Privacy Policy
How Trail Tested collects, uses, and protects visitor data — including Google Analytics and advertising cookies.
In this guide
Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 2, 2026
Trail Tested (“we”, “this site”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what data is collected when you visit, why, and what choices you have. If you have questions, reach us via the contact page.
Information we collect
Analytics (Google Analytics 4)
When enabled, this site uses Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand aggregate traffic patterns — which pages are visited, approximate location (country/city level), device type, browser, and how visitors arrived (referrer). GA4 does not collect names, email addresses, or other directly identifying information from casual browsing.
- Why: to see which guides help hikers most, so we write more of what works.
- Retention: GA4 stores event data under Google’s standard retention settings (configurable up to 14 months), after which it is automatically deleted.
- Opt out: you can decline analytics cookies in the cookie banner on this site, block cookies in your browser settings, or install Google’s Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The site remains fully usable without analytics cookies.
Contact
If you contact us, we receive whatever you send (such as your email address and message), used only to respond. We never sell or rent contact details.
Cookies
This site and its partners use cookies — small text files stored by your browser — for the following purposes:
| Cookie / source | Purpose |
|---|---|
_ga, _ga_* (Google Analytics 4) | Distinguish visits and measure aggregate usage. Set only if you accept analytics cookies. |
| Google advertising cookies (Google AdSense, when enabled) | Serve and measure ads; see “Advertising” below. |
| Affiliate cookies (retailers such as Amazon, REI, ShareASale merchants) | Attribute a purchase to this site if you buy after clicking an outbound product link, per each retailer’s own policy. |
tt_consent (first-party) | Remembers your cookie-banner choice (accept/decline) so we don’t ask on every visit. |
You can delete or block cookies anytime in your browser settings. Blocking them does not break the site’s content.
Advertising (Google AdSense)
When advertising is enabled on this site, Google AdSense and other third-party vendors use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website and other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
- You may also opt out of third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting aboutads.info/choices.
- See Google’s Privacy & Terms for how Google uses data from sites that use its services.
Affiliate links
Some outbound links on this site are affiliate links (see our affiliate disclosure for the plain-English version). When you click one, the retailer may set its own cookies to credit this site for the referral. Those cookies are governed by the retailer’s privacy policy, not this one.
Data sharing
We do not sell, rent, or share personal data with third parties for their marketing. Data processors (Google Analytics, advertising vendors) handle data under their own policies linked above.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal data held about you, and to object to certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact us via the contact page and we will respond within a reasonable time.
Children’s privacy
This site is written for a general, all-ages audience and does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information through this site, contact us and we will delete it promptly.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes materially, the “last updated” date at the top will be revised, and significant changes will be noted here. Continued use of the site after changes means you accept the updated policy.
Contact
Questions about privacy: contact us here.