Your privacy matters.

Who runs this website?

Zahidrafiq.com is Zahid Rafiq’s personal technology blog. It shares technical guides and provides a way to send questions, corrections and consultancy enquiries. Zahid Rafiq is responsible for the personal information handled through the blog.

Messages and enquiries

When you use the contact form or email me, I use the information you provide, such as your name, email address and message, to read and respond to your enquiry. Please do not send passwords, access tokens or confidential customer information.

The contact form uses WPForms Lite, and enquiries are delivered by email. The mailbox zahid@zahidrafiq.com is hosted by FastComet, which provides email delivery and storage for enquiries sent to me. Your own email provider also processes messages you send. The form also uses hCaptcha to help prevent automated abuse; this service may process technical information such as your IP address, browser and interaction with the form. See hCaptcha’s privacy notice.

I handle ordinary enquiries on the basis of my legitimate interests in responding to readers and protecting the website. Where an enquiry concerns a potential service engagement, processing may also be necessary to take steps at your request before entering a contract.

How long are enquiries kept?

Routine contact enquiries are retained for up to six months after the enquiry is resolved or the last meaningful contact, and deleted sooner if they are no longer needed.

Correspondence relating to an ongoing matter, a client engagement or a legal obligation may be kept for longer where there is a specific reason. Such records are handled under an appropriate separate retention period and reviewed when that reason ends. Moving a message to an archive does not, by itself, justify keeping it longer.

Comments and spam protection

When comments are enabled, WordPress collects the details shown in the comment form, together with the visitor’s IP address and browser information to help detect spam. An approved comment and the display name you provide may be visible publicly; your email address is not displayed with the comment.

The website uses Akismet for spam protection. Relevant comment information may be processed by Automattic’s Akismet service; see Automattic’s privacy notice. This supports my legitimate interests in maintaining useful discussions and preventing abuse.

Published comments may remain while the associated article is available and the discussion remains relevant. You can request removal using the email address above. Spam, moderation records and security information are reviewed and removed when no longer needed for their purpose.

Hosting and security

The website is hosted by FastComet. Hosting and security services can process technical information, including IP addresses, requested pages and server logs, to deliver the website, troubleshoot problems and protect it from misuse. See FastComet’s privacy notice.

Access to information is limited to what is needed to operate the blog, answer enquiries and maintain security. Service providers may process information in other countries under their own arrangements and applicable data protection requirements. Their linked privacy notices explain their practices. Log and backup retention depends on the services and their configuration; the six-month enquiry policy is not a claim that all technical logs or backup copies expire on that schedule.

Cookies and your preferences

Cookies and similar browser storage help the website work and remember choices. The site uses Complianz to provide cookie controls. The banner offers Accept, Deny and Customise, and you can reopen it using Cookie settings.

WordPress can also use cookies for authenticated sessions and, if you choose to save your details when commenting, to remember those details. Cookie lifetimes vary by service and function. You can inspect, block or delete cookies using your browser settings, although this may affect some features. Denying optional cookies does not remove cookies that are already stored; these can be deleted in your browser.

Google advertising

The site has been connected to Google AdSense and submitted for review. Submission does not mean that Google has approved the site or that ads are currently being served.

Google’s advertising technology can process technical information and may use cookies or similar technologies to serve, personalise and measure advertising. Personalised advertising can use information about visits to this and other websites. Read how Google uses information from sites that use its services and Google’s advertising information. You can manage Google ad personalisation through My Ad Center.

Use any Google advertising consent options presented to you as well as the site’s cookie settings. Advertising consent configuration is still being completed during review; the site’s current cookie controls should not be treated as a guarantee that every Google request is blocked before a choice. Where consent is required for optional advertising processing, it can be withdrawn through the applicable consent controls.

External links

Articles link to documentation and other websites. When you follow a link, the destination handles information under its own privacy notice. Please review that notice before sharing personal information.

Your rights and questions

Depending on applicable data protection law, you may have rights to access your personal information, correct it, request deletion or restriction, object to processing, or receive certain information in a portable format. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw that consent without affecting processing already carried out.

Contact zahid@zahidrafiq.com to make a request. I may need proportionate information to verify your identity. Some information may need to be retained to meet a legal obligation or address a legal claim. You can also complain to the relevant data protection authority, including the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

Changes to this notice

This notice will be reviewed when the website’s features, providers or data handling change. The date above shows the latest update.