Privacy Policy

Last Updated: October 26, 2026

At HikeAdvice (“we,” “our,” “us,” or “HikeAdvice”), accessible via https://hikeadvice.com, the privacy of our visitors is of paramount importance to us. This Privacy Policy document outlines the types of personal data we collect, how it is used, stored, and protected, as well as your statutory rights under applicable privacy legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR, and the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA).

1. Information We Collect

We may collect information about you in several ways when you visit our website:

  • Personal Data You Voluntarily Provide: When you subscribe to our newsletter, leave a comment, or contact us via email or web forms, you may provide your name, email address, and any personal information contained in your message.
  • Automatically Collected Log Data: Like most websites, our web server (LiteSpeed) and content delivery network (Cloudflare) automatically record log information when your browser accesses our site. This may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URLs, access times, pages viewed, and device identifiers.
  • Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking tools to collect browsing and behavioral data to enhance user experience, analyze traffic patterns, and deliver tailored advertising. Please review our Cookie Policy for detailed information.

2. Google AdSense & Advertising Disclosure

HikeAdvice partners with third-party advertising companies, including Google AdSense, to serve advertisements when you visit our website. These companies may use cookies, device identifiers, and similar technologies to collect information about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you.

  • Third-Party Vendor Cookies: Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to HikeAdvice or other websites across the Internet.
  • Personalized Advertising: Google’s use of advertising cookies (such as the DoubleClick cookie) enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visits to our site and/or other sites on the web.
  • Opting Out of Personalized Advertising: You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices or the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) Opt-Out page.
  • Consent Management in EEA/UK: For visitors located in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom, we deploy a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) integrated with the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF v2.2) to collect and manage your consent for personalized advertising and data processing.

3. Affiliate Links & Third-Party Tracking

HikeAdvice participates in affiliate marketing programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, third-party affiliate networks may set tracking cookies on your device to confirm the referral and calculate sales commissions. These cookies do not store personally identifiable information. For more details, see our Affiliate Disclosure.

4. How We Use Your Information

We process your personal information for legitimate business purposes:

  • To provide, operate, and maintain the HikeAdvice website;
  • To analyze reader trends, track user engagement, and improve our editorial content;
  • To deliver relevant advertisements and monitor advertising performance;
  • To respond to your direct inquiries, feedback, or technical support requests;
  • To detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, and security vulnerabilities;
  • To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

5. European Privacy Rights (GDPR & UK GDPR)

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, you are entitled to specific rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:

  • Right of Access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data held by us.
  • Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or complete information you believe is incomplete.
  • Right to Erasure (“Right to Be Forgotten”): You have the right to request that we erase your personal data under certain statutory conditions.
  • Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
  • Right to Object to Processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, particularly where processing is based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
  • Right to Data Portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, in a structured, commonly used machine-readable format.
  • Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with an EU or UK supervisory authority if you believe our data processing violates applicable law.

6. California Consumer Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA), California residents have specific statutory rights regarding their personal data:

  • Right to Know: You may request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected about you, the categories of sources, and the business purposes for collecting it.
  • Right to Delete: You have the right to request the deletion of personal information we have collected from you, subject to legal exceptions.
  • Right to Correct: You have the right to request the correction of inaccurate personal information.
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information: We do not sell your personal data for monetary consideration. However, using third-party advertising cookies for cross-context behavioral advertising may be considered a “share” or “sale” under California law. You may opt out of such sharing by adjusting your cookie preferences via our consent tool or enabling Global Privacy Control (GPC) in your browser.
  • Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA/CPRA rights.

7. Children’s Privacy (COPPA)

HikeAdvice is not directed to individuals under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children under 13 in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). If you believe that a child under 13 has provided personal data on our website, please contact us immediately at [email protected] so we can delete the information promptly.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your legal data privacy rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer / Privacy Officer at:

HikeAdvice Privacy Team
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://hikeadvice.com
General Inquiries: [email protected]