Privacy Policy
The Whistling Oak — thewhistlingoak.com Last updated: May 2025 Contact: hello@thewhistlingoak.com
Who We Are
The Whistling Oak is a personal outdoor travel blog documenting trails, wildlife, and road trips across North America. This site is owned and operated by Aditya Kumar.
Data Controller: Aditya Kumar The Whistling Oak — thewhistlingoak.com hello@thewhistlingoak.com
If you have any questions about how your personal data is handled, write to us at hello@thewhistlingoak.com. We aim to respond within 30 days, as required under GDPR.
Our Commitment to Your Privacy
This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, the legal basis we rely on, and your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable privacy laws including the UK GDPR, CalOPPA, and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act).
We collect only what is necessary. We do not sell your data. We do not share it beyond the service providers named in this policy.
What Information We Collect
Information you give us
If you contact us by email, we receive your name, email address, and the content of your message. We use this solely to respond to you and retain it only as long as the correspondence is relevant.
If we introduce a newsletter in the future, sign-up will be fully opt-in with a clear unsubscribe option in every email.
Information collected automatically
When you visit this site, the following data is collected automatically:
Log data — IP address, browser type, pages visited, time and date of visit, referring URL, and time spent on pages
Cookies — small text files placed on your device, used for analytics and advertising (detailed below)
Device data — screen resolution, operating system, and browser version
Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR Article 6)
Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. We rely on the following:
PurposeData InvolvedLegal BasisResponding to email enquiriesName, email, message contentLegitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f))Website analytics (Google Analytics)Anonymised usage data, cookiesLegitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f))Serving personalised advertisements (Google AdSense)Cookies, browsing behaviourConsent (Article 6(1)(a))Complying with legal obligationsAny relevant dataLegal obligation (Article 6(1)(c))
Where we rely on consent — specifically for advertising cookies — you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.
Cookies
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your browser when you visit a website. They are used to remember preferences, understand how sites are used, and deliver relevant advertising.
Cookies we use
Essential cookies Strictly necessary for the site to function. These cannot be disabled.
Analytics cookies (Google Analytics) We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with this site — pages read, time spent, traffic sources. The data is aggregated and anonymised. Google Analytics sets the following cookies: ga, gid, _gat.
Advertising cookies (Google AdSense) Google AdSense uses cookies to serve advertisements relevant to you, based on your visits to this and other websites. These cookies may include: IDE, DSID, FLC, AID, TAID, and exchange_uid.
Your cookie choices
Under GDPR, you have the right to refuse non-essential cookies. You may:
Use our cookie consent banner to accept or reject categories of cookies when you first visit the site
Adjust your browser settings to block or delete cookies at any time
Use the opt-out tools below
Advertising opt-out:
Analytics opt-out:
Note: blocking certain cookies may affect how this site functions.
Google AdSense and Advertising
This site uses Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.
Google's advertising cookies allow it and its partners to serve ads based on your browsing activity. You can opt out of personalised advertising at google.com/settings/ads.
For full details on how Google collects and processes data from partner sites, see: google.com/policies/privacy/partners.
This site complies with Google AdSense program policies and EU user consent requirements. Where required by law, advertising cookies are only set after you have given consent via the cookie banner.
Google Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a web analytics service provided by Google LLC. It collects anonymised data about how visitors use the site.
IP anonymisation is enabled. This means your full IP address is never stored by Google Analytics.
Google Analytics data is retained for 14 months in line with our GA4 settings. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Add-on.
Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which provides an adequacy basis for transfers of data to the United States under GDPR Article 45.
Social Media
This site links to Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube pages for The Whistling Oak. Clicking these links takes you to platforms governed by their own privacy policies:
We do not receive your personal data from these platforms unless you contact us directly through them.
If social media share buttons or embedded posts are present on this site, those features may set their own cookies and collect data independently. They are governed by their respective platform's policies.
Embedded Content
Articles on this site may contain embedded YouTube videos or other third-party content. Embedded content behaves exactly as if you visited the originating website directly. Those third-party sites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content, including if you have an account and are logged in.
International Data Transfers
Some of the third-party services we use — including Google Analytics and Google AdSense — are operated by companies based in the United States. Transfers of your data to the US are covered by:
EU-US Data Privacy Framework (for Google LLC)
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
We do not transfer your personal data to any country that does not have adequate data protection safeguards in place.
Your Rights Under GDPR
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Right of access (Article 15) You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification (Article 16) You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure — "right to be forgotten" (Article 17) You can ask us to delete your personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to keep it.
Right to restriction of processing (Article 18) You can ask us to pause processing of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability (Article 20) You can request your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to object (Article 21) You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including profiling and direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent Where processing is based on consent (e.g. advertising cookies), you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
Right to lodge a complaint You have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority:
EU residents: Your local supervisory authority — find it at edpb.europa.eu
UK residents: The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — ico.org.uk
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@thewhistlingoak.com. We will respond within 30 days.
Rights for California Residents (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):
The right to know what personal information is collected, used, shared, or sold
The right to delete personal information we hold about you
The right to opt out of the sale of personal information
The right to non-discrimination for exercising your CCPA rights
We do not sell personal information. Advertising through Google AdSense involves sharing data with Google under a contractual arrangement — this does not constitute a "sale" under CCPA.
To make a CCPA request, contact: hello@thewhistlingoak.com
How Long We Keep Your Data
Data typeRetention periodEmail correspondenceUntil no longer relevant, or upon requestServer log dataUp to 90 days (hosting provider standard)Google Analytics data14 monthsAdvertising cookie dataManaged by Google per their retention policy
Data Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, or unauthorised access. Our site is served over HTTPS (SSL encryption). However, no transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Children's Privacy
This site is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has submitted personal data to this site, please contact us at hello@thewhistlingoak.com and we will delete it promptly.
Under GDPR, where services are directed at children (under 16 in most EU member states), parental consent is required. This site is not directed at children and no such processing takes place.
External Links
Articles on this site may link to external websites — national park pages, trail resources, tourism boards, and similar. Once you leave thewhistlingoak.com, this privacy policy no longer applies. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any site you visit.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our data practices, or the services we use. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will add a notice to the homepage.
We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Contact and Complaints
Data Controller: Aditya Kumar The Whistling Oak
Email: hello@thewhistlingoak.com
We will respond to all privacy-related requests within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to escalate to your national data protection authority (see Your Rights section above).
The Whistling Oak — thewhistlingoak.com This policy applies to all pages on thewhistlingoak.com and all subdomains.
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