Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 August 2026

Second Bell respects your privacy and aims to collect as little information about visitors as reasonably possible.

This policy explains what information may be collected when you visit secondbell.co.uk, why it is collected and how it is handled.

Who operates this website?

Second Bell is operated by Tim O’Donnell.

For questions about this privacy policy or how information is handled, contact:

Email: privacy@secondbell.co.uk

Information collected automatically

When you visit Second Bell, limited technical and usage information may be processed to deliver, secure and understand the performance of the website.

This may include:

  • the pages you visit;
  • the approximate date and time of your visit;
  • the website or search engine that referred you;
  • your general country or region;
  • your browser, operating system and device type;
  • page-loading and website-performance information;
  • technical information needed to detect malicious or automated traffic.

This information is used to:

  • provide and secure the website;
  • understand which pages and articles are useful to readers;
  • identify technical or performance problems;
  • improve the design, content and accessibility of the website;
  • identify and respond to misuse, attacks or other security threats.

Second Bell does not use website analytics to build individual visitor profiles or for targeted advertising.

Analytics

Second Bell currently uses two analytics services.

GoatCounter

GoatCounter provides aggregate information about website visits, popular pages and referral sources.

GoatCounter is designed to operate without advertising trackers and does not use cookies or browser storage to identify visitors. It does not provide Second Bell with visitors’ names, email addresses or complete IP addresses.

Analytics information is used only to understand general readership patterns and improve the website.

GoatCounter is operated from Ireland, with service data hosted in Finland and Germany.

Cloudflare Web Analytics

Cloudflare Web Analytics provides aggregate visitor and website-performance information, including page views, referral sources, approximate country, device type and Core Web Vitals.

Cloudflare Web Analytics is designed to collect limited performance and usage data without tracking visitors across different websites.

Cloudflare also processes technical traffic information as part of hosting, delivering and protecting Second Bell.

Cookies and similar technologies

Second Bell does not currently set advertising cookies or use cookies to track visitors across different websites.

GoatCounter does not place analytics cookies or use local storage in visitors’ browsers.

Cloudflare may use essential security technologies where necessary to protect the website, manage malicious traffic or provide Cloudflare services. These are used for website operation and security rather than advertising.

This section will be updated if Second Bell introduces features that use additional cookies or browser-storage technologies.

Contact by email

If you contact Second Bell by email, the information you provide may include:

  • your name;
  • your email address;
  • the content of your message;
  • any other information you choose to include.

This information will be used to read, manage and respond to your enquiry.

Email correspondence will normally be retained only for as long as it is reasonably needed to deal with the enquiry and any related follow-up. It may be retained for longer where necessary to establish a record of correspondence, meet a legal obligation or resolve a dispute.

Please do not send confidential, sensitive or unnecessary personal information by email.

Forms, comments and mailing lists

Second Bell does not currently operate visitor accounts, public comments, a newsletter mailing list or a website contact form.

This policy will be updated before any such feature is introduced.

Where a form is added, a short privacy explanation will also be displayed at the point where personal information is collected.

Lawful basis for processing

Where UK data-protection law applies, information may be processed on the following bases.

Legitimate interests

Limited website analytics and security information may be processed where it is reasonably necessary to:

  • operate and protect the website;
  • measure aggregate website use;
  • understand which content is useful;
  • improve the website’s performance and accessibility.

These activities are designed to minimise the collection of identifiable information.

Consent

Where consent is required for a future feature, such as an optional mailing list or non-essential tracking technology, visitors will be asked for consent before that processing takes place.

Legal obligations

Information may be processed where necessary to comply with a legal obligation.

Who receives information?

Information may be processed by service providers used to operate Second Bell, including:

  • Cloudflare, which hosts, delivers, protects and measures the performance of the website;
  • GoatCounter, which supplies privacy-focused website analytics;
  • the provider used to receive and store email correspondence.

These providers process information only as required to provide their respective services and are subject to their own privacy and security arrangements.

Second Bell does not sell visitors’ personal information to advertisers or data brokers.

International processing

Some service providers may process information in, or make it accessible from, countries outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, the relevant provider is responsible for using appropriate legal safeguards for those transfers.

GoatCounter states that its hosted service stores data in Finland and Germany. Cloudflare operates a global network and may process technical website traffic through infrastructure in different countries.

Retention

Second Bell retains information only for as long as it is reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was collected.

  • Aggregate analytics information may be retained to compare website traffic and performance over time.
  • Technical security information is retained according to Cloudflare’s applicable service settings and retention periods.
  • Email enquiries are normally deleted when they are no longer needed, subject to any legal, administrative or dispute-related reason for retaining them.

Because analytics platforms may apply their own retention arrangements, their retention periods may differ from those controlled directly by Second Bell.

Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights including:

  • the right to be informed about how your personal information is used;
  • the right to request access to your personal information;
  • the right to request correction of inaccurate information;
  • the right to request deletion of information;
  • the right to restrict certain processing;
  • the right to object to certain processing;
  • the right to receive information in a portable format where applicable;
  • the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

These rights do not apply in every situation, particularly where no identifiable personal information is held.

To make a request, contact:

Email:privacy@secondbell.co.uk

You may be asked for enough information to confirm your identity and locate any relevant records.

Complaints

Please contact Second Bell first if you have a concern about how your information has been handled.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, the independent regulator responsible for data protection.

Second Bell contains links to other websites.

Second Bell is not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of external websites. You should review the privacy policy of any external service you visit.

Children’s information

Second Bell is written for a general audience interested in teaching and career change. It is not intended to collect personal information directly from children.

Children should not submit personal information through email or any future website feature without the involvement of a parent, carer, teacher or other appropriate adult.

Security

Reasonable technical and organisational measures are used to protect the website and any information handled through it.

These measures include:

  • HTTPS encryption;
  • Cloudflare security and traffic protection;
  • restricted access to website and service accounts;
  • security headers;
  • dependency and build checks;
  • account security controls.

No internet service or method of electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Changes to this policy

This policy will be reviewed periodically and updated when the website, analytics services or information-handling practices change.

The date at the top of this page shows when the policy was last updated.