Privacy policy

Information collected

When you browse

The hosting server and security services, including Wordfence, receive technical information needed to deliver pages and protect the site. This can include your IP address, the page requested, search terms entered on BareTread, request time, browser details and records of errors or suspicious activity.

If you allow analytics, BareTread also receives reports about page views, referrals, approximate location, device and browser type, scrolling and link clicks. The analytics section explains this separately from server and security processing.

When you get in touch

If you email BareTread or use the contact form, the information you send includes your email address and message. The form also asks for your name and the reason for your enquiry, with an optional page URL. It sends the submission by email rather than saving it as a form entry in WordPress.

This information is used to answer your enquiry and keep the correspondence needed to deal with it. Please do not send sensitive information that your enquiry does not require. BareTread does not currently offer a newsletter signup.

You do not need to provide a phone number or postal address to read BareTread. If you choose to include those details in a message, they become part of that correspondence.

Comments

BareTread retains comments submitted to the site. A comment record can include the comment, display name, email address, IP address and browser details. The comment and display name may appear publicly if approved. Email addresses and IP addresses are not displayed with the comment.

These records help moderate discussions and identify spam. Where a comment form offers to remember your details, selecting that option allows WordPress to save comment-author cookies in your browser for up to a year.

Google Analytics

BareTread uses Google Analytics 4 through Google Tag Manager. Tag Manager loads the analytics tags after consent. Analytics helps show which reviews and guides people read, how they found the site and where the website needs work.

An affiliate_click event measures clicks on affiliate links. Event information can include the destination URL and link text. These reports measure clicks, not the amount you spend at a retailer.

Google processes IP addresses to derive approximate location. Google states that it discards IP addresses from UK, EU and Swiss visitors before logging analytics data. The reports available to BareTread do not provide your name or email address simply because you viewed a page.

Browser storage

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Local storage remembers your analytics choice for 365 days. It records the choice, its date and the consent version. Clearing browser storage resets it.

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A Google Analytics cookie that distinguishes browsers. It is used only after analytics consent and can last up to about 400 days.

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A Google Analytics cookie that maintains session information. It is used only after analytics consent and can last up to about 400 days.

Cookie expiry and Google’s data retention periods are different. Cookies may refresh during use. You can delete them in your browser, but use Cookie choice to withdraw consent as well, otherwise a saved Allow choice can load Analytics again.

Read Google’s privacy policy and Google’s explanation of GA4 privacy controls.

Affiliate links

Some links to shoe brands and retailers pay BareTread a commission if you buy. Following an affiliate link does not increase the price you pay.

Affiliate services used by BareTread include Awin, Impact, CJ Affiliate, Amazon Associates and direct brand programmes, including Freet. The network or retailer can receive referral identifiers, the link you followed and technical information about the request. On their websites, cookies or similar technologies may connect the referral with a later purchase.

BareTread also loads Awin’s MasterTag on its own pages. This service can turn retailer links into affiliate links. It contacts Awin before you click a shop link and runs independently of the Google Analytics choice. As with other external script requests, the service receives connection information such as your IP address and browser details.

The analytics card is not a control for cookies or tracking on a retailer’s website. Check that website’s consent options and privacy notice when you visit it.

For the commercial disclosure, read BareTread’s affiliate disclosure. Provider notices explain their own processing, including Awin, Impact, CJ Affiliate and Amazon.

Videos, audio and maps

Some articles include YouTube videos, Spotify audio players or Google Maps. When an embed loads, the provider receives connection information such as your IP address and browser details. It may use cookies or other storage under its own privacy policy, and may associate activity with your account if you are signed in to that service.

The Google Analytics choice does not block these embeds. Some load as you approach them on the page, before you press play or interact with a map. See Google’s privacy policy for YouTube and Maps, and Spotify’s privacy policy for its players.

Why information is used

Under UK data protection law, the reason for processing personal information must have a lawful basis.

• Consent is the basis for optional Google Analytics measurement. You can withdraw it through Cookie choice.
• Legitimate interests apply to delivering and securing the website, investigating faults, answering enquiries, moderating comments and administering affiliate referrals. Those interests are running BareTread, protecting it against abuse and funding its reviews. They do not override consent requirements for cookies or similar tracking technologies, including those used by embedded services.
• Legal obligations apply where information must be retained or disclosed to meet a legal requirement, such as maintaining relevant accounting records or responding to a lawful request.

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. Email contact@baretread.com and explain which processing you object to. The request will be assessed against your circumstances and the applicable legal requirements.

Sharing and international transfers

Hosting, security and email providers process information to operate the website and handle correspondence. This includes Wordfence for website security. Google processes analytics data when you allow it. Affiliate networks, retailers and embedded-content providers receive information when their services or links are used, as described above. Information may also be disclosed where the law requires it or where necessary to establish or defend a legal claim.

Some providers operate outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States. Their processing can therefore involve international transfers. Google’s analytics processing terms describe its transfer safeguards, including standard contractual clauses and the UK arrangements that apply to them. You can read Google’s data processing terms for those details.

Where BareTread makes a restricted international transfer, UK data protection law requires an approved destination, appropriate safeguards or an applicable exception. You can ask for details of the safeguards relevant to your information using the contact address below. Affiliate providers’ privacy notices explain their own transfer arrangements.

How long information is kept

BareTread’s Google Analytics settings retain user data for 14 months and other event data for 2 months. Google states that key event data follows the user-data retention period. The option to reset user data retention on new activity is enabled, so a returning visit can restart that user’s retention period. These settings do not set an expiry date for standard aggregated reports. See Google’s data retention guidance.

Messages are kept while an enquiry is being handled and for as long as the correspondence is needed to resolve follow-up questions, disputes or legal obligations. The subject of the message and any applicable legal requirement determine that period.

Approved comments and their moderation records are kept while they remain part of the site’s discussions, unless a removal request or another reason for deletion applies. Spam and rejected comments are kept only as needed for moderation and abuse prevention.

Technical and security records are kept according to their purpose, such as diagnosing an error, investigating abuse or meeting a provider’s security requirements. Affiliate networks and retailers apply their own retention periods to referral and purchase records. Those periods are described in their notices rather than controlled by BareTread’s analytics setting.

Your rights

Depending on the information and the lawful basis, you can ask to access your personal information, correct inaccuracies, have information erased or restrict how it is used. You may also have a right to receive information you provided in a portable format.

You can withdraw analytics consent at any time. You can also object to processing based on legitimate interests, as explained above. These rights are not absolute, and a legal obligation may require some information to be retained.

Send requests to contact@baretread.com. Include enough detail to identify the information or correspondence involved. Proof of identity may be needed before personal information can be released. Requests are normally answered within one month. If the law allows an extension, you will be told why.

Contact and complaints

Contact Alin Ciocan at contact@baretread.com about this policy, your personal information or a privacy complaint.

You also have the right to complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office. Visit the ICO’s complaints page or call 0303 123 1113. You do not have to contact BareTread first to exercise that right.

This policy will change when BareTread’s processing changes. The date at the top shows the latest update.