LEGAL

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 October 2026

This policy explains what personal data Sweeney Computer Services Limited collects through this website (sweeneycomputers.ie) and when you contact us, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018.

1. Who we are

Sweeney Computer Services Limited (“we”, “us”) is the controller of the personal data described in this policy.

Address: Hurdlestown, Kells, Co. Meath, A82 Y5H2, Ireland
Phone: 046 924 0518
Email: info@sweeneycomputers.ie
Company registration number: 705249 (registered in Ireland)
Registered office: Hurdlestown, Kells, Co. Meath, A82 Y5H2, Ireland

For any question about this policy or your personal data, email info@sweeneycomputers.ie with “Data protection” in the subject line, or write to us at the address above. Data protection requests are handled by Michael Sweeney.

This policy covers the website and enquiries made through it. It does not cover the personal data we process when we provide IT services to our clients. That is covered by our client agreements and the data processing terms that form part of them.

2. What we collect and why

2.1 Contact form

When you use the form on our Contact page we collect:

first name and last name (optional)
phone number (optional)
email address (required)
company name and team size (optional)
your message (optional)

The form also tells us the date and time you sent it, and it contains hidden fields that help us filter out automated spam. It does not record your IP address or browser details.

The form sends your details by email to members of our team. If a copy of a form entry is also stored on the website, we delete it after 12 months at most.

We use this information to reply to your enquiry and, if you ask, to prepare a quote or proposal.

Please don’t include passwords or other sensitive details in the form.

2.2 Email and phone

If you email or phone us, we receive whatever you choose to tell us, along with your email address or phone number. We use this to deal with your query and keep a record of our communication.

2.3 Booking a meeting (Microsoft Bookings)

The “Book an IT Consultation” and “Book a meeting with Michael” buttons take you to a booking page run on Microsoft Bookings, part of Microsoft 365. When you book, we receive the details you enter there (your name, email address, phone number and any notes you add) and the time you choose. We use them to arrange and hold the meeting and to contact you about it.

Microsoft provides the booking page and stores the booking information for us, as our processor, under its standard data protection terms for Microsoft 365 (the Microsoft Products and Services Data Protection Addendum). Microsoft’s own privacy statement also applies to your use of its site: privacy.microsoft.com

2.4 Website hosting, security and logs

When you visit the website, your browser automatically sends information such as your IP address, browser type, the page requested and the date and time. Our hosting and security services use this to deliver pages, protect the site against attacks and spam, and diagnose faults.

Hosting: Kinsta, which runs the website on Google Cloud servers in Belgium, within the EU.
Content delivery and security: Cloudflare, which sits in front of the website and sets a short-lived security cookie (see section 8).
Security plugin: our website security software (WPMU DEV Defender) logs the IP address of visitors who try to log in to the website or who trigger its protections, and can temporarily block them.

Server and security logs are kept in line with our providers’ standard settings, normally for 30 days or less. Defender’s lockout logs are kept for 30 days.

2.5 Website analytics (Google Analytics)

With your consent, we use Google Analytics, a statistics service provided by Google Ireland Limited, to understand how visitors use the site: which pages are viewed, how visitors arrive and roughly how long they stay. It is added to the site through Google’s Site Kit plugin (Google tag GT-TQVQWTBL).

Google Analytics only loads after you click “Accept” (or allow analytics cookies) in our cookie banner. Until you do, and if you decline, Google Analytics is not loaded, no analytics cookies are set and no analytics data is sent to Google. We use Google Consent Mode together with the cookie banner so the site follows your choice.

If you accept, Google Analytics sets cookies on your device (see section 8) and receives information about your visit, such as the pages you view, your device and browser type, your approximate location (country or city) and how you reached the site. Your IP address is anonymised: Google Analytics uses it only briefly to estimate your location and does not store it. We keep analytics data for 14 months, and we use it only in summary form to improve the website.

We do not use any other analytics service, and we do not use advertising pixels on this website. You can withdraw your consent at any time (see section 7).

2.6 Content from other providers

Some parts of our pages load content directly from other companies’ servers. When this happens your browser connects to that company, which receives your IP address and browser information:

Google reviews widget (Trustindex): our customer reviews are shown using a widget from Trustindex. It loads from Trustindex’s servers (cdn.trustindex.io), and reviewers’ profile pictures load from Google (lh3.googleusercontent.com).
Animated icons (Lordicon): some menu icons load from Lordicon’s servers (cdn.lordicon.com).

We do not embed Google Maps, YouTube videos or social media feeds. Links to Google Maps, Google reviews and LinkedIn only take you to those sites when you click them, and their privacy policies then apply.

Our website fonts are hosted on our own server, so loading them does not contact Google.

