digitalorchid

Last updated October 2026.

This page explains what personal information I collect, why, and what I do with it, including the cookies this site uses. I'm Wayne Theisinger, trading as Digital Orchid in Norwich, and I'm responsible for your information. If you have any questions, email contact@digitalorchid.co.uk or call 0333 050 5167.

The short version

• I only collect what you choose to send me, and I use it to reply to you and do the work you ask for.
• With your permission, Google Analytics and Google Ads set cookies so I can see how people use the site and whether my adverts lead to enquiries. Say no and they set none.
• I never sell your information or share it for anyone else's marketing.
• You can change your cookie choice at any time, on this page or from Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.

What I collect

• What you send me through the contact form: your name, email address, what you need help with and your message.
• What you tell me by email or phone, and the details needed to quote, do the work and invoice you.
• The technical details every website receives when you visit, such as your IP address, your browser and the pages you ask for. These are kept by my hosting company (see below).
• If you allow it, how you use the site and whether you came from one of my Google adverts (see Google Analytics and Google Ads below).

I don't buy mailing lists, and I don't collect anything about you from other sources.

Why I use it

• To reply to you and give you a quote, because you asked me to.
• To do the work we've agreed and invoice for it, as part of our contract.
• To keep the business records the law requires, such as invoices for tax.
• To keep the site running and secure, which is in my legitimate interests.
• To measure how the site and my adverts are doing: with cookies only if you agree, and otherwise only in the cookie-free way described below, which is in my legitimate interests.

I won't add you to a mailing list or send you marketing unless you ask me to.

Where the site and your enquiry live

The site is hosted by Netlify, Inc., a company based in the United States. Like any web host, Netlify keeps server logs of visits, including your IP address, your browser and the pages you ask for.

The contact form is handled by Netlify Forms. When you send it, Netlify stores your name, email address, what you need help with and your message, along with the details it records about every enquiry: your IP address, your browser, the page you came from and the time you sent it. Netlify then emails the enquiry to my inbox, which is provided by Google Workspace. Nothing is stored on the website itself.

Netlify and Google are both based in the United States, so your information may be handled there. Both use safeguards recognised under UK data protection law for sending information abroad.

Google Analytics and Google Ads

I use Google Analytics to see which pages people find useful, and Google Ads to see whether my adverts lead to enquiries. Both are run through Google Tag Manager, and both follow the choice you make in the cookie banner:

• Analytics, if you accept it: Google Analytics records the pages you visit, how you found the site, the device and browser you use and your rough location (town or region, worked out from your IP address).
• Advertising, if you accept it: Google Ads records whether you arrived from one of my adverts and whether you then sent an enquiry, tapped the phone number or clicked the email address.

Until you choose, and if you say no, no analytics or advertising cookies are set. Google's tags still load, using a feature called Consent Mode, and send Google basic signals without cookies, such as that a page was viewed or an enquiry was sent. These carry no cookies and no identifier that recognises you, and while advertising is refused, Google strips out any advert click details. Google uses them to estimate, in totals only, how many enquiries came from my adverts. If you arrive by clicking one of my adverts, a code for that click may be added to the address of the pages you visit here, instead of being kept in a cookie, so that an enquiry can still be counted.

Google also uses this information under its own terms. You can read how in How Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Your email address and Google Ads

If you've accepted advertising cookies and send the contact form, I use a Google Ads feature called enhanced conversions to count the enquiry more accurately:

• Your browser keeps the email address you typed for one page, the thank-you page, and then removes it.
• On that page, Google's tag turns it into a scrambled code (a SHA-256 hash) in your browser, and only that code is sent to Google with the record of the enquiry.
• Google matches the code against its own accounts to tell me, in totals only, how many enquiries came from my adverts. I never see who was matched.
• Your name, what you need help with and your message are never sent to Google.

If you haven't accepted advertising cookies, your email address is not sent to Google at all, and your browser still removes it.

Cookies

Cookies are small files a website saves in your browser. This site sets one cookie of its own, to remember your choice. Everything else is set by Google, and only if you agree. The times below are the longest each cookie lasts; some are renewed when you come back.

Necessary: always on

Analytics: only if you accept

Advertising: only if you accept

Changing your mind

You can accept or refuse analytics and advertising cookies separately, and change your choice whenever you like. Use the button below, or Cookie settings at the bottom of every page.

Cookie settings

If you withdraw your consent, the site deletes the Google Analytics and Google Ads cookies it set (_ga and _gcl_), and no more are set. Cookies Google set on its own sites, such as IDE, can only be cleared from your browser's settings. You can also block or delete cookies there at any time.

Who else sees it

I never sell or share your information for anyone else's marketing. It is stored with the companies that provide my website hosting and contact form (Netlify), my email (Google Workspace) and my accounting software, who only handle it on my behalf. If you accept analytics or advertising cookies, Google also receives the information described above.

How long I keep it

• Enquiries are deleted from Netlify within three months. The copy in my inbox is kept as described below.
• Enquiries that don't lead to work are deleted within a year.
• Records of paid work, including invoices, are kept for six years because tax law requires it.
• Google Analytics keeps information about visits for 14 months, then deletes it.
• Netlify's server logs are kept by Netlify for a short time under its own privacy policy.
• Cookies last for the times shown in the tables above, or until you delete them.

Your rights

You can ask to see the information I hold about you, have it corrected, or have it deleted where I don't need to keep it by law. You can also object to how I use it, and withdraw your cookie consent at any time. Just email me. If you're unhappy with how I've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, though I'd appreciate the chance to put it right first.