Legal & policies

Privacy & data

Draft for organiser and legal-adviser approval. Waterford Festival of Food is the data controller for personal data collected through this website. We process contact and access enquiries to respond to your request; volunteer, trader and press applications to administer those applications; and newsletter details only where you have asked to receive updates. Depending on the service, our lawful basis is consent, taking steps at your request before a contract, legal obligation, or our legitimate interest in operating and safeguarding the festival.

We use service providers acting as processors for website hosting and database services, email and newsletter delivery, ticketing, and—where enabled—the optional AI assistant. Ticketing partners may act as separate controllers for purchases made on their websites; their notice applies at checkout. We share only the information needed to provide the service, do not sell personal data, and require processors to protect it. Some providers may process data outside the EEA using an adequacy decision or approved safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

General enquiries and application records are normally deleted within 24 months of the last activity unless a longer period is required by law, to manage a contract, or to resolve a dispute. Newsletter records are kept until you unsubscribe. Security and operational records are kept only for the period needed to protect the service. The organiser must confirm these periods and the current processor list before publication.

You may ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability of your data, and may object to processing or withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful processing. Contact info@waterfordfestivaloffood.com. You may also complain to Ireland’s Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.

Cookies & analytics

We use essential browser storage to remember your privacy choices and provide core site functions. With your consent, Google Tag Manager may load to collect page-view and interaction events such as programme searches, ticket-link clicks and form completions. The organiser must approve the final GTM container, its tags, retention settings and Google data-processing terms before entering the container ID. GTM remains disabled when no approved container ID is configured.

The YouTube-powered homepage background video loads automatically. Other YouTube videos and OpenStreetMap embeds remain blocked until you allow external media and maps. These providers may receive your IP address, browser information and the page you viewed under their own privacy terms. You can reject optional services without losing core site access and can change your choice at any time using Cookie preferences in the footer.

For details of Google’s data handling, see Google’s privacy policy. YouTube is provided by Google. OpenStreetMap services are provided by the OpenStreetMap Foundation; see its privacy policy.