Last updated: 2 September 2026
This policy explains what ScotlandTourism.org collects when you read this site, why, and what you can do about it. It describes how the site is configured today. When that configuration changes — in particular when advertising is introduced — this page will be updated before the change goes live, and the date above will change with it.
The short version
You do not need an account to read anything here. We do not ask for your name, we do not run a mailing list, and comments are switched off across the site, so there is no routine way for you to hand us personal information at all. The two exceptions are the analytics described below, which are automatic, and the contact form, which only runs if you choose to write to us.
Who is responsible
ScotlandTourism.org is an independent travel publication. It is not affiliated with VisitScotland, the Scottish Government, or any tourism board, operator or attraction described on the site. The editorial team is the data controller for the information described here, and can be reached through the contact page.
Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-G5GMC7HMB5) to understand which guides people read and how they arrive. It is loaded on every page and it sets cookies in your browser.
What it records is aggregate and behavioural rather than identifying: pages viewed, time on page, approximate location derived from IP address at city level, referring site or search engine, device type, browser and operating system. Google Analytics 4 does not store full IP addresses. We use it to decide which guides need updating and which subjects to cover next. We do not attempt to identify individual readers, and we do not combine analytics data with anything else.
Google processes this data as our processor and under its own terms. You can read how Google handles data from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites, and you can opt out of Google Analytics entirely, on every site, using Google’s browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Advertising
No advertising is running on this site at present. We intend to introduce advertising through Google AdSense.
When that happens, this page will be updated first. In outline, what will apply: Google and its advertising partners use cookies to serve ads based on prior visits to this and other websites; Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to our site and elsewhere on the internet; and you will be able to opt out of personalised advertising at google.com/settings/ads or, across participating vendors, at aboutads.info/choices. Third-party vendors and ad networks may also serve ads on this site and set their own cookies, which are governed by those vendors’ privacy policies rather than this one.
The contact form
If you send us a message, the form collects the name, email address and message text you type into it, plus the IP address the submission came from as a spam-prevention measure. This is delivered to us by email and held in that mailbox.
We use it for one thing: replying to you and, where you have reported an error, fixing the page. It is never added to a marketing list, never sold, and never shared with tourism operators, attractions or anyone else mentioned in the guides. Correspondence is deleted once it is no longer needed, and in any case within two years.
Cookies and how to control them
The cookies currently set on this site come from Google Analytics, plus functional cookies set by WordPress and the caching layer that keep the site working. There is no consent banner on the site at the moment, so if you want to prevent analytics cookies, do it at the browser end: every major browser lets you block or clear third-party cookies for a specific site, and Google’s opt-out add-on linked above blocks Analytics regardless of browser settings. Blocking these cookies will not stop you reading anything here — nothing on this site is gated.
Server logs
Our web host records standard access logs — IP address, timestamp, requested URL, user agent — as every web server does. These exist for security and diagnostics, are retained on a short rolling basis by the host, and are not used for any editorial or commercial purpose.
What we link to and embed
Our guides link out heavily to ferry operators, railway companies, heritage bodies and attractions. Following one of those links takes you onto a site with its own privacy practices, which we neither control nor monitor. Photographs on this site are hosted on our own server rather than hotlinked, so simply reading a guide does not send a request to Wikimedia Commons or any other image source.
Children
This site is written for adults planning travel and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us something through the contact form, tell us and we will delete it.
Your rights
Under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR you have the right to ask what personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected, to have it erased, to restrict or object to how it is used, and to receive a copy of it. In practice, the only personal data we are likely to hold is an email exchange you started, and a request to delete it will be honoured without argument.
Make any such request through the contact page. If you are unhappy with how we have handled it, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or to the supervisory authority in your own country.
Changes to this policy
Material changes — a new analytics tool, the introduction of advertising, anything that changes what is collected — will be reflected here before they take effect, with a revised date at the top of the page.