Privacy and transparency is very important, and I do my best to ensure that I protect your personal details properly and am upfront about any collaborations or revenue I make through The Occasional Traveller.
Cookies
What are Cookies?
- Cookies are small data files stored on your browser by the Website that store information. This website may use session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and/or persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalised experience on the Website
Which third parties use cookies on The Occasional Traveller?
- Google Analytics – this service tracks Website usage and provides information such as referring websites and user actions on the Website. Google Analytics may capture your IP address, but no other personal information is captured by Google Analytics.
- Mailchimp – see TOTmail below
- Affiliate: Booking.com – the affiliate link ID is stored in a cookie that tracks that you clicked through to booking.com from my website, and if you make a purchase within a certain time period, I am awarded a small commission on the sale
- Affiliate: Amazon.com –the affiliate link ID is stored in a cookie that tracks that you clicked through to amazon.com from my website, and if you make a purchase within a certain time period, I am awarded a small commission on the sale
- Mediavine – the display ad partner I work with, more below
Can I disable Cookies?
- As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others.
- The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers
Comments
What are comments?
Comments can be found at the bottom of most blogposts, where users of the website are able to submit their own questions and thoughts about the blog article on that page.
What personal information is collected on the comments page?
- Your Comment – whatever you have to say to me or about the article
- Your Name – for identification
- Your Email Address – so I can contact you if necessary
- Your Website – Optional
- Your IP Address – automatically logged
- Your Profile Picture – if logged in using the wordpress.com comments system
What is the information collected used for?
The information collected is used solely to help identify the commenter as an actual person and not a bot or a troll, and used for me to respond to you if necessary
Comments Policy
- All comments are screened before publishing
- All comments may be subject to editing before publishing. This may include removing unnecessary hyperlinks, cleaning up of grammar and partial removal of comments deemed unnecessary
- Not all comments will be published. I try my best but some genuine comments may be lost in the Spam filter while others may be determined as sneaky ads or actual spam
- Trolls and personal rants that do not add value to the conversation are not welcome and will not be published
Contact Me Page
What is the Contact Me page?
The Contact Page is a way for you to personally reach out to me directly from the website
What personal information is collected on the Contact Me page?
- Your Name – for identification
- Your Email Address – so I can contact you if necessary
- Subject/Your Message – whatever you want to tell me
What is the information collected used for?
The information collected is used solely to help identify the commenter as an actual person and not a bot or a troll, and used for me to respond to you if necessary
Akismet
What is Akismet?
Akismet is my spam filter that helps me sort out genuine comments from fake/spam comments
What information is collected?
We collect information about visitors who comment on Sites that use our Akismet anti-spam service. The information we collect depends on how the User sets up Akismet for the Site, but typically includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).
Advertising and Sponsored Content
What types of Advertising and Sponsored Content can be found on The Occasional Traveller?
The Occasional Traveller does host advertising and sponsored content such as:
- DISPLAY ADS
- Display ads are images or videos that are not my content that pop up in content or at the bottom of feeds. What you see depends somewhat on the page content, but also on your own cookies
- Revenue that I earn from Display Ads is based on the number of times the ads are seen
- AFFILIATE LINKS
- Hyperlinks in blog posts that link to external websites that are tagged with an identifier or a cookie by the advertiser(s) so that any sales generated from these links can be attributed to me
- Revenue from affiliate links are usually a percentage of the sales made through that link, the actual % depends on the affiliate agreement
- SPONSORED POSTS / SPONSORSHIP
- Sponsored posts are blog posts in which I collaborate with partner(s) to produce original content that is posted on and/or promoted on The Occasional Traveller
- Sponsorship involves longer-term collaborations with partner(s) beyond just a specific blog post
- Sponsored posts and sponsorship may be a barter trade in which a service/good is exchanged for content, or I may receive cash, depending on my agreement with the partner(s)
- FAM TRIPS
- FAM trips or Media Familiarisation Trips are when I am invited to travel or participate in overseas activities by partner(s), and either all or some of the costs of my trip is covered by the partner(s)
How do I know which content is advertising or sponsored content?
All Advertising or Sponsored Content on The Occasional Traveller is clearly marked and labelled for your information
- Display Ads are labelled with ‘Ad’ and ‘Mediavine’
- Affiliate Links are usually followed with a [XX Affiliate Link] and a disclaimer
- Sponsored Posts are tagged and categorised as ‘Sponsored‘, and the post usually leads and ends with an explanation of who I am partnering with and how I am working with them
- Sponsor Logos may be found in the footer or linked in the Work With Me Page
- FAM Trips are tagged and categorised as ‘FAM Trip‘ and the post usually leads and ends with an explanation of who I am partnering with and how I am working with them
General Disclaimers
- I endeavour to ensure that I only work with trustworthy partners and offer opinions and reviews based on my own experiences
Mailing List
What is TOTmail?
- TOTmail is a e-mail subscription service for anyone who wishes to receive The Occasional Traveller blog posts in their email directly
How can I sign up for TOTmail?
- The sign up form is opt-in and can be found:
- In a box on the Home Page (Sumome)
- A pop-up box (sumome)
- A separately linked sign up form (Mailchimp)
What happens when I sign up for TOTmail?
- WELCOME EMAIL: A welcome email with information and discount codes for my subscribers is sent once you have confirmed your subscription to TOTmail.
