Uncorking Tales
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Privacy policy

Last updated 5 November 2026.

This policy explains what happens to your personal data when you visit uncorkingtales.com or send me an enquiry. I have tried to keep it short and plain. If anything is unclear, email me at alla@uncorkingtales.com.

Who I am

Uncorking Tales is my wine journal and my tasting and content work. I am Alla Skira, based in London, and I decide how and why your personal data is used, which makes me the ‘controller’ under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. [To confirm: trading status, for example sole trader, or the company name if there is one] [To confirm: ICO data protection fee registration number, or the exemption relied on]

You can reach me at alla@uncorkingtales.com.

What I collect, and why

The enquiry form

When you send an enquiry through the form on this site, I collect:

  • your name and email address (required);
  • the type of enquiry and your message (required);
  • your phone number, company, preferred date, number of guests and city or venue, if you choose to fill them in;
  • the time you ticked the box agreeing to this policy.

I use these details only to read your enquiry, reply to you and, if we go ahead, plan the tasting, article or collaboration you asked about. I do not add you to a mailing list, and I do not use your details for anything else.

Legal basis: your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)), which you give by ticking the box on the form. You can withdraw it at any time (see ‘Your rights’ below). Withdrawing does not affect anything I did before you withdrew it.

What I do not store: the form record does not keep your IP address or browser details. Your IP address does reach the server when you submit the form (see ‘Spam protection’ below), but it is used there and not saved with your enquiry.

Emailing me directly

If you email me instead of using the form, I keep your message and my replies in my email account, on the same basis and for the same purpose as above.

Visiting the site

Like any website, the site receives your IP address and basic browser details when your browser asks for a page. Cloudflare, which hosts the site, handles this to deliver the pages and to keep the site secure. I also use cookieless visit statistics (see ‘Cloudflare Web Analytics’ below). The legal basis for both is my legitimate interest (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)) in running a secure site and understanding how it is used.

Who handles your data

I do not sell your data, and I do not share it for advertising. The only other organisation involved is Cloudflare, which acts on my instructions as a ‘processor’:

  • Storage of your enquiry. The form sends your enquiry to a database on Cloudflare D1.
  • Email delivery. A copy of your enquiry is emailed to me through Cloudflare. I reply from my own mailbox. [To confirm: the mailbox provider that receives the enquiry emails, e.g. Gmail or another service, so it can be named here]
  • Hosting and delivery of the site itself.
  • Spam protection (Cloudflare Turnstile) and visit statistics (Cloudflare Web Analytics), described below.

Cloudflare is a US company and may process data outside the UK. It relies on recognised safeguards for those transfers: the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses and the Data Privacy Framework with its UK extension, as set out in Cloudflare’s Data Processing Addendum.

Spam protection (Cloudflare Turnstile)

The enquiry form uses Cloudflare Turnstile to tell people from automated bots. Turnstile runs small checks in your browser and sends Cloudflare technical signals, which Cloudflare lists as your IP address, TLS fingerprint, User-Agent header and the site key with the site it came from. Cloudflare says it cannot directly identify individuals from these signals. Cloudflare states that it does not access, store or transmit what you type into the form. When you submit, my server also sends your IP address to Cloudflare to check the result.

The Turnstile script loads only when you get near or start using the form, not on every page. Cloudflare explains its role in the Turnstile Privacy Addendum: it is a processor for bot detection on my behalf, and a controller for improving Turnstile itself. The legal basis for me is my legitimate interest in keeping the form free of spam (Article 6(1)(f)).

I also limit how often one IP address can send the form. The address is used for that count and not kept in your enquiry.

Cloudflare Web Analytics

I use Cloudflare Web Analytics to see which pages are read and how fast they load. Cloudflare says this service does not use client-side state such as cookies or localStorage to track visitors and does not fingerprint individuals. The numbers show page views and visits across the site, not what a named person did. I use them to decide which stories to write and to keep the site fast.

See Cloudflare Web Analytics documentation for how it works.

Instagram photos

The photos from my Instagram account (@uncorking_tales) shown on this site are copies stored on this domain. Your browser does not contact Instagram or Meta to show them, and the site does not run any Instagram or Meta scripts. If you follow a link to Instagram, you leave this site and Instagram’s own privacy policy applies.

Cookies

The site sets no cookies of its own, and I do not use advertising or tracking cookies. The cookie policy has the detail.

How long I keep your data

I keep your enquiry and my replies for 24 months after our last message, then delete them, unless we are working together or the law requires me to keep them for longer.

If we start working together, I keep the records I need for my accounts for as long as the law requires.

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have the right to:

  • ask for a copy of the personal data I hold about you;
  • have inaccurate data corrected;
  • have your data deleted;
  • restrict or object to how I use it;
  • receive your data in a portable format, where it applies;
  • withdraw your consent at any time.

To use any of these, email alla@uncorkingtales.com. I will reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how I have handled your data, please tell me first so I can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, or call 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this policy

If I change how I use your data, I will update this page and the date at the top. Older versions are available on request.