Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

TripCurator ("we", "our", "us") is a research-backed travel planning website operated by TripCurator Research Lab. Our website is located at www.tripcurator.com.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, you can contact us at: privacy@tripcurator.com

2. What Data We Collect

We collect data in the following ways:

2.1 Data You Provide Directly

• Contact form submissions: If you contact us via our contact form, we collect your name and email address to respond to your enquiry.
• Newsletter sign-up: If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address to send you travel guides and updates.

2.2 Data Collected Automatically

• Usage data: We use Google Analytics 4 to collect anonymised information about how visitors use our site, including pages visited, time on site, and general geographic region. IP addresses are anonymised.
• Cookies: We use cookies for analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google AdSense). See Section 5 for details.
• Log data: Our web hosting provider automatically records standard server log information, including your IP address, browser type, and referring URL. This data is held for a maximum of 30 days.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

• To respond to your contact form enquiries
• To send you the newsletter you subscribed to (you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in every email)
• To understand how our website is used and improve our content
• To serve relevant advertisements via Google AdSense
• To comply with our legal obligations

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their marketing purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, our legal basis for processing your personal data is as follows:

• Consent: For newsletter subscriptions, analytics cookies, and advertising cookies — you provide consent via our cookie banner or sign-up forms.
• Legitimate interests: For server log data and basic website security.
• Contract performance: To respond to your contact form messages.

5. Cookies

We use the following types of cookies on our website:

5.1 Strictly Necessary Cookies

These are required for the website to function and cannot be disabled. They do not store personally identifiable information.

5.2 Analytics Cookies (Google Analytics 4)

Google Analytics collects anonymised information about how visitors use our site. IP anonymisation is enabled. Data is retained for 14 months. You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

5.3 Advertising Cookies (Google AdSense)

We display advertisements via Google AdSense, which uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our site and other websites. You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ad Settings or via the NAI opt-out page.

For a full list of cookies used on our site, please see our Cookie Policy.

6. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services, which may process your data according to their own privacy policies:

• Google Analytics 4 — Website analytics. Google Privacy Policy
• Google AdSense — Advertising. Google Privacy Policy
• Formspree — Contact form processing. Formspree Privacy Policy
• Netlify — Website hosting. Netlify Privacy Policy

We also participate in affiliate programmes with Booking.com, GetYourGuide, and others. These partners may use cookies when you click our affiliate links. See our Affiliate Disclosure for details.

7. Data Retention

• Contact form data: Retained for 12 months after your last communication with us, then deleted.
• Newsletter subscriber data: Retained until you unsubscribe, after which it is deleted within 30 days.
• Analytics data: Retained for 14 months by Google Analytics (per our configuration).
• Server logs: Retained for a maximum of 30 days by our hosting provider.

8. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: Request that we correct inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure: Request that we delete your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Right to restrict processing: Request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format.
• Right to object: Object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent: Withdraw your consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@tripcurator.com. We will respond within 30 days. If you are in the EEA, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

9. Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in certain EEA countries). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us immediately.

10. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or destruction. Our website is served over HTTPS. However, no transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. International Data Transfers

Some of our third-party service providers (including Google) may transfer data to countries outside the EEA. Where this occurs, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of our website after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact Us

For any questions, concerns, or data requests related to this Privacy Policy, please contact us: