Who I Am
John Hoo here at Adventures & Sunsets. I have a few things I would like to disclose so you can feel comfortable browsing my site knowing I respect your data, privacy and can trust me to disclose or remove your data upon request.

Adventures & Sunsets, found at https://www.trystartover.com. (“Website”) is governed by the following privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”). The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to inform you what personally identifiable information I may collect and how it may be used. This statement only applies to this Website.

What Personal Data I Collect and Why I Collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site I collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Contact forms
My email contact forms require a double opt-in to be sure that consent is given to store information

Cookies
If you leave a comment on my site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

I use three types of cookies on this site:

Session cookies, which expire as soon as you close your browser.

Permanent cookies, which stay on your browser until you choose to delete.

3rd Party Cookies, collected by our 3rd parties, such as affilaites, which may send data to our 3rd parties.

You can alter your cookie settings in your browser. If you disable cookie use, some aspects of my site may not function fully, but it is within your right to do so.

Marketing and Affiliates
I monetize my website with several affiliate programs and media partnerships. I may be compensated by companies through advertising, paid work, sponsorships, affiliate programs and other. While I strive to ensure that all my partnerships are with ethical companies that meet FTC and GDPR guidelines, things may change without notice. Please research any of our 3rd party companies so you can be informed.

I will always disclose on the individual pages, where these affiliate links are in place or sponsored opportunities have paid for a post. Please note that by interacting with these links I may receive commission at no additional cost to you. At no time are you obligated to make purchases through these links in order to use my site. However, if you do make purchases through my site it would help me to stay on the road and continue to run this website.

I participate in the affiliate programs of Amazon, Booking.com, Hostelworld, Hotels.com, VRBO, Heymondo, GetYourGuide, and more.

These and all my affiliates meet GDPR guidelines, but it is your responsibility to read their privacy policy to know how your data is being used as soon as you leave our site.

Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics
Who I Share Your Data With/Third Party Use of Information
I use and share information with the following third party companies:

MailChimp: My newsletter, email updates, marketing campaigns and mailing subscription is provided by a 3rd party company called MailChimp. Unless you explicitly gave permission to email you for my newsletter or marketing purposes, I will not use your email address to contact you.

If you subscribed for my newsletter or marketing material I may contact based on the information you signed up for.

If you provided me with your name, it is used only to personalize and address emails.

All our subscriptions are double opt in and meet GDPR requirements.

Google Analytics: I use Google Analytics to track traffic and website statistics. They may receive anonymous aggregated information such as your location, how you landed on my site, links clicked, how long you stayed on the site, what pages you visited, and other statistics. This information helps me tailor the best experience to you by understanding information about what pages are the most popular or my readers’ geographic location.

BlueHost: SiteGround is our hosting platform. They may receive your IP address, cookie information and any data they need to ensure our website is visible and running to the public.

WordPress: WordPress is the company I use to create this online website. They may receive analytics data from you, such as your IP address, your name, and email if you comment on my posts and other data.

Social Warfare. Social Warfare is the company I use so you can share my articles. They do not collect any of your data as you share my content across different social media platforms.

As of May 25th, 2018, all these third-parties meet GDPR requirements. Please note that each of these 3rd parties may also have 3rd party companies they share with. Each company should have a privacy policy detailing more information about how they share your data. It is your responsibility to know and understand each companies privacy policy and how it relates to you.

How long I retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

What rights you have over your data
If you have left comments on this site, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data this site holds about you, including any data you have provided to it. You can also request that I erase any personal data I hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where I send Your Data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

How I Use The Collected Data
The information you provide us may be used in the following ways:

To provide us with anonymous analytics of our user base to provide catered content and advertising to our audience.
To send you information about Adventures & Sunsets, such as in our newsletter you sign up for. You can opt out of this at any time.
To send you marketing material if you gave us consent. You can opt out of this at any time.
To respond to your emails or questions. Please note that communication must be instigated by you.
To respond to your comments.
To track and measure ROI for marketing campaigns and affiliate links.
To operate and maintain the website.
To provide you with a seamless user experience based on your browser and operating system.
Privacy of Minors
Adventures & Sunsets will never knowingly keep or collect data of underage minors. I ask that anyone under the age of 16 refrains from leaving sensitive information on this website. If a parent or guardian believes we have such information of a minor, contact me immediately.

Additional information
How we protect your data
All the data collection services I use (Mailchimp, Sumo, affiliate programs) are GDPR compliant. Data is only stored to help improve user experience or to keep in touch.

Adventures & Sunsets will never ask you for sensitive personal information, such as bank details, date of birth, personal ID numbers, race, ethnicity, background information, government information or other sensitive data that may be used to harm your identity. Never provide this information or any information you are not comfortable sharing with us or our third-parties.