Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

This website — portsmouthtostmalo.co.uk — is operated by a private family based in the United Kingdom. We are the data controller for any personal data collected through this website.

We are not a registered company. This is an independent, family-run travel guide website. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us at:

Website: portsmouthtostmalo.co.uk
Contact:

2. What Information We Collect

We collect two types of information: data you give us directly, and data collected automatically when you visit the site.

Information You Provide

If you contact us via a contact form or email, we receive your name and email address. We use this only to respond to your enquiry and do not store it in any marketing database.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit this website, the following may be collected automatically:

• Pages you visit and time spent on each page
• Your approximate location (country/region level only)
• The device and browser type you are using
• How you arrived at the site (e.g. from a search engine or another website)
• Your IP address (anonymised before storage)

This information is collected via Google Analytics and is used solely to understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it.

3. Cookies

This website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device. We use the following types of cookies:

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Note that disabling cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of this website. Most browsers allow you to refuse new cookies, delete existing cookies, or be alerted when a cookie is set.

4. Affiliate Links & Third Parties

This website contains affiliate links to Brittany Ferries, managed through the Awin affiliate network. When you click one of these links and make a booking, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

When you click an affiliate link, you are redirected to Brittany Ferries’ website. Any data you provide during the booking process (name, payment details, travel information) is handled entirely by Brittany Ferries under their own privacy policy. We do not receive or store any of your booking or payment data.

Awin may set cookies on your device to track affiliate referrals. You can find Awin’s privacy policy at awin.com.

5. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to collect anonymised data about how visitors use this website. This helps us understand which guides are most useful, where visitors come from, and how to improve the site.

Google Analytics uses cookies and collects data such as your approximate location, device type, and pages visited. We have enabled IP anonymisation, which means your full IP address is never stored. We do not use Google Analytics to identify individual users.

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. Google’s privacy policy is available at policies.google.com.

6. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To improve the website — understanding which pages are most visited and where users come from helps us prioritise updates and new guides.
• To respond to enquiries — if you contact us, we use your details solely to reply to you.
• To track affiliate performance — so we can understand which content leads to ferry bookings and improve those guides.
• To comply with legal obligations — we retain only the minimum data necessary and for no longer than required.

We do not use your data for marketing, we do not build profiles on individual users, and we do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any third party except as described in this policy.

7. Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR)

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we must have a legal basis for processing personal data. Our legal bases are:

• Legitimate interests — for analytics data used to improve the website, where our interest in understanding site usage is not overridden by your privacy rights.
• Consent — for non-essential cookies (analytics and affiliate tracking). You can withdraw consent at any time via your browser settings.
• Contract — where you contact us directly, processing your contact details to respond to your enquiry.

8. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via the contact form on this website. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Data Retention

We retain data for no longer than necessary:

• Contact enquiries — deleted after your enquiry is resolved, unless you ask us to retain your details.
• Analytics data — retained by Google Analytics for 26 months by default, after which it is automatically deleted.
• Affiliate tracking cookies — set and managed by Awin; typically expire within 30 days of your visit.

10. External Links

This website contains links to external websites, including Brittany Ferries, Awin, and other travel resources. Once you leave portsmouthtostmalo.co.uk, this privacy policy no longer applies.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of any third-party websites. We recommend reading the privacy policy of any external site before submitting personal information.

11. Children’s Privacy

This website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through this website, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our practices, or the services we use. When we do, we will update the “last updated” date at the top of this page.

We recommend checking this page periodically. Continued use of this website after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.