Privacy Policy
How Australian Trail Difficulty Guide handles your data and respects your privacy.
Last updated: October 15, 2025
Australian Trail Difficulty Guide ("we," "our," or "us") operates the website australiantrails.com. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit our website.
This is a personal website run by Marcus Reid from Melbourne, Australia. We take your privacy seriously and aim to be transparent about our practices.
Information We Collect
Information You Provide
When you use our contact form, you provide:
- Your name
- Email address
- Message content
- Subject selection
This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry. We do not sell, rent, or share your contact information with third parties.
Automatically Collected Information
Like most websites, we may collect certain information automatically when you visit, including:
- Browser type and version
- Operating system
- Pages visited and time spent
- Referring website
- Approximate geographic location (country/region level)
This information is collected through cookies and similar technologies, as described below.
How We Use Cookies
Essential Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly. They enable basic features like page navigation and remembering your cookie preferences. These cookies do not collect personal information and cannot be disabled.
Analytics Cookies
If you consent, we may use analytics cookies to understand how visitors interact with our website. This helps us improve the content and user experience. Analytics data is aggregated and does not identify individual users.
Marketing Cookies
We currently do not use marketing or advertising cookies. If this changes in the future, this policy will be updated and your consent will be requested.
Managing Your Cookie Preferences
When you first visit our website (homepage), you will see a cookie banner that allows you to:
- Accept all cookies
- Decline non-essential cookies
- Customize your preferences
You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies. However, blocking essential cookies may affect website functionality.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Respond to inquiries submitted through the contact form
- Improve website content and user experience
- Understand how visitors use the website
- Maintain website security and prevent abuse
We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling.
Data Retention
Contact form submissions are retained for as long as necessary to respond to your inquiry, typically no longer than 12 months. Analytics data is retained in aggregate form and does not contain personally identifiable information.
Third-Party Services
We may use the following third-party services:
- Form handling: Contact form submissions may be processed through Formspree or similar services. These services have their own privacy policies.
- Image hosting: Some images are hosted on third-party services like Unsplash. These services may collect their own analytics.
- Fonts: We use Google Fonts, which may collect anonymized usage data. See Google's Privacy Policy for details.
External Links
Our website contains links to external websites, including national park authorities and hiking operators. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal information.
Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:
- The right to access information we hold about you
- The right to request correction of inaccurate information
- The right to request deletion of your information
- The right to withdraw consent for non-essential cookies
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below.
Children's Privacy
Our website is not directed at children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately.
Data Security
We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact:
Marcus Reid
Email: marcus@australiantrails.com
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Australian Privacy Principles
This website operates in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). For more information about privacy rights in Australia, visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.