Privacy Policy for Haunted Castles
Effective date: October 22, 2026
This policy explains what information Haunted Castles (hauntedcastles.hostsite.info) collects when you visit, how it is used, and the choices you have. “We”, “us” and “our” mean the owner of this site.
Information you give us
- Contact form: your name, email address, optional website and message. We use these only to reply to you. Messages are stored in the site’s WordPress dashboard and are checked for spam by Akismet (Automattic).
- Comments (if comments are open): your name, email, comment and IP address, used to show and moderate comments and to fight spam. An anonymized string made from your email may be sent to the Gravatar service to show your profile picture.
Information collected automatically
- Server logs: like all websites, our host records basic technical data such as IP address, browser type, pages viewed and time of visit, for security and troubleshooting.
- Jetpack Stats: we use Jetpack (Automattic) to count visits. Jetpack Stats processes data such as a hashed IP address, browser and device type, the page visited, the referring page and the time, to give us aggregate traffic statistics. It does not let us identify you. See Jetpack Stats and Automattic’s privacy policy.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files stored in your browser. This site and the services above may use:
- Essential cookies set by WordPress (for example, to remember your comment details if you ask it to, or when you log in).
- Statistics cookies used by Jetpack to tell new visitors from returning ones.
- Advertising cookies set by Google and its partners (see below).
- Embedded content cookies: some articles embed YouTube videos. These behave as if you visited YouTube, which may set cookies and collect data under Google’s privacy policy.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Some site features may not work without them.
Advertising (Google AdSense)
We use Google AdSense to show ads. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this and other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings.
- You can opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info (US) or www.youronlinechoices.eu (EU).
- Learn more in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and Google’s advertising policies.
If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, you will be asked for consent before personalized ads or non-essential cookies are used, and you can change your choice at any time through the [PRIVACY SETTINGS / COOKIE CHOICES] link at the bottom of every page.
Store links (NicheStuff on Shopify)
Some articles link to products in our own online store, NicheStuff (nichestuff.shop), which runs on Shopify. These links include tracking tags (such as utm_source=hauntedcastles) so we can see which articles send visitors to the store. No personal information is passed from this site to the store. Once you are on the store, its own privacy policy and Shopify’s cookies apply, including for any purchase you make.
Affiliate links
Some links may be affiliate or referral links, which means we may earn from purchases you make after clicking them, at no extra cost to you. The retailer may use cookies to record that you came from this site. See our disclosure page for details.
How we use and share information
We use the information above to run and improve the site, answer messages, prevent spam and abuse, and show ads. We do not sell your personal information, and we only share it with the service providers named in this policy (our web host, Automattic/Jetpack/Akismet, Google) or when the law requires it.
How long we keep it
Contact messages and comments are kept until they are no longer needed or you ask us to delete them. Statistics are kept in aggregate form.
Your choices and rights
You can ask us to see, correct or delete personal information you’ve sent us (such as a contact message or comment). Depending on where you live (for example, in California or the EU/UK), you may have more rights, such as the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for targeted advertising. We do not sell personal information. To make a request, use the contact page.
Children
This site is meant for a general adult audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy, for example when we add or remove a service or move the site to a new domain. The effective date at the top will change when we do.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Use our contact page or email Admin@hauntedcastles.hostsite.info.