Privacy policy

Who is responsible

Ian Jamry, Commerce Road, Brentford, Middlesex, London, United Kingdom. Email: benchrefill@gmail.com.

Server logs

When you open a page, the web server records your IP address, the time, the requested URL, the page you came from and your browser details. This is needed to run and secure the site. The hosting provider stores these logs. We do not use them for analytics.

Cookies that are always on

These are needed for the site to work and do not need your consent.

• A session cookie and an XSRF-TOKEN cookie keep forms working and protect them from misuse. The session cookie lasts up to two hours.
• bench_country remembers the shopping country you chose. It is kept for one year.
• bench_cookie_consent remembers your cookie choice. It is kept for six months.

Google Analytics, only after you accept

Google Analytics is switched off until you allow analytics in the cookie banner. The provider is Google Ireland Limited. If you accept, it measures page views and a few actions in the catalogue: a search was made, a machine page was opened, a machine was saved, an item was added to the shopping list, and a retailer link was used. These events carry the catalogue ID of the machine, never your search words, nicknames or notes. Each event also includes the page title and the referring page, both without query strings. When the Google tag loads, Google receives your IP address and browser details. Page addresses are sent without the part after the "?". Google may process the data in the USA (EU–US Data Privacy Framework). Analytics sets the _ga cookies, which last up to two years.

You can withdraw your consent at any time with "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page. This deletes the _ga cookies and reloads the page.

Country suggestion on English pages

If you have not chosen a country, your IP address is looked up in a copy of the DB-IP country database that is stored on our own server. Nothing is sent to DB-IP. The German pages do not do this lookup.

My Workshop

Machines you save in My Workshop and your shopping list stay in this browser's local storage. Your nicknames and notes are never sent to us or to analytics; to refresh saved cards, the page only requests the catalogue data for the saved configurations. You can delete what you saved in My Workshop itself or by clearing this site's data in your browser.

Amazon links

Retailer buttons go through our /go/ address and then on to Amazon. We do not store anything personal about the click. Amazon sets its own cookies once you are on Amazon, under its own privacy policy. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Contact form

If you send a message through the contact form, your name, email address, topic and message are emailed to us. The site does not store them in its database. We keep the email in our mailbox only as long as needed to deal with your request and any follow-up. To keep out spam, the form uses Cloudflare Turnstile (Cloudflare, Inc.). It is loaded only on the contact page and, once you open the workshop report form, on that machine page. It checks whether the visitor is a person. To do this, Cloudflare receives your IP address and browser details. Cloudflare may process them in the USA (EU–US Data Privacy Framework).

Workshop reports

If you send a workshop report about how a blade or belt fitted, we store the result, the TPI or grit, product, note and name or nickname you enter, together with the machine configuration and the page language. After we have read it, the report is published on the machine page without your email address. If you give an email address, only we see it: we use it only to ask about your report and delete it no later than 90 days after you send the report. We do not store your IP address with the report. If a report says the size did not fit, we are also notified by email, without your email address. The form uses Cloudflare Turnstile as described above. Published reports stay online as long as the size they describe is listed; we delete them earlier if you ask. Rejected reports are deleted within 30 days.

Machine requests

If you ask us to look for a machine, we store what you enter: the brand and model as you typed them, whether it takes a blade or a belt, your country, the page language and, if you give one, your email address. The email address is optional. We use it only to tell you when your machine has been answered, and we delete it after we tell you, or after 90 days at the latest. We do not store your IP address with the request. Only the brand and model text, never your email address, is sent to an AI service we use to tidy requests, for example to fix spelling and spot duplicates. The AI service does not decide what goes into the catalogue; sizes come only from the manufacturer’s own documents. Publicly we show only how often a machine was asked for, without any personal details. Requests we reject are deleted within 30 days. The form uses Cloudflare Turnstile as described above.

Error reports (Sentry)

When the server runs into an error, a report is sent to Sentry (Functional Software, Inc.). It contains your IP address, the page URL, the request headers including cookies, and your browser details. It is processed in the USA and used only to find and fix faults.

Legal basis and storage

• Google Analytics: the analytics cookies and the processing through Google Analytics are based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG). You can withdraw it at any time with "Cookie settings". Analytics data is kept according to the retention setting of our Google Analytics property (Google’s default is 2 months unless changed).
• Cookies that are always on: they are strictly necessary to provide the site you asked for (§ 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG). They are kept for the periods listed above.
• Contact form: your message and details are used to answer you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR where it concerns a contract, such as a sponsorship, otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The spam check with Cloudflare Turnstile is based on our legitimate interest in protecting the form from abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).
• Workshop reports: publishing them is based on our legitimate interest in sharing practical experience with these sizes (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); the optional email address is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time through the contact form.
• Machine requests: we handle them to answer your request and to keep the catalogue complete (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR); the optional email address is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time through the contact form. The brand and model text is processed by an AI service we use as our processor.
• Server logs, Sentry error reports, the local country lookup and the /go/ redirect are based on our legitimate interests in operating, securing and fixing the site (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Affiliate attribution happens on Amazon’s side. Server logs are kept only as long as needed to run and secure the site and are then deleted.

Your rights

You have the right to access your data, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to its processing, and to receive it in a portable form (GDPR Articles 15 to 21). You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority. To use these rights, email benchrefill@gmail.com.

Changes

This version is dated 18 October 2026.