Last updated: July 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what information The Host Side (thehostside.com) collects, how it’s used, and your choices. This site is run by an individual, not a large company — if anything here is unclear, email talk@thehostside.com.
Who we are
Our website address is: https://thehostside.com.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, plus the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string, to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included, as visitors can download and extract location data from images on the site.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so you don’t have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
Analytics
We may use Google Analytics or Google Site Kit to understand how visitors use this site (pages visited, time on site, general location at a country/city level). This data is aggregated and not used to personally identify you. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking using browser extensions such as Google’s own opt-out add-on.
Affiliate links
Some links on this site are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. See our Affiliate Disclaimer for details.
Newsletter
If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address solely to send you updates from The Host Side. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email we send.
Who we share your data with
We don’t sell your personal data. We may share data with service providers strictly needed to run this site (hosting, email delivery, analytics).
How long we retain your data
For users that register on our website, we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. Comment data and metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize follow-up comments automatically.
Your rights
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Note: this is a standard privacy policy template adapted for a personal blog. It is not a substitute for legal advice — if this site collects payments, handles EU/UK visitor data at scale, or grows significantly, have it reviewed by a qualified professional.