Privacy & Cookie Policy

Last updated: May 2026

Tool Foundry ("we", "us", "our") operates the website toolfoundry.co.uk (the "Site"). This policy explains what data we collect when you visit, how we use it, and your rights in relation to it. We take your privacy seriously and aim to be straightforward about our practices.

Who we are

Tool Foundry is a UK-based affiliate website. We research, review and compare software tools, and we earn a commission when readers click through to a tool and make a purchase. This commission comes from the tool provider at no extra cost to you.

What data we collect

We do not collect personal data

We currently operate no contact forms, newsletter sign-ups, account registrations or any other mechanism that would capture personal information such as your name, email address or phone number. If you simply browse the Site, you will not submit any personal data to us.

Technical and usage data

When you visit any website, certain technical information is automatically transmitted by your browser. We collect this data to understand how the Site is being used and to improve it over time. This includes:

• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Referring website or search query that brought you to the Site
• Browser type, device type and operating system
• General geographic region (country or city level, derived from IP address)
• Clicks on outbound affiliate links

IP addresses: Any IP addresses captured by our analytics stack are hashed or encrypted before storage. We do not store raw, identifiable IP addresses.

How we use this data

We use the technical and usage data described above to:

• Understand which content is most useful to our readers
• Identify and fix technical problems on the Site
• Measure the performance of our affiliate links
• Improve the overall experience of using toolfoundry.co.uk

We do not use this data to build individual user profiles for advertising purposes, and we do not sell data to third parties.

Third-party services

To operate the Site effectively, we use a small number of trusted third-party services. Each of these may process data about your visit according to their own privacy policies.

Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager

We use Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager) to collect aggregated, anonymised statistics about how visitors interact with the Site. Google may set cookies on your device for this purpose. You can learn more about how Google uses data at policies.google.com/privacy.

Hosting & infrastructure

The Site is hosted by a third-party infrastructure provider. As part of normal hosting operations, technical request data (including hashed IP addresses) may be processed on our behalf.

Affiliate networks and tool providers

When you click an affiliate link, you will be taken to a third-party website operated by the tool provider or an affiliate network. Those websites operate under their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review. We have no control over, and take no responsibility for, data collected by third-party websites after you leave toolfoundry.co.uk.

Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work efficiently and to provide information to website owners.

Cookies we use

Visitor identification cookie
We use a persistent first-party cookie to distinguish returning visitors from new ones. This does not identify you personally. It assigns an anonymous identifier to your browser session so that our analytics data is accurate. This cookie typically expires after 12–24 months.

Google Analytics cookies
Google Analytics sets a number of cookies (including _ga, _gid and _gat) to collect anonymous usage statistics. These cookies expire between 24 hours and 2 years after being set. They do not identify you personally.

Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager itself does not set persistent cookies, but it may load additional scripts (such as Google Analytics) that do.

Session cookies
These are temporary cookies that expire when you close your browser. They help the Site function correctly during your visit.

Managing cookies

All modern browsers allow you to view, block or delete cookies through their settings. Please note that blocking certain cookies may affect how the Site functions. For guidance on managing cookies in your browser, visit allaboutcookies.org.

Data retention

Aggregated, anonymised analytics data is retained indefinitely to allow us to identify long-term trends. Because we do not collect personal data, there is no personal data to delete or request.

Your rights

If you are based in the UK or the European Economic Area, you have rights under data protection law. Because we do not collect personal data, most of these rights (such as the right of access, rectification or erasure) are unlikely to apply in practice.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK: ico.org.uk

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.