Last updated: October 4, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Ikigaitravelers (https://ikigaitravelers.com) collects, why, how it’s used, and the choices and rights you have. I’ve tried to keep it in plain language. If anything is unclear, please ask me through the contact page.
Who I am
Ikigaitravelers is a personal travel blog written by Bekah. The person responsible for your personal information on this site is Bekah, based in Japan. You can reach me through the contact page.
Summary
- I only collect what’s needed to run the blog: what you type into forms and comments, account details if you sign up, and anonymous-ish usage statistics.
- I use Google Analytics to understand which posts people read.
- I don’t sell your personal information.
- You can ask me to show you, correct or delete the information I hold about you.
Information I collect
Comments
When you leave a comment, the site collects the data in the comment form (your name, email address, optional website and your comment), plus your IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam. Your email address is never shown publicly.
An anonymized string created from your email address (a “hash”) may be sent to the Gravatar service to see whether you use it. Gravatar’s privacy policy is at https://automattic.com/privacy/. Once your comment is approved, your Gravatar profile picture (if you have one) and your name are visible to the public alongside your comment.
Contact forms
The contact page asks for your name, your email address and your message, and asks for your consent to be contacted. I use this only to read and reply to your message. I keep contact messages long enough to reply, and copies may also remain in my email inbox.
Account sign-up and log-in
The Log In / Sign Up popup lets you create an account on the site. To register, you give an email address and a password, and you accept this Privacy Policy. Your password is stored in encrypted (hashed) form, so I can’t see it. If you create a member profile, the information you add to it is stored and may be visible on your public profile page.
Newsletter
There is currently no email newsletter. If I add one, it will ask for your email address (and possibly your first name), only to send you the newsletter. Every email will include an unsubscribe link.
Analytics: Google Analytics
This site uses Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google, to understand how visitors use the site. For example, it shows which posts are read, roughly where visitors come from (country or city level), what device and browser they use, and how they found the site. Google Analytics uses cookies (such as _ga and _ga_<ID>) and collects information like your IP address, which Google uses to estimate your location, and your interactions with the site. I see these statistics in aggregate and don’t use them to identify you.
You can learn how Google uses this data at How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. You can opt out of Google Analytics on all websites with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on, or by blocking cookies in your browser. These analytics cookies are set when someone visits the site.
Embedded content from other websites
Some posts include embedded content, such as YouTube videos. Embedded content behaves exactly as if you had visited the other website. Those websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking and monitor your interaction with the embedded content, especially if you have an account with them and are logged in.
Social media links
The site links to my Instagram, YouTube and Twitter/X accounts, and to Buy Me a Coffee. When you click a link and visit those services, their own privacy policies apply.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. This site uses:
- Comment cookies: if you leave a comment, you can opt in to saving your name, email and website in cookies so you don’t have to retype them next time. They last one year.
- Log-in cookies: if you log in, WordPress sets cookies to keep you logged in and remember your screen settings. Log-in cookies last two days, or two weeks if you choose “Remember Me”. They’re removed when you log out.
- Analytics cookies: set by Google Analytics, as described above.
- Language cookie: if you use the language switcher (Google machine translation), a cookie may be set to remember your chosen language.
- Security cookies: the site is protected by a security and performance service (Cloudflare), which may set short-lived cookies to tell real visitors from bots.
- Embedded content cookies: set by services like YouTube when you view embedded content.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Some features, such as staying logged in, may not work without them.
Advertising (Google AdSense)
There are currently no ads on this site. If and when ads are shown, this section applies:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, will use cookies to serve ads based on your previous visits to this website or other websites.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalized advertising at www.aboutads.info/choices (or www.youronlinechoices.eu in Europe).
- If you’re in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, you’ll be asked for consent before any advertising cookies are used, through a consent message.
Who I share your information with
I don’t sell or rent your personal information. It is only shared with service providers that help run the site, and only as needed:
- My web hosting provider, which stores the site and its database: Cloudways
- Google (Google Analytics, and Google AdSense if ads are shown later)
- Automattic’s Gravatar service (comment profile pictures)
- Embedded content providers such as YouTube, when you view their content
- Cloudflare, which sits in front of the site and may process visits to it
I may also disclose information if the law requires it. If you request a password reset, your IP address is included in the reset email.
How long I keep your information
- Comments and their metadata are kept indefinitely, so follow-up comments can be recognized and approved automatically. You can ask me to delete them.
- Accounts: the information in your profile is kept until you delete your account or ask me to delete it. You can see and edit your profile at any time (except your username).
- Contact form messages: I keep contact messages long enough to reply, and copies may also remain in my email inbox.
- Google Analytics data: Google keeps it according to the retention setting in that Analytics account.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the EU/UK GDPR, Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information, or California’s privacy laws), you may have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you
- ask me to correct information that’s wrong
- ask me to delete your information
- object to or restrict certain uses of your information
- withdraw consent at any time, where I rely on your consent (for example for being contacted)
- complain to your local data-protection authority
If you have an account or have left comments, you can ask for an exported file of the personal data I hold about you, or ask me to erase it. This doesn’t include data I have to keep for administrative, legal or security reasons. To make a request, please use the contact page. I’ll reply as soon as I can, and within the time the law requires.
International transfers
The services this site uses (such as Google and my hosting provider) may process your information in countries other than your own, including the United States. Where required, those providers use legal safeguards for such transfers.
Security
I take reasonable steps to protect the information collected through this site. No website can be 100% secure, though, so please don’t send sensitive personal information through the contact forms.
Children
This blog isn’t directed at children, and I don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has given me personal information, please contact me and I’ll delete it.
Changes to this policy
I may update this policy from time to time, for example if I add a newsletter or ads. The “Last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact
For any privacy question or request, please get in touch through the contact page.
