1. Who we are
This website is operated by Apostle Lewis Ambundo, Lead Pastor of New Growth Centre, based in Sheffield, United Kingdom. Apostle Lewis Ambundo is the data controller for personal information collected through this website.
If you have any questions about how we handle your personal data, please contact us at: hello@apostlelewisambundo.com
2. What information we collect and why
Contact and invitation forms
When you submit a message through our Contact or Invitation to Minister forms, we collect the personal information you provide. This may include your name, email address, phone number, church or organisation name, and event details. We use this information solely to respond to your enquiry or assess your ministry invitation request.
Lawful basis: Legitimate interests (responding to your enquiry) and, where you are requesting a service, the steps necessary prior to entering into a contract.
Website analytics
We use analytics tools to understand how visitors use this website — which pages are visited, how long people stay, and where visitors come from. This helps us improve the site and make it more useful. No analytics data is used to identify you personally or for advertising purposes.
Lawful basis: Legitimate interests (improving the website). Where tools use cookies that are not strictly necessary, we rely on your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
Session recording
We use Microsoft Clarity to record anonymised sessions — mouse movements, scrolls, and clicks — to understand how people interact with the site. Clarity automatically masks sensitive input fields and does not record passwords or payment information. Individual sessions are not linked to your identity.
3. Cookies
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. Some cookies are essential for the site to function; others help us understand how the site is being used. The tables below explain every cookie this website sets.
Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to work and cannot be switched off. They are set in response to actions you take, such as submitting a form. They do not store any personally identifiable information.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
wordpress_test_cookie | WordPress | Tests whether the browser accepts cookies. Required for the site to function correctly. | Session |
wordpress_logged_in_* | WordPress | Keeps authenticated users (site admins only) logged in. Not set for regular visitors. | Session |
wp-settings-* | WordPress | Stores admin interface preferences. Only set for logged-in administrators. | 1 year |
PHPSESSID | Server | Maintains your session state across page requests. Required for forms to submit correctly. | Session |
Analytics cookies — Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
We use Google Analytics 4 to collect anonymised data about how visitors use this website. GA4 does not use third-party cookies for advertising and does not share your data with Google’s advertising products unless you have enabled that separately. IP addresses are anonymised before storage. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking at any time by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Assigns a unique ID to each visitor to distinguish users and count visits. Used to generate statistical data on website usage. | 2 years | |
_ga_XXXXXXXXXX | Maintains and tracks session state for GA4. The suffix matches your GA4 Measurement ID. | 2 years | |
_gid | Assigns a unique ID used to generate statistical data on how you use the site. Resets daily. | 24 hours | |
_gat | Throttles the rate of requests sent to Google’s servers. Used to limit data collection on high-traffic sites. | 1 minute |
Google Analytics is operated by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Data may be transferred to Google LLC servers in the United States under Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission. Google Privacy Policy · Google Analytics data safeguarding
Session recording cookies — Microsoft Clarity
Microsoft Clarity records anonymised heatmaps and session replays so we can see how visitors interact with the site. Clarity automatically masks all text inputs and sensitive content. Data collected does not identify individual users and is not used for advertising. You can opt out of Clarity at any time by visiting Microsoft’s privacy dashboard.
| Cookie name | Provider | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_clck | Microsoft | Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site, on the browser. Ensures that behaviour on subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID. | 1 year |
_clsk | Microsoft | Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording. | 1 day |
CLID | Microsoft | Identifies the first time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity, used to identify new versus returning users. | 1 year |
ANONCHK | Microsoft | Used to check if third-party cookies are enabled on the user’s browser. Stores no personal information. | 10 minutes |
MR | Microsoft | Indicates whether to refresh the MUID cookie. Used by Microsoft to identify unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. | 7 days |
MUID | Microsoft | Identifies unique web browsers visiting Microsoft sites. Used for advertising, site analytics, and other operational purposes. | 1 year |
SM | Microsoft | Used in synchronising the MUID across Microsoft domains. | Session |
Microsoft Clarity is operated by Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052, USA. Data may be transferred to the United States under Standard Contractual Clauses. Microsoft Privacy Statement · Clarity privacy disclosure
Managing and disabling cookies
You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. The links below explain how to manage cookies in the most common browsers:
Please note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of this website, including form submissions.
4. How long we keep your data
| Data type | Retention period | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Contact form submissions | 2 years | To maintain a record of correspondence and follow up where necessary. |
| Invitation form submissions | 3 years | To maintain records of ministry invitations, accepted or declined. |
| GA4 analytics data | 14 months | Default GA4 retention period. Configured in Google Analytics settings. |
| Microsoft Clarity recordings | 13 months | Default Clarity retention period. |
After these periods, data is deleted or anonymised. If you would like your data removed before the standard retention period, please contact us and we will action your request within 30 days.
5. Who we share your data with
We do not sell your personal data. We do not share it with third parties for marketing purposes. Data may be shared only in the following circumstances:
- Service providers — our website hosting provider (Plesk/server infrastructure) and email service process data on our behalf under data processing agreements.
- Analytics providers — Google (GA4) and Microsoft (Clarity) receive anonymised usage data as described in the cookies section above.
- Legal obligation — we may disclose information where required by law or to protect the rights and safety of others.
6. International transfers
Some of our third-party service providers are based outside the UK and European Economic Area (EEA), including Google (United States) and Microsoft (United States). Where data is transferred internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — including Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or the European Commission — to protect your data to the same standard as required under UK GDPR.
7. Your rights
Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
| Right | What it means |
|---|---|
| Right of access | You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. |
| Right to rectification | You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data. |
| Right to erasure | You can ask us to delete your personal data where there is no compelling reason to continue processing it. |
| Right to restrict processing | You can ask us to suspend processing of your data in certain circumstances. |
| Right to data portability | You can request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. |
| Right to object | You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. |
| Right to withdraw consent | Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing. |
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@apostlelewisambundo.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint · Telephone: 0303 123 1113
8. Children’s privacy
This website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has submitted personal information through this site, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
9. Links to other websites
This website contains links to other sites, including New Growth Centre Church. Once you leave our site, this privacy notice no longer applies and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to read their privacy notices.
10. Changes to this privacy notice
We may update this privacy notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated. Where changes are significant, we will make this clear. We encourage you to review this notice periodically.
11. Contact us
For any questions, requests, or complaints relating to this privacy notice or how we handle your personal data, please get in touch:
Apostle Lewis Ambundo
New Growth Centre
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Email: hello@apostlelewisambundo.com