Privacy policy
Valentina De Felice’s Privacy Policy
Effective from: July 30 2025.
Last update: November 8 2026.
Website: www.valedefelice.com
Email address: info@valedefelice.com
I respect your privacy and am committed to protecting your personal data.
Introduction
Hello and welcome to this page.
I am Valentina De Felice, the owner of the website www.valedefelice.com. With this privacy notice I want to clearly explain how I collect, use, store and protect your personal data when you visit my website, contact me, request one of my free resources or join my newsletter.
I am committed to processing your data lawfully, fairly and transparently, in compliance with:
- The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The Data Protection Act 2018
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)
- The guidelines and recommendations of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
1. Who I am and how you can contact me
Data controller: Valentina De Felice
Email: info@valedefelice.com
Website: www.valedefelice.com
If you have any questions about this policy or about how I handle your personal data, you can contact me at any time.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent authority for data protection (www.ico.org.uk). I would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns first, so please contact me before approaching the ICO.
2. The purpose of this information
This policy explains how I collect and process your personal data when you use my website, for example when you:
- fill in the contact form;
- request one of my free resources (protected PDFs);
- subscribe to my newsletter (hosted on Substack);;
- accept or decline cookies;
- simply browse the pages of the website.
My website is not intended for children and I do not knowingly collect data relating to minors. If I become aware that I have collected a minor’s data, I will delete it as soon as possible.
3. Links to third-party sites
My website contains links to third-party websites and social networks (for example LinkedIn and Instagram) and buttons that let you share an article on Facebook, X, WhatsApp or LinkedIn.
These buttons are simple links: nothing is sent to those platforms until you click on them. Once you click, the third-party platform may collect data about you under its own privacy policy. I have no control over these websites, so I advise you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal data.
4. The personal data I collect
Depending on how you interact with my website, I may collect:
- Identity Data: your name, when you enter it in a form.
- Contact Data: your email address.
- Message Data: the content of the message you send me through the contact form and, if you choose to tell me, how you heard about me.
- Request Data: which free resource you requested and when.
- Consent Data: the date and time of your choice (cookies, free resources), the type of device (desktop or mobile) and a partially anonymised IP address (the last part of the address is removed), kept as a record of your consent.
- Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device, date and time of access, automatically recorded by my hosting provider’s server logs for security purposes.
- Usage Data: information about how you use the website (pages visited, time spent), collected through Google Analytics only if you accept analytics cookies.
I do not collect special categories of personal data (such as ethnic origin, health, political or religious opinions) or information about criminal offences or convictions.
5. How I collect your data
- Directly from you, when you fill in the contact form or request a free resource.
- Through Substack, when you subscribe to my newsletter using the Substack form on my website: your email address is collected directly by Substack.
- Automatically, when you browse the site: through technical cookies, through my hosting provider’s server logs and, only with your consent, through Google Analytics. For more details, please see my Cookie Policy.
6. How I use your personal data and on what legal basis
I use your data only for clear and legitimate purposes:
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Reply to the messages you send me through the contact form, and send you a confirmation email | Identity, Contact, Message | Legitimate interest in answering your request, or steps taken at your request before entering into a contract |
| Send you the download link of the free resource you requested | Identity, Contact, Request | Your consent |
| Send you my newsletter through Substack | Contact (email address) | Your consent |
| Record your choices and consents, so that I can respect them and demonstrate them if required | Consent Data | Legal obligation (accountability under UK GDPR) |
| Understand how the website is used in order to improve its content | Usage Data | Your consent (analytics cookies) |
| Keep the website secure and prevent abuse (for example spam or repeated form submissions) | Technical Data | Legitimate interest |
| Comply with legal obligations or respond to requests from authorities | Any relevant data | Legal obligation |
I never use your data for purposes other than those listed above, I do not sell it and I do not use it for automated decision-making or profiling. If in the future I need to use your data for a different purpose, I will inform you beforehand.
Where processing is based on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time: by clicking “Unsubscribe” at the bottom of any newsletter, by changing your choice in “Manage preferences” (cookies), or by writing to info@valedefelice.com.
7. Who I share your data with
I share your data only when necessary, and only with:
- SiteGround, my hosting provider, which stores the website, its database and the emails it sends, and acts as a data processor on my behalf;
- Google (Google Analytics), only if you accept analytics cookies;
- public authorities, if the law requires me to do so.
- Substack Inc., the platform I use to publish and send my newsletter. Substack processes your subscription data according to its own Privacy Policy;
I do not sell, rent or exchange your data with anyone. All the providers I work with are required to protect your data with appropriate security measures.
8. Managing Protected PDFs (Free Resources Section)
When you request a free resource on my website, I ask for your name and email address so that I can send you a personal download link.
To keep the files secure, the system generates a unique code (token) linked to your email and to the file you requested. The download link expires after 30 days. The files are not publicly accessible: they can only be downloaded through this personal link.
I keep a record of your request (name, email, the resource requested, the date and a partially anonymised IP address) for up to 24 months, so that I know who received which resource and can demonstrate your consent. After that period, the record is deleted.
I use these data only to:
- send you the link to the requested resource;
- receive an internal notification of your request (for organisational purposes only).
Requesting a free resource does not subscribe you to my newsletter. I do not track whether you open or download the file, I do not create profiles and I do not share this information with third parties.
9. Newsletter
My newsletter, “Less Boring Leadership and Marketing”, is published and sent through Substack (valedefelice.substack.com). When you subscribe, either through the form on my website or directly on Substack, your email address is collected and stored by Substack, which also sends the emails and manages unsubscriptions. Your data is handled according to Substack’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
I can see the list of subscribers and basic statistics (for example how many people open an email) in my Substack dashboard. I use this information only to improve the newsletter and never share it with anyone.
You will receive about one email a month. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking “Unsubscribe” at the bottom of any newsletter, or by writing to me at info@valedefelice.com.
10. International transfers
Some of the providers I use process data outside the United Kingdom. In particular, Substack (newsletter) is based in the United States and, if you accept analytics cookies, Google may also process data in the United States.
In these cases, transfers take place only with appropriate safeguards, such as the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the International Data Transfer Agreement / Standard Contractual Clauses approved for the UK, so that your data receives the same level of protection provided by UK GDPR.
11. How I protect your data
I take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:
- an encrypted connection (HTTPS) on the whole website;
- access to the website’s management area restricted and protected;
- protected files and consent records stored outside the publicly accessible part of the server;
- anti-spam protections on all forms.
12. Your data rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- access the personal data I hold about you;
- have inaccurate data corrected or updated;
- have your data deleted (“right to be forgotten”);
- restrict or object to processing;
- receive your data in a portable format;
- withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
To exercise these rights, write to info@valedefelice.com. I will reply within one month, as required by UK GDPR. If you believe that the processing of your data breaches the law, you can also contact the ICO at https://ico.org.uk.
13. How long do I keep your data?
I keep your data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which I collected it:
| Type of data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Messages sent through the contact form | 12 months |
| Newsletter subscription (on Substack) | Until you unsubscribe, according to Substack’s policies |
| Download links of protected PDFs | 30 days |
| Record of free resource requests | 24 months |
| Cookie consent records (anonymised IP) | 24 months |
| Google Analytics data (only with your consent) | 14 months (Google Analytics retention setting) |
| Hosting provider server logs | According to the hosting provider’s security policies |
14. Changes to this policy
I may update this policy to reflect changes to my website or to the law. The date of the latest update is always shown at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, I will make this clear on the website.