Privacy Policy

Rockhounding Sites (“we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect when you use our website, how we use it, and the choices you have. We do not sell your personal information.

1. Information we collect

Information you provide

• If you contact us, we receive what you send — such as your name, email address, subject, message, and any location details you include.
• We do not require an account to browse the directory.

Information collected automatically

• Like most websites, our host or infrastructure may log technical data such as IP address, browser type, device type, referring page, and approximate access time.
• We may use privacy-friendly analytics or advertising partners (such as Google AdSense) that collect aggregated usage data to measure traffic and display ads. See Section 4 for cookies.

2. How we use your information

• Respond to questions, corrections, and new-location submissions you send us.
• Operate, maintain, and improve the Site and directory content.
• Display and measure advertising, where enabled.
• Protect the Site against abuse, spam, and security threats.
• Comply with applicable law or enforce our Terms of Service.

3. How we share your information

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share limited data only when:

• Service providers help us run the Site (for example, hosting, email delivery, or advertising networks) under confidentiality obligations.
• Advertising partners such as Google use cookies or similar technologies to serve and measure ads, as described in our Cookie Policy and Google’s policies.
• We believe disclosure is required by law, court order, or to protect rights, safety, or security.
• You give us clear permission to share something you submitted (for example, publishing a credited photo).

4. Cookies and similar technologies

The Site may use essential cookies or local storage needed for basic functionality. When advertising is enabled, third parties including Google may use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this Site or other websites, to limit how often you see an ad, and to measure ad performance.

You can manage or disable cookies in your browser settings. Google provides an Ads Settings page and supports industry opt-out tools for personalized advertising. See our Cookie Policy for details.

5. Data retention

We keep contact messages and related correspondence only as long as needed to handle your inquiry, maintain records of corrections, or meet legal obligations, then delete or anonymize them when practical.

6. Data security

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect information we hold. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict certain processing of your personal information. To make a request, email hello@rockhoundingsites.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe.

8. Children’s privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has contacted us with personal data, please let us know so we can delete it.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version is always on this page with the date shown in the header. Continued use of the Site after changes means you accept the updated policy.

10. Contact us

Privacy questions or requests? Email hello@rockhoundingsites.com or use our contact form.