Privacy Policy

Last updated: 22 September 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Stella Barnes / Artful Animals collects, uses and protects personal information when you visit or contact us through this website:

https://porgiecallaghan.wixsite.com/my-site-5

We respect your privacy and aim to be clear about how your information is used.

1. Who we are

The website is operated by Stella Barnes, the author of Artful Animals.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact:

Email: StellaBarnesArt@gmail.com

2. What personal information we collect

When you contact us through the contact form on this website, we may collect:

your first name;
your last name;
your email address; and
the contents of your message.

You may also provide other personal information voluntarily if you choose to include it in your message.

Please do not provide sensitive personal information through the website contact form unless it is necessary for your enquiry.

3. How we use your information

We may use the information you provide to:

respond to enquiries and messages;
communicate with you about Artful Animals;
respond to requests about educational talks or the book;
provide information you have requested; and
keep appropriate records of communications.

We will only use your personal information for purposes that are lawful and appropriate.

4. Our lawful basis for using your information

Under UK data protection law, we need a lawful basis for processing personal information.

For enquiries submitted through the contact form, we will generally process your information because it is necessary for us to respond to your request or take steps at your request before entering into a potential relationship with you.

Where we rely on consent for a particular use of your information, you have the right to withdraw that consent.

5. Who we share your information with

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

Your information may be processed by service providers that help us operate the website or provide website functionality. For example, this website is hosted using Wix, which provides the website-building and hosting platform.

Information submitted through the website may therefore be processed by Wix in accordance with its own privacy and data-processing arrangements.

We may also disclose information where we are legally required to do so, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, the website, or other people.

We do not intend to use your contact information for unrelated marketing purposes without an appropriate lawful basis.

6. Wix and cookies

This website is built using Wix.

Like many websites, Wix websites may use cookies and similar technologies. Some cookies are necessary for the website to function, remain secure, or remember certain settings. Other cookies may be used for analytics or additional features, depending on the services and integrations enabled on the website.

Where required by law, non-essential cookies and similar technologies will only be used with your consent.

You can manage cookies through your browser settings and, where available, through the website's cookie-consent settings.

Because Wix sites can contain additional apps and integrations, the cookies actually used by this website may change when website features are added or removed.

7. Links to other websites

This website contains links to external websites and services, including websites where Artful Animals may be available to purchase and social media platforms.

These external websites operate independently from us and have their own privacy policies and terms.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of external websites. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any external website before providing it with personal information.

8. How long we keep your information

We will only keep personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to respond to enquiries and maintain appropriate business records.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete or dispose of it.

The exact retention period may depend on the nature of the information and any legal or accounting requirements that apply.

9. Keeping your information secure

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

However, no method of transmitting or storing information online can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

10. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law gives you rights in relation to your personal information. These can include the right to:

ask for access to the personal information we hold about you;
ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances;
ask us to restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances;
object to certain types of processing; and
withdraw consent where we are relying on consent to process your information.

You may also have the right to receive certain personal information in a portable format.

These rights are subject to legal exceptions and may not apply in every circumstance.

To exercise your rights, please contact:

StellaBarnesArt@gmail.com

We may need to ask for information to verify your identity before responding to a request.

11. Children's privacy

Artful Animals is a children's book, but the website's contact form is intended for people wishing to contact us about the book, talks or related enquiries.

We do not knowingly ask children to provide unnecessary personal information through the website.

If a child needs to contact us, we encourage them to do so with the involvement of a parent, guardian, teacher or other responsible adult.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us unnecessarily, please contact us at StellaBarnesArt@gmail.com so that we can review the information and take appropriate action.

12. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to the website, the services we use, or applicable data protection requirements.

The latest version will be published on this page with the date of the most recent update.

13. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have used your personal information, please contact us first:

StellaBarnesArt@gmail.com

You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), if you believe your personal information has been handled unlawfully.

Further information about making a complaint is available from the ICO's website.