Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Solos At Sea is an independent cruise blog for solo travellers, with guides and reviews about life onboard.

Questions about this policy can be sent using the contact form.

What Information We Collect

The site may collect the following information when you contact Solos At Sea, subscribe or use the website:

• Your name, email address and message if you use the contact form.
• Your email address and preferences if you join the newsletter or request a free download.
• Information you choose to share in suggestions, replies or collaboration enquiries.
• Basic technical information, such as pages visited, browser and device.
• Newsletter engagement information, such as email opens, clicks, unsubscribes and delivery status.

The site only asks for information that is useful for replying to messages, sending requested emails, improving the website or running the services readers choose to use.

How We Use Your Information

Information is used to:

• Reply to questions, suggestions and collaboration ideas.
• Send the newsletter, free downloads and related email updates.
• Manage subscriptions, confirmations and unsubscribe requests.
• Understand which pages, topics and email links are useful to readers.
• Protect the website and forms from spam, abuse and technical problems.
• Support affiliate links, sponsored content, display advertising and ad measurement.

Solos At Sea does not sell your personal information.

Lawful Basis

The site relies on different lawful bases depending on the purpose:

• Consent, for newsletter emails, free downloads and optional analytics or advertising cookies where consent is required.
• Legitimate interests, for replying to enquiries, improving the site, measuring content performance and protecting forms from abuse.
• Legal obligations, if information has to be kept or shared to comply with the law.

Contact Forms

Contact form messages are processed using secure website hosting, form-processing, database and email-delivery services. This can include storing enquiry details in a secure database and sending an email notification to Solos At Sea.

The form also uses basic spam-prevention checks, which may process technical information such as the page origin, user agent and submission behaviour.

Newsletter And Free Downloads

Solos At Sea may use an email service provider to manage newsletter subscriptions, free download delivery and email analytics.

The email service provider may process subscriber details such as email address, subscription status, signup source, preferences, opens, clicks, unsubscribes and delivery status. This helps send the emails readers asked for and understand which topics are worth writing about next.

Every newsletter email will include an unsubscribe link.

Website Analytics And Cookies

This site may use an analytics provider to understand how visitors use the website. Analytics cookies or similar technologies may be used to distinguish users and sessions.

Analytics information may include pages visited, approximate location, device, browser, referrer and site interactions. It is used in aggregate to understand traffic and improve the site.

Analytics and advertising cookies are not needed for the basic site to work. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.

Advertising, Affiliate Links And Sponsored Content

Solos At Sea may include affiliate links, sponsored content, display advertising or embedded third-party content.

Affiliate and advertising partners may use cookies or similar technologies to track clicks, sales, ad performance, fraud prevention and campaign reporting. Their own privacy and cookie policies apply to the information they process.

Who We Share Information With

Information may be shared with service providers that help run the site:

• Website hosting, form-processing, database and email-delivery providers.
• Newsletter and email marketing providers.
• Analytics, advertising and measurement providers, where those features are used.
• Affiliate networks, advertisers or sponsors, where those features are used.
• Professional advisers or authorities, if required by law.

International Transfers

Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Where that happens, Solos At Sea relies on the provider's published safeguards, contractual protections or other transfer mechanisms required by UK data protection law.

How Long We Keep Information

Personal information is kept only for as long as it is useful for the reason it was collected:

• Contact enquiries are usually kept for up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact, unless there is an ongoing collaboration, booking, dispute or other reason to keep the message for longer.
• Newsletter subscriber records are kept until you unsubscribe or ask for deletion, although a suppression record may be kept so you are not emailed again by mistake.
• Technical logs are usually kept for up to 30 days.
• Analytics and advertising data is kept according to the relevant provider settings.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you can ask to:

• Access the personal information held about you.
• Correct inaccurate information.
• Delete information where the law allows.
• Restrict or object to certain uses of your information.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Unsubscribe from newsletter emails using the link in any email.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how your information is handled.

To make a request, please use the contact form.

Changes To This Policy

This policy may be updated when the website, newsletter setup, analytics, advertising partners or legal requirements change.

Any updates will be published on this page.