Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for DonsTalk

Last updated: July 2026

Welcome to DonsTalk (accessible via https://www.donstalk.co.uk).

We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal data when you visit and use our online foru,, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please read this policy carefully. By registering an account or using the DonsTalk platform, you agree to the practices described below.

Important Information and Who We Are

DonsTalk is an independent, user-generated forum for football fans. Under the UK GDPR, the "Data Controller" is the administration team of DonsTalk.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, lease contact the site administrator via the Contact Us page or via the designated administrator email address donstalk@invernessreds.co.uk

The Data We Collect About You

"Personal data" means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we group as follows:

• Identity data: Username and any name details you choose to provide.

• Contact data: Email address (required for registration, account verification, and password resets).

• Technical data: Internet Protocol (IP) address, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system, and platform used to access the site.

• Profile data: Your password (encrypted), preferences, feedback, and contributions to the forum (posts, private messages, signatures, and avatar images).

• Usage data: Information about how you use our website, including threads viewed, time spent on pages, and search queries.

We do no actively collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (such as details about your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, political opinions, or health data). However, please be aware that any information you freely disclose in your public forum posts becomes public information.

How and Why We Use Your Personal Data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we use your personal data under the following Lawful Bases:

1. Performance of a Contract: To manage your account and provide you with access to the forum services you have requested by registering.

2. Legitimate Interest: To maintain the security, integrity, and safety of our community (e.g., anti-spam measures, prevent ban evasion, and investigating guideline breaches).

3. Consent: Where you have explicitly opted-in to receive specific email notifications or newsletters. You can withdraw this consent at any time via your account settings.

Summary of Processing Activities

• To register you as a new member: (Contract)

• To manage your account and preference: (Contract)

• To run anti-spam and security checks (IP tracking): (Legitimate Interests)

• To send you site updates or system notifications: (Contract/Legitimate Interests)

How We Collect Your Data

We collect data from you via different methods:

• Direct Interaction: Information you give us when you fill in forms, register an account, update your profile, send private messages, or publish posts.

• Automated Technologies: As you interact with our website, we automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. We collect this data using cookies and server logs.

Cookies and Similar Technologies

DonsTalk uses cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide a seamless browsing experience.

• Essential Cookies: These are strictly necessary for the technical operation of the forum. They keep you securely logged in, remember your preference, and maintain session security.

• Analytics / Performance Cookies: We may use third-party tools (like Google Analytics) to track anonymous site traffic and usage patterns to help us improve the platform.

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or fail to function properly.

Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal data to third parties. We may share your data only in the following limited circumstances:

• Service Providers: Trusted third parties who provide technical infrastructure, forum software maintenance, or email delivery systems (acting as Data Processors).

• Legal Obligation: Where we are legally required to do so to comply with UK law, enforce our Site Guidelines, or protect the safety and rights of our users or the public.

• External Links: DonsTalk contains user-generated links to external websites. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy policies.

International Data Transfers

The servers hosting DonsTalk are located within the European Economic Area (EEA). If any of our service providers (such as backup cloud storage or anti-spam filters) transfer data outside the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) are in place.

Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, altered, disclosed, or accessed in an unauthorised way (including HTTPS encryption and password hashing). We limit access to your data to administrators and moderators who have legitimate operational need to know.

Data Retention: How Long Will We Keep Your Data?

• Account Data: We will retain your identity and contact data for as long as your account is active.

• Public Contributions: Because a forum relies on historical discussions, if you choose to delete your account, your public forum posts will remain visible to preserve the context of threads. However, your username will be completely anonymised (e.g. changed to "Guest123"), and your avatar, profile information, and private messages will be permanently deleted.

Your Legal Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK data protection laws, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Request Access (Subject Access Request): You can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

• Request Correction: You can request that we correct any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you.

• Request Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can ask us to delete your account and personal identifiers.

• Object to Processing: You can object to us processing your data under "legitimate interests: grounds.

• Request Restrictions: You can ask us to suspend the processing of your data while you verify its accuracy or lawfulness.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via the Contact Us page or via admin email. We aim to respond to all legitimate requests within one calendar month.

Right to Complain

You also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns directly before you approach the ICO.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. Any updates will be posted on this page, and significant changes will be announced via a pinned announcment on the forum boards.