Privacy Policy

GuideHQ is a reference site. You do not need an account, and we do not want more data about you than is needed to run the site and understand which guides are useful.

Who is responsible

GuideHQ is operated by HEKNO LTD (company number SC895711), Borthwick Farm Cottage, Gorebridge, EH23 4QZ, United Kingdom. It is part of the HEKNO family of products.

What we collect

• Analytics data, only if you consent.If you accept analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics to understand which guides are read, how people arrive, and where they leave. The same consent also lets us count page views and searches in HEKNO’s own analytics, which we run ourselves and which stores no cookie and no identifier. Both are used in aggregate to decide what to write next. What is measured is which page was viewed and whether a search found anything — never the words typed into the search box, which are not sent to either.
• Search queries. We record what is searched for on the site so we can see which questions people are asking and which return nothing useful. We store the query text only — not an account, a name or an identifier that ties a search back to a person.
• Standard server logs. Requests to the site generate technical records including IP address, browser type and the page requested. These are used for security and for diagnosing faults.
• Anything you send us. If you contact us about a correction, we keep what you sent for as long as it takes to act on it.

We do not sell personal data, and we do not build advertising profiles.

Cookies

Analytics cookies are set only after you consent. Necessary cookies — the ones that make the site work, including the private beta access cookie during pre-launch — are set without consent because the site cannot function without them. Details are in the Cookie Policy.

Until you make a choice, analytics is denied by default rather than assumed. You can change your decision at any time from the link in the footer.

Legal basis

• Consent for analytics cookies and any measurement that relies on them.
• Legitimate interests for security logging, fault diagnosis, and understanding aggregate site usage in a way that does not identify individuals.

Sharing

Where you have consented to analytics, data is processed by Google as our analytics provider. HEKNO’s own analytics is not a third party — it is ours, run on our own infrastructure, and nothing in it leaves HEKNO. Hosting and infrastructure providers process data on our behalf in order to serve the site. We do not share personal data with anyone else except where we are legally required to.

How long we keep things

Analytics data is retained according to the retention period configured in Google Analytics, and for a limited period in HEKNO’s own analytics. Server logs are kept for a short operational period. Search query records are retained in aggregate to inform which guides we write. Correspondence is kept for as long as needed to deal with it.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or erased, to object to or restrict processing, and to withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing analytics consent takes effect immediately and does not affect anything processed before.

To exercise any of these, contact hello@hekno.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

GuideHQ is a general reference site and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes

If this policy changes materially we will update the review date at the top of this page. Continued use of the site after a change means the updated policy applies.