Privacy

Draft for review before launch. Last updated: [date at launch].

Who is responsible

This website, Travels with Somm, is run by Linda Hamilton-Evans, based in the South of France. I’m responsible for the personal information collected here. You can reach me through the contact page.

What I collect, and why

If you subscribe to the newsletter (Wine & travel stories):

• Your email address, the date you signed up, the date you confirmed, and the IP address used at sign-up and confirmation. These are kept as a record of your consent.
• You confirm by clicking a link in an email (double opt-in). Nothing else is sent to you until you do.
• Every newsletter contains a one-click unsubscribe link.
• Opening and clicking within newsletters are not tracked for individual readers, and no tracking cookies are used.

The legal basis is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

If you send an enquiry or a message (the Curation and Contact forms): your name, email address, the topic you choose, your message, and, if you give it, a rough budget. I use these only to reply to you and, if we work together, to provide the service you’ve asked for. The legal basis is your request (steps taken at your request before any agreement) and my legitimate interest in replying.

Where it’s kept, and who else is involved

• This website’s database, on my web host [GoDaddy, to confirm at launch]. Newsletter subscribers are managed with MailPoet, a WordPress plugin that stores them in the same database.
• My email inbox: enquiries and messages are also emailed to me [Gmail, provided by Google].
• Sending newsletters: [method to be confirmed before launch, e.g. my web host’s email service or MailPoet’s sending service; this page will name it].

I don’t sell, rent or share your details with anyone else, and I don’t use them for advertising.

How long I keep it

• Enquiries and messages: 12 months after our last meaningful correspondence, then deleted, unless they become part of an ongoing client relationship or I’m legally required to keep them longer (for example, for invoicing or tax records).
• Newsletter: until you unsubscribe or ask me to delete your details. If you unsubscribe, I keep a minimal record that you did so, so that you aren’t emailed again. You can ask me to delete that too.
• Unconfirmed sign-ups: deleted if never confirmed [period to confirm].

Cookies and tracking

This site doesn’t use advertising or analytics cookies, and it doesn’t track visitors. WordPress sets cookies only when I’m logged in to manage the site. To limit spam, the forms briefly (for about 20 seconds) keep a scrambled, non-reversible version of the sender’s IP address. [Fonts: currently loaded from Google Fonts; they’ll be hosted on this site before launch, so no visitor data goes to Google. Server logs kept by the web host: to confirm.]

Your rights

You can ask to see the information I hold about you, have it corrected or deleted, restrict or object to its use, receive a copy, or withdraw your consent, at any time, by contacting me. You also have the right to complain to the CNIL (cnil.fr), the French data protection authority.