Who we are
This website is run by Sawn to be Wild Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14776985), whose registered office is at 3rd Floor, 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE. We are the data controller for the information you give us here. You can contact us at hello@sawntobewild.com.
What we never publish
We never show your name, email address, phone number, home address or postcode on this website. Habitat pages and the habitat map only ever show a broad area, such as a neighbourhood or town, and approximate locations.
What we collect, and why
Registering your outdoor space
Your first name, email address, postcode, the kind of space, the wildlife you're interested in, and your contact choices. We use this to contact you about qualifying, matching and installing a habitat, because you've asked us to (you tick a box to agree). If you also tick the news box, we'll send you occasional updates; you can unsubscribe at any time. We keep a record of the wording you agreed to.
Wildlife sightings, photos and videos
What you saw, when, and anything you choose to add: notes, up to five photos or videos, and whether you're a neighbour, host or partner. We don't ask for your name. When you add photos or videos, you choose how we can use them: on this habitat's page only, or to help spread the word (our website, social media, newsletters and promotional materials, including with the habitat's sponsor), as set out in our media terms. If you choose to help spread the word, we ask for your email address, and optionally a name to credit. We use these only to credit you and to contact you about your photos or videos, never for marketing, and we never show your email publicly. Our website removes hidden location (GPS) and camera details from photos. Videos can still contain the place they were recorded, so we never show videos on the website and we check them before any other use. We check every sighting before it appears, and notes are never shown publicly. You can change your choice or ask us to remove your photos or videos at any time by emailing hello@sawntobewild.com.
Messages
Your message and whether you're happy for us to show it. We check every message first and only publish it with your permission, as from “a neighbour”.
Sponsor enquiries
Your name, company, work email, optional phone number, the area you're interested in and your message. We use these only to reply to your enquiry and discuss sponsorship.
Appreciating and sharing a habitat
When you tap “Appreciate” or share a habitat, we record that it happened, with a random anonymous ID from the cookie described below. This doesn't identify you.
Cookies
We use one cookie, stbw_session. It holds a random ID and nothing else. It lets us count one appreciation per visitor per habitat each day, and count a QR code scan at most once an hour per visitor. It lasts up to a year, isn't used for advertising, and isn't shared. We don't use any other cookies, advertising or visitor-tracking tools.
Keeping forms safe
To stop automated spam, our forms use Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks signals from your browser to tell people from bots. We also limit how often forms can be sent. For that we use a scrambled (hashed) version of your internet address, which is deleted automatically within minutes.
Who helps us
We use these services to run the website and look after your information:
- Airtable: where your information is stored.
- Vercel: hosts the website and briefly stores uploaded photos and videos.
- Upstash: the short-lived counters that limit how often forms are sent.
- Cloudflare: Turnstile bot protection.
- OpenFreeMap: supplies the map images. If you view a map, your browser asks it for the map of that area.
- postcodes.io: turns a host's postcode into an approximate map position, only for habitats approved for the map. No names are sent.
- Our email provider and automation tools (such as Zapier): to send you emails and pass enquiries to our team.
Some of the service providers we use to run the Habitat Network (for example our database, website hosting and email providers) are based in the United States. Where your personal data is transferred outside the UK, we make sure it is protected by an approved safeguard. This is either the UK-US ‘data bridge’, for providers certified under it, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, which are included in our providers' data processing terms.
Habitat sponsors. If you choose “Help spread the word” for your photos or videos, we may share those photos and videos (and the name you asked us to credit) with the sponsor of that habitat, to use in campaigns as set out in our media terms. We share only the photos and videos (and the name you asked us to credit), never your email address.
How long we keep your data
| Data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Your registration (name, email, postcode, space details) | While you're a member. If you ask us to delete it, within 30 days. If we haven't heard from you in 3 years, we'll check in, then delete or anonymise it. |
| Proof of your consent | As long as we hold your registration, plus 2 years, so we can show what you agreed to |
| Unsubscribe records | We keep only your email address on a "do not contact" list, so we never email you again |
| Approved sightings, photos and messages | As part of the habitat's public record. If you leave, we remove anything that identifies you. |
| Photos and videos you upload | As long as we use them. If you withdraw permission, we stop new use straight away and remove them from our own website and channels. |
| Your email and credit name (for “Help spread the word”) | As long as we use your photos or videos, plus 2 years, so we can show what you agreed to |
| Rejected or unpublished submissions | Deleted within 90 days |
| Rejected or withdrawn uploads | Deleted within 90 days. We keep a short record of the withdrawal so we don't use them again. |
| Sponsor enquiries | 2 years from our last contact, unless you become a partner |
| Partner contracts and invoices | 6 years, as required for tax and accounting records |
| Appreciation cookie | 12 months, contains no personal information |
Your rights
You can ask to see the information we hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, object to how we use it, or withdraw your consent at any time. Email hello@sawntobewild.com. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Open data
Public information about habitats, projects and sightings is shared as open data. It never includes anything private. See Open data.
Last updated: 21 October 2026