather than implied.
Last updated: 3 September 2026
Who is responsible
Crochetilly is run by Elie. Where data protection law applies, Elie is the data controller for this site. Write to contact@crochetilly.com about anything on this page.
What you give us
- Comments. Your name, email address, any website you enter, the comment itself, your IP address and your browser string. The last two are kept for spam detection. Comments are held for approval before they appear.
- Messages. If you write to us we keep the message and your reply address so we can answer you and so there is a record of what was agreed.
- Email list. If you subscribe we keep your address and the date you subscribed. Every email carries an unsubscribe link and unsubscribing removes you.
What is collected automatically
Our web server records the pages requested, the time, the referring site, and the browser and device used, along with the IP address making the request. This is ordinary server logging and happens before any consent question, because a server cannot answer a request without knowing where to send the answer.
Analytics is separate and it is not automatic. See the next two sections.
Our legal bases
| What we do | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Serving pages and keeping the server running and secure | Legitimate interests, in running a website at all |
| Publishing your comment | Consent, given when you submit it |
| Answering your message | Legitimate interests, in replying to someone who wrote to us |
| Sending the email list | Consent, withdrawable through any unsubscribe link |
| Analytics cookies | Consent, and nothing is stored until you give it |
| Advertising cookies, once advertising is live | Consent |
Cookies and consent
Analytics and advertising are set to denied by default through Google Consent Mode, so no analytics or advertising cookie is written until you choose in the banner. The Cookie Policy names every cookie, its purpose and its lifetime. You can reopen the banner at any time from the cookie settings control and change your answer.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4, property G-MXB0JBLMK5, to count visits and see which guides get read. IP anonymisation is switched on. Google Signals and demographic reporting are switched off, so we do not build advertising profiles from your visit and we cannot see your age, gender or interests. We never send Google anything that identifies you personally.
You can opt out of Google Analytics across every website with the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, on top of declining in our banner.
Advertising
This site is funded by advertising. Advertising is not running yet. When it starts, third-party vendors including Google will use cookies to serve advertisements based on your previous visits to this and other sites, and those cookies will be listed in the Cookie Policy before the first advertisement appears. They will be gated behind the same consent banner as analytics.
You will be able to opt out of personalised advertising at Google Ads Settings, or across many vendors at aboutads.info and youronlinechoices.eu. Opting out does not remove advertising, it makes it less targeted.
Who else receives data
We do not sell your personal information and we never have. Data reaches only the services that make the site work: our web host, Google Analytics and our email provider. Each receives only what it needs. We will also disclose information where a law or a valid legal order requires it, and we will tell you unless we are forbidden to.
How long we keep things
| What | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Published comments and their metadata | Indefinitely, so that replies stay readable. Ask and we will delete yours. |
| Comments never approved | Deleted within 60 days |
| Messages you send us | 24 months from the last reply |
| Email subscribers | Until you unsubscribe |
| Server access logs | As long as our host retains them, typically a few weeks |
| Google Analytics data | 14 months, the shortest retention Google offers |
Your rights
If you are in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area you may ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, have it corrected, have it erased, restrict or object to how we use it, receive it in a portable form, and withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not undo processing that already happened lawfully. You may also complain to your national data protection authority, and in the United Kingdom that is the Information Commissioner.
If you are a California resident you may ask what personal information is collected and why, ask for it to be deleted or corrected, and opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information as California law defines those words. You will never be treated differently for exercising a right.
Write to contact@crochetilly.com. We answer within the period the applicable law allows, which is one month under UK and EU rules, and we may ask you to confirm your identity first so that we do not hand your data to somebody else.
Children
Crochetilly is written for adults who crochet, including adults making things for children. It is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us personal information, write to us and we will delete it.
Security, and what happens if it fails
The site is served over an encrypted connection, the administration area is password protected and rate limited against repeated login attempts, and the software is kept updated. No website can promise perfect security and we do not.
If a breach happens that is likely to put your rights at risk, we will report it to the relevant supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and we will tell the people affected without undue delay.
Data leaving your country
Some of our providers, Google among them, process data in the United States. Those transfers rely on the safeguards those providers publish, which are the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK addendum to them, and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified under it.
Changes
When this policy changes we update the date at the top. A change that affects what we collect or who receives it will be flagged on the site itself rather than made quietly.