When you press “Request a callback”, your name, email, phone number and message are sent securely to our website. They are saved in the studio’s private enquiry inbox, emailed to Mark, and an encrypted alert is sent to his phone. Only Mark can see them.
To stop spam, the server keeps a count of messages sent from each connection, using a scrambled code made from your IP address that is replaced every hour. If the form can’t reach our website, it prepares an email in your own email app instead, and you decide whether to send it.
02 / Getting in touch
You choose what to send.
If you email or WhatsApp us, we receive the details you include through that service. We use them to respond, discuss your project and carry out agreed work.
Mark Ward, trading as Shadowban in Suffolk, UK, is responsible for that information. Contact mark@shadowban.co.uk with privacy questions.
03 / Browser settings
Preferences, not advertising.
This site does not include advertising or analytics trackers. It remembers your chosen colour in a preference cookie for up to a year. Video and gallery-view preferences use your browser’s local storage until cleared.
To count visits, our server notes the page, the time, the name of the website that linked you here and a code made from your IP address and browser that changes every day, so a visitor is counted once a day without being identified or followed between days. No cookie is used for this, and nothing is shared.
The admin uses a session cookie for secure sign-in and, if the studio chooses, a cookie that keeps its own devices signed in for 30 days. You can clear cookies and site storage in your browser settings.
04 / Services & records
What happens elsewhere.
Hosting providers may keep technical logs such as IP addresses and request times. Email and WhatsApp providers process messages under their own terms and may operate internationally.
Enquiries are handled to take steps towards a requested contract or for our legitimate interest in answering business enquiries. Client work and required business records are handled for contract or legal obligations. We do not sell contact details.
05 / Keeping information
Only while needed.
Correspondence is kept while needed to answer an enquiry, complete agreed work, resolve related questions or meet record-keeping obligations. Messages sent with the enquiry form are deleted from the website’s inbox automatically after 12 months, or sooner if you ask.
Giving us contact details is optional, but we need a way to reply if you want a response.
06 / Your choices
Ask us about your data.
You can ask to access, correct or delete personal information we hold. Depending on the circumstances, you may also request restriction or a portable copy.
You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. Email us to make a request. You can also complain to the ICO.
07 / Mike, our website assistant
Chats with Mike.
Mike answers questions about Shadowban only. What you type, and Mike’s replies, are saved on our server so Mark can see what people ask and follow up. Chats are deleted automatically after 90 days. If you leave your name and email with Mike, Mark uses them only to reply to you, and they are kept like a contact-form enquiry (see above).
Some questions are answered by OpenAI: your question, the earlier messages in the chat and public information from this website are sent to OpenAI to write the reply. We ask OpenAI not to store them; OpenAI may keep data for a short time under its API policies. Please don’t type personal details into the chat other than your email. To stop abuse, the server counts questions using a daily-changing code made from your IP address, replaced the next day.
09 / Google Analytics
Only if you say yes.
With your permission, we use Google Analytics to see which pages are visited, roughly where visitors are and what device they use. It sets cookies (names starting _ga) and Google processes the data for us. We don’t use it for ads and don’t sell anything. If you tap “No thanks”, Google’s code isn’t loaded at all.
08 / Free prompts mailing list
Only if you join.
If you sign up for the free prompts, we keep your email address, when you joined and which page you joined from. You only go on the list after tapping the link in the email we send you; sign-ups that aren’t confirmed are deleted after 14 days.
We use your address only to send you prompts and occasional news from Shadowban, never sell or share it, and every email has a link to leave. Leaving deletes your address straight away. On this device we keep a small cookie so the prompts page stays unlocked for you.
Updated 2 October 2026. External links have their own privacy notices.