- BLOG POSTS:
- Every time a blog is published on The Occasional Traveller, you will receive an auto-generated post that consists of that blog post content as it is first published in your email.
- This email is usually sent in the evening on the day/following day, depending when the blog was posted.
- It will not reflect any subsequent changes or amendments made by me on The Occasional Traveller
- AD-HOC EMAILS: You may receive additional emails under the following circumstances
- Not receiving the Welcome or subsequent emails due to errors (on a personal request basis)
- Updated perks and discounts (on an adhoc basis depending on the seasonality of the promotions. Estimated 1-2 times a year maximum)
- Notice of a security breach (whenever it happens)
What information is collected when I sign up for TOTmail?
- The information collected for TOTmail by Mailchimp and/or SumoMe is stored in a mailing list on my Mailchimp account and includes:
- Your First Name – so I can address you
- Your Last Name – so I can address you more politely (optional)
- Your Email Address – so you can receive the posts in your email as requested
What is the information that you collect used for?
- The information collected is used solely for the purposes of administering the mailing list and sending you the blog posts via email whenever they are posted
Can I remove my information from this list?
- Existing Subscribers are free to unsubscribe and/or resubscribe at any time. Please utilise the Mailchimp unsubscribe button/link on the emails to remove yourself from the Mailing List
- No other physical or electronic copies of the Mailing List are kept
- Non-identifying information like reasons for unsubscribing or total number of subscribers may be kept as records to improve future outreach efforts
Promotions
What are Promotions?
- The Occasional Traveller sometimes conducts the following activities:
- CONTESTS – readers are invited to participate in a contest by submitting entries, and the best entry(s) as judged by that specific contest requirements is awarded the prize(s) as determined by Me or Partner(s)
- RAFFLES –readers are invited to participate in a contest by submitting entries, and the winner is selected by a randomizer
How do I participate in Promotions?
- Each promotion will have its own mechanics as determined by Me or Partner(s)
- Participants may be required to fill their information in on an external form (e.g. Google Forms) or contest widget (e.g. rafflecopter)
What information is collected for Promotions?
- Personal identifying information collected for participation is stored in a document or contest widget and includes:
- Your Name – for identification
- Your Email Address – so I can contact you
- Other information required as a part of the individual contest mechanic
What is the information used for?
- The above information collected is used solely for administering the contest
- Only the winner(s) personal identifying information may be passed on to the Promotions partner (if any) solely for the purpose of administering the prize to the winner(s)
- All information from non-winners is NOT passed on to the Promotions partner UNLESS the participants have given their explicit consent to do so
- Non-personal identifying information like total number of entries may be stored as records and to improve future Promotions
Can I remove my information from this list?
- All personal identifying information collected through Promotions will be stored for a maximum of 6 months after the contest has ended in document or contest widget
- All personal identifying information will be deleted in a Purging Exercise every 6 months
- No physical or electronic copies of personal identifying information will be kept
Display Advertising
Mediavine Programmatic Advertising (Ver 1.1)
The Website works with Mediavine to manage third-party interest-based advertising appearing on the Website. Mediavine serves content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use first and third-party cookies. A cookie is a small text file which is sent to your computer or mobile device (referred to in this policy as a “device”) by the web server so that a website can remember some information about your browsing activity on the Website.
First party cookies are created by the website that you are visiting. A third-party cookie is frequently used in behavioral advertising and analytics and is created by a domain other than the website you are visiting. Third-party cookies, tags, pixels, beacons and other similar technologies (collectively, “Tags”) may be placed on the Website to monitor interaction with advertising content and to target and optimize advertising. Each internet browser has functionality so that you can block both first and third-party cookies and clear your browser’s cache. The “help” feature of the menu bar on most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to receive notification of new cookies, how to disable existing cookies and how to clear your browser’s cache. For more information about cookies and how to disable them, you can consult the information at All About Cookies.
Without cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of the Website content and features. Please note that rejecting cookies does not mean that you will no longer see ads when you visit our Site. In the event you opt-out, you will still see non-personalized advertisements on the Website.
The Website collects the following data using a cookie when serving personalized ads:
- IP Address
- Operating System type
- Operating System version
- Device Type
- Language of the website
- Web browser type
- Email (in hashed form)
Mediavine Partners (companies listed below with whom Mediavine shares data) may also use this data to link to other end user information the partner has independently collected to deliver targeted advertisements. Mediavine Partners may also separately collect data about end users from other sources, such as advertising IDs or pixels, and link that data to data collected from Mediavine publishers in order to provide interest-based advertising across your online experience, including devices, browsers and apps. This data includes usage data, cookie information, device information, information about interactions between users and advertisements and websites, geolocation data, traffic data, and information about a visitor’s referral source to a particular website. Mediavine Partners may also create unique IDs to create audience segments, which are used to provide targeted advertising.
If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices to opt-in or opt-out of this data collection, please visit National Advertising Initiative opt out page. You may also visit Digital Advertising Alliance website and Network Advertising Initiative website to learn more information about interest-based advertising. You may download the AppChoices app at Digital Advertising Alliance’s AppChoices app to opt out in connection with mobile apps, or use the platform controls on your mobile device to opt out.
For specific information about Mediavine Partners, the data each collects and their data collection and privacy policies, please visit Mediavine Partners.
For any queries, please contact me for further details.