Last updated: 18 June 2026
Who I am
This website address is: https://ournewhometown.com
This site is run by me, Patrick, the author of Our New Hometown. If you have any questions about this policy or your data, you can reach me at patrickthomasmaus@gmail.com.
Affiliate links and how I make money
Some links on this site are affiliate links. This means that if you click through and make a booking or purchase — for example via Booking.com, Airbnb, or GetYourGuide — I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
I only recommend places, services, and tools my family has used ourselves, researched thoroughly, or would genuinely choose for our own trip. Nothing here is sponsored content, and affiliate income never decides which destinations or experiences I write about — it just helps keep this site running.
When you click an affiliate link, the third-party platform (e.g. Booking.com, Airbnb, GetYourGuide) may set its own cookies or collect data according to its own privacy policy. I don’t control or have access to that data myself.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, I collect the data shown in the comment form, as well as the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string, to help with spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service’s privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Newsletter
If you sign up for my newsletter, I collect your email address (and, if provided, your first name) through the newsletter form. This data is processed by my email marketing provider, MailerLite (operated by UAB “MailerLite”, based in the EU).
I use a double opt-in process: after signing up, you’ll receive a confirmation email, and you’re only added to the list once you confirm. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in every email I send. I only use your email to send you updates related to this blog — I never sell or share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.
You can read MailerLite’s own privacy policy here: https://www.mailerlite.com/legal/privacy-policy
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on this site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you don’t have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit the login page, a temporary cookie is set to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, several cookies are also set to save your login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies are removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie is saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
This site uses a small number of cookies set by WordPress itself (for example, to remember your comment details) and by third-party services such as MailerLite and Wordfence. Some of these cookies are essential for the site to function and don’t require consent; others, such as those used for the newsletter signup, are only set once you interact with that feature. You can control or delete cookies at any time through your browser settings.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, maps, articles). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you had visited the other website directly.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content — including tracking your interaction with it if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who I share your data with
I use a small number of trusted third-party services to run this site:
- MailerLite — for sending the newsletter (see “Newsletter” above)
- Hostinger — my web hosting provider, which stores the site’s files and database
- Google Drive — used to store automatic backups of the website (files and database), created via the UpdraftPlus plugin. These backups may contain data submitted through the site, such as comments
- Wordfence — a security plugin that helps protect the site against hacking attempts and malicious traffic. As part of this, Wordfence may log visitor IP addresses and login attempts for security purposes
I don’t sell visitor or subscriber data to anyone, and I don’t share it with third parties beyond what’s needed to run the site as described above.
How long I retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so follow-up comments from you can be recognized and approved automatically, instead of being held in a moderation queue.
Newsletter subscriber data is retained for as long as you remain subscribed. If you unsubscribe, your data is removed from my active MailerLite list according to MailerLite’s own data retention practices.
Website backups (stored via Google Drive) are retained on a rolling basis — older backups are automatically replaced by newer ones.
How I protect your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. I use Wordfence, a security plugin, to help protect this site from malicious activity, brute-force login attempts, and known vulnerabilities. I also keep regular automatic backups (via UpdraftPlus, stored on Google Drive) so the site can be restored if anything goes wrong.
The legal basis I rely on
Where I process personal data, I do so on one of these legal bases under the GDPR: your consent (for example, when you sign up for the newsletter), my legitimate interest in running and securing this site (for example, Wordfence’s security logging, or analyzing how the site is used), or what’s necessary to provide a service you’ve requested (for example, responding to a message you send via the contact form).
Where your data may be processed
Some of the third-party services I use — including MailerLite and Google Drive — may store or process data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), including in the United States. Where this happens, these providers rely on safeguards recognized under the GDPR, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, to ensure your data remains protected to a comparable standard.
Your rights
If you’re in the EU, UK, or a region with similar data protection laws, you have the right to: access the personal data I hold about you; ask me to correct or delete it; object to or restrict certain processing; and request a copy of your data in a portable format. To exercise any of these rights, just email me at patrickthomasmaus@gmail.com. If you believe your data hasn’t been handled properly, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
Contact information
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how your data is handled, please contact patrickthomasmaus@gmail.com.