Trail Almanac Privacy Policy
Last updated: 8 July 2026
Trail Almanac is run by Joe Lovell, a UK-based individual. This policy explains what data I collect, why, and what I do with it. It’s true and accurate to the best of my knowledge and I’ve tried to keep it readable.
If you have questions, email me at [email protected].
1. What Data I Collect and Why
If you create an account: I collect your name (or username) and email address. I need this to let you log in and to contact you if there’s an issue with your account.
If you submit content (corrections, trip reports, etc.): I store that content along with your account details. This is how the platform works.
Automatically, when you use the site: I collect standard web analytics data — pages visited, time on site, rough location (country level), device type, and so on. I use this to understand how the site is being used and to improve it. I use Umami Analytics, which is privacy-friendly, cookieless, and does not track you across other websites or build a profile of you. No personally identifiable information is collected through analytics.
If you contact me by email: I’ll have your email address and whatever you wrote or attached the message. I won’t add you to any mailing list without your permission.
If you contact me using the contact form: I save the data you submit in order to contact you about your enquiry. This includes your name and email address, and any information you provide in the message. IP addresses from the contact form are not stored.
If you sign up for updates: I keep your email address and any other information you volunteer solely for the purpose of keeping you informed about site updates and related news.
Note that by accessing the site or completing forms, your IP address is processed. This is done purely for security and anti-spam purposes.
2. Legal Basis (the GDPR bit)
Under GDPR, I need a lawful reason to process your data. For Trail Almanac:
- Account and submitted content data is processed on the basis of contract. It’s necessary to provide the service you’ve signed up for.
- Analytics data is processed on the basis of legitimate interests – namely, understanding how the site is used helps me improve it, and the data collected is minimal and not used to profile individuals.
- Email enquiries are processed on the basis of legitimate interests – namely, responding to people who contact me.
- Newsletter/updates data is processed on the basis of consent – you actively signed up, and you can withdraw that consent at any time using the unsubscribe link in every email.
3. Who I Share Data With
I don’t sell your data. Full stop.
That said, running a website involves third-party services, and some of your data passes through them:
- Hetzner Online GmbH: the server your data lives on
- Cloudflare, Inc.: provides security, performance, and content delivery services. Traffic to Trail Almanac passes through Cloudflare’s network. Cloudflare participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and processes data in accordance with their Data Processing Agreeement. Cloudflare also provides Turnstile, which I use to prevent spammers from flooding contact forms, and sign-ups, and from launching brute force attacks on the site’s login page. Turnstile is cookieless and does not track you across sites.
- Brevo: I keep any sign-up data including your email address in an industry-leading GDPR-compliant contact list service.
I only use services that handle data responsibly. Where required, I have data processing addenda with the relevant service providers.
4. How Long I Keep Your Data
- Account data: kept for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, I’ll remove your personal data within 30 days.
- Submitted content: if you ask me to remove content you’ve submitted, I’ll do so. Note that corrections you’ve contributed to the dataset may be anonymised rather than deleted, as removing them could degrade the data for other users.
- Email correspondence: I keep emails for a reasonable period in case of follow-up, then delete them.
5. Your Rights
Under GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data I hold about you
- Correct inaccurate data
- Delete your data (the “right to be forgotten”)
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests
- Portability, that is, receive your data in a usable format
To exercise any of these rights, email me at [email protected]. I’ll respond within one month.
If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your data, you can complain to the ICO (the UK’s data protection authority) at ico.org.uk.
6. Cookies
Trail Almanac uses no tracking or advertising cookies. A small number of strictly necessary cookies may be set for security (Cloudflare) and, if you log in, to keep you signed in. These are exempt from consent requirements.
The analytics tool I use (Umami) is cookieless and collects no personally identifiable information. No cookie consent banner is required and no cookie preferences need to be managed.
7. Security
I take reasonable steps to keep your data secure, including HTTPS/SSL encryption and access controls. No system is perfect, but I take this seriously.
8. Changes to This Policy
I may update this policy from time to time. If I make significant changes, I’ll let you know. The date at the top of this page reflects when it was last updated.