Privacy & Cookie Policy

Last updated: 7th September 2026

A Quick Note

I believe legal pages should be clear, honest and easy to understand.

Freedom Blogger is a personal website where I share ideas, opinions, experiences and educational content around financial freedom, time freedom, location freedom, goal setting, careers, side hustles and personal development.

I've written this page in plain English so it's easier to read, while still covering the important information you need to know. If anything is unclear, you're welcome to contact me at paul@freedomblogger.co.uk.

Who I Am

Freedom Blogger is owned and operated by me, Paul Schofield, based in the United Kingdom.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, I am the data controller responsible for any personal information collected through this website.

Information I May Collect

Depending on how you use the website, I may collect:

• Information you voluntarily provide through the contact form
• Information you provide when subscribing to a newsletter (if available)
• Comments submitted on articles (if comments are enabled)
• Technical information such as IP address, browser type and device information
• Website usage information, including pages visited and time spent on the site
• Cookie and tracking information, in line with the choices you make through the cookie consent banner described below

I only collect information that is relevant to operating, improving and protecting the website.

How I Use Your Information

I may use your information to:

• Respond to messages submitted through the contact form
• Provide newsletters or updates you have requested
• Improve the website and reader experience
• Understand how visitors use the website
• Monitor website performance and security
• Comply with legal obligations where required

Where I rely on your consent (such as sending you a newsletter, or non-essential cookies), you can withdraw that consent at any time. Where I rely on legitimate interest (such as basic security and performance monitoring), I've taken care to make sure this doesn't override your own rights and interests.

I do not sell your personal information.

Cookies and Your Choices

Like most websites, Freedom Blogger uses cookies. Cookies are small files stored on your device that help websites function properly and understand how visitors interact with content.

How consent works on this site

When you first visit Freedom Blogger, a cookie banner (powered by CookieYes) appears and asks for your permission before any non-essential cookies are set. Strictly necessary cookies, which are required simply to make the website function, are the only ones that load automatically.

Non-essential cookies, including analytics, advertising and personalisation cookies, are only set once you've actively given consent through the banner. You can accept all, reject all, or choose which categories to allow.

If you'd like to review or change your choice at any time, you can do so through the "Manage Cookies" / "Cookie Settings" button, which stays visible in the corner of the screen throughout your visit. This lets you withdraw consent, update your preferences, or see exactly what each category of cookie does, just as easily as you gave consent in the first place.

Categories of cookies used on this site

• Strictly necessary cookies – required for the website to function properly (for example, remembering your cookie preferences). These cannot be switched off.
• Analytics/performance cookies – help me understand how visitors use the site, so I can improve content and navigation. Only set with your consent.
• Advertising/personalisation cookies – used to support advertising (including Google AdSense) and affiliate tracking, and may be used by third parties to show ads that are more relevant to you. Only set with your consent.

Please note that disabling certain non-essential cookies may mean some parts of the website work slightly differently, but the core content will always remain accessible.

Analytics

I use analytics tools to better understand how visitors use Freedom Blogger. This information helps me improve content, navigation and the overall user experience. Analytics cookies are only active if you've consented to them through the cookie banner.

Analytics information is generally collected in an aggregated form and is not used to personally identify individual visitors.

Advertising and Affiliate Tracking

Freedom Blogger may display advertising, including through Google AdSense, and may participate in affiliate marketing programmes. This can involve cookies or similar technologies that help show relevant adverts and track visits, clicks and purchases made through affiliate links.

Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a visitor's prior visits to this website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this and other sites on the internet. These technologies may be operated by third-party advertising networks, affiliate platforms or other service providers, and are only active where you have given consent for advertising/personalisation cookies through the cookie banner. Where you have not consented, only non-personalised advertising (where permitted) or no advertising cookies will be used.

Your opt-out options: You can opt out of personalised advertising from Google at any time by visiting Google Ads Settings. You can also opt out of personalised advertising cookies from many other third-party vendors by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices.

For more information about how third parties, including Google, may use data collected through cookies, see Google's own page on how Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. For more on affiliate tracking specifically, please see the Affiliate & Monetisation Disclosure page.

Third-Party Services

From time to time I may use trusted third-party services to help operate the website. Examples may include:

• Ghost (website platform)
• CookieYes (cookie consent management)
• Analytics providers
• Email newsletter providers
• Advertising networks, including Google AdSense
• Affiliate marketing platforms

These services may process information in accordance with their own privacy policies. Some of these providers are based outside the UK, which means your information may be processed in other countries, including the United States. Where this happens, I only work with providers who have appropriate safeguards in place, such as certification under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the "UK-US Data Bridge") or equivalent standard contractual clauses, to protect your information in line with UK data protection law.

How Long Information Is Retained

I keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably required for the purpose it was collected. Cookie consent preferences are typically stored for up to 12 months, after which you'll be asked to confirm your preferences again. Other retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and any legal or operational requirements.

Children's Privacy

Freedom Blogger is not directed at, or intended for, children under the age of 18. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through this website, please contact me so it can be removed.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection laws, you may have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of personal information
• Restrict or object to certain processing activities
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, including at any time via the "Manage Cookies" button
• Complain directly to me, as set out below, and/or lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you have concerns about how your information is handled

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact me at paul@freedomblogger.co.uk.

How to Complain

If you're unhappy with how your personal information has been handled, I'd like the chance to put things right, so please contact me first at paul@freedomblogger.co.uk with details of your concern. I'll acknowledge your complaint and aim to look into it and respond within 30 days.

If you're not satisfied with my response, or you'd prefer to go straight to the regulator, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at any time. The ICO is the UK's independent regulator for data protection rights.

Data Security

I take reasonable steps to protect information submitted through this website. However, no website, platform or internet transmission can ever be guaranteed to be completely secure.

External Websites

Freedom Blogger may contain links to external websites. I am not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of third-party websites. I encourage you to review the privacy policies of any websites you visit.

Changes to This Policy

I may update this Privacy & Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the website, legal requirements or how information is processed. The latest version will always be published on this page, along with the date it was last updated.

Ghost (Website Platform & Hosting)

Freedom Blogger is hosted and powered by Ghost. Ghost provides the website platform and hosting services that help operate this website.

Depending on how you interact with Freedom Blogger, Ghost processes certain information on my behalf, including technical website logs, security information, newsletter subscriptions, member account information (if these features are enabled), and other data required to keep the website running safely and reliably.

Ghost acts as a service provider for Freedom Blogger and processes information in accordance with its own privacy and security practices. You can find more information by visiting Ghost's Privacy Policy.

I choose reputable service providers and expect them to handle personal information responsibly and in line with applicable data protection laws.

Tally (Contact Form)

The contact form on Freedom Blogger is provided by Tally, a third-party form-building service.

When you submit the contact form, the information you provide, such as your name, email address and message, is processed by Tally on my behalf so I can receive and respond to your enquiry. Tally stores this information on its own servers, which may be located outside the UK.

I choose Tally as a reputable service provider and expect it to handle personal information responsibly and in line with applicable data protection laws. You can find more information in Tally's own privacy policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy & Cookie Policy, please contact me at paul@freedomblogger.co.uk.

If you've made it this far, you're probably the kind of person who likes knowing how things work. I appreciate that.

Freedom Blogger is about sharing practical ideas, thoughtful opinions and useful resources to help people build more financial freedom, more time freedom and more location freedom. Enjoy exploring the site.