Privacy policy

My values and approach to privacy

I champion ethical privacy practices and passionately believe in creating work that respects people’s privacy.

I consciously design work around the principles of:

• privacy by design
• security by design
• data minimisation

My approach is not the ‘norm’ in this industry. I do not agree with widespread practices found on other websites including tracking behaviour or setting unnecessary cookies without consent. I do not agree with the publication of long and complex policies.

Information collected when you visit this website

This website is hosted in Melbourne, Australia. When you visit this website a basic server log is created, which includes your IP address, date and time, type of web browser, and pages accessed. The previous site visited is not tracked (this is known as ‘HTTP referer’, which is tracked by most other sites). Server logs are a standard part of any web server’s operation and are necessary to ensure the reliability and security of the infrastructure. Logs are protected securely and are deleted automatically within one month.

This website does not use any cookies by default. A single session cookie is set if you choose to use the style switcher to view the site in ‘dark mode’.

This website does not use analytics, advertising, third-party social media buttons, or any other mechanism designed to track your behaviour.

This website includes many links to external websites, primarily in the portfolio of work; each is responsible for providing their own privacy statement.

Your connection to this website, webmistress.au, is protected using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). You can confirm this by checking for the presence of “https” and the padlock symbol in your browser’s address bar.

Information collected when we work together

Any information you provide through the course of our work together will only be used for the the purpose for which you provide it. I collect your business name, contact details, and keep records of work related communications. I do not require or collect your bank account or credit card information.

I will add your email address to a client mailing list, stored in Campaign Monitor, which is used to send out infrequent news, updates, and notifications to clients. I do not track your email newsletter activity (normally tracked by most other newsletters).

Some projects may involve handling limited personal data of your customers when setting up systems for you. I only handle your customers’ personal data if necessary for the project, and I treat it confidentially. I will never disclose such data to any third parties. I actively minimise access to personal data, and remove access to confidential data wherever possible, once my access is no longer needed.

I actively promote best practices such as privacy by design, security by design, and data minimisation in my work, and encourage all clients to publish a privacy statement on their website.

Who’s responsible for your information

Rebecca Skeers, the owner of Webmistress, is responsible for the storage of your information. You can contact Rebecca by email at [email protected] or by phone on 0409 573 722 if you have any concerns about the information stored.

Who has access to your information

Only people directly involved with your project will have access to personal or business information associated with the project. This may include other suppliers, such as graphic designers or photographers, who are involved with your project.

How your information is stored and secured

In every aspect of my work, I implement multiple practices to ensure the protection of personal information, and go to great lengths to ensure security of data and hardware.

Where personal information is stored in an online or third-party service, I follow best practices for password management to secure those accounts. The computers I use are all protected by security measures.

Any paper copies containing personal or business information are shredded once no longer needed.

Complaints

If you have any complaints about the ways in which Webmistress handles information, or to correct information held, please contact me by email at [email protected], by phone on 0409 573 722, or by post to GPO Box 1764, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia.

Changes to this policy

My commitment to excellence and my authentic, ethical approach will never be altered, however, I reserve the right to adjust this policy to provide clarity or to cover changes in web technology or other aspects of my work.