This policy explains what personal information Hardscape Home Guide collects, what we do with it, and the rights you have over it. It is written to cover readers in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Last updated: September 2026.
Who we are
Hardscape Home Guide is an independent editorial publication about hardscape construction and outdoor living. For the purposes of the GDPR and UK GDPR we are the data controller for personal information collected through this website. Privacy questions and requests go to [email protected].
What we collect
Information you give us
- Comments. If you leave a comment, we store the name, email address, the comment text and your IP address. We use the IP address to detect spam and abuse.
- Contact emails. If you email us, we hold your address and the contents of the message so we can reply and, where relevant, act on a correction.
- Newsletter. If you subscribe, we store your email address and the date you subscribed, and we record that you confirmed the subscription.
Information collected automatically
- Server logs. Our web server records the pages requested, the time of the request, the referring page, and the browser and operating system in the request headers. Our host retains these logs for a limited period for security and troubleshooting.
- Analytics. We use privacy-respecting analytics to understand which guides are read and how readers arrive at them. We configure analytics to avoid collecting more identifying information than necessary, and we do not use it to build advertising profiles of individual readers.
- Cookies and local storage. Small files placed by the site or by third parties to keep the site working, remember preferences, and measure traffic.
We do not knowingly collect information about children. This site is intended for adults planning construction or renovation projects, and we do not target it at anyone under 16.
Cookies
Cookies on this site fall into these categories:
- Strictly necessary. Required for the site to function — for example, remembering that you have submitted a comment. These cannot be switched off.
- Preference. Remember choices you have made, such as consent state.
- Analytics. Help us understand which pages are useful. Set only where permitted.
- Advertising. Where advertising is served, the ad provider may set cookies to limit how often you see the same ad and to measure campaigns. In the EEA, UK and Switzerland these are set only with consent.
You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may stop parts of the site working.
Why we use your information
| Purpose | Legal basis (GDPR/UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
| Publishing and moderating comments | Legitimate interests; consent where required |
| Replying to your emails and handling corrections | Legitimate interests |
| Sending newsletters you asked for | Consent |
| Keeping the site secure and preventing abuse | Legitimate interests |
| Understanding site usage | Consent or legitimate interests, depending on jurisdiction |
| Serving and measuring advertising | Consent in the EEA, UK and Switzerland |
Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run the site, and only as far as they need it:
- Hosting and infrastructure. Our web host stores the site and its server logs.
- Analytics provider. Receives aggregate usage data.
- Advertising partners. Where ads are served, the ad network may receive information about your visit in order to select and measure advertising.
- Email service provider. Holds newsletter subscriber addresses on our behalf.
- Legal disclosure. We may disclose information where required by law, or to protect the rights and safety of readers and of the site.
Some of these providers operate in countries other than your own. Where personal data leaves the EEA or the UK, we rely on an appropriate transfer mechanism such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
How long we keep it
- Comments and their metadata: retained for as long as the comment remains published, so threads stay readable.
- Contact emails: retained for up to three years after the matter is resolved.
- Newsletter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe, plus a short period to honour the unsubscribe.
- Server logs: retained by our host for a limited operational period, typically no more than 30 days.
- Analytics data: retained in aggregate; we do not keep individual-level browsing histories longer than necessary.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights:
- Access — a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction — fixing information that is inaccurate.
- Deletion — asking us to erase your information.
- Restriction and objection — asking us to limit or stop certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests.
- Portability — receiving your information in a portable format.
- Withdrawing consent — where processing is based on consent, at any time.
- Non-discrimination — under California law, we will not treat you differently for exercising your privacy rights.
Readers in California have additional rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know what categories of personal information are collected and disclosed, and the right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information as those terms are defined in California law. We do not sell personal information in the ordinary sense; where advertising cookies operate, you can opt out using the consent controls on the site or your browser’s Global Privacy Control signal.
Canadian readers have rights under PIPEDA and applicable provincial legislation. Australian readers have rights under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. New Zealand readers have rights under the Privacy Act 2020, including the right to ask us to correct information and to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within the period required by the law that applies to you — generally 30 days, or 45 days in California. We may need to verify your identity before acting, and we will tell you if we cannot do what you have asked and why.
Security
We use HTTPS across the site, restrict administrative access, and keep software patched. No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the information we hold.
Third-party links
Our articles link to manufacturers, standards bodies, retailers and other sites. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and this policy does not cover them. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any site you visit from ours.
Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when our practices change or when the law requires it. The “last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be noted on this page.
Contact
Privacy questions and rights requests: [email protected]. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to your local supervisory authority — for example the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or your national data protection authority in the EEA.
