Privacy Policy

TasteSCOT is an independent editorial site operating from Scotland. This privacy policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and the rights you have under UK data protection law (the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018).

Short version

We collect as little as possible and we don’t sell your data. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which articles people find useful, and we store your email address only if you voluntarily sign up for our newsletter. You can opt out of analytics in your browser, and unsubscribe from the newsletter with one click.

What we collect

• Newsletter sign-ups. If you give us your email address through the newsletter signup form, we store it so we can send you the newsletter. That’s the only personal data we hold on you directly.
• Google Analytics 4. We use Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-EK0WPT4MWL) to see which pages are popular, how visitors find us, and roughly where in the world our readers are. GA4 sets cookies (typically named _ga and _ga_*) on your browser and sends data including a truncated IP address, page URL, referrer, device type, and approximate location to Google’s servers, which may be in the United States. We do not use GA4 for advertising or remarketing, and we do not link GA4 data to any other personal information. See Google’s privacy policy for what Google does with the data.
• Standard server logs. Our hosting provider (Vercel) keeps short-term server logs including IP addresses for the purposes of serving the site, preventing abuse, and troubleshooting. These are not used by TasteSCOT for any editorial or marketing purpose.

How to opt out of analytics

If you don’t want Google Analytics to track your visits, you can:

• Install the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on from Google
• Block cookies from this site in your browser settings, or use private / incognito mode
• Use a browser like Brave, or an extension like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger, that blocks analytics trackers by default

We’re working on adding a cookie consent banner so you can opt in or out with one click directly on the site — until then, the browser-level controls above are the way to opt out.

What we don’t do

• We don’t use Google Ads, Facebook Pixel, or any remarketing tags.
• We don’t build behavioural profiles of our visitors.
• We don’t share your email address with third parties.
• We don’t sell any data to anyone for any reason.

How we use your email address

If you sign up to our newsletter, we use your email address only to send you the newsletter, and to occasionally let you know about a major new feature or a significant change to how TasteSCOT works. The newsletter is handled by Resend, a UK/EU-compliant email platform. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email, and we will remove your address permanently from our list.

Affiliate links and cookies

Some pages on TasteSCOT contain affiliate links to retailers like The Whisky Exchange, Master of Malt, Amazon UK, and booking platforms like GetYourGuide or Viator. When you click one of these links, the retailer’s own cookie is set on your browser by the retailer, so they can pay us a commission if you make a purchase. These cookies are set by the retailer, not by TasteSCOT, and are governed by the retailer’s own privacy policy. See our Affiliate Disclosure for full details.

Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the right to:

• Request a copy of the personal data we hold on you (right of access)
• Have incorrect data corrected
• Have your data deleted (right to erasure / right to be forgotten)
• Withdraw consent to being on our newsletter list at any time
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@tastescot.co.uk. For newsletter unsubscribes, you can also click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email we send you.

Data retention

Newsletter email addresses are retained for as long as you remain subscribed. If you unsubscribe, we remove your address from the active list within 7 days. Google Analytics 4 data is retained for the default period of 14 months, after which Google deletes user-level and event-level data automatically.

Changes to this policy

If we materially change this policy we will update the “Last updated” date at the top and, for significant changes, flag it in the newsletter so our subscribers know. The current version is always the one published on this page.

Contact

Questions about privacy, data protection, or this policy: privacy@tastescot.co.uk.