Privacy Policy
How Underwater Scotland® handles information when you browse, search, save locations or get in touch.
The site shows Scottish locations, legends, videos, weather, ratings and map pins. Some features communicate with hosting and external service providers. Saved Places is stored in your own browser; locating nearby places uses device permission. We do not treat these features as proof that no personal data is processed.
1. Who operates this website?
This Privacy Policy explains how Underwater Scotland®, an independent website project operating underwaterscotland.co.uk, handles personal information. For privacy questions or requests, contact contact@underwaterscotland.co.uk.
We are responsible for personal data we decide to collect and use through our own site services. External websites or services may be responsible for their own processing when you use them.
2. What information may be processed?
Depending on what you do, the website or the services it uses may process:
- Technical information: IP address, approximate network location, browser/device type, pages or files requested, timestamps, security signals and server logs.
- Contact details: your email address, name if supplied, and the content of any email you send.
- Search information: place names or postcodes you choose to enter in search.
- Nearby-location information: device coordinates when you explicitly allow geolocation.
- Saved Places: identifiers of chosen places kept in browser storage.
- Site interactions: requests to view maps, weather, places and aggregate ratings.
- Optional analytics: if you consent, Google Analytics 4 may process page views, interactions, referral sources, browser/device information, approximate location and analytics identifiers used to understand use of the website.
Simply visiting the site does not require you to create an account. The available page code does not establish what every WordPress plugin or hosting component may additionally collect.
3. Why we use information and our lawful bases
Personal data should be used only where a lawful basis under applicable data protection law applies. Based on the currently reviewed features, the purposes and likely bases are:
| Purpose | Information involved | Potential UK GDPR lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver the website, maintain performance, secure and troubleshoot it | Technical and security logs | Legitimate interests in running and protecting the service; legal obligation where applicable |
| Answer emails and handle privacy requests | Details in your message | Legitimate interests in responding; legal obligation for certain requests |
| Provide search, postcode results, maps and weather at your request | Search input and technical request data | Legitimate interests in providing requested features, subject to the applicable rules |
| Find nearby locations after you enable device location | Location used by your browser | Subject to the actual implementation; device permission is not, by itself, UK GDPR consent |
| Optional Google Analytics 4, only after you consent | Page views, usage events, referral sources and analytics identifiers | Consent; see Cookie Policy |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests must be balanced against your rights. The lawful bases in this draft must be checked against the site’s actual processing before publication.
4. Search, postcode and “Near me”
The search tool can search by place name, postcode or nearby places. Place-name data is loaded from the website’s own places service. Entering a postcode sends that value to a site-operated postcode-search endpoint hosted on *.underwatertresurescotland.workers.dev, which may receive normal technical request information.
The Near me button asks your browser for device-location permission. In the reviewed search script, the coordinates are used in the browser to calculate distance to the available places; they are not visibly submitted as part of that nearest-place calculation. Other code and infrastructure have not been audited. You can deny permission or revoke it in browser or device settings.
You are free not to supply a postcode or location. You can still browse places manually.
5. Maps and location pins
The interactive map uses MapLibre with external OpenFreeMap map styles and tiles; map libraries may be loaded through unpkg.com. The website also requests location and marker data through site-managed services such as underwater-map.underwatertresurescotland.workers.dev.
When external map resources load, providers may receive your IP address, requested resource, and ordinary browser request information. The map is not the old embedded Google Maps iframe. Selecting Google directions takes you to Google’s separate website, where its own privacy terms apply.
Provider information: OpenFreeMap, MapLibre and Google Privacy Policy.
6. Saved Places and local browser storage
The Saved Places feature keeps chosen place IDs in your browser’s localStorage under the key underwaterScotlandSavedPlaces. This allows favourites to remain available in the same browser when you return.
The inspected code saves and reads these identifiers locally. The list may remain until you remove saved entries, clear site data or your browser deletes it. Another browser or device may have a different list. Browser storage is also explained in the Cookie Policy.
7. Weather, ratings and website API services
The Home and Hidden Locations pages request place information, weather results and aggregated community ratings through site-managed API endpoints. These include metoffice-api.underwatertresurescotland.workers.dev and underwater-ratings.underwatertresurescotland.workers.dev. These technical requests may involve IP addresses and request metadata.
The supplied listing code shows rating summaries but does not establish what information may be collected by a separate rating-submission feature on an individual location page. If such a feature is enabled, its collection, abuse-prevention measures and retention must also be reflected here.
Weather information shown on the site should not be treated as a guarantee of conditions at a particular place.
8. Images, video, audio and external links
Images and some videos are served from externally hosted asset domains, including assets.zyrosite.com. Loading media can disclose normal technical request information to the hosting provider. Some legends offer audio narration.
Links to TikTok and to Google Maps directions open external services. The inspected pages do not demonstrate that clicking such links embeds those services on the current page. Once you visit an external site, its own privacy policy and cookies apply.
9. Email and enquiries
The Contact page uses an email link, not a contact form in the reviewed code. If you email us, we receive the sender address and anything you choose to include. Your own email provider and the receiving mail service also process information needed to deliver the message.
