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Privacy policy

We collect as little as we can to run a useful Carnival guide. Here is exactly what that means.

Last updated

The short version

  • You can read every page without an account, and we do not have accounts.
  • We use Google Analytics, which sets cookies. In the UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland it only loads after you say yes.
  • If you email us, use the contact form or submit a listing, we use your details to reply and for nothing else.
  • We do not sell personal data, and we do not run advertising trackers.

Who we are

Soca Carnival (socacarnival.com) is an independent guide to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. We are responsible for the personal data described here. You can reach us at hello@socacarnival.com.

What we collect and why

When you browse

Like every website, our hosting provider receives technical details with each request: your IP address, browser and device type, the page you asked for, the referring page and the time. These request logs keep the site secure and working. We do not use them to build profiles of visitors.

To decide whether we need to ask for consent before loading analytics, the site sets a small cookie called sc_region. It holds only eu or other, based on the country our host detects from your connection. See the cookie policy for details.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC), which sets cookies and processes your IP address to estimate your country; GA4 does not log or store full IP addresses. It gives us totals such as page views, referring sites, browser, device type and country, plus a few events we define: clicks on outbound and partner links, ticket links, newsletter signups, printing the checklist, finishing the band quiz and downloading calendar files. Visitors in the UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland are only counted after they accept. Everyone else can decline it on the cookie policy page.

Contact and listing forms

The contact form asks for your name, email address, a topic and your message. The listing form asks for details of your event or business and an email address. When email delivery is set up, submissions are sent to our editors' inbox through Resend, with your address set as the reply-to so we can answer you. A copy is also kept in our own database (a managed PostgreSQL database hosted by Railway) so nothing is lost if email fails and listings can be tracked through review. We use them to reply, to verify listings and to fix mistakes. Contact emails for listings are never published.

To stop spam, the forms count recent submissions from each connection. We never store your IP address: it is combined with a secret value and scrambled (hashed) before it is saved with the time of the submission. Only the last ten minutes count towards the limit, and these records are deleted after a day.

Newsletter

If you sign up for the Carnival Countdown newsletter, we store your email address, the page you signed up on and the time in our database. When our newsletter provider, Buttondown, is connected, your address is also sent to it and you will be asked to confirm your subscription. Every email has an unsubscribe link.

Stored in your browser

Some preferences live only on your device: your theme, your analytics choice and progress in tools like the packing checklist. They never reach us. The cookie policy lists each one.

Services that process data for us

These providers process data on our behalf, only for the purposes above:

Some of these providers operate outside Trinidad and Tobago, the UK and the EU, so your data may be processed in other countries, including the United States.

When you follow a link to a band, promoter, ticket seller or other website, that site's own privacy policy applies. Embedded videos load from the video provider only after you press play.

What we do not do

  • We do not sell, rent or trade personal data.
  • We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels or cross-site tracking.
  • We do not add you to the newsletter because you contacted us or submitted a listing.
  • We do not publish your email address.

How long we keep it

  • Messages and listing submissions: as long as we need them to reply, verify a listing or keep a record of a correction. Ask and we will delete them.
  • Newsletter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe.
  • Spam-check records (scrambled, no IP address): one day.
  • Hosting request logs: for the limited period set by our hosting provider.
  • Analytics: only aggregated totals are kept, with no personal identifiers.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask us what personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to how we use it. Email hello@socacarnival.com and we will respond as quickly as we can. If you are in the UK, EU, EEA or Switzerland, our legal bases are your consent (analytics and the newsletter), steps you ask us to take (replying to you and reviewing listings) and our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure (request logs). You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

Children

This guide is written for adults planning a trip. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has sent us their details, contact us and we will delete them.

Changes to this policy

If what the site collects changes, for example if we switch on advertising, we will update this page and the date at the top before the change goes live.

Contact

Questions about privacy go to hello@socacarnival.com, or use the contact form.