Privacy and Cookies

Who we are

The Savvy Sighthound is a website written by a small group of sighthound owners in Ireland and the UK. For the purposes of data protection law, the data controller is The Savvy Sighthound, Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland. There's no company or other legal entity behind us. Just us, and a lot of hounds.

If you have any question about this notice or your personal data, email us at hello@thesavvysighthound.com.

This notice explains how we handle personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018. For visitors in the UK, it also covers the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. We're not required to appoint a data protection officer, so any request comes straight to us.

What we collect

We keep this to the minimum. We don't sell anything, we don't run ads and we don't ask for anything we don't need.

• Contact form: Your name, email address, your hound's name if you share it and whatever you choose to tell us in your message.
• Newsletter sign-up: Your email address, and your name if you give it. We also get basic information about whether our emails are delivered and opened, and which links are clicked.
• Analytics and cookies: If you agree, information about how you use the site, such as the pages you visit, how long you stay, the device and browser you use, your approximate location (country or city level) and how you arrived. This comes from cookies set by our analytics tools. See the cookies section below.
• Server logs: Like every website, our host automatically records technical information when you visit, such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested and the date and time. This is used to keep the site running and secure.

We don't knowingly collect special category data (such as health information about you). Please don't send it to us through the contact form. Stories about your hound's health are always welcome. Your own medical history isn't something we need.

Why we use it

The law says we need a lawful basis for each use of your data. Here's ours.

• Replying to your messages: Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). If you write to us, we have a legitimate interest in reading your message and replying to it.
• Sending the newsletter: Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). We only send it if you sign up, and you can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email.
• Keeping a suppression list: Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). If you unsubscribe, we keep your email address on a short do not send list, so you're never added back by mistake. More on that below.
• Analytics cookies: Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR, and Regulation 5 of the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011). These cookies are only set if you click Accept on the cookie banner.
• Essential cookies and site security: Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). We and our host need to keep the site working, stop spam and protect it from attack. Strictly necessary cookies don't need your consent under the 2011 Regulations.

We don't use your data for automated decision making or profiling that has any legal or similarly significant effect on you.

Who we share it with

We don't sell your data and we don't share it with anyone for their own marketing. We use two service providers, known as processors, who handle data on our behalf and only on our instructions.

• Squarespace: Hosts the website, runs the contact form and newsletter sign-up (including Squarespace Email Campaigns, which sends the newsletter), sets the essential cookies and keeps the server logs. For anyone outside the US, the Squarespace company responsible is Squarespace Ireland Limited. Squarespace also uses some technical information about visitors, such as IP addresses, for its own purposes, mainly keeping its platform secure. For that, it's a controller in its own right, and its own privacy policy applies.
• Google: Provides Google Analytics, which tells us how people use the site. For us, the service is provided by Google Ireland Limited.

We may also disclose personal data if the law requires it, for example in response to a valid request from a court or regulator.

International transfers

Both providers are part of groups based in the United States, so some of your data may be transferred to or accessed from the US. Where that happens, it's protected by one of the safeguards recognised under the GDPR.

• The EU-US Data Privacy Framework: The European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for this framework on 10 July 2023, which allows data to flow to US companies certified under it. Squarespace, Inc. and Google LLC are both listed as active participants on the official Data Privacy Framework list, including its UK Extension, which covers transfers from the UK.
• Standard contractual clauses: Contract terms approved by the European Commission, which both providers include in their data protection terms as a further safeguard.

The EU General Court upheld the framework on 3 September 2025. That judgment has been appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the appeal hasn't been decided yet. If the position changes, we'll update this notice.

How long we keep it

Our rule of thumb is one year, and nothing longer than we need. Unlike a greyhound with a stolen slipper, we don't hoard.

• Contact form messages: 12 months from our last exchange with you, then deleted, unless the conversation needs to be kept for a legal reason.
• Newsletter: For as long as you're subscribed. When you unsubscribe, we keep a record of your sign-up and your unsubscribe for 12 months, in case we ever need to show you agreed, then delete it.
• Suppression list: The one exception. We keep your email address, and nothing else, on a do not send list for as long as the newsletter runs. It's never used to contact you. It exists so that if your address turns up again, say in an old sign-up list, the system knows not to email you.
• Google Analytics data: 2 months. After that, Google deletes the visitor-level data linked to analytics cookies. We'd have liked 12 months, but Google only offers 2 or 14 months on the standard service, so we chose the shorter one. Our overall visitor totals are anonymous and aren't affected.
• Server logs: Kept by Squarespace for as long as it needs them to run and protect its service, as set out in its own privacy policy. It doesn't publish a fixed period, and we don't control or access these logs.
• Cookies: The times listed in the cookie lists below.

Your rights

You have the following rights over your personal data. They're yours, and using them is free.

• Access: Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: Ask us to correct anything that's wrong or incomplete.
• Erasure: Ask us to delete your data.
• Restriction: Ask us to limit how we use your data, for example while a correction is checked.
• Objection: Object to anything we do on the basis of legitimate interests.
• Portability: Ask for data you gave us in a common, machine-readable format, or for it to be sent to someone else.
• Withdrawing consent: Change your mind at any time. Unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any email, or change your cookie choice using the Cookie settings link in the footer. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

To use any of these rights, email hello@thesavvysighthound.com. We'll reply within one month. In rare cases the law lets us extend that by two further months, and if so we'll tell you why. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request.

How to complain

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, we'd like the chance to put it right, so please tell us first at the same email address. We'll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and reply properly as quickly as we can.

You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority at any time.

• In Ireland: The Data Protection Commission, dataprotection.ie
• In the UK: The Information Commission (called the Information Commissioner's Office until 30 September 2026), ico.org.uk

If you live elsewhere in the EU, you can also complain to the data protection authority in your own country.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device. Sadly, none of them are edible, which has been a huge disappointment to the hounds. Essential cookies are always on because the site needs them to work. Analytics cookies are only set if you click Accept on the cookie banner, and rejecting them is just as easy. You can change your mind at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer.

Essential cookies (Squarespace)

• crumb: Prevents cross-site request forgery, a type of security attack. Expires at the end of your session.
• ss_performancecookiesAllowed: Remembers whether you allowed performance (analytics) cookies. 30 days.
• ss_marketingcookiesAllowed: Remembers whether you allowed marketing cookies. 30 days. We don't currently use marketing cookies.
• RecentRedirect: Prevents redirect loops if a page address has changed. 30 minutes.
• squarespace-popup-overlay: Stops a pop-up from showing again once you've closed it. Persistent.
• squarespace-announcement-bar: Stops the announcement bar from showing again once you've closed it. Persistent.
• _ssid: Remembers devices for anti-fraud purposes. Four years.

Analytics cookies (set only with your consent)

• _ga (Google Analytics): Distinguishes one visitor from another. Two years.
• _ga_<container ID> (Google Analytics): Keeps track of your session. Two years.
• ss_cvr and ss_cpvisit (Squarespace Analytics): Identify unique visitors and track their visits. Two years.
• ss_cvisit and ss_cvt (Squarespace Analytics): Track a visit and what happens during it. 30 minutes.
• ss_cid (Squarespace Analytics): Identifies unique visitors and tracks sessions. Two years.

Some browsers cut these times short on their own. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block essential cookies, some parts of the site may not work properly.

Children

This site is written for adult sighthound owners and isn't aimed at children. We don't knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16, which is the digital age of consent in Ireland. If you think a child has sent us personal data, email us and we'll delete it.

Changes to this notice

We'll update this notice if the way we handle data changes, or if the law does. The date below shows when it was last updated. If a change is significant, we'll put a note on the site and, where we have your email address for the newsletter, let you know.

Last updated: 19 October 2026