3. Our legal bases

Purpose	Legal basis (GDPR Article 6)
Replying to enquiries from the contact form, email or phone	Our legitimate interests in responding to people who contact us, or taking steps at your request before entering into a contract (Article 6(1)(f) or 6(1)(b))
Arranging meetings booked through Microsoft Bookings	Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, or our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(b) or 6(1)(f))
Keeping the website secure and working, including security logs and strictly necessary cookies	Our legitimate interests in running a secure website (Article 6(1)(f))
Website analytics (Google Analytics) and any cookies that are not strictly necessary	Your consent (Article 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time
Keeping records we are legally required to keep, e.g. for tax	Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c))

Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can ask us for more information about how we balanced those interests against your rights.

Giving us your details is voluntary. If you don’t provide an email address on the contact form, we can’t reply to you through it, but you can still phone or email us.

4. Who we share your data with

We don’t sell your personal data. We share it only with service providers that process it for us, under contract:

Microsoft (Microsoft 365 email and Microsoft Bookings)
Kinsta (website hosting, on Google Cloud in Belgium, within the EU)
Cloudflare (content delivery and website security)
WPMU DEV (website security and performance plugins)
Elementor (website builder, contact form and cookie consent tool). Your cookie choices are stored only in a cookie on your own device.
Trustindex and Google (reviews widget and reviewer images, see section 2.6)
Lordicon (animated icons, see section 2.6)
Google (Google Analytics, only with your consent, and our Google Business Profile)
HighLevel (customer relationship management: enquiries and our website health-check quiz)
Xero (invoicing and accounts)
Autotask (support tickets and client records)
Keeper (secure password management)
MailerLite (sending email updates)
Our accountant (accounting and tax)

We may also disclose personal data where the law requires it, for example to An Garda Síochána or a regulator, or to our professional advisers.

5. Transfers outside the European Economic Area

Some of our service providers are based in, or use companies in, countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), including the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified under it, and otherwise on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.

Providers that may transfer personal data outside the EEA include Microsoft, Google, Cloudflare, HighLevel, Xero, Autotask, Keeper, MailerLite, Elementor, Kinsta, WPMU DEV, Trustindex and Lordicon.

6. How long we keep your data

Enquiries (contact form, email, phone) from people who don’t become clients: 2 years after our last contact
Contact form entries stored on the website: 12 months at most
Microsoft Bookings appointments: 2 years
Tax and accounting records: 6 years after the end of the financial year they relate to, as required by Irish Revenue rules
Records we need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims: up to 7 years
Server and security logs: 30 days
Google Analytics data: 14 months
Cookies: see the table in section 8.

When the retention period ends, we delete or anonymise the data.

7. Your rights

Under data protection law you have the right to:

access: ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you
rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
erasure: ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances
restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances
portability: ask for data you gave us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, or ask us to send it to another organisation, where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means
objection: object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and object at any time to direct marketing
withdraw consent: where we rely on consent (for example, analytics cookies), withdraw it at any time. This doesn’t affect processing before you withdrew it. You can change your cookie choices at any time using the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page, or by deleting cookies in your browser.

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. We may need to confirm your identity. We will reply within one month. This can be extended by two further months for complex requests, and we will tell you if that happens. There is normally no charge.

We don’t make decisions about you based solely on automated processing.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small files that a website stores on your device. Similar technologies, such as browser local storage, work in a similar way. We ask for your consent before using any that are not strictly necessary, through the cookie banner shown when you first visit. Analytics and functional cookies are only used if you agree.

These are the cookies and similar technologies used on our website:

Name	Provider	Purpose	Type	Duration
__cf_bm	Cloudflare	Distinguishes people from bots to protect the website	Strictly necessary	30 minutes
cookiez-user-consent	Our website (cookie consent tool)	Remembers your cookie choices. This is also our record of your consent.	Strictly necessary	About 6 months
_ga	Google Analytics	Distinguishes visitors so we can count visits and returning visitors	Analytics (only with consent)	2 years
_ga_* (for example _ga_ followed by an ID)	Google Analytics	Keeps track of your current visit (session) for statistics	Analytics (only with consent)	2 years
elementor (local storage)	Our website (Elementor)	Counts page views and sessions, used by the website builder for display rules	Functional (only with consent)	Stays until you clear your browser storage

If you log in to the website, WordPress sets its own login cookies. These only affect site administrators. We review this list when we change the services used on the website.

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block strictly necessary cookies, parts of the site may not work.

9. Children

Our website and services are aimed at businesses and schools, not children, and we don’t knowingly collect personal data from children through this website.

10. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections to this website. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so please don’t send sensitive information through the contact form.

11. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first and we will try to resolve them.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission, Ireland’s data protection supervisory authority:

Data Protection Commission
6 Pembroke Row
Dublin 2, D02 X963
Ireland
Website: www.dataprotection.ie

If you live or work in another EU or EEA country, you can also complain to the supervisory authority there.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we change the services we use on the website. We will post the new version on this page with a new “Last updated” date. If a change significantly affects how we use personal data you have already given us, we will tell you directly where we can.