Privacy policy

This policy explains what information is collected when you visit hotspringsbrief.com (the "site"), who collects it, why, and the choices you have. "We", "us" and "our" mean Hot Springs Brief. If anything here is unclear, email us at[email protected].

The short version

• We do not run user accounts, newsletters or comment sections, so we do not ask for your name, address or password.
• We do not sell your personal information to anyone.
• Google shows ads on the site through Google AdSense. Google and its partners may use cookies to show you ads, including ads based on your earlier visits to this and other websites. You can turn personalised ads off at any time (see below).
• Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, sees standard technical data such as your IP address so it can deliver the pages.
• We use Google Analytics to understand which pages are useful. It uses cookies, and you can block it (see below).
• If you email us, we keep your message only as long as we need it to reply and follow up.

Information collected automatically

Server and security logs

The site is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. Like any web server, Cloudflare receives technical information when your browser requests a page: your IP address, browser and device type, the page requested, the referring page and the time of the request. Cloudflare uses this to deliver the site, cache files close to you and block attacks. We do not use it to identify individual visitors. See theCloudflare privacy policy.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4, provided by Google, to measure how the site is used: which pages are read, how visitors arrive (for example from a search engine), roughly where they are (country and city, from the IP address), and the type of device and browser. Google Analytics sets first-party cookies (named _ga and _ga_*) that last up to two years so it can tell new visits from returning ones. Google does not tell us who you are, and we do not combine this data with anything that identifies you. We use these reports to decide which listings to check and update first.

Google processes this data as described inHow Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can stop Google Analytics on every website with theGoogle Analytics opt-out browser add-on, or by blocking cookies in your browser. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, analytics cookies are not set unless you agree to them.

Cloudflare may also count page views without cookies as part of hosting the site.

Cookies and advertising

Cookies are small text files a website stores in your browser. Hot Springs Brief uses Google Analytics cookies, described above, and our advertising partners set cookies, as described here. Your theme and temperature-unit choices are saved in local storage, not in cookies.

Google AdSense

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings(My Ad Center). You can also opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising ataboutads.info (US) oryouronlinechoices.eu (Europe).

If you opt out, you will still see ads, but they will be based on the page you are reading rather than your browsing history. Google explains how it uses information from sites that show its ads inHow Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. Other ad vendors that work through Google may also set cookies; Google lists them in itscommonly used ad technology providers page.

Consent in Europe, the UK and Switzerland

If you visit from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, you will be asked for consent before any advertising cookies are set, through a consent message certified under Google's requirements. You can refuse, and you can change your choice later from the privacy link that appears with the message. If you refuse, Google may still show limited, non-personalised ads that do not use cookies for targeting.

Managing cookies in your browser

Every major browser lets you block or delete cookies. Blocking third-party cookies stops most ad personalisation. The site works fully with cookies blocked.

Information stored on your device

Your choice of light or dark theme and of °F or °C is saved in your browser's local storage so the site remembers it on your next visit. This setting never leaves your device, is not a cookie and is not used for tracking. You can clear it in your browser settings.

Information you send us

When you email us a correction, a suggestion or a photo, we receive your email address, your message and anything you attach. We use this only to reply, check the information and, for photos, publish the image with the credit you asked for. We do not add you to a mailing list. We do not publish your email address.

Third-party services on the pages

• Maps. Map tiles come from OpenFreeMap, built on OpenStreetMap data. When a map loads, your browser requests map images from their servers, which see your IP address as with any web request. Maps load only when you scroll to them.
• Search. Site search runs entirely in your browser using a pre-built index. What you type is not sent to us or to anyone else.
• Fonts and photos are served from our own domain, so loading them does not contact Google Fonts or Wikimedia.
• Outbound links. Listings link to operators, land agencies and booking sites. Once you leave our site, their privacy policies apply. Affiliate links, if any, are labelled.

How we use information

• To deliver and secure the website.
• To understand, in aggregate, which pages are useful and which need updating.
• To reply to your emails and act on corrections.
• To show advertising that pays for the site, through Google AdSense as described above.

For visitors in the EEA and UK, our legal bases are legitimate interests (running and securing the site, aggregate statistics, answering emails) and consent (analytics and advertising cookies).

Sharing

We do not sell personal information and we do not share it for money. Information is handled by the service providers named on this page (Cloudflare for hosting, Google for analytics and advertising, and our email provider) only to provide their services. We may disclose information if the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Google Analytics keeps detailed event data for no more than 14 months, and we only look at aggregate reports.
• Emails are kept for up to 24 months after the last message in a conversation, then deleted, unless we need them to settle a dispute.
• Photos you send and we publish stay online with your credit until you ask us to remove them.
• Cloudflare and Google keep their own logs under their own retention policies.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask what personal information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, to object to or restrict how it is used, and to receive a copy. Because we collect so little, in practice this usually means the emails you have sent us. Email [email protected] with your request and we will answer within 30 days.

• EEA and UK: you can also complain to your local data protection authority. You can withdraw consent to advertising cookies at any time through the consent message.
• California and other US states: we do not sell personal information. Some state laws treat cookie-based advertising as "sharing"; you can opt out of it through Google Ads Settings, the aboutads.info choices page or a browser that sends the Global Privacy Control signal. We will not treat you differently for using these rights.

Children

Hot Springs Brief is written for adults planning trips. It is not directed at children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email us and we will delete it.

Security and international transfers

The site is served only over HTTPS. Our providers may process data in countries other than yours, including the United States, under the safeguards described in their own policies, such as standard contractual clauses.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle data, we will update this page and the date at the top. For significant changes, such as adding a new advertising partner, we will also note the change at the top of the page for at least 30 days.

Contact

Privacy questions and requests: [email protected], or use the contact page. See also ourTerms and conditions.