Last updated: 10 July 2026
Hawk's Bay (hawksbaywicklow.com) is a residents' community website for the people who live at the Hawk's Bay estate in Wicklow. It is run by neighbours, on a voluntary basis, and is independent of the developer and estate agent. This page explains what personal data we collect, why, and the choices you have. We keep it plain — no legalese where we can help it.
Who we are
Hawk's Bay is a resident-run project with no management company or residents' association behind it. For anything on this page — including a request to see or delete your data — you can contact us at hello@hawksbaywicklow.com.
What we collect
We only collect what we need to run a neighbourhood website:
- When you sign in — we use Sign in with Google. Google shares your name, email address and profile identifier with us so we can create your account. We do not receive your Google password.
- When you take part — anything you choose to post: directory reviews, noticeboard messages, events, and the name shown next to them.
- Invitations — if you were invited, the email address the invite was sent to, so we can match it to your sign-in.
We do not collect analytics, we do not track your browsing, and we do not use advertising or marketing cookies. We don't sell or share your data with anyone for marketing.
Cookies
We use a small number of strictly necessary cookies only. Under Irish and EU rules (the ePrivacy Regulations and guidance from the Data Protection Commission), these are exempt from the consent-banner requirement because the site cannot work without them:
| Cookie | What it does |
|---|---|
| Session cookie | Keeps you signed in after you log in. Set only when you log in. |
| Sign-in cookie | A short-lived cookie used during the Google sign-in step. |
| Security cookie | Protects forms against cross-site request forgery (CSRF). |
That's it. Because we set no analytics or tracking cookies, you won't see a cookie consent pop-up — there's nothing to consent to beyond the essentials above. If you sign out or clear your browser cookies, the session cookie is removed.
Why we're allowed to use your data (legal basis)
- Your account and sign-in — necessary to provide the service you asked for (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
- Content you post — your consent, given when you choose to post it (Article 6(1)(a)).
- Keeping the site secure — our legitimate interest in protecting the community (Article 6(1)(f)).
Who processes it for us
To run the site we rely on a few trusted service providers ("data processors"). They only handle your data to provide their service to us:
- Google — sign-in (authentication).
- DigitalOcean — hosting of the website and database.
- Cloudflare — file storage for uploaded documents.
- OpenAI and Mistral AI — used only to power the knowledge-base search and to read uploaded estate PDFs. These process document text, not your account details, and the content is not used to train their models under our agreements.
How long we keep it
- Your account and the content you post stay until you ask us to remove them, or the project winds down.
- The short-lived sign-in cookie expires within minutes; the session cookie expires when it lapses or you sign out.
Your rights
Under GDPR you can ask us to:
- see the personal data we hold about you,
- correct anything that's wrong,
- delete your account and your data ("right to be forgotten"),
- get a copy of your data, or object to a particular use.
Email hello@hawksbaywicklow.com and we'll sort it out. If you're not happy with how we've handled things, you can complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie).
Children
The site is intended for adult residents. We don't knowingly collect data from children.
Changes to this notice
If we change what we collect — for example if we ever add analytics — we'll update this page and, where the law requires it (e.g. non-essential cookies), ask for your consent first.
See also our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.