Privacy Policy – Visit Macclesfield (Community Project)

Last Updated: 26 February 2026

1. Introduction

Visit Macclesfield (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is a community project dedicated to providing a comprehensive visitor and town guide for Macclesfield and the surrounding areas. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal data when you visit our website (https://www.visitmacclesfield.co.uk) and interact with our services.

Community project status: We are run as a community project (supported by local business sponsorship) to help visitors and residents discover local events, attractions, places to eat and drink, accommodation, and community information.

As a UK-based community initiative, we process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following types of personal information:

  • Identity and Contact Data: Including your name and email address, provided when you subscribe to our newsletter, submit an event, or contact us via our website forms.
  • Business Listing Data: Information provided by local businesses, including business names, contact details, addresses, and promotional descriptions.
  • Technical Data: Including your IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
  • Usage Data: Information about how you use our website, products, and services.
  • Marketing and Communications Data: Your preferences in receiving updates from our community project and our third-party sponsors.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We use different methods to collect data from and about you:

  • Direct Interactions: You may give us your Identity and Contact Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email, or otherwise.
  • Automated Technologies: As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment and browsing actions. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies.
  • Third Parties: We may receive technical data from analytics providers such as Google Analytics.

4. How We Use Your Personal Data

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

  • To provide our services: Including managing event listings, promoting local attractions, and facilitating the “Town Guide” functionality.
  • Communication: To respond to your inquiries or send you community updates and newsletters where you have opted in.
  • Sponsorship Management: To manage relationships with the local businesses that sponsor and support this community project.
  • Website Improvement: To use data analytics to improve our website, services, and user experience.
  • Legal Obligations: Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

5. Legal Basis for Processing

Our legal bases for processing your data include:

  • Consent: Where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose (e.g., accepting non-essential cookies, subscribing to a newsletter, or opting in to receive updates).
  • Legitimate Interests: Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests as a community project (for example, operating and improving our website, understanding how people use the site, maintaining the security of the site, and promoting community information and local events), provided your fundamental rights and freedoms do not override those interests.

6. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to distinguish you from other users, help the site function properly, and (where you allow it) understand how the website is used. We use a CookieYes consent banner to allow you to manage your cookie preferences and to record your choices.

Cookies and tools we have identified on the site may include:

  • CookieYes (consent management): Used to display the cookie banner, store your cookie preferences, and evidence your consent choices.
  • YouTube (video preferences): If we embed YouTube videos, YouTube may set cookies or use similar technologies to remember your preferences and support video playback and embedded player functionality (and, depending on your settings/consent, may also be used for measurement and personalisation by YouTube/Google).
  • Sourcebuster (analytics/attribution): Used to help understand how visitors arrive at the site (e.g., marketing source/attribution) and to support basic analytics about traffic sources.
  • JetPack (metrics/site performance): Used for site statistics and metrics (e.g., page views and usage patterns) to help us understand how the website is performing and how it is used.
  • WordPress (emojis): Used to support the display of emoji icons on the website.

You can manage your cookie choices at any time via the CookieYes banner/settings. If you disable certain cookies, some parts of the website may not work as intended.

7. Data Sharing and Third-Party Links

As a community project supported by local business sponsorship, we may occasionally share aggregated, non-identifiable information with our sponsors. We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

Our website contains links to third-party websites (e.g., local attractions, festival ticket sites, and businesses). Clicking on those links may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements.

8. Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered, or disclosed.

9. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for community information purposes and to operate and improve the website. This includes keeping data long enough to respond to enquiries, administer event submissions and listings, and meet any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements that apply. When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it or anonymise it.

10. Your Legal Rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under UK GDPR in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:

  • Request access to your personal data (a “subject access request”).
  • Request rectification (correction) of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
  • Request erasure of your personal data (in certain situations).
  • Object to processing of your personal data (in certain situations, particularly where we rely on legitimate interests).
  • Request restriction of processing of your personal data.
  • Request transfer of your personal data (data portability) where applicable.
  • Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent (this will not affect the lawfulness of processing before you withdrew it).

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in section 11.

11. Contact Details

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or if you want to exercise your data protection rights, contact us at: info@visitmacclesfield.org.uk.

Complaints (UK GDPR / 2026 procedures): You can raise a concern or complaint with us using the contact details above, and we will aim to address it promptly. 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: www.ico.org.uk. Where applicable under the complaint procedures in force in 2026, you may also be able to escalate unresolved concerns to the ICO and/or seek a legal remedy through the courts.