Privacy Policy

Bill’s Archive (“we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit our website, in compliance with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable privacy laws.

For the purposes of the UK GDPR, Bill's Archive is the Data Controller.

1. Information We Collect

We collect data to provide a better user experience, analyse site performance, and enable communication. This data falls into two categories:

1.1 Information You Voluntarily Provide

We do not require you to create an account to use this website. However, if you choose to contact us via our contact forms, you may provide:

• Personal Identifiers: Name and email address.
• Content: The subject and message content of your inquiry.

1.2 Information Automatically Collected

When you visit Bill’s Archive, certain information is automatically collected via cookies and similar technologies (subject to your consent), including:

• Technical Data: Internet Protocol (IP) address (anonymised where possible), browser type and version, time zone setting, operating system, and platform.
• Usage Data: Pages you viewed, how long you stayed, page response times, and download errors.

2. How We Use Your Information

We only use your personal data when the law allows us to. We use your information for the following purposes:

• Communication: To respond to your inquiries submitted through our contact forms (Legal Basis: Consent).
• Analytics: To analyse website traffic and understand user behaviour to improve our content (Legal Basis: Legitimate Interest / Consent).
• Advertising: To display relevant advertisements through Google AdSense to support the maintenance of this free resource (Legal Basis: Consent).
• Security: To protect the website from spam, abuse, and security threats (Legal Basis: Legitimate Interest).

3. Third-Party Services & Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. However, we use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate the site. These providers may process data on our behalf:

Google Analytics (GA4)

We use Google Analytics to track and analyse website usage. This service may collect data such as your IP address and device information. We have configured GA4 to anonymise IP addresses where possible.

Google AdSense

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google and its partners use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our website or other websites. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings.

Formspree

We use Formspree to process our contact forms. When you submit a message, the data (name, email, message) is processed by Formspree and delivered to our inbox. Formspree retains this data for the purpose of log maintenance and spam prevention. You can view Formspree's privacy policy here.

CookieYes

We use CookieYes as our Consent Management Platform (CMP). This tool helps us manage your cookie preferences and ensures we only fire non-essential scripts (like Analytics or Ads) if you have granted permission. Our CMP is configured to support the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) v2.3 to comply with current industry standards for consent signalling.

Affiliate Programmes

Bill’s Archive participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Programme and the eBay Partner Network, both affiliate advertising programmes designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to their respective platforms. Where articles or set pages contain affiliate links, clicking those links and making a qualifying purchase may result in a small commission being paid to us, at no additional cost to you. Affiliate links are used to help cover the costs of running this site. We only link to products we consider genuinely relevant to the content.

4. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We categorise cookies as follows:

You can change your preferences at any time by clicking the “Cookie Settings” icon on the screen.

5. Data Retention

We only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for:

• Analytics Data: Retained for 14 months (Google Analytics standard retention), after which it is automatically deleted.
• Contact Messages: Emails sent via Formspree are retained in our secure inbox until the inquiry is resolved or up to 2 years, whichever is shorter.

6. International Data Transfers

Many of our third-party service providers (Google, Formspree) are based outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA), specifically in the United States. Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the UK/EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

• The provider participates in the UK-US Data Bridge (extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework).
• The use of Standard Contractual Clauses approved for use in the UK.

7. Your Rights (UK GDPR)

Under the UK data protection laws, you have rights including:

• Your right of access: You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
• Your right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate.
• Your right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to restriction of processing: You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Your right to object to processing: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information (e.g., for direct marketing).

To exercise these rights, please contact us via our Contact page. You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights.

Right to Complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us via our contact form. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

8. Children’s Privacy

Bill’s Archive does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. We do not require account creation or collect personal identifiers from visitors beyond the anonymous analytics data described above, which is subject to consent via our CMP. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has submitted personal information through our contact form, please contact us and we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

9. California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

California residents have the right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of their personal information. While Bill’s Archive does not sell data for money, the use of third-party advertising cookies may be considered “sharing” under California law. You may exercise your rights via the Cookie Settings or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals.

10. External Links

Our website contains links to external sites (e.g., Bulbapedia, official Pokémon sites). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.

Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please visit our Contact page.