Privacy Policy

Trail Hiking Australia (THA) is a community website developed by Darren Edwards. I am committed to protecting your privacy and providing a safe online experience. This Privacy Policy explains what information is collected on THA, how it is used, who it may be shared with, and the choices you have. Where consent is required, I will ask for it before the relevant information is collected or used.

Last review date: 16 September 2026

General Policies

My website address is: https://www.trailhiking.com.au

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. 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 the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site I collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

An anonymised 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 privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

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.

Submitting an official trail or trip report

Data collected during the submission process

I collect information about you during the ‘submit a hike‘ or ‘submit a trip report‘ process on this site. This may include your name, IP address, email address, phone number, address, location details (including GPS coordinates), and any other information you provide as part of the submission.

Handling this data also allows me to:

• Display this information in a public facing manner (such as a web page or API request) and allow website users to search and view submitted listing information.
• Send you important account/order/service information.
• Provide a way for users to contact your listing via the provided contact information.
• Notify you of user interactions such as but not limited to review and contact notifications.
• Respond to your queries or complaints.
• Set up and administer your account, provide technical and/or customer support, spam prevention and to verify your identity. I do this on the basis of my legitimate business interests.

Reviews

I collect information about you during the leave a review process on my site. This information may include, but is not limited to, your name, email address, IP address, website URL, image(s), review ratings and review texts. Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Handling this data also allows me to:

• Display this information in a public facing manner (such as a web page or API request).
• Notify you of interactions such as approval or rejection of your review.
• Notify you of user interactions such as reply notifications.
• Spam prevention.

Trail listing contact forms

I may collect information about you when you submit a contact form to a listing. This may include your name, email address, IP address, and the message you submit.

Handling this data also allows me to:

• Send your contact message and details to the listings contact email.
• Monitor the contact system for spam and abuse.

User data/profile

I collect information about you during registration and when you edit your profile. This may include your name, email address, phone number, address, IP address, and any other details you choose to add to your public profile.

Handling this data also allows me to:

• Send you important account/order/service information.
• Display this information in a public facing manner (such as a web page or API request) and allow website users to search and view submitted information.
• Respond to your queries or complaints.
• Set up and administer your account, provide technical and/or customer support, and to verify your identity. I do this on the basis of my legitimate business interests.

Any profile information provided to this site may be displayed publicly.

I use Forminator PRO to create and embed forms on my website. When visitors or users submit a form, I capture the IP address for spam protection. I also capture the email address and any other personal information entered into the form fields.

What rights you have over your data

You may request access to personal information I hold about you and ask me to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can also request that I erase personal data I hold about you, including by using the self-service account deletion option available in your account settings. This does not include data I am required or permitted to retain for administrative, legal, security or other legitimate purposes.

To make an access, correction or privacy request, email ex*****@*************om.au.

Account deletion and data erasure

If you have an account on this site, you can permanently delete your account and associated personal data at any time using the self-service account deletion feature.

How to delete your account

To delete your account:

1. Log in to the Trail Hiking Australia website
2. Visit your account page at https://www.trailhiking.com.au/account/
3. Select “Delete Account” from the account menu

Once confirmed, your account will be deleted and personal data will be erased, except where retention is required for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Accounts created using Facebook or Google login

If you registered or logged in using a Facebook or Google account, the same deletion process applies. Deleting your Trail Hiking Australia account will also delete personal data obtained through third-party login services that was used to create and authenticate your account, except where retention is required for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

If you cannot access your account, you can request account deletion by emailing ex*****@*************om.au

Where I send your data

I collect and use personal information to operate the THA website and deliver the features and services available on the site (for example, user accounts, submissions, reviews, contact forms, notifications, analytics and advertising).

I do not sell personal information for monetary payment. I may disclose or make information available to trusted service providers that help operate, secure, analyse and fund the website, including providers of hosting, email delivery, analytics, advertising, spam prevention, payment processing and other technical services. Depending on the service, this may include information such as IP address, device and browser information, online identifiers, pages viewed and interactions with the website.