We use the message to respond, handle suggestions, manage follow-up correspondence, or meet applicable legal requirements. Please do not send sensitive personal information unless necessary.
10. Cookies, site security and analytics
WordPress, Hostinger and security-related components may use necessary technical cookies or similar technologies. The reviewed source shows browser storage for Saved Places, but cannot by itself verify the complete live inventory of cookies, scripts or plugin activity.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Underwater Scotland® has configured optional website analytics (measurement ID G-XE7JFZWH91) to understand visits, page popularity, traffic sources and interactions so we can improve the site. Where enabled, Google may receive usage events and technical information such as browser/device data and online identifiers. We do not use the UWS Cookie Consent integration to enable Google advertising or ad personalisation.
Your choice comes first. The UWS Cookie Consent plugin does not load its GA4 tag before you choose to accept analytics. If you reject analytics or have not made a choice, the plugin does not send analytics events to Google. You can change your decision later; withdrawal stops future tracking through this plugin, but does not undo information already processed before withdrawal. This control covers the GA4 tag managed by UWS Cookie Consent, not any independent tracking code installed separately.
Consent record and aggregate statistics. A first-party cookie called uwscc_choice_v1 remembers your accept/reject choice for up to 180 days. Independently of GA4, the plugin counts the numbers of acceptances, rejections and changes of choice by day in WordPress. Its statistics table does not store IP addresses, email addresses or individual visitor histories; ordinary server access logs may still be generated when a request is made.
For details and to open the consent controls again, visit our Cookie Policy and use the button to change cookie settings. Optional analytics cookies, such as _ga and _ga_*, may be set only after analytics consent, depending on browser and GA4 configuration. See also Google Privacy Policy.
11. Who may receive information
Depending on the page and action, information may be handled by service providers needed to deliver the site: Hostinger/WordPress hosting and security providers, Cloudflare Workers-based website API services, OpenFreeMap map resources, the unpkg.com library CDN, external media hosts such as assets.zyrosite.com, and email providers when you contact us.
When you choose to visit external TikTok or Google services, those providers handle your data under their own notices. We do not need to send them your contact email simply for linking to their sites.
A final list of processors, their roles and relevant agreements should be verified against the active hosting account, plugins and infrastructure.
If you agree to analytics, Google (Google Analytics 4) may also receive the analytics information described in section 10. See Google Privacy Policy.
12. International data transfers
External hosting, CDN and service providers may process or route technical information outside the United Kingdom. The precise locations and transfer mechanisms cannot be confirmed from HTML/JavaScript alone.
Where personal data is transferred internationally, we must ensure any required protections are in place under the applicable law, which may include an adequacy regulation or approved contractual safeguards. Provider locations and safeguards require verification before final publication.
When you consent to Google Analytics 4, Google may process analytics data internationally. The applicable locations, roles and transfer safeguards should be checked against the current Google Analytics arrangements.
13. How long information is kept
Saved Places stays in your browser until you clear or remove it. Messages are kept only for as long as reasonably needed to respond, manage a continuing enquiry or meet legal duties. Technical logs are retained according to relevant operational and security requirements and the configured retention of our providers.
The cookie uwscc_choice_v1 remembers your preference for up to 180 days unless you delete it earlier. The plugin stores daily aggregate consent counts in WordPress without a configured automatic deletion period. GA4 data retention depends on the Google Analytics property settings; those settings and any provider retention periods must be checked before publication.
14. Your privacy rights and choices
Subject to applicable law and exceptions, you may have rights to access, correct, erase, restrict or object to use of your personal data, and in some circumstances to data portability. You can also withdraw consent for processing that relies on consent, without affecting prior lawful processing.
Your right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests in accordance with the applicable law. We will consider such requests and explain the outcome.
To make a request or complain about our handling of information, email contact@underwaterscotland.co.uk. Please describe your request sufficiently to let us locate relevant information; we may need to verify identity.
You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We encourage you to contact us first so we can investigate.
To withdraw or change your analytics choice, open the Cookie Policy and select the cookie-settings button when consent controls are enabled. Rejecting analytics does not prevent you from using the essential features of the website.
15. Automated decisions and sources of information
The provided Home and Hidden Locations scripts sort, filter and recommend places using selections, saved IDs, approximate distances, weather and ratings. We have not identified any solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on visitors in those scripts.
Information generally comes directly from you (for example search input or emails), from routine browser and server requests, and from operational services used to deliver pages. If significant automated decisions or data from new third-party sources are introduced, this notice will be updated.
16. Security, children and changes
We aim to use appropriate safeguards and limit the information needed to provide the site. No internet transmission or system can be guaranteed completely secure. The website provides travel and heritage information and is not designed to request sensitive data from children.
We may update this policy when site functions, service providers or legal requirements change. The date at the top indicates the last revision of this document. Material changes to personal-data uses should be communicated as required by law.
Privacy enquiries: contact@underwaterscotland.co.uk.
Underwater Scotland® · Independent project · Privacy Policy