Privacy & data handling

1. Who runs In His Head?

In His Head is run by one individual in the UK as a personal awareness project about men’s mental health. It is not a business, charity, or registered organisation.

All privacy and data-related enquiries can be made through the Contact page.

2. What information we collect

2.1 Information you choose to submit

This includes:

• Stories submitted through the Share Your Story form
• Concern reports submitted about specific stories
• Messages sent through the Contact form
• Basic admin account details for people who help moderate the site (username and password hash)

Stories and reports may contain sensitive information that you choose to share, such as mental health experiences or difficult life events. Please avoid including full names, addresses, workplaces, or anything that could clearly identify you or another person.

2.2 Technical information

When you visit the site, some technical information is collected automatically and stored in server logs, for example:

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Approximate location based on IP (country/region level, not precise address)
• Date and time of access and pages visited

For security and abuse prevention, individual upvotes and story reports may also store your IP address and a short user-agent string (for example, which browser you used).

3. How we use your information

Your information is used to:

• Publish and display stories you choose to share
• Moderate content for safety, privacy, and clarity
• Respond to messages sent through the contact form
• Monitor upvotes and saved stories in aggregate to understand what content resonates
• Keep the site secure and prevent abuse (for example, repeated spam or misuse of reports)

Information is not used for advertising, profiling, or selling to third parties.

4. Legal basis for processing (UK / EU GDPR)

Where data protection laws such as the UK GDPR apply, the main legal bases for processing your information are:

• Consent – for example, when you choose to submit a story or message.
• Legitimate interests – for running and protecting the website, moderating content, and keeping the space safe for visitors.
• Legal obligations – if information ever needs to be retained or shared to comply with the law.

5. Where your data is stored

In His Head is hosted with a UK-based web hosting provider. Data is primarily stored in a MySQL database on that hosting platform and in email accounts used to receive notifications.

In particular:

• Stories, reports, and admin data are stored in a MySQL database on the hosting server.
• Contact form messages and some safety alerts (for example, auto-flagged stories) are forwarded by email to the project owner and trusted admins.
• Basic technical logs are held by the hosting provider to keep the service running securely.

Local storage in your browser is used for convenience features such as theme preference and saved stories; these values are stored on your device only and are not sent to the server.

6. Cookies & local storage

In His Head does not use tracking cookies or advertising pixels. Some features rely on your browser’s local storage:

• Theme preference (light or dark mode)
• Stories you have saved to read later
• Stories you have upvoted, to avoid showing repeat upvote buttons in your browser

You can clear this data at any time via your browser settings (for example by clearing site data or local storage). This will not remove stories or messages from the server – it only affects what is stored on your device.

7. How long we keep your data

Published stories: kept indefinitely while the project is active, unless you ask for removal.

Unpublished submissions: usually kept for up to 90 days before being deleted or anonymised.

Concern reports: kept for as long as needed to review and, if necessary, evidence moderation decisions.

Contact messages: kept as long as needed to respond and maintain basic records.

Technical logs: typically retained by the hosting provider for a limited period (for example a few weeks or months).

8. Sharing your information

Your information is not sold and is not shared with advertisers or data brokers. It may be shared:

• With the hosting provider, email provider, and any other essential service providers strictly as needed to run the site (for example, storing emails or server logs).
• With trusted admins who volunteer to help moderate content, under clear expectations of confidentiality.
• With law enforcement or other authorities if required by law, or if there is a serious concern about someone’s safety.

9. Safety, crisis language & moderation

Some submissions may mention self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or other crisis situations. An automatic keyword check may flag certain stories for quicker manual review by an admin.

This system is purely a moderation tool – it does not monitor you in real time and it is not an emergency service. If you are in immediate danger or feel at risk, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline rather than waiting for a response from this website.

More detail about how stories are moderated is available on the Moderation & Editorial Policy page.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live and the laws that apply, you may have rights such as:

• To ask for a copy of the personal information held about you
• To ask for corrections if something is inaccurate
• To ask for certain information to be deleted
• To object to or limit certain types of processing

For practical purposes, the most common requests are to:

• Remove or edit a story you previously submitted
• Remove or correct information you included by mistake

To make a request, please use the Contact page and provide enough detail to identify your story or message (for example approximate date, title, and name used).

11. Young people and this site

In His Head is primarily intended for adults (18+). Stories and discussions may cover topics that are not suitable for children.

If you are under 18 and still choose to submit a story, please avoid including your full name, school, workplace, or anything else that could clearly identify you or someone else. Submissions that appear to put a young person at risk may not be published and may be removed.

12. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as the project grows or the technical setup changes. A revised date will be shown at the top when significant updates are made.

13. Contact about privacy

If you have questions or concerns about how your data is handled, or if you would like to make a request about your information, please get in touch via the Contact page.