🔒 Privacy Policy for Eric Hegwer (Travel & Food Website)
Your privacy is important to us. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.
1. Information We Collect
We only collect information necessary to provide you with a great experience on the blog and to communicate with you.
- Information You Voluntarily Provide (Contact Form & Newsletter):Â When you use our contact form or subscribe to a newsletter, you voluntarily give us:
- Your Name
- Your Email Address
- The content of your message
- Information from Comments: When you leave a comment on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also your IP address and browser user agent string to help with spam detection.
- Automatically Collected Information (Analytics & Tracking):Â We use tools to see how people use our site. This information is anonymous and includes things like:
- Your IP address (anonymized)
- The type of browser and device you are using
- Which pages you visit and for how long (session data)
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To respond to your direct inquiries sent through the contact form.
- To administer comment sections and prevent spam.
- To deliver occasional email updates or newsletters (only if you subscribe).
- To analyze website performance and understand which food recipes or travel guides are most popular, helping us improve the blog (via Google Analytics).
3. Third-Party Sharing and Affiliate Disclosure
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to outside parties for marketing purposes. We do, however, share data with trusted third parties who help us operate the blog:
| Category | Third Parties | Data Shared/Collected | Purpose |
| Analytics | Google Analytics | Non-personally identifiable data (cookies, IP address, device info). | To track and report website traffic and usage. (You can opt-out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.) |
| Affiliate Programs | Amazon Associates, Rakuten | Cookies and tracking IDs. | These programs use cookies to track purchases for commission purposes. We disclose our affiliate relationship below. |
| Spam Protection | Anti-Spam Services (e.g., Akismet) | Comment data (name, email, message, IP address). | To filter out spam submissions from the comment and contact forms. |
| Content Delivery | Gravatar | An anonymized hash of your email address. | To display your profile picture next to your comments. |
Affiliate Disclosure
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate networks like Rakuten, which are advertising programs designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites.
- When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, the affiliate program places a tracking cookie on your device to log that sale.
- As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
- The use of affiliate links does not affect the price you pay.
4. Cookies
We use cookies for the following reasons:
- Functionality:Â To run the WordPress platform and maintain website stability.
- Comments:Â If you leave a comment, a cookie may save your name and email for one year to make it easier to comment again.
- Analytics & Affiliate Tracking:Â Cookies are used by Google Analytics and our affiliate programs to understand website traffic and track sales for commission purposes.
You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
5. Your Rights
You have the right to request:
- To see a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- To ask us to correct any information that is inaccurate.
- To request that we delete your personal data from our records.
For any questions regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: info@EricHegwer.com