This privacy policy explains how Smart Guide Daily ("we," "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you visit smartguidedaily.com. We aim to keep this document clear and complete; if anything is unclear, write to contact@smartguidedaily.com.
1. Who we are
The data controller for this website is Morgan Hale, on behalf of the Smart Guide Daily editorial team. Contact: contact@smartguidedaily.com.
2. What data we collect
We collect personal data in three situations:
- When you contact us — via email or contact form. We collect your name, email address, and the message you send us, in order to reply.
- When you browse the site — we collect technical data automatically through our hosting provider and analytics tools (see section 4).
- When advertising is served — third-party advertising services may collect data via cookies and similar technologies (see section 5).
3. How we use your data
- To answer your messages.
- To understand how the site is being used and improve it.
- To deliver, measure, and optimise advertising on the site, where applicable.
- To comply with legal obligations.
We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your contact-form data with third parties, except where required to operate the site (for example, the email service that delivers your message to our inbox).
4. Cookies and analytics
This site uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to operate properly, measure traffic, and (where applicable) deliver advertising. The full breakdown of cookie categories and your choices is on the Cookie Policy page.
You can refuse non-essential cookies through the consent banner that appears on your first visit, or change your choices at any time via the consent management link in the site footer. Refusing cookies is as easy as accepting them.
5. Advertising and Google AdSense
We may serve advertising through Google AdSense, a third-party advertising service operated by Google LLC. When advertising is enabled on this site, the following applies:
- Google and its partners may set and read cookies, web beacons, and similar identifiers on your device.
- These technologies may collect information including your IP address, browser type, the pages you view, the time you spend on each page, and your interactions with ads.
- This data is used by Google to deliver ads based on your prior visits to this and other sites.
- You can opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings or, in Europe, youronlinechoices.eu.
- Google's own privacy practices are described at policies.google.com/privacy.
For users in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, advertising consent is managed through a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) that complies with the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework, in accordance with Google's EU User Consent Policy (effective 16 January 2024).
6. Legal basis for processing
We process your personal data on the following legal bases (GDPR Article 6):
- Consent — for non-essential cookies, analytics, and advertising.
- Legitimate interests — for site security, fraud prevention, and basic traffic analysis where this does not override your fundamental rights.
- Performance of a request — to reply to messages you send us.
- Legal obligation — where law requires us to retain or disclose data.
7. Data retention
- Contact-form messages and email exchanges: retained for up to 3 years from the last interaction, then deleted, unless ongoing correspondence requires longer.
- Server access logs: retained for up to 12 months, then deleted or anonymised.
- Cookie-based data: retained for the lifetime of the cookie, as described in the Cookie Policy.
8. Your rights
Under GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access — to know what data we hold about you.
- Right to rectification — to correct inaccurate data.
- Right to erasure — to ask for your data to be deleted.
- Right to restriction — to limit how we process your data.
- Right to portability — to receive your data in a machine-readable format.
- Right to object — to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
- Right to withdraw consent — at any time, where processing is based on consent.
- Right to lodge a complaint — with a supervisory authority (in France: the CNIL — cnil.fr).
To exercise any of these rights, contact contact@smartguidedaily.com. We will respond within 30 days.
9. International data transfers
Some of our service providers (notably Google) operate servers outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. Where such transfers occur, they are governed by appropriate safeguards — typically the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or, where applicable, the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.
10. Children
This site is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy occasionally to reflect changes in our practices, the law, or the services we use. The "last updated" date below tells you when the most recent change was made. Substantial changes will be flagged on the homepage for at least two weeks.
Last updated: May 2026.