Privacy Policy

(updated 28 June, 2026)

Introduction

Purpose of this privacy notice

This privacy notice informs you how we collect, process and look after your personal data in the course of your interaction with us — whether by visiting this website, creating an account, uploading or downloading content, or otherwise — and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

This website is not directed to children and we do not knowingly collect personal data relating to children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

Data Controller

We are McBuild.org (referred to as "we", "us" or "our" in this privacy notice), the operator of this website. In respect of your personal data we act as the data controller, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation, or "GDPR") and other applicable data protection law.

Before you create an account on this site, you will be asked to accept our Terms and Conditions.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, or wish to exercise any of your legal rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We aim to respond promptly to all such requests.

Changes to this privacy notice and your duty to inform us of changes

This notice was last updated on 28 June, 2026. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us, which you can do through your account settings or by contacting us.

Third-party links

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

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The data we collect about you

Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous or anonymised data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer the following kinds of personal data about you:

• Contact Data: your email address.
• Account Data: your username, password and account settings.
• Content Data: schematics, posts, comments, descriptions, images and other material you choose to upload, publish or submit to the site. Content you publish may be visible to other users.
• Technical Data: internet protocol (IP) address, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and approximate location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
• Usage Data: information about how you use our website, including the URLs you click through, content you view or search for, page response times, download errors, length of visits, and interaction information such as scrolling, clicks and mouse-overs.
• Communications Data: emails, support messages and notes of conversations, if you choose to contact us.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data, such as statistical or demographic data, for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law, as it does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. If we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data and use it in accordance with this notice.

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to provide certain features or services. We will notify you if this is the case.

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How your personal data is collected

We use different methods to collect data from and about you, including:

• Direct interactions: you may give us your data when you create an account, upload or submit content, contact us, or give us feedback.
• Automated technologies: as you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical Data and Usage Data about your equipment and browsing patterns, using cookies and similar technologies.

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How we use your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly we rely on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract — to provide the services you have asked for.
• Legitimate interests — where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
• Legal obligation — where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
• Consent — where you have given us consent, for example for certain advertising or marketing cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.

We do not sell your personal data. We will not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes without your consent.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

The ways in which we plan to use your personal data, and the legal bases we rely on, are set out below. We may process your data on more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose.

1. User registration and authentication (log in). Data processed: Contact Data, Account Data. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, legitimate interest.
2. To manage our relationship with you — for example, sending notifications about saved or watchlisted schematics, if and only if you choose to receive them. Data processed: Contact Data. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, legitimate interest.
3. To enable you to upload, publish and manage content on the site. Data processed: Account Data, Content Data. Lawful basis: performance of a contract, legitimate interest.
4. To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting, hosting, and preventing fraud and abuse). Data processed: Technical Data, Usage Data. Lawful basis: legitimate interest, legal obligation.
5. To deliver relevant content and advertisements to you and to measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve. Data processed: Usage Data. Lawful basis: legitimate interest, and consent where required for advertising cookies.
6. To use data analytics to improve our website, products, marketing and user experience. Data processed: Technical Data, Usage Data. Lawful basis: legitimate interest.

Advertising

We display advertising on this website, and we work with third-party advertising partners who may use cookies and similar technologies to show you ads that are more relevant to you and to measure their performance. You can manage or opt out of personalised advertising through tools such as Google Ads Settings, YourAdChoices (aboutads.info) and Your Online Choices (EU).

Marketing communications

You will only receive marketing communications from us where you have asked for them and have not opted out. You can ask us to stop sending you notifications at any time through your account settings or by contacting us.

Cookies

You can set your browser to refuse all or some cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, some parts of this website may become inaccessible or stop working properly. Essential cookies that are strictly necessary to operate the site cannot be switched off in our systems.

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Disclosures of your personal data

We may share your personal data with the following categories of recipient, only as far as necessary and under appropriate safeguards:

• Service providers who provide hosting, content delivery (CDN), security, analytics and IT support services on our behalf.
• Advertising partners, as described in the Advertising section above.
• Professional advisers, regulators and authorities, where required by law or to protect our rights, safety or property.
• A buyer or successor in the event of a merger, acquisition or sale of all or part of our business or assets.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes, and only permit them to process it for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

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International transfers

Some of our service providers are based outside the European Economic Area (EEA), so their processing of your personal data may involve a transfer of data outside the EEA. Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection by relying on at least one of the following safeguards:

• transferring to countries that the European Commission has recognised as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data;
• using specific contracts approved by the European Commission — the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) — which give personal data the same protection it has in the EEA; or
• where providers are based in the United States, transferring to them where they are certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (and the UK Extension / Swiss-US Framework where applicable).

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Data security

We have put in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

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Data retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including to satisfy any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure, the purposes for which we process it, and applicable legal requirements.

In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data (see "request erasure" below). In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use that information indefinitely without further notice.

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Your legal rights

Under data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected].

1. Request access to your personal data (a "data subject access request"), so you can receive a copy of the data we hold about you and check that we are processing it lawfully.
2. Request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you, although we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide.
3. Request erasure of your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it. We may not always be able to comply for specific legal reasons, which we will explain to you where applicable.
4. Object to processing where we rely on a legitimate interest and you feel it impacts your rights and freedoms, and at any time where we process your data for direct marketing.
5. Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances — for example, while the accuracy of the data is being established, or where our use is unlawful but you do not want it erased.
6. Request transfer (portability) of your personal data to you or a third party in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
7. Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent to process your data. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdraw it.
8. Lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the EU/EEA country where you live or work. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.

You will not have to pay a fee to exercise your rights in most cases.

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Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests as soon as possible, and in any event within one month, in line with applicable law. Occasionally it may take us longer if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests, in which case we will notify you and keep you updated.