Privacy Policy
Who are we?
The Backpacking Family website https://www.thebackpackingfamily.com is governed by the following privacy policy. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to inform you what personally identifiable information we may collect and how it may be used. This statement only applies to this Website.
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.
What information do we collect and how is it used?
Cookies
We may log information using cookies, which are small data files stored on your browser by the Website. We may use both session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalised experience on the Website. Users may, at any time, prevent the setting of cookies, by the Website, by using a corresponding setting of your internet browser and may thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Furthermore, already set cookies may be deleted at any time via an Internet browser or other software programs. This is possible in all popular Internet browsers. However, if users deactivate the setting of cookies in your Internet browser, not all functions of our Website may be entirely usable.
Information We Collect from Others
We may receive information about you from other sources. You may link your Facebook, Instagram, and/or Google accounts to your user profile. If you choose to link your Facebook, Instagram, and/or Google accounts to your user profile, we will receive your name, email address and profile picture associated with that account. The Website utilizes the Facebook commenting system, so if you choose to comment on a Website post, your profile picture will appear.
Automatically-Collected Information
We automatically collect certain information about you and the device with which you access the Website. For example, when you use the Website, we will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates/times when you accessed the Website. We may also collect information about actions you take when using the Website, such as links clicked.
Information You Voluntarily Submit to the Website
We may collect personal information from you such as your name or email address. For example, you may voluntarily submit information to the Website by leaving a comment, subscribing to a newsletter, subscribing via our social media platforms or submitting a contact form.
How may your information be used?
We may use the information collected in the following ways:
- To operate and maintain the Website;
- To send you promotional information, such as newsletters. Each email promotion will provide information on how to opt-out of future mailings;
- To send you administrative communications, such as administrative emails, confirmation emails, technical notices, updates on policies, or security alerts;
- To respond to your comments or inquiries;
- To provide you with user support;
- To track and measure advertising on the Website;
- To track and assess analytics and optimise content to improve user experience and search engine optimisation
- To protect, investigate, and deter against unauthorised or illegal activity.
Third party use of personal information
We may share your information with third parties when you explicitly authorise us to share your information.
Additionally, the Website may use third-party service providers to service various aspects of the Website. Each third-party service provider’s use of your personal information is dictated by their respective privacy policies.
The Website currently uses the following third-party service providers:
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.
Mail Chimp – this service is used for delivery of email updates and newsletters. We store your name and email address for purposes of delivering such communications. Please refer to Mail Chimp’s privacy policy for further information.
At this time, your personal information is not shared with any other third-party applications. This list may be amended from time to time at the Website’s sole discretion.
Except when required by law, we will not sell, distribute, or reveal your email addresses or other personal information without your consent; however, we may disclose or transfer personal information collected through the Website to third parties who acquire all or a portion of our business, which may be the result of a merger, consolidation, or purchase of all or a portion of our assets, or in connection with any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding brought by or against us.
Anonymous data
From time to time, we may use anonymous data, which does not identify you alone, or when combined with data from other parties. This type of anonymous data may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses. Examples of this anonymous data may include analytics or information collected from cookies.
Comments and publicly visible information
When visitors leave comments on the site we 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 anonymised 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.
To leave a comment, certain information may be publicly visible. Your email address will never be available publicly. At your option, you may also add an avatar, a profile description, and a link to your website. You may also choose to link your Facebook, Instagram, and Google Account. Users may see your username, avatar, profile description and website information.
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
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.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Cookies
The Website uses cookies to store visitors’ preferences, record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit, ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same banner ads, customize Website content based on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor sends. Cookies may also be used by third-party services, such as Google Analytics, as described herein.
Advertising
Advertising programs
We use programs such as AdSense to manage third-party advertising on the Website. AdSense 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. The cookie may collect information relating to your use of the Website, information about your device such as the device’s IP address and browser type, demographic data and, if you arrived at the Website via a link from a third-party site, the URL of the linking page.
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 www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-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.
The DoubleClick Cookie
The DoubleClick cookie is a cookie that is used in the ads served on this website by Google AdSense. When you land on this website a cookie is dropped on your browser by AdSense. You may opt out of the use of the DoubleClick cookie for interest-based advertising by visiting Google’s Ad Settings.
Display Ads
We may use third-party advertising companies to serve content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use cookies, as noted above.
Retargeting Ads
From time to time, the Backpacking Family may engage in remarketing efforts with third-party companies, such as Google, Facebook, or Instagram, in order to market the Website. These companies use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to the Website.
Affiliate Program Participation
The Backpacking Family use affiliate marketing through this website. We may use the following affiliate groups: Awin, Webgains, Booking.com and Agoda on this website. Affiliate marketing is done by embedding tracking links into the Website. If you click on a link for an affiliate partnership, a cookie will be placed on your browser to track any sales for purposes of commissions. Affiliate links generally take you to the sales page of the third party site and the commission is not an additional cost, but is a small percentage of the normal price for the product or service.
Affiliate groups and third party websites that we link to are not governed by this privacy policy. For more information or opt out services see the privacy policy of our partners.
We will only ever recommend products and services that we genuinely believe in. Any affiliation or partnerships will not affect the objectivity and integrity of our reviews. On this website we genuinely try to use links that offer products and services that are great value for money, however we cannot guarantee that we will always be able to provide links to the cheapest options, especially as special offers and pricing change over time.
To find out more about the privacy policies of our affiliates:
Newsletters
You may subscribe to our newsletter through this website or our social media platforms. Our newsletter may be used for advertising purposes. All newsletters sent may contain tracking pixels. The pixel is embedded in emails and allows an analysis of the success of online marketing campaigns. Because of these tracking pixels, we may see if and when you open an email and which links within the email you click. Also, this allows the Website to adapt the content of future newsletters to the interests of the user. This behavior will not be passed on to third parties.
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 tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Rights related to your personal information
Opt-out – You may opt-out of future email communications by following the unsubscribe links in our emails. Alternatively you may also notify us at pete@thebackpackingfamily.co.uk to be removed from our mailing list.
To request access, changes to or erasing personal information kept by The Backpacking Family, please submit a request to pete@thebackpackingfamily.co.uk
Please note that we may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping purposes or to complete transactions, or when required by law. We may not be able to access, amend or erase data stored by third parties services.
Sensitive personal information
At no time should you submit sensitive personal information to the Website. This includes your passport number, national insurance number, information regarding race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, health information, criminal background, or trade union memberships. If you elect to submit such information to us, it will be subject to this Privacy Policy.
Children’s information
The Website does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16. If a parent or guardian believes that the Website has personally identifiable information of a child under the age of 16 in its database, please contact us immediately at pete@thebackpackingfamily.co.uk and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.
Contact information
Please contact us at pete@thebackpackingfamily.co.uk for questions related to this Privacy Policy.