California Hiking Trails (“we,” “us,” “our,” or “the Site”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit californiahikingtrails.com, how we use it, and the choices available to you. By using our site, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide Directly
If you contact us through our contact form or by email, we collect the information you provide, such as your name, email address, and the content of your message. We use this only to respond to your inquiry.
If we add a newsletter signup, comment system, or account feature in the future, we will update this policy to describe what’s collected and how it’s used.
Information Collected Automatically
Like most websites, we automatically collect certain information when you visit, including:
- IP address and approximate geographic location
- Browser type and device information
- Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring/exit pages
- Date and time of visit
This information is collected through cookies, log files, and similar tracking technologies, and is primarily used in aggregate, anonymized form to understand how visitors use the site.
2. Cookies
Cookies are small text files stored on your device. We use cookies for:
- Site functionality: remembering basic preferences and ensuring the site works correctly
- Analytics: understanding aggregate traffic patterns and site performance (see Google Analytics below)
- Advertising: enabling relevant, and in some cases personalized, advertising (see Google Ads/AdSense below)
- Affiliate tracking: affiliate partners (such as Amazon Associates) place cookies to track referrals so that we can be credited for purchases made after clicking our links
You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect certain site features, but you can still browse and read our content without them.
3. Google Advertising & Analytics
We use Google AdSense (and/or Google Ad Manager) to display advertising on the site, and Google Analytics to understand site traffic.
- Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies (including the DoubleClick cookie) to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the internet.
- You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings, and you can review how Google uses data from sites that use its services at Google’s Privacy & Terms site.
- You may also opt out of some third-party vendor use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting youradchoices.com.
Google Analytics collects usage data in aggregate and does not, to our knowledge, identify you personally. You can prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics across all websites by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
4. Affiliate Links
Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Affiliate partners may use their own cookies and tracking technologies to attribute purchases. For more detail, see our Affiliate Disclosure.
5. Third-Party Links
Our site contains links to external websites, including land management agencies, gear retailers, and trip-planning tools. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any site you visit.
6. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Operate, maintain, and improve the site
- Understand which content is most useful to visitors
- Respond to inquiries submitted through our contact form
- Serve relevant advertising
- Detect and prevent technical issues, abuse, or fraud
We do not sell personal information to third parties for money. Certain advertising cookies may constitute a “sale” or “share” of information under California law, as described in Section 8 below, and you have rights regarding that use.
7. Data Retention & Security
We retain automatically collected data (such as analytics data) for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above, consistent with our analytics and advertising providers’ retention practices. Contact form submissions are retained only as long as needed to address your inquiry.
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. However, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
8. Your Privacy Rights
California Residents (CCPA/CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have the right to:
- Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
- Delete personal information we’ve collected from you, subject to certain exceptions
- Correct inaccurate personal information
- Opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information (which, under California law, can include certain advertising cookie practices)
- Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights
To exercise these rights, contact us using the information in Section 11. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests. You may also control advertising cookie sharing directly through the Google and industry opt-out tools listed in Section 3.
European Users (GDPR)
If you are located in the European Economic Area or UK, our legal basis for processing your data is generally our legitimate interest in operating and improving the site, or your consent where required (for example, for non-essential cookies). You have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict processing of your personal data, and to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
Do Not Track
Our site does not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals, as there is no industry-standard approach to honoring them. You can still manage tracking through the cookie and ad-opt-out tools described above.
9. Children’s Privacy
California Hiking Trails is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal or operational reasons. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
11. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:
Email: contact@californiahikingtrails.com
You can also reach us through our Contact Us page.