Privacy Policy

The Rockhounding Hub (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates therockhoundinghub.com. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit our website, how we use that information, and your choices regarding it.

We value your privacy and aim to be transparent about our practices. This policy is written in plain language rather than legalese. If you have questions, please contact us.

Information we collect

Information you provide

If you contact us by email or subscribe to our newsletter, we collect the information you voluntarily provide, such as your email address and any message content. We use this information only to respond to your inquiry or deliver the newsletter you signed up for.

Event submissions and maps

When you submit an event, we store your account reference, contact email, event details and review notes in our Convex database. The review queue is private to the site administrator. Contact details are used to check the submission and handle corrections; they are not published or added to a mailing list. Verified event details may appear in the public calendar after editorial review. Contact us to request removal of your private submission information.

Opening the event map loads map tiles from OpenStreetMap. Your browser sends the tile server its usual connection information, including your IP address. We do not request your device’s precise location for this map.

Information collected automatically

When you visit our site, we may automatically collect standard technical data including:

• IP address (anonymized where possible)
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time spent on each page
• Referring URL (where you came from)
• General geographic location (country or region level, not precise location)
• Device type and screen resolution

This information is collected through analytics tools and server logs. It helps us understand how people use our site so we can improve it.

Cookies and tracking

Our site may use the following types of cookies:

• Essential cookies — Required for basic site functionality. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies — Help us understand how visitors use our site (e.g., which pages are most popular, how visitors navigate between pages). We use Google Analytics or similar services for this purpose.
• Advertising cookies — If we display advertisements (e.g., through Google AdSense), ad networks may place cookies to serve relevant ads and measure their performance.

You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies, delete existing cookies, or receive a notification before a cookie is set. Note that disabling cookies may affect site functionality.

Third-party services

We may use the following third-party services:

• PostHog— when enabled, measures public page views and clicks on affiliate product links. Our configuration uses cookieless measurement and does not enable session replay, person profiles, automatic click capture, or collection of form contents. We remove URL query parameters and fragments from these events and exclude account and community pages. Affiliate clicks are not purchase records. This integration respects your browser's Do Not Track setting. See PostHog's Privacy Policy.
• Google Analytics — for understanding site usage and traffic patterns. Google Analytics may collect data about your browsing behavior. See Google's Privacy Policy.
• Google AdSense — for serving display advertisements. AdSense may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your browsing history. See How Google uses information from sites that use its services.
• Email service provider — for managing our newsletter mailing list. Your email address is stored securely by our provider and used only for sending the newsletter you subscribed to.

Each third-party service has its own privacy policy governing how it handles data. We encourage you to review them.

How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate and improve our website
• Respond to your questions and correspondence
• Deliver our newsletter to subscribers
• Understand site usage patterns and improve content
• Display relevant advertising

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your email address with third parties for marketing purposes.

Data retention

Analytics data is retained according to the default settings of the analytics platform we use (typically 14–26 months). Email addresses for newsletter subscribers are retained until you unsubscribe. Contact form messages are retained for as long as needed to respond and then deleted.

Your rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete the personal data we hold about you. You may also have the right to object to certain uses of your data. To exercise any of these rights, please contact us.

If you are a subscriber to our newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in every email.

Children's privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child, please contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the “last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please reach out through our contact page or email us at hello@therockhoundinghub.com.