Last updated: 4 December 2025
1. Who We Are
Small Business Helper is an independent consulting service operated by Steven Walters, based in the Pontardawe area of South Wales, UK.
To balance openness with personal security:
- We provide a real point of accountability by stating who operates the business.
- We do not publish unnecessary personal identifiers such as full home address or personal contact details on this page.
- All communications take place through official business channels.
Mission & Background (High-level summary)
With nearly 30 years’ experience across marketing strategy, digital consultancy, technology, and small-business problem-solving, Small Business Helper’s aim is simple:
- To help individuals and businesses make better decisions
- To provide clear, ethical, evidence-based guidance
- To offer practical, real-world support without unnecessary jargon
Website address: https://smallbusinesshelper.co.uk
2. What Personal Data We Collect and Why
Comments
If you leave a comment, we collect:
- The information you enter into the comment form
- Your IP address
- Your browser user-agent
This helps us detect and prevent spam.
If you use Gravatar, an anonymised (hashed) version of your email may be sent to their service. Their privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/
Media Uploads
If you upload images, avoid including location (EXIF GPS) data. Visitors may be able to extract this information.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies (Clear & Expanded Version)
Our Own Cookies (What We Set Ourselves)
Small Business Helper uses only essential and functional cookies, such as:
- Cookies that remember your comment details (optional convenience)
- Cookies that maintain your login session (if logging into the site)
- Cookies that save your display or screen settings
These cookies:
- Do not track your behaviour across the internet
- Do not analyse your browsing habits
- Do not collect advertising or profiling information
We do not personally set any advertising, remarketing, or behavioural tracking cookies.
Third-Party Cookies (Google, Meta/Facebook, Etc.)
Why They May Appear
Even though we don’t set advertising cookies ourselves, certain third-party tools may place cookies automatically when you visit our website. This can occur when we use:
- Google Analytics
- Google Ads (for performance measurement)
- Facebook/Meta Pixels (for campaign insights)
- Embedded content (e.g., YouTube, Instagram posts, or social media feeds)
What These Cookies Typically Do
These third-party cookies may collect information such as:
- Pages you visit on our website
- How long you stay on a page
- What buttons or links you interact with
- Basic technical information (e.g., device type or browser)
Why They Collect This Information
The purpose is usually:
- Statistics – helping us understand how our website is performing
- Analytics – improving the website’s structure or content
- Advertising Metrics – measuring whether an ad campaign is effective
(e.g., “Did someone who clicked on our Facebook advert visit our website?”)
What These Cookies Do Not Do
- They do not tell us your name
- They do not allow us to see private accounts or messages
- They do not give us access to your personal data
- They do not allow us to identify you individually
Any data we see is aggregated or anonymised (e.g., “50 visitors viewed this page”).
Embedded Content
Articles may contain embedded content from third-party websites (e.g., YouTube).
These third parties may:
- Collect data
- Use cookies
- Track interaction with their content
This behaves exactly as if you visited their site directly.
3. Who We Share Your Data With
Our Position: We Do Not Sell or Share Your Data
We do not pass, sell, trade, or distribute your information to any external organisations.
Belt & Braces Breakdown
We may rely on essential third-party tools that incidentally process data in order to function, including:
- Email servers (e.g., Gmail/Google Workspace)
- Website hosting and security tools
- Analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) for anonymous website performance insights
These services:
- Do not receive deliberate data transfers from us
- Do not receive customer submission data for marketing purposes
- Are used solely for running the website securely and efficiently
Password Reset Requests
If you request a password reset, your IP address is included in the reset email for security purposes.
4. How Long We Retain Your Data
Comments
- Comments and their metadata are retained indefinitely.
This allows follow-up comments to be recognised automatically.
Registered Users
If registration is enabled:
- User profiles and any information submitted are stored until deleted or edited by the user.
- Administrators can view and manage this data where necessary for site functionality.
5. Your Rights Over Your Data
You may request at any time:
- A copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Deletion of your personal data
- Correction of inaccurate details in your profile (if registration is enabled)
This excludes data we must retain for legal, administrative, or security obligations.
Requests can be made via our official contact page.
6. Where Your Data Is Sent
- Visitor comments may be checked automatically using spam-detection tools (e.g., Akismet).
- Aside from essential hosting and analytics tools, no additional data transfers are made.
7. Additional Measures We Take (Belt & Braces)
To ensure a secure and transparent approach:
Data Minimisation
- We only collect information necessary for the website to function.
- We do not create user profiles or behavioural tracking systems.
Security Measures
- Encrypted server connections (HTTPS)
- Secure email hosting
- Routine software and plugin updates
- Limited admin access
No Marketing Exploitation
- No unsolicited marketing emails
- No data sharing with advertisers
- No retargeting or profiling
8. Contact
For privacy questions, concerns, or data requests, contact us via the website’s contact page.
