1. Who We Are

This website is operated by the Peter Symonds College Robotics Team ("PSC Robotics", "we", "us", "our"), a student enrichment group based at Peter Symonds College, Winchester, Hampshire, United Kingdom.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at: [email protected]

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect the minimum amount of personal data necessary to operate this website. This may include:

2.1 Blog Comments

When you post a comment on our blog, we collect:

• Your name — displayed publicly alongside your comment
• Your email address — used for identification and moderation purposes; not displayed publicly
• The content of your comment
• The date and time of your comment

2.2 Authentication Data

If you log in to the site (e.g. as a team member), we process your login credentials and session data. Team member authentication is handled through our identity provider at auth.psc-robotics.uk (powered by Authentik).

2.3 Cookies & Session Data

We use strictly necessary cookies to keep the website functioning properly. These include:

• Session cookies — maintain your login state and remember your preferences as you navigate the site
• CSRF tokens — protect against cross-site request forgery attacks
• Cloudflare cookies — our site uses Cloudflare for DNS, CDN, and security services. Cloudflare may set strictly necessary cookies (such as __cf_bm) to identify trusted traffic and protect against bots. These are essential security cookies and do not track you for advertising purposes.

We do not use any advertising or marketing cookies. We do not use Google Analytics or any similar client-side tracking service.

2.4 Server Logs & Cloudflare Analytics

Our web server may automatically record technical information such as your IP address, browser type, and the pages you visit. These logs are used solely for security monitoring and troubleshooting.

All traffic to this website passes through Cloudflare, which provides DNS, CDN, and DDoS protection services. As part of this, Cloudflare automatically processes server-side analytics including visitor counts, countries, bandwidth usage, and security threat data. This is server-side processing — it does not use JavaScript tracking or advertising cookies. Cloudflare acts as a data processor on our behalf under their privacy policy and Data Processing Addendum.

2.5 Photo Gallery

We publish photographs from our team activities, competitions, and events. If you appear in a photograph on our site and would like it removed, please contact us and we will do so promptly.

3. Why We Collect Your Data (Purpose & Lawful Basis)

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. We rely on the following:

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to anyone.

Your data may be accessible to:

• Cloudflare, Inc. — all traffic passes through Cloudflare's network for CDN and security purposes. Cloudflare processes data in accordance with their privacy policy and GDPR-compliant Data Processing Addendum. Cloudflare may process data in locations outside the UK, covered by their Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Authentik (self-hosted) — our authentication system for team members, hosted on infrastructure we control.
• Website administrators — members of the PSC Robotics team who manage the site may view comment data for moderation purposes.

5. How Long We Keep Your Data

• Blog comments — retained for as long as the associated blog post remains published, or until you request deletion.
• Server logs — automatically rotated and deleted within 90 days.
• Session data — expires when you log out or when your session times out (typically within 24 hours of inactivity).

6. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct any inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure — you can ask us to delete your personal data.
• Right to object — you can object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests.

To exercise any of these rights, please email [email protected]. We will respond within one calendar month. You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner's Office if you have concerns about how your data is handled.

7. Children & Young People

Our team members are typically aged 16–19. We take extra care with the data of young people. If you are under 16 and wish to comment on our blog, please ask a parent or guardian for permission first. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under 13 without appropriate consent, we will delete it promptly.

8. How We Protect Your Data

• All traffic to our website is encrypted using HTTPS (TLS).
• Our server infrastructure is self-managed with regular security updates.
• Access to the website's administration panel is restricted to authorised team members using multi-factor authentication.
• We do not store passwords in plain text.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

1. What This Section Covers

We welcome comments on our blog posts! Our comments section exists to encourage constructive conversation about robotics, engineering, Student Robotics competition, and our team's activities. By posting a comment, you agree to abide by these guidelines.

2. Be Respectful

• Treat other commenters, team members, and competitors with courtesy and respect.
• Disagreement is fine — personal attacks, insults, and name-calling are not.
• Remember that our team members are students. Please be mindful and supportive.

3. No Harmful Content

The following types of content are not permitted and will be removed:

• Hate speech — content that attacks or demeans individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic.
• Harassment, bullying, or threats of any kind.
• Sexually explicit or violent content.
• Doxxing — sharing someone's personal information (address, phone number, etc.) without their consent.
• Illegal content — anything that violates UK law.

4. No Spam or Self-Promotion

• Do not post unsolicited advertisements or promotional material.
• Do not post the same comment repeatedly.
• Links to relevant robotics resources are welcome; links to unrelated commercial sites are not.

5. Stay On Topic

Please keep comments relevant to the blog post or topic being discussed. Off-topic comments may be removed to keep conversations focused and useful.

6. Moderation

We reserve the right to:

• Remove or edit any comment that violates these guidelines.
• Block users who repeatedly or egregiously breach these rules.
• Close comments on any post at our discretion.

Moderation decisions are made by members of the PSC Robotics team. If you believe a comment has been removed in error, please contact us at [email protected].

7. Your Data When Commenting

When you leave a comment, you provide your name and email address. Please see our Privacy Policy above for full details on how we handle this data. In brief:

• Your name will be displayed publicly with your comment.
• Your email address will not be displayed publicly and is used only for moderation.
• You may request deletion of your comment and associated data at any time by contacting us.

8. Reporting Issues

If you see a comment that you believe violates these guidelines, please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the comment. We will review it promptly.