Privacy Policy

What this page is

This is the privacy policy for TRAVELHIFI, published at travelhifi.com and operated by its editorial team. It explains what information the site collects when you read it, why we collect it, who else touches it, and what rights you have over it. We have tried to write it in plain language rather than boilerplate, because a policy nobody can read protects nobody. If anything here is unclear, write to support@travelhifi.com with PRIVACY in the subject line.

The short version: we run a publication, not a data business. We collect the minimum needed to serve pages, keep the site secure, understand roughly what gets read, and fund the site through advertising and affiliate links. We do not sell lists of readers, and we do not want to know more about you than we have to.

What we collect

Reading TRAVELHIFI does not require an account, and most readers never send us anything directly. What the site handles falls into a few categories:

• Server logs. Like nearly every website, our servers record technical data with each request: IP address, browser type, the page requested, the referring page and a timestamp. We use these logs to keep the site running and to detect abuse, and they are rotated on a short schedule.
• Analytics. We measure traffic in aggregate: which articles are read, roughly where readers are, what devices they use. We use this to decide what to cover, not to profile individuals.
• Advertising data. Ad partners on the site may use cookies and similar identifiers to measure and, where you consent, personalise advertising. This is covered in detail in the cookie policy.
• Affiliate click data. When you click an affiliate link, the merchant or affiliate network records that the click came from us, so that a later booking can be credited. We receive aggregate reports of clicks and commissions. We do not receive your name, payment details or booking details.
• Mail you send us. If you email support@travelhifi.com, we hold your address and your message for as long as the correspondence needs.

We do not knowingly collect passport numbers, booking references, payment card details or any other sensitive travel data, and we ask that you never send them to us. If you want to show us a fare or a booking problem, a screenshot with your personal details removed does the job.

Why we process it, and on what basis

Where data protection law requires a legal basis, ours are these. We process server logs and security data because we have a legitimate interest in keeping the site online and defending it against abuse. We process analytics and advertising identifiers on the basis of your consent where law requires consent, collected through the banner described in the cookie policy, and you can withdraw that consent at any time. We process mail you send us because answering you is a service you have asked for. We do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on readers.

Who else receives it

We use a small number of service providers to run the site: hosting infrastructure, a content delivery network, an analytics provider, advertising partners and affiliate networks. Each receives only what its function requires, and each is bound by its own published privacy terms. Some of these providers operate globally, which means data may be processed outside the country you read from. Where transfer rules apply, we rely on the safeguards those providers offer, such as standard contractual clauses.

Beyond service providers, we disclose information only if the law genuinely compels it, or if it is necessary to defend the site against fraud or attack. We do not sell personal information, and we do not hand reader data to airlines, hotels, tourism boards or anyone else with a commercial interest in it.

Cookies and the banner

Cookies get their own page, because the honest explanation takes more than a paragraph: what they are, which ones we use, what affiliate cookies do after you click a deal, and how to refuse the optional ones. Read the cookie policy. The one-line summary is that essential cookies run without asking, and everything else waits for your answer to the consent banner, which you can change at any time.

Your rights

If you are in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with comparable law, you have the right to ask what personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to processing, to receive a copy in a portable format, and to withdraw consent you have given. If you are a California resident, you additionally have the right to know what categories of information are collected, to request deletion, and to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information as those terms are defined in California law; to the extent cookie-based advertising counts as sharing, the consent banner and the cookie controls are the opt-out.

To exercise any of these rights, write to support@travelhifi.com with PRIVACY in the subject. We may need to verify that you are the person the data belongs to before acting. We answer within the timelines the applicable law sets, and we do not charge for reasonable requests. If you believe we have handled your data unlawfully, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

How long things are kept

Server logs are kept for a short operational window and then deleted or anonymised. Analytics data is retained in aggregate form. Correspondence is kept for as long as the matter it concerns stays open, and correction-related mail is kept longer because it documents the accuracy history of the site. We keep nothing on the principle that it might be useful someday.

Children

TRAVELHIFI is a general-audience publication about travel. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age where local law requires parental consent. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, write to us and we will delete it.

Changes, and where to write

When this policy changes in any way that matters, we will update this page and change the revision note at the top of it. Continued significant changes will be flagged more visibly. Questions, requests and complaints all go to support@travelhifi.com with PRIVACY in the subject line, and they are read by the editors, who are also the people who answer them.