Last updated: 29 July 2026
This policy explains what information The Garden Den collects when you visit thegardenden.com, why it’s collected, and what you can do about it. It’s written to be read rather than to be impenetrable.
The site is operated by Joe. The fastest way to reach a person about anything on this page is the contact form.
The short version
- There’s no account to create, and nothing on this site asks you to register.
- Analytics are used to understand which guides are useful. That data is aggregated, not personal profiles.
- Some links to products are affiliate links, which set cookies when you click them.
- Nothing is sold to anyone. There is no data broker in this picture.
Information collected automatically
Like effectively every website, this one’s server records standard technical information when a page is requested: IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring page, and the date and time of the request. This is used for security and to keep the site working, and it’s generated by the web server rather than by anything added to the site.
Analytics
The Garden Den uses Google Analytics 4, connected via the Google Site Kit plugin, to understand how the site is used: which guides get read, how people arrive, and where pages perform badly. This uses cookies and may collect your IP address, pages visited, time on page, approximate geographic location (country or region level, not your address), and device information.
This information is processed by Google. Their handling of it is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. You can opt out across all sites using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Google PageSpeed Insights is also connected through Site Kit. It measures site performance and does not collect personal information about visitors.
Affiliate links
The Garden Den participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs. When you click an affiliate link, the retailer (usually Amazon) sets a cookie so that any resulting purchase is attributed to this site. That cookie is set and read by the retailer, not by The Garden Den, and this site does not receive information about what you personally bought.
Amazon’s handling of that data is governed by the Amazon Privacy Notice. Full details of how affiliate links work here are in the Affiliate Disclosure.
Hosting and content delivery
The site is hosted by Hostinger and served through their content delivery network with LiteSpeed caching. These process technical request data, including IP addresses, in order to deliver pages and to protect against attacks.
Information you provide directly
The contact form
If you send a message through the contact form, the information you enter (typically your name, email address and message) is emailed to the site owner so that it can be answered. Form submissions are not stored in a database on this site. Your message is used to reply to you and for nothing else. It isn’t added to a marketing list without your explicit agreement, and it isn’t shared.
Email is not a secure medium, so please don’t send anything through the form that you would be uncomfortable having sit in an inbox.
Comments
Comments are currently disabled site-wide, so no commenter data is collected.
Newsletter
There is no newsletter at present, and no email addresses are collected for marketing. If that changes, this policy will be updated before any signup form goes live, and it will explain exactly what is collected and how to unsubscribe.
Cookies
Cookies are small files stored by your browser. This site involves three kinds:
- Functional. Set by WordPress and the caching layer so pages load correctly.
- Analytics. Set by Google Analytics, as described above.
- Affiliate. Set by retailers when you click a product link.
Every browser lets you block or delete cookies in its settings. Blocking analytics and affiliate cookies will not stop the site working. Blocking functional cookies may cause pages to behave oddly.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have specific rights over your personal information.
If you’re in the European Economic Area or the UK (GDPR): you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict processing of, or port your personal data, and to object to processing. Where analytics rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
If you’re a California resident (CCPA/CPRA): you have the right to know what personal information is collected and how it’s used, to request deletion, to correct inaccurate information, and to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information. The Garden Den does not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law. You will never be treated differently for exercising these rights.
To exercise any of these rights, send a request through the contact form and say clearly what you’re asking for. Requests are answered within the timeframe the applicable law requires.
Children
This site is intended for a general adult audience and is not directed at children under 13. No information is knowingly collected from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information, please get in touch and it will be deleted.
Third-party links
Guides link out to retailers, university extension services and other resources. Once you follow a link, you’re on someone else’s site under someone else’s privacy policy. Those sites are not controlled by The Garden Den and this policy doesn’t cover them.
Data retention and security
Analytics data is retained according to the retention period configured in Google Analytics. Messages sent through the contact form are kept only as long as needed to deal with the enquiry. The site is served over HTTPS, and reasonable measures are taken to protect information, though no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure.
Changes to this policy
This policy will be updated when the site changes, whether that’s a newsletter, a new analytics tool, or a new affiliate program. The “last updated” date at the top always reflects the current version. Material changes will be flagged on the site.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or about your data: please use the contact form.