Privacy Policy

1. Who I am

This website is operated by Hussein Abouelfotouh, a sole trader operating under the trading name Crucible ("Crucible", "I", "me", or "my"). I am the data controller responsible for your personal information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how I handle your data, you can contact me at:

2. What information I collect

I only collect personal information that you provide voluntarily through the contact / commission form on this website. Specifically:

Name

So I know who I'm corresponding with.

Email address

So I can reply to your enquiry. This is the only contact channel I use unless you give me an alternative.

Message content

The details you share about your build — what you want the machine for, your budget, any specific components or preferences. This is the working brief for your commission.

Optional: usage type and budget range

If you fill in these dropdown fields, they help me understand the scope of your project before I reply.

I do not collect:

• Your IP address (the contact form does not log it)
• Browsing behaviour, page views, or analytics data
• Cookies or any tracking identifiers — this site uses no cookies of any kind
• Information from third parties
• Sensitive data (health, financial, biometric, etc.)

3. Why I collect it (lawful basis)

Under UK GDPR, every use of your personal data must have a "lawful basis." Mine is straightforward:

Legitimate interest and pre-contractual steps

When you submit the contact form, you're asking me about a potential commission. I use your information to reply, discuss your build, and (if it goes ahead) prepare a quote. This is necessary for taking steps at your request before entering a contract — Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR.

Consent

By submitting the contact form, you consent to me using the information you've provided to respond to your enquiry. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing me to ask that I delete your data.

4. How I use your information

Your information is used only to:

• Reply to your initial enquiry
• Discuss the scope, specification, and cost of a potential commission
• If you commission a build, manage the project (ordering parts, scheduling, delivery, ongoing support)
• Maintain warranty records for parts I've supplied to you
• Comply with my legal obligations (tax records, consumer rights legislation)

I will never use your information to send marketing emails unless you specifically ask to be added to a mailing list (and there isn't one currently). I will never sell, rent, or share your data with third parties for commercial purposes.

5. Who I share your information with

For most enquiries, the answer is nobody. Your information stays with me.

The only exceptions are:

• If you commission a build: I may need to share your delivery address with a courier (e.g., DPD, ParcelForce) to deliver the finished machine. This is the minimum necessary information for the courier to do their job.
• If required by law: If a UK court, regulator, or law enforcement body lawfully requires me to disclose information, I will comply.
• For accounting: Once I'm operating at a scale that requires an accountant, they may need access to invoicing records. This is standard small-business practice and accountants are bound by professional confidentiality.

I do not use any of the following third-party services that would share your data:

• No analytics platforms (no Google Analytics, no Plausible, etc.)
• No advertising networks
• No social media tracking pixels
• No content delivery networks that fingerprint visitors

6. How long I keep your information

I keep your data for the minimum time necessary:

Enquiries that don't lead to a commission

Deleted within 6 months of last contact, unless you've asked me to keep your details on file for future reference.

Active commissions

Kept for the duration of the build process.

Completed commissions

Kept for as long as the warranty I've offered remains active (currently 2 years from delivery), plus an additional retention period to comply with HMRC tax record-keeping requirements (currently 6 years).

After all retention periods expire

Your data is permanently deleted from my systems.

7. How I store and protect your information

Your information is stored on:

• An encrypted email account (where the contact form delivers your message)
• An encrypted laptop, used only by me, password-protected, with full-disk encryption enabled
• An encrypted backup drive used periodically

I do not store your data in shared services, cloud platforms, CRMs, or anywhere a third party could access it without my explicit action. No part of my workflow involves uploading customer details to external services.

If I ever change my data storage practices, this Privacy Policy will be updated and the "Last updated" date at the top of the page will change.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights regarding your personal data. You can exercise any of these by emailing me at hello@cruciblepc.co.uk:

Right of access

You can ask for a copy of all the personal data I hold about you. I will respond within one month.

Right to rectification

If any information I hold about you is incorrect, you can ask me to correct it.

Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")

You can ask me to delete your data. I will do so unless I am legally required to retain it (e.g., for tax records on a completed commission). If I can't delete something, I'll explain why.

Right to restriction

You can ask me to stop using your data while a question about it is resolved.

Right to data portability

You can ask me to provide your data in a machine-readable format that you can transfer elsewhere.

Right to object

You can object to me processing your data. If your objection is reasonable, I will stop.

Right to withdraw consent

Where I rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

Right to complain

If you think I've handled your data incorrectly, please tell me first — I'd like the chance to resolve it. If you remain unhappy, you can complain to the UK's data protection regulator:

9. Cookies

This website uses no cookies of any kind. Not for analytics, not for functionality, not for anything. Fonts are self-hosted on the same domain as the website, so no third-party servers are contacted when you load a page.

This means there is no cookie banner, because there is nothing for you to consent to — and that's the point.

10. Children's data

Custom PC commissions are not aimed at children. I do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you are under 18 and want to commission a build, please ask a parent or guardian to make the enquiry on your behalf.

11. Changes to this policy

If I update this policy, the "Last updated" date at the top of the page will change. For substantive changes — for example, if I started using an analytics tool or working with a payment processor that retained data — I would email anyone with active or recent enquiries to let them know.

12. Contact

For any questions about your data, this policy, or to exercise any of your rights: