Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

BestHolidaySpots.co.uk is a travel information and inspiration website operated as a sole trader in the United Kingdom. Our website address is https://bestholidayspots.co.uk.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at: info@bestholidayspots.co.uk

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide to us

We collect personal information you voluntarily provide, including when you:

• Subscribe to our newsletter — we collect your name and email address
• Contact us via our contact form — we collect your name, email address and message
• Submit a guest post pitch — we collect your name, email address and any information included in your pitch

Member accounts: we store your name, email address, a password hash if you use a password, account verification details and security records. If you choose Google sign-in, we receive your basic profile name, verified email address and Google account identifier. Google sign-in does not give us access to your Gmail messages, contacts or files.

Articles and photographs: we store your saved drafts, uploaded photographs, image descriptions, author bio and submission or moderation history. Drafts and unpublished uploads are available to you and the site administrator for editing and review. Content and photographs included in an approved, published article become public, together with your author name and bio. Your account email address is not displayed in the public author profile; personal details you put in the article or bio yourself can become public.

Information collected automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical information, including:

• Your IP address and approximate location (country/region level)
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent on the site
• Referring website (how you found us)
• Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

Account security features use request details, including IP addresses, to limit abuse. Hosting services may also keep technical access logs. See our Cookie Policy for details of session cookies.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To send you our newsletter and holiday deal emails (only if you have subscribed)
• To respond to your enquiries submitted via our contact form
• To create and secure your account, support optional Google sign-in and send verification, password reset and account change emails
• To save your drafts and photographs, review submissions and publish approved articles with author details
• To send article submission receipts and editorial decision emails
• To record sign-in and verification attempts so we can limit abuse
• To analyse how our website is used and improve its content and performance
• To comply with our legal obligations

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason compatible with the original purpose.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following bases:

• Consent — for sending marketing emails (newsletter). You can withdraw consent at any time by clicking "Unsubscribe" in any email
• Legitimate interests — for website analytics, to understand how visitors use our site and improve our content
• Contract/pre-contract steps — for responding to contact form enquiries

5. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal data. We use service providers to operate the website, deliver email and, if you choose it, verify Google sign-in. These services may process the information needed for those tasks.

• Email service providers — for sending messages and transactional verification or security emails
• Google sign-in — for verifying your identity when you choose to connect Google
• Web hosting providers — for server and infrastructure services

Our email provider receives the recipient address and message content for transactional emails, including confirmation codes. These account emails are separate from newsletter subscriptions. Google processes sign-in through its own service when you use that option; signing in with an email and password remains available.

6. Cookies

We use cookies on this website. For full details of the cookies we use and how to manage them, please read our Cookie Policy.

Member and administrator session cookies keep the correct account signed in and support security checks. They contain a session identifier rather than your password or article text.

7. Data Retention

Account records, saved drafts, uploaded photographs and submission history are kept to operate your account and the publishing process. Published articles and their author details remain available while the article is published. Verification codes stop working after their expiry; expiry does not automatically delete every related account or security record.

There is no fixed automatic deletion schedule for accounts, drafts or uploads. To request deletion of your account, unpublished material or a published contribution, email info@bestholidayspots.co.uk. We review requests and may ask you to confirm ownership before making changes. Contact correspondence and newsletter records are handled according to the purpose for which you provided them.

8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — to request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to restrict processing — to request that we limit how we use your data
• Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to data portability — to receive your data in a portable format
• Right to withdraw consent — to withdraw consent for marketing emails at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@bestholidayspots.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

9. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss or destruction. Our website is served over HTTPS (encrypted connection). However, no internet transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Passwords are stored as hashes. Account verification and sensitive changes use time-limited email codes with attempt limits. Saved drafts and unpublished images require the appropriate account or administrator access; this does not make material you choose to publish private.

10. Links to Other Websites

Our website contains links to third-party websites (including holiday booking sites, travel operators and airline websites). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

11. Children's Privacy

Our website is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

13. Contact Us

For any questions, concerns or requests relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: