This privacy policy covers apartmentcats.com, which is written and run by Claire Hollis. In short: the site shows no ads and sets no advertising cookies. It measures visits with Google Analytics, under the cookie choices described below, counts page views and link clicks with its own cookieless tool, and keeps what you choose to send through the contact form.
Last updated: Oct 22, 2026.
What we collect
| What | Why, and for how long |
|---|---|
| Your contact form message: email address, message, and your name if you give it | Only so we can read and answer it. It is saved privately in the site’s database and a copy is emailed to the site owner’s inbox. Saved messages are deleted automatically after 12 months. |
| A scrambled tag made from your internet connection, when you send the form | To stop anyone sending more than 5 messages an hour. The tag cannot be turned back into your address, and it expires after one hour. |
| Page and click counts from our own statistics tool: the page, how far down it you scrolled, how long it stayed open, which link you clicked (its words, the nearest heading and its position), your screen size class (phone, tablet or desktop) and the kind of site you came from | To see which guides help and which links readers use. No cookie, no IP address, no browser details and no account are involved: a random code links one page view to its clicks and is never used again, so a visit cannot be tied to a person. Kept for 400 days, then deleted automatically. Site editors and automated visitors are not counted. |
| Google Analytics: the pages you view, how long they stay open, the site or search that brought you, your device and browser type, and an approximate location worked out from your connection | To see which guides readers find and use. Google collects it for us and does not store your IP address. In the UK, the EEA and Switzerland nothing is collected with a cookie until you choose Accept in the cookie banner; elsewhere it starts with your first page, and Reject, the Cookie settings link in the footer or a Global Privacy Control signal from your browser switches it off. Event-level data is deleted after the retention period set in our Analytics account, 14 months at most. |
| Failed attempts to sign in to the site’s admin area: the IP address and the time | Recorded by the security plugin, Loginizer, to block password guessing. Readers never sign in, so this only concerns someone trying the admin login page. Kept until the security tool clears them. |
| Server logs: IP address, browser type, page requested and time | Recorded by our host, Hostinger, on every visit to run and protect the service, under Hostinger’s own privacy policy and retention rules. We do not use them to profile anyone. |
We do not ask for, and do not want, health records, payment details or anyone else’s personal information in a message.
Cookies and browser storage
| Name | What it does |
|---|---|
| _ga and _ga_MWN1X2ZR0W (Google Analytics cookies) | Let Google Analytics tell one visit from another and count returning readers. They last 2 years unless you clear them. In the UK, the EEA and Switzerland they are set only after you accept; anywhere, choosing Reject deletes them and stops new ones. |
| ac_consent (a cookie, with a copy in browser storage) | Remembers your answer to the cookie banner for 180 days, so it is not shown on every page. It holds only that answer and its date. |
| ac-theme (browser storage, not a cookie) | Set only if you tap the light or dark switch in the header. It remembers your choice on that device. It is never sent to us, and clearing your browser’s site data removes it. |
| WordPress login cookies | Set only for the site’s own editors when they sign in to manage it. Readers never sign in. |
The tools run entirely in your browser. What you type into the space-fit planner, the cost calculator or the plan builder is not sent anywhere or saved; reloading the page clears it.
Services that handle data
| Service | What it sees |
|---|---|
| Hostinger (hosting, its content delivery network and email sending) | The server logs above, the saved contact messages, and the notice emailed to the site owner. Its servers may be in a country other than yours. |
| Google (Analytics, through the Site Kit plugin; Search Console) | The Google Analytics data above, under Google’s privacy policy and its terms for processing data on behalf of websites. Google may handle it on servers in the United States. Advertising storage is switched off for every visitor, so Analytics data is not used to show you ads. Search Console reports how the site appears in Google Search and holds nothing about you. |
| Amazon (Associates program and product photos) | Product photos in our guides load straight from Amazon’s image servers (m.media-amazon.com), because Amazon allows its photos only that way. Your browser asks Amazon for each photo, so Amazon receives your IP address and the usual request details, such as browser type and the page that shows the photo; the photos set no cookies. If you follow a product link to Amazon, Amazon sets its own cookies there to credit the visit to us. Both happen under Amazon’s privacy notice. |
Google Site Kit places the Google Analytics tag on each page and shows its reports to the site owner in wp-admin. You can change your cookie answer at any time from the “Cookie settings” link in the footer, and the site works exactly the same either way. The fonts are stored on our own server, so loading a page does not contact any font service; the Amazon product photos above are the only images that load from another company’s servers. There are no embedded videos, social widgets, comment systems, newsletter sign-ups or advertising networks; if one is ever added, this page changes before it goes live. The share buttons on guides, tools and printables are plain links, so nothing goes to Pinterest, Facebook or anyone else until you click one, and our own statistics count that click like any other link.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete a message you sent us at any time through the contact form; we will do it and confirm.
- UK and EEA: we handle contact messages on the basis of our legitimate interest in answering them, and Google Analytics data only with your consent, which you can withdraw from the Cookie settings link.
- Your UK and EEA rights: access, correction, erasure, restriction, objection and portability, plus a complaint to your data protection authority, such as the ICO in the UK.
- United States: we do not sell or share personal information, and we do not use it for targeted advertising.
- Opting out of analytics: Reject or the Cookie settings link turns Google Analytics off, and a Global Privacy Control signal from your browser does the same.
- Children: the site is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly keep messages from them. If one reaches us, we delete it.
Changes
When the site starts using something new that touches your data, these tables change first and the date at the top moves. Questions about privacy are welcome through the contact page.