Privacy policy

Last updated: July 10, 2026. This page applies to samtravelchick.com and to no other website.

1. Who we are

Sam Travel Chick (“we”, “us”, “the journal”) is an independent online publication operated from Madison, Wisconsin, United States. For the purposes of applicable data protection law, the operator of this website is the data controller for personal information collected through it.

Sam Travel Chick
1 S Pinckney Street, Suite 410, Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 316-2075
Privacy contact: [email protected]

2. What we collect, and why

We collect as little personal information as a working publication allows, and only for the purposes described here.

Information you give us directly

• Contact form: your name, email address, chosen topic, and message text. Used solely to read and answer your message. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in responding to correspondence you initiate.
• Newsletter (“the dispatch”): your email address. Used solely to send the newsletter you requested. Legal basis: your consent, which you may withdraw at any time using the unsubscribe link present in every issue or by emailing us.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs: like almost every website, our hosting infrastructure records standard technical data — IP address, browser type, requested page, timestamp — for security, abuse prevention, and reliability. Logs are retained for a limited period and are not used to profile readers.
• Cookies and similar technologies: described in full, including your choices, in the cookie policy. Optional cookies are used only with your consent, collected through the banner shown on your first visit.

3. What we do not do

• We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information — to anyone, for any purpose.
• We do not run trackers that follow you to other websites for our benefit.
• We do not require an account, and we do not collect payment information, because nothing on this site is for sale.
• We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. This site's content is directed at adult travelers. If you believe a child has submitted personal information to us, contact [email protected] and we will delete it.

4. Who else touches the data

We use a small number of service providers to operate the site, each processing data only on our instructions: a web hosting / content delivery provider (serves pages, generates the server logs described above), a form delivery service (relays contact-form and newsletter submissions to our editorial inbox), and an email provider (stores and sends our correspondence and the newsletter). Where advertising is displayed, the advertising network involved may process technical data as described in the cookie policy; advertising cookies are only set with your consent.

We may disclose information if genuinely required by law, or to protect the security and integrity of the site. There are no other sharing arrangements.

5. International transfers

The site is operated from the United States, and information submitted to it is processed in the United States. If you visit from a jurisdiction with different data protection laws, be aware that your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. under the safeguards described in this policy.

6. Retention

• Contact correspondence: kept while a conversation is active and for up to 24 months after, then deleted.
• Newsletter addresses: kept until you unsubscribe, then removed from the active list within 30 days.
• Server logs: retained by our infrastructure providers for their standard limited windows, typically 30–90 days.

7. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding personal information we hold about you: to access it, to correct it, to have it deleted, to receive a copy in a portable format, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent previously given. Residents of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom have these rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR; California residents have analogous rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know, delete, and correct — and we honor the right to opt out of “sale” or “sharing” trivially, because we do neither.

To exercise any right, email [email protected] with the request. We will respond within the timeframe required by the applicable law (30 days in most cases), and we will never discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right. If you are unsatisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

8. Security

The site is served over HTTPS. Access to correspondence and subscriber data is limited to the publisher. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but the small amount of data we hold and the small number of systems that hold it keep the exposure surface deliberately minimal.

9. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with an updated date at the top of the page. Material changes affecting newsletter subscribers will be announced in the newsletter itself before they take effect.