Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

RentACastle (rentacastle.uk) is a castle rental directory connecting visitors with castle accommodation across the United Kingdom. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you use our website.

2. Information We Collect

Automatically Collected

• Analytics data — We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4, property ID: G-17XC2TGN5Q) to collect anonymised usage data including pages visited, time on site, device type, and approximate location. GA4 does not collect personally identifiable information by default.
• Cookies — See Section 5 below for full cookie details.

Voluntarily Provided

• Newsletter signup — If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address. This is processed by Mailchimp (The Rocket Science Group LLC).
• Guest reviews — If you submit a castle stay review via our form, we collect the information you provide (name, email, review content). This is processed by Formspree.
• Contact forms — Any information you voluntarily submit through contact or partner forms.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To understand how visitors use our site and improve our content
• To send newsletter updates (only with your explicit consent)
• To display submitted guest reviews
• To respond to enquiries

4. Affiliate Links & Third Parties

RentACastle contains affiliate links to booking platforms and travel services. When you click these links, the third-party site may set its own cookies. We may earn a commission from qualifying bookings at no additional cost to you. Third-party services include:

• Booking platforms (Airbnb, Sykes Cottages, Historic UK, etc.)
• Google Analytics 4 (analytics)
• Mailchimp (email marketing)
• Formspree (form processing)

5. Cookies

We use the following categories of cookies:

Category	Purpose	Examples
Essential	Required for the site to function (cookie consent preferences)	rc_cookie_consent
Analytics	Help us understand how visitors use the site	_ga, _ga_*

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time using the cookie banner or by clearing cookies in your browser settings.

6. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Withdraw consent at any time
• Object to processing of your data
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

7. Data Retention

Analytics data is retained for 14 months. Newsletter subscriber data is retained until you unsubscribe. Guest review submissions are retained indefinitely unless you request removal.

8. Children's Privacy

Our site is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes.

10. Contact

For privacy-related enquiries, please contact us at [email protected].