Privacy Policy | chefs.studio

Version 1.0 | Effective Date: June 2026 | Last reviewed: June 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Chefs.studio collects, uses, stores and protects your personal data, and sets out the rights you have under applicable data protection law. Please read it carefully.

This policy should be read alongside our Terms and Conditions and our Cookie Policy.

1. Who We Are

Chefs.studio is operated by Chefs.Studio in Co Durham, UK

For the purposes of data protection law, Ian McAndrew is the data controller responsible for your personal data collected through this website.

Contact details:
Ian McAndrew
Co Durham, UK
Email: [email protected]
Website: chefs.studio

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about how we handle your personal data, please contact us using the details above.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect personal data in the following circumstances:

2.1 When You Leave a Comment

When you submit a comment on the site, we collect your name, email address, website URL (if provided), IP address, and browser user agent string. Your email address is used to check whether you have a Gravatar profile image. Your IP address and browser data are collected to assist with spam detection.

2.2 When You Register for an Account

If you register for an account on Chefs.studio, we collect your name, email address, username, and any profile information you choose to provide. We store this information in your user profile for as long as your account remains active.

2.3 When You Subscribe to the Newsletter

When you sign up to receive Ian McAndrew's newsletter, we collect your first name, last name, and email address. We use this information solely to send you the newsletter and related updates. Your consent to receive the newsletter is recorded at the point of signup.

2.4 When You Purchase an eBook or Other Product

When you purchase a product through Chefs.studio, we collect the personal and payment information necessary to process your order. This may include your name, email address, billing address, and payment details. Payment transactions are processed by a third-party payment processor and we do not store full card details on our servers. Please refer to Section 6 for details of third-party processors.

2.5 When You Contact Us

When you use our contact form or contact us directly by email, we collect the information you provide, including your name, email address, and the content of your message.

2.6 Automatically Collected Data

When you visit Chefs.studio, certain data is collected automatically, including your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, and time and date of your visit. This data is collected via Google Analytics cookies. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To operate the website -- to provide you with access to Chefs.studio and its content, and to maintain your account if you have registered.
To manage comments -- to display your approved comments and to detect and prevent spam.
To send the newsletter -- to deliver the weekly newsletter and editorial updates to subscribers who have opted in.
To process purchases -- to fulfil orders for eBooks and other products, and to provide customer support in relation to those orders.
To respond to enquiries -- to reply to messages sent via the contact form or by email.
To improve the website -- to analyse how visitors use Chefs.studio using aggregated, anonymised analytics data, and to improve content and user experience accordingly.
To comply with legal obligations -- to meet our obligations under applicable law, including data protection, tax and accounting requirements.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The basis we rely on for each type of processing is as follows:

Comments -- Legitimate interests (operating a functional, spam-free website).
Registered accounts -- Contract (to provide the account features you have requested).
Newsletter -- Consent (you actively opt in at the point of signup, and you may withdraw consent at any time).
Purchase processing -- Contract (to fulfil the purchase you have made).
Contact form enquiries -- Legitimate interests (responding to communications directed to us).
Analytics -- Consent (collected via our cookie consent tool; you may withdraw consent at any time via our cookie preferences).
Legal compliance -- Legal obligation.

5. Cookies

Chefs.studio uses cookies to operate the site, remember your preferences, and analyse usage via Google Analytics. Full details of the cookies we use, their purpose and duration, and how to manage your preferences are set out in our Cookie Policy.

When you first visit the site, you will be presented with a cookie consent notice. Non-essential cookies (including analytics cookies) are only placed with your consent. You can update your cookie preferences at any time via the cookie settings link in the footer.

6. Third Parties We Share Data With

We do not sell your personal data to any third party. We share data only in the following limited circumstances:

6.1 Gravatar (Automattic Inc.)

When you leave a comment, an anonymised hash of your email address is sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you have a profile image. Automattic's privacy policy is available at automattic.com/privacy.

6.2 Google Analytics (Google LLC)

We use Google Analytics to collect anonymised data about how visitors use Chefs.studio. IP anonymisation is enabled, meaning your full IP address is never stored. Google Analytics data is processed by Google LLC in accordance with Google's privacy policy, available at policies.google.com/privacy. Analytics cookies are only placed with your consent.

6.3 Spam Detection Service

Comments submitted on the site may be checked through an automated spam detection service. This may involve your comment content, name, email address and IP address being passed to the service provider.

6.4 Payment Processor

When you purchase a product through Chefs.studio, your payment details are processed by [INSERT PAYMENT PROCESSOR NAME, e.g. Stripe / PayPal]. We do not store your full payment card details. Please refer to your payment processor's own privacy policy for details of how they handle your data.

6.5 Email / Newsletter Provider

Newsletter subscriber data (name and email address) is stored and managed via [INSERT EMAIL PLATFORM, e.g. Mailchimp / MailPoet]. Please refer to that platform's privacy policy for details of how your data is handled.

6.6 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal data to law enforcement or regulatory authorities if required to do so by law, or if we reasonably believe such disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

7. Sponsored Content and Commercial Partners

Chefs.studio works with commercial partners, including Roller Grill International, on sponsored content. Sponsored content relationships do not result in the sharing of any visitor personal data with those partners. Sponsored content is clearly labelled on the site.

8. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Specifically:

Comments -- retained indefinitely to enable recognition and moderation of follow-up comments, unless you request deletion.
Registered accounts -- retained for as long as your account is active. If you close your account, your personal data will be deleted or anonymised, except where retention is required for legal or accounting purposes.
Newsletter subscriptions -- retained until you unsubscribe. You may unsubscribe at any time via the link included in every newsletter email.
Purchase records -- retained for a minimum of seven years in accordance with Malta's accounting and tax obligations.
Contact form messages -- retained for as long as is necessary to respond to and resolve your enquiry, and for a reasonable period thereafter.
Analytics data -- aggregated and anonymised; retained in accordance with Google Analytics default retention settings (26 months).

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

As a data subject under the GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access -- you have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification -- you have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Right to erasure -- you have the right to request that we delete your personal data, subject to any legal obligations requiring us to retain it.
Right to restriction -- you have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability -- you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and to have it transferred to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to object -- you have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including for direct marketing purposes.
Right to withdraw consent -- where processing is based on your consent (such as newsletter subscription or analytics cookies), you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to all requests within one month. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.

10. International Data Transfers

Some of our third-party service providers, including Google LLC, are based outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with GDPR requirements, such as standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission.

11. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction or alteration. These include the use of HTTPS encryption on the site, restricted access to personal data, and regular security monitoring.

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we take data security seriously, we cannot guarantee absolute security and encourage you to take appropriate precautions when sharing personal information online.

12. Children's Privacy

Chefs.studio is not directed at children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child, please contact us immediately at [email protected] and we will take steps to delete it.

13. Links to Third-Party Websites

Chefs.studio may contain links to third-party websites. This Privacy Policy applies only to our website. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party sites and encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal data.

14. How to Complain

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, please contact us in the first instance at [email protected] and we will do our best to resolve the matter.

If you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Maltese data protection supervisory authority:

Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC)
Level 2, Airways House
High Street, Sliema SLM 1549
Malta
Website: idpc.org.mt
Email: [email protected]

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last reviewed" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify registered users by email or by displaying a notice on the site.

We encourage you to review this page periodically. Your continued use of Chefs.studio after any changes have been published constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

This Privacy Policy was last reviewed in June 2026.

Privacy policy for Chefs.studio.