Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 October 2026

This policy explains what personal information Lighting Up The Tunnel collects when you visit scottz.com or subscribe to the newsletter, why it is collected, who it is shared with, and the choices you have. It is written to be read, so it is kept as plain as possible.

Who we are

Lighting Up The Tunnel (scottz.com) is a blog and newsletter written by Andrew Scott, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Andrew Scott is responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can contact him about anything in this policy at LUTT@scottz.com.

Information we collect and why

Newsletter subscribers

When you subscribe, we collect your email address and, if you choose to give it, your first name. We use this to send you the newsletter and related emails, such as the welcome email and occasional cheat sheets or resources.

  • Confirmation. We use double opt-in. You will receive an email asking you to confirm before anything else is sent. Addresses that are never confirmed do not receive the newsletter.
  • Sign-up record. We keep the date and time you subscribed, the form you used, the IP address you subscribed from and your browser time zone, so we can show when and how consent was given and send emails at a sensible time.
  • Engagement. Newsletter emails contain standard tracking that tells us whether an email was opened and which links were clicked. We use this to understand which topics are useful and to stop emailing people who no longer read. MailPoet may also set a cookie when you click through from an email to the site, to connect that visit to the email.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of every email, or by emailing us. Unsubscribing takes effect immediately.

Contact form

If you use the contact form, we collect your name, email address and message, and use them only to reply to you. Submissions are stored in the site and forwarded to our email inbox.

Comments

If you leave a comment, we collect the details in the comment form, your IP address and your browser user agent, to help detect spam. Comments are checked by Akismet, an automated spam detection service. An anonymised string created from your email address (a hash) may be checked against the Gravatar service to show your profile picture if you use one. Once approved, your comment and name are visible to the public.

Website analytics

We use Google Analytics (through Google Site Kit) and StatCounter to understand how the site is used, such as which articles are read, how visitors arrive and roughly where they are in the world. These services use cookies and collect information such as your IP address, device, browser and pages visited. We use this information in aggregate and do not use it to identify you.

Cookies

Cookies are small files stored by your browser. This site uses:

  • Essential cookies set by WordPress, for example to remember your details if you choose to when leaving a comment, or to keep site administrators signed in.
  • Analytics cookies set by Google Analytics and StatCounter, as described above.
  • Newsletter cookies set by MailPoet, to remember that you have already seen or closed the sign-up form, and to connect visits from newsletter links.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site will still work, although some features, such as remembering your comment details, will not.

Our legal basis

We send the newsletter only with your consent, which you give by subscribing and confirming, and which you can withdraw at any time. We rely on our legitimate interest in running, securing and improving the site for analytics, spam protection and backups. We reply to contact form messages because you have asked us to.

Who we share information with

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We share it only with the service providers that help run the site and newsletter, and only for that purpose:

  • MailPoet (Automattic), which stores subscriber details and sends the newsletter.
  • Google, for website analytics (Google Analytics) and for our business email (Google Workspace).
  • StatCounter, for website analytics.
  • Akismet and Gravatar (Automattic), for comment spam protection and profile pictures.
  • Dropbox, where backups of the site, including its database, are stored.
  • Our web hosting provider, which stores the site and its database.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it.

Where your information is processed

Some of these providers process information outside the United Arab Emirates, including in the United States and the European Union. Where this happens, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer for international transfers, such as standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

  • Newsletter: while you are subscribed. If you unsubscribe, we keep your email address on a suppression list only so that we do not email you again by mistake.
  • Contact form messages: for as long as needed to deal with your enquiry, and no longer than two years.
  • Comments: for as long as the comment is published.
  • Analytics: according to the retention settings of Google Analytics and StatCounter.
  • Backups: rolling backups are overwritten over time.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, including under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law, the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR, you may have the right to:

  • ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
  • ask us to correct it;
  • ask us to delete it;
  • object to or restrict how we use it;
  • withdraw your consent at any time, for example by unsubscribing; and
  • complain to your local data protection authority.

To exercise any of these rights, email LUTT@scottz.com. We will respond within 30 days.

Security

We use reasonable measures to protect personal information, including secure (HTTPS) connections, restricted administrator access, spam protection and regular backups. No website can be completely secure, but we work to keep the information we hold to a minimum.

Children

This site and newsletter are written for working professionals and are not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

If we make a significant change to how we use personal information, we will update this page and change the date at the top. If the change affects newsletter subscribers, we will tell them by email.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your information: LUTT@scottz.com.