In some jurisdictions, certain advertising or analytics disclosures may be treated by law as a “sale”, “sharing” or use of personal information for targeted advertising. Where applicable, THA provides the privacy controls required for visitors to opt out of those activities.

If you request a password reset, your IP address may be included in the reset email.

I may disclose personal information if required by law, or if I reasonably believe it is necessary to comply with legal process, protect the rights or property of THA, or protect the safety of users or the public.

Google Analytics and advertising

THA uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the website and Google AdSense to display and measure advertising. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies, local storage, IP addresses, device information and other online identifiers to deliver, measure, limit the frequency of and, where permitted, personalise advertising.

Google Analytics may collect information about how visitors arrive at and use THA, including pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP address, device and browser information, and interactions with the website. I use this information to understand website performance and improve THA.

For visitors in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland, THA uses Google’s consent management message to collect applicable consent choices for advertising and analytics. These choices are passed to relevant Google services using Google Consent Mode. Visitors can consent, decline consent, manage individual options and later revisit or withdraw their choices.

For visitors in applicable US states, THA provides a Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information control. Where required, an opt-out choice is communicated to Google and participating advertising partners.

You can learn more about how Google uses information from sites that use its services at Google’s Privacy & Terms information for partner sites. You can also manage personalised advertising through Google My Ad Center.

Overseas processing

Some service providers used by THA operate internationally. This means personal information or technical data may be processed or stored outside Australia, including in the United States, countries in the European Union, and other locations where those providers operate. These providers may include Google, Cloudflare, Brevo and other services described in this Privacy Policy. Their handling of information is also subject to their own privacy policies and applicable laws.

How long I retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This helps me recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

If you register for an account, I store the personal information you provide in your user profile. You can view, edit, or delete your personal information at any time (except you cannot change your username). Website administrators can also view and edit that information.

When visitors or users submit a form, I retain the submission data for 30 days.

Digital downloads

I collect information about you during the digital downloads checkout process on my store. This information may include, but is not limited to, your name, billing address, shipping address, email address, phone number, credit card/payment details and any other details that might be requested from you for the purpose of processing your orders.

Handling this data also allows me to:

• Send you important account/order/service information.
• Respond to your queries, refund requests, or complaints.
• Process payments and to prevent fraudulent transactions. I do this on the basis of my legitimate business interests.
• Set up and administer your account, provide technical and/or customer support, and to verify your identity.

Additionally I may also collect the following information:

• Location and traffic data (including IP address and browser type) if you place an order, or if I need to estimate taxes and shipping costs based on your location.
• Product pages visited and content viewed while your session is active.
• Your comments and product reviews if you choose to leave them on my website.
• Account email/password to allow you to access your account, if you have one.
• If you choose to create an account with us, your name, address, and email address, which will be used to populate the checkout for future orders.

Online trip intentions form

The secure online trip intentions form captures information that might help search and rescue teams find you in the event of an emergency. Your trip details will be sent via encrypted email to the relatives, friends, or trusted person that you nominate, with instructions on how to contact Police Search and Rescue if you don’t return on time.

Your Privacy: The THA website collects your personal and health information for the purpose of registering your intended hike and supporting your safety and wellbeing. The information you provide is included in an encrypted email sent to you and the emergency contact(s) you nominate. Your emergency contact may share this information with Police to help facilitate an emergency response, if required. I do not store this information on the website; it is used only to generate and send encrypted emails to you and your nominated emergency contact(s).

