Privacy policy

Who we are

Elements Sauna is a wood-fired Finnish sauna beside the lake at TCR Hub, Shaw Bank, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8TD. We run this website. When this page says “we” or “us” it means Elements Sauna. Under UK data protection law (UK GDPR) that makes us the “controller”, which means we are responsible for how your personal information is used.

You can reach us at info@elementssauna.com.

What this website does and doesn’t collect

• No cookies. This website doesn’t set cookies, and we don’t use these counts to follow you across other sites or to build a profile of you. The booking window is different: it is run by Adventuro, which may use its own analytics and shows its own cookie choices in the window.
• Simple visit counts. When a page opens, and when you press a booking, gift voucher, My bookings, WhatsApp, phone or email button, the website sends a small message to Adventuro, who run this counting for us. It says which page it was (the address without anything after a “?”), the page title, which website you came from, whether you were on a phone, tablet or computer, and a random number your browser keeps in its session storage until you close the tab. If the link you followed carried a campaign tag or an advert click ID (for example from a social post or an advert), we keep that too, and add it to the link that opens the booking window, so we can see which posts and adverts lead to bookings. None of this includes your name, email address or IP address, and we can’t tell who you are from it. We do it because it helps us run the sauna (our legitimate interest). Adventuro holds the counts in its analytics database in the UK (Google BigQuery, London).
• Your choice. If your browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track, the website doesn’t count your visit at all and doesn’t store that random number. You can also email us to object.
• The contact form doesn’t store anything. When you press Send message, it opens your own email app with a message to info@elementssauna.com ready to send. What you typed stays in your browser and your email app. We only receive it if you press send in your email app.
• Your pack-your-bag ticks. The checklist on the Visit page remembers which items you have ticked, using your browser’s own storage on your device. We never see it, and clearing your browser’s site data removes it.
• Server logs. Like any website, the service that hosts this one sees each page request and keeps standard logs, as described under “Hosting” below.

When you contact us

If you email us, message us on WhatsApp or ring us, we use what you tell us (your name, your email address or phone number, and what you ask) to reply and to arrange sessions, passes and private hire. We do that because you asked us to. You can buy a pass by WhatsApp or phone, or online where the booking system offers one.

Your messages are seen by us. If you book online, Adventuro also holds your booking details, as explained below. WhatsApp messages pass through WhatsApp’s own service, under its own terms and privacy notice.

Other services your browser talks to

Some parts of this website load from other companies. When that happens your browser connects to them directly, so they can see your IP address and basic browser details, as any website you visit would. These are the ones we use. The map and the video wait until you ask for them. If JavaScript is switched off in your browser, they load with the page instead.

• Booking window (Adventuro). Our booking and gift voucher windows are provided by Adventuro and load from widget.adventuro.com. To make booking quick, a small script loads from there shortly after a page opens, and your browser also asks Adventuro for the latest session dates. Anything you enter in the booking window, such as your name, contact details and payment details, is handled by Adventuro under the privacy notice shown in the booking window, not by this website. We receive the booking details we need to run your session.
• Live lake weather (Open-Meteo). The temperature and weather at the lake come from Open-Meteo. Your browser asks it for the weather at the lake, so Open-Meteo sees your IP address. We send it nothing else about you.
• Map (OpenStreetMap). The map loads from OpenStreetMap only if you press “Show the map”. Until then, nothing is requested.
• Video (YouTube). The “how to find us” video loads from YouTube in its privacy-enhanced mode, and only if you press play.
• Fonts. The fonts are hosted on this site, so your browser doesn’t contact a font service.
• Hosting (Cloudflare). Cloudflare hosts this website. It sees each page request, including your IP address, and keeps standard server logs for security and to keep the site running.
• Social links and WhatsApp. Links to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp take you to those services, which have their own privacy notices. Nothing is shared with them unless you follow a link.

How long we keep your messages

The visit counts above don’t identify anyone, so we keep them for as long as they are useful for seeing how the site is used. We keep emails and WhatsApp messages for as long as we need them to answer you, run your booking or pass, and deal with anything that follows. After that we delete them. If you would like a message deleted sooner, email us and we will do it, unless we have to keep a record, for example for our accounts.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• correct anything that is wrong
• delete your information
• stop or limit how we use it
• in some cases, give it to you or another organisation in a portable format

You can also object to how we use your information. To use any of these rights, email info@elementssauna.com. We will reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this page

If we change how this website works in a way that affects your information, we will update this page and the date at the top.