Privacy Policy
We collect as little as we can get away with. This page explains exactly what that is.
Site owner: this page now describes Google Analytics 4 behind a consent gate, which is what the site actually does. If you later add display advertising, an email signup or embedded video, this page and the consent banner both need updating. Have a solicitor review it if the site becomes commercially significant - this is a careful template, not legal advice.
Last updated: 30 July 2026
Who we are
bestdogball.com is operated by [YOUR NAME OR REGISTERED COMPANY NAME], [YOUR ADDRESS OR REGISTERED OFFICE]. For data protection purposes we are the data controller. Contact: our contact page.
Site owner: those two brackets are the only thing still to fill in on this page, and UK GDPR requires a controller identity - you cannot leave them blank. If you do not want to publish a home address, a company registered office or a service address is the normal answer.
What we collect
Analytics - only if you agree
We use Google Analytics 4 to see which guides people find useful. It sets cookies and sends data to Google, so we ask before it loads. If you decline, the Google Analytics script is never downloaded and no analytics cookie is set. The site works identically either way, and you can change your mind at any time using the cookie settings link in the footer.
If you do agree, Google Analytics collects pages viewed, the referring site, approximate location derived from a truncated IP address, device and browser type, and how long you stayed. We have IP anonymisation enabled. We use it to decide which articles to write next. Google processes this data as our processor under their own terms - see Google's privacy policy and how Google Analytics uses data. Some of that processing involves transfers outside the UK, which Google covers through the UK extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses.
We also record when someone clicks a link through to Amazon - which page it came from and which product - so we can see which recommendations are useful. That event only fires if you have accepted analytics.
Server logs
Our host, Netlify, keeps standard access logs including IP addresses, for security and abuse prevention. These are retained under Netlify's own policy and we do not access them for any other purpose.
Contact messages
If you contact us, we hold your message and reply address for as long as needed to deal with it. We do not add you to any list.
What we do not collect
We do not run display advertising, we do not operate a newsletter, we do not have accounts or logins, and we do not use tracking pixels from social networks. We do not sell or share your data with anyone.
Cookies
| What | Type | Purpose | Set when |
|---|---|---|---|
bdb_consent | Local storage | Remembers your analytics choice | When you choose |
bdb_market | Local storage | Remembers whether to show UK or US shop links | On first visit |
_ga, _ga_* | Cookie | Google Analytics | Only if you accept analytics |
The two local storage items are strictly necessary for the site to remember your preferences, never leave your device, and can be cleared any time by clearing site data. Neither identifies you.
When you click through to Amazon, Amazon sets its own cookies under its own policy - including the one that would credit us with a referral. That is governed by Amazon's privacy notice, not ours.
Affiliate links
Product links here are affiliate links. Clicking one passes a tracking identifier to Amazon so any purchase can be credited to us. We never receive your name, address, payment details or order contents - only aggregate reports of how many items were bought.
See our affiliate disclosure for the commercial detail.
Legal basis
Analytics: your consent, under UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Nothing analytics-related runs until you give it, and withdrawing it is as easy as giving it - use the cookie settings link in the footer.
Security logs and answering your messages: legitimate interests, under Article 6(1)(f) - keeping the site available and replying to people who write to us.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, erase or restrict processing of your personal data, to object to processing, and to data portability. Since we hold almost nothing that identifies you, in practice this usually only applies to emails you have sent us. Contact us to exercise any of these rights.
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Children
This site is aimed at adults buying pet products and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13.
Changes
If this policy changes we will update the date at the top. Material changes will be noted on the page.
How we test
Every ball on this site is bought at full retail price with our own money. Nothing here is a sample sent by a brand, and no manufacturer sees a review before it is published.
Testing runs over a minimum of six weeks with four dogs chosen for genuinely different jobs:
- A Labrador who fetches hard but chews gently - the volume tester. If a ball survives him it has survived a lot of repetitions.
- A Staffordshire Bull Terrier who destroys most things within a fortnight. He decides every durability verdict on this site; the other three rarely mark a ball at all.
- A whippet who runs flat out and catches in the air. She is the reason we care about how a ball behaves in flight rather than just on the ground - whether it tumbles or flies true, whether it is light enough to catch cleanly at speed without jarring, and whether the surface gives enough grip for a dog to take it out of the air rather than bat it away. A ball that is fine to pick up off the grass can be genuinely unpleasant to catch, and nothing else in the group would have shown us that.
- A twelve-kilo terrier cross used to check whether smaller mouths can carry a ball comfortably, and whether the weight is manageable over a full walk.
We record bounce height from a two-metre drop onto paving, whether the ball floats in still water and how much of it sits above the waterline, throwing distance with a standard launcher, catchability in flight, and the physical state of the ball at two, four and six weeks. Balls that split, delaminate or lose their shape inside six weeks do not make the recommendations regardless of brand.
Where we have not tested something, we say so on the page rather than inventing a verdict. That currently applies to the automatic ball launchers, the light-up ball category, and some of the squeaky and treat-dispensing products - each carries a visible notice.