Privacy Policy

Summary

• Our calculators run entirely in your browser. The measurements and prices you enter are not sent to our servers, unless you choose to send them with a Report a problem message or ask us to email you a saved job.
• We don't ask you to create an account. We use Google Analytics to count visits and see which calculators are used, but only if you allow analytics cookies.
• Our web server keeps short-lived technical logs (including IP addresses) for security, deleted after about five weeks.
• We may show adverts from Google AdSense. Advertising cookies are only used for personalised ads if you give consent, and you can change your choice at any time.
• Product links to Amazon.co.uk are affiliate links. Amazon handles any data once you're on its site.
• If you sign up for our monthly tips or price-change emails, we keep your email address until you unsubscribe. You confirm by email first, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe.

1. Who we are

This website, uktoolcalc.uk ("UkToolCalc", "we", "us"), is an independent UK publisher of free building and DIY material calculators. For the purposes of data protection law we are the data controller for personal data processed through this website. You can contact us about privacy at info@uktoolcalc.uk.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Calculator inputs

Everything you type into a calculator (room sizes, quantities, prices) is processed by JavaScript in your own browser. It is not transmitted to us, unless you send us a Report a problem message (see 2.3) or ask us to email you a saved job (see 2.5). If you press Share, your inputs are placed into a link that you copy, and they only go to whoever you choose to send it to. If you press Copy list, the text is placed on your device's clipboard.

2.2 Server logs

When you visit any website, your browser sends technical information. Our web server automatically records: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, the referring page, your browser and device type, and the response status. We use this to keep the site secure, prevent abuse and fix errors. Logs are rotated weekly and deleted after about five weeks.

2.3 Emails and messages you send us

If you email us, we receive your email address, name (if given) and the content of your message. You can also message us through the Suggest a calculator and Report a problem forms on this site. These send us your message, your email address if you give one, and the page you were on. A Report a problem message also includes the measurements you entered and the result the calculator showed, so we can check it. Messages are delivered to our mailbox and a copy is kept on our server. To stop the forms being misused, we briefly keep a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address, which is deleted within about two hours. We use your messages only to improve the calculators and to reply to you. We keep them for as long as we need to deal with them, normally no longer than 12 months.

2.4 Storage on your device

We store small items in your browser's local storage: your light/dark theme preference, your cookie consent choice, the calculators you used recently and your last measurements on them (so they're filled in when you come back), and, if you use them, your saved jobs (the calculations and shopping lists you choose to save). These stay on your device and are never sent to us. You can clear the history with Forget my history on our homepage, or Start fresh on a calculator. A job only leaves your device if you use its Share button, in which case the whole job is inside the link you send. See our Cookie Policy for full details, including analytics and advertising cookies.

2.5 Email tips, emailed jobs and price-change emails

You can give us your email address to get:

• A saved job by email (Email me this job on the My jobs page). We email you the job's shopping list and a link to open it. If that's all you ask for, we don't keep your address after sending it. We get a copy of the job itself (its name and calculations, without your email address) so we can see how the site is used.
• Price-change emails for that job (optional). We keep your email address, the job's name, the products and quantities in its "Where to buy" list, the prices on the day you signed up, and the link to the job. Once a day our server checks merchant prices and emails you if the total changes by at least £5 or 5%. These emails stop automatically after six months, and we then delete the job details.
• Monthly building tips (optional). We keep your email address and which issues we've sent you.

Nothing is sent on an ongoing basis until you click the confirm link we email you. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 7 days. With each sign-up we record the date, what you agreed to and the page you signed up from, so we can show you consented. To stop the forms being misused, we briefly keep a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address and email address for about a day. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link, which deletes your address from our list straight away. You can also email info@uktoolcalc.uk. For every email we send (including an emailed job), our mail server and our email provider, Brevo, keep a short delivery log of the recipient's address and the date and time, to handle bounces and abuse. Our mail server deletes it after about 10 days. Your address is stored on our own server and used only for these emails. We never sell it or share it for marketing.

3. Analytics (Google Analytics)

If you allow analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google Ireland Limited, to understand how visitors use the site: for example which calculators are most popular, roughly where visitors are in the world, what device and browser they use, and how they found us. This helps us decide what to improve and which calculators to add.

• Google Analytics only loads after you accept analytics cookies in our banner. If you reject them, it doesn't run at all.
• Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. It uses a randomly generated identifier stored in cookies to recognise returning browsers.
• We don't send Google your calculator inputs, name, email address or any other information that directly identifies you.
• Analytics data is kept for the retention period set in our Google Analytics account (2 months by default) and then deleted.
• You can also block Google Analytics on all websites with Google's opt-out browser add-on.

4. Advertising (Google AdSense)

We may use Google AdSense to display adverts, which helps keep the site free. Google is a third-party vendor and uses cookies and similar technologies to serve ads:

• With your consent, Google and its partners may use cookies to show personalised ads based on your visits to this and other websites.
• If you reject advertising cookies, any ads shown are non-personalised: based on the page content and your approximate location rather than your browsing history.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to our site and other sites on the internet. Learn more in How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• You can opt out of personalised advertising from Google at Google Ads Settings, and from many other providers at youronlinechoices.eu or aboutads.info.

We use Google Consent Mode, so analytics and advertising storage are denied by default until you make a choice in our cookie banner. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.

5. Affiliate links

Some product links go to Amazon.co.uk and contain our Associate ID. We are a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme. We don't receive any personal data from Amazon about you; Amazon simply reports qualifying sales to us in aggregate. Once you're on Amazon's site, its own privacy notice applies.

6. Our legal bases

7. Who we share data with

• Hosting: the website runs on a server operated by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in London, United Kingdom.
• Email delivery: emails from our website (replies, emailed jobs, tips and price-change emails) are delivered through Brevo (Sendinblue SAS, France), which processes the recipient's address and the email only to deliver it.
• Google: for analytics and advertising, as described above, only where you've consented (or non-personalised ads). Google may process data outside the UK and EEA under appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum and EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Legal requirements: we may disclose information if required by law or to protect our rights.

We never sell your personal data.

8. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR and EU GDPR you have the right to: access your personal data; have it corrected; have it erased; restrict or object to its processing; data portability; and withdraw consent at any time (without affecting processing before you withdrew it). Because our calculators don't send your inputs to us, in most cases we hold no personal data about you beyond short-lived server logs.

To exercise your rights, email info@uktoolcalc.uk. If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, or to your local data protection authority if you are in the EU.

9. Children

This website is intended for adults planning building and DIY work. It is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal data.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we add new services. The "last updated" date at the top shows when it was last changed.