Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

curiouslanebrowsng.com is an independent travel publication operated by Curious Lane Publishing Ltd., a company registered in England and Wales. We publish editorial guides to Slovenia. We do not sell travel, take bookings, or operate as a travel agent, and we do not run an advertising network.

This policy explains how we handle personal data when you read the site, write to us, or interact with the cookie consent banner. It is written to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and, where applicable to readers in the European Economic Area, the EU GDPR.

2. What we collect

2.1 Information you give us

• Contact form submissions: your name, email address, optional travel dates, the enquiry topic you select, and the content of your message.
• Direct email: anything contained in an email you send to one of our published addresses, including your address and signature block.
• Correction and photography submissions: your name, contact details and any material you choose to send.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Server logs: your IP address (truncated where technically possible), browser user-agent string, the pages requested, referring URL and timestamp. These are generated by our hosting provider as a normal part of serving the site.
• Consent record: the choice you make in the cookie banner, stored in your browser's local storage along with the date of that choice.
• Optional analytics: only if you consent — aggregated page views, approximate country, device category and scroll depth. We do not use advertising identifiers or cross-site tracking.

2.3 What we never collect

We do not ask for payment details, passport or identity documents, health information, or precise geolocation. We do not build reader profiles, and we do not operate a mailing list or newsletter.

3. Why we process it, and our lawful basis

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have carried out a balancing assessment and concluded that the processing is limited, expected by you, and does not override your rights. You may object at any time (see section 8).

4. Cookies and analytics

We use a small number of strictly necessary storage items to run the site and record your consent choice. Optional analytics and functional storage are only activated if you accept them in the banner. Full details, including named items and durations, are in our Cookie Policy, where you can also reopen the consent panel and change your mind.

The site loads web fonts from Google Fonts and photography from Unsplash. Requesting those files necessarily discloses your IP address and user-agent to those providers. We do not control their processing; their own privacy notices apply.

5. Who we share data with

We do not sell, rent or trade personal data. We share it only with service providers acting on our instructions under a written processing agreement:

• Hosting and content delivery — to serve the website and retain short-term security logs.
• Email provider — to receive and reply to your messages.
• Privacy-focused analytics provider — only where you have consented.

We may also disclose data where we are legally required to, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

6. International transfers

Our providers may process data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area. Where that happens, transfers are covered by UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses together with a transfer risk assessment. You can request a copy of the safeguards applied by writing to our privacy address.

7. How long we keep data

• Enquiry correspondence: 24 months from the last message, then deleted.
• Correction records: retained for the life of the affected article as part of our editorial audit trail.
• Server logs: 30 days.
• Consent record: stored in your browser for up to 12 months, or until you clear your browser storage.
• Aggregated analytics: 14 months, in a form that does not identify individuals.

8. Your rights

Under UK and EU data protection law you have the right to:

• Be informed about how your data is used — this document.
• Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Have inaccurate data corrected.
• Have data erased where we no longer have a valid reason to keep it.
• Restrict processing while a dispute is resolved.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Receive data you provided in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing already carried out.

To exercise any of these, email [email protected]. We respond within one calendar month and will not charge a fee unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

9. Security

The site is served over HTTPS. Access to the enquiry inbox is limited to named editorial staff with multi-factor authentication. We keep the volume of personal data we hold deliberately small, which is the most effective security measure available to a publication of our size. No transmission over the internet is completely secure; please do not send sensitive personal information through the contact form.

10. Children

This site is aimed at adults planning travel. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least annually and whenever our processing changes. Material changes are announced on this page with a revised effective date. Continuing to use the site after a change indicates acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first — most issues are resolved quickly. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk, helpline 0303 123 1113) or, if you are in the EEA, to your national supervisory authority.