Consent: By submitting the online trip intention form you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to the following:

• You confirm that the information you have provided in this form is complete and accurate.
• You confirm you have read and understood the Privacy Notice and agree to your personal and health information being collected and managed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
• You confirm that your listed emergency contact(s) have given you permission to share their personal information.
• You understand the information in this form will be used to generate an email of your trip intentions which will also be sent via email to your emergency contact.
• You understand that if your trip intentions change in any way after submitting this form, you agree to modify this form or notify your emergency contact directly.
• You understand this form does not constitute approval by Police or land managers to undertake the trip.
• You understand and agree that you are responsible for the necessary planning and preparation for your trip.
• You understand that completing and submitting this form does not guarantee a rescue operation if you do not return from your trip.
• You understand that it’s your responsibility to ensure that your emergency contact can notify Police if you have not returned, using the details from this form.
• Even if an alert is raised, you understand there is no guarantee that Police will start a search and rescue operation of a missing person in any circumstance.

Newsletter Subscription

I use Brevo as my email marketing platform. By subscribing to my newsletter you agree that the personal data you provided will be transferred to Brevo for processing in accordance with Brevo’s Privacy Policy.

Website Chat Assistant (“Trail Mate”)

What it is: Trail Mate is a simple Q&A assistant that answers hiking questions using content from Trail Hiking Australia. It does not create user accounts, and it does not require you to be logged in.

What I collect when you use Trail Mate

• The text you type into the chat is sent to my server (via Cloudflare) so a reply can be generated.
• Standard technical information is transmitted with any web request (e.g., IP address, browser type, time of request).
• I do not ask for your name, email, or other contact details in the chat.

How your chat data is used and retained

• Chat messages are processed in real time to generate an answer and are not stored by Trail Hiking Australia.
• I do not build conversation histories, user profiles, or link one question to another.
• Error and security events may record minimal diagnostic data (e.g., timestamp, IP address, error code) to keep the service reliable; these are not used for marketing.

Third-party processing

• Trail Mate runs on Cloudflare (including Workers and AutoRAG/Vectorize). That means Cloudflare processes your chat request to deliver the service and defend the site from abuse.
• I have disabled application logs for this Worker at my end. Cloudflare may still process limited operational data as part of providing its infrastructure. See Cloudflare’s privacy documentation for more detail.

Cookies and tracking

• Trail Mate does not require additional cookies beyond those already used by this website.
• I do not use chat interactions for advertising or behavioural tracking.

Security

• Inputs are sanitised and links are rendered safely to reduce risks from malicious content entered by users.
• Cross-origin requests are restricted to this site’s domains, and basic rate-limiting helps deter abuse.

Children

• Trail Mate is intended for general audiences and should be used by children only with adult supervision. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Your choices

• Using Trail Mate is optional. If you prefer not to use the chat, you can still browse the site without it.
• If you believe a response contains incorrect or sensitive information, please let me know so I can review it.

Cookie Policy

What are cookies?

How I use cookies

Types of cookies used

• Necessary cookies: support core website functions, security, account access and other features needed for the site to work.
• Functionality cookies: remember choices or settings and support optional website features.
• Analytics cookies: help me understand website traffic, usage and performance, including through services such as Google Analytics.
• Advertising cookies: support the delivery, measurement and, where permitted, personalisation of advertising, including through Google AdSense and participating advertising partners.

Manage cookie and privacy preferences

Cookie Settings

Security of your personal information

I secure your personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. I secure the personally identifiable information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol.

What data breach procedures I have in place

If I become aware of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, I will take reasonable steps to contain it, investigate what happened, and notify affected users where appropriate. I will also meet any notification obligations required under Australian law.

Anti-spam and user activity

I collect information about visitors who comment or edit trail information on this site. The information I collect  includes the editors/commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself). If you are a registered user, I collect and save all your site activity such as favourite and completed hikes, edited trail access and feature information and comments on posts and pages.

Changes to this statement

I will occasionally update this Statement of Privacy to reflect user feedback. I encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed of how I am protecting your information.

Contact information and privacy complaints

If you have a question, would like to request access to or correction of your personal information, or believe that I have not handled your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, please contact me at ex*****@*************om.au. I will review privacy concerns and respond within a reasonable period.

Regards

Darren Edwards
Founder, Trail Hiking Australia