Privacy Policy

The Way To Wherever Website: www.thewaytowherever.com

Effective date: 01/01/2022 Last updated: 15/08/2026

1. Who we are

The Way To Wherever ("we", "us", "our") is a travel media and digital products business operated by E.E ROCHE & J.D RULE trading as The Way To Wherever, ABN 94402724778, an Australian business. We publish a travel blog, sell digital travel guides (such as our Kyrgyzstan Travel Guide) through our online store, and provide photo and video content services to tourism boards and travel brands.

This policy explains what personal information we collect when you visit www.thewaytowherever.com (the "Site"), buy from us, subscribe to our emails, or contact us, and how we use, share, protect and store it. It also explains the rights you have, including under the laws of Australia, New Zealand, the European Economic Area and United Kingdom, the United States, India and China.

Contact for privacy matters:‍ ‍info@thewaytowherever.com Postal address: Available on request by email

If you have any questions, or want to use any of the rights described below, email us at the address above.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us directly

  • Purchases: name, email address, billing address, and country. Payment card details are entered directly with our payment processor and are not stored by us.

  • Newsletter or freebie signups: name and email address.

  • Enquiries and collaboration requests: name, email, business or organisation name, and anything you include in your message (for example when you use our "Work With Us" or "Tourism Boards" pages).

  • Comments or messages you send us by email or social media and comments you post on our blog.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the Site, we and our service providers collect technical information such as your IP address, approximate location (country or city), browser type, device type, operating system, pages viewed, time spent, referring website, and the date and time of your visit. This is collected using cookies and similar technologies (see Section 6).

Information from third parties

  • Payment processors tell us whether a payment succeeded and give us basic order details.

  • If you interact with us on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok or other platforms, we receive whatever information those platforms make available to us under your settings.

What we do not collect

We do not knowingly collect sensitive information (such as health, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, or biometric data) and we ask that you do not send it to us.

3. How we use your information and our legal bases

To fulfil your order Examples: processing payment, delivering your digital guide, sending receipts, providing support and handling refunds. Legal basis (EEA/UK): performance of a contract.

To communicate with you Examples: replying to enquiries and discussing collaborations. Legal basis (EEA/UK): performance of a contract or our legitimate interests.

To send marketing emails Examples: newsletters, travel tips, product announcements and discounts. Legal basis (EEA/UK): your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

To run and improve the Site Examples: analytics, fixing bugs and understanding which content is useful. Legal basis (EEA/UK): your consent for non-essential cookies, otherwise our legitimate interests.

To keep the Site secure and prevent fraud Examples: detecting abuse and protecting payments. Legal basis (EEA/UK): our legitimate interests.

To meet legal obligations Examples: keeping tax and accounting records and responding to lawful requests. Legal basis (EEA/UK): legal obligation.

For advertising and remarketing Examples: showing relevant ads on other platforms. Legal basis (EEA/UK): your consent

We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you.

4. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers that help us run our business, and only as needed for them to do their job:

  • Squarespace, Inc. (website hosting, online store, forms, and analytics). Based in the United States.

  • Payment processors: Stripe

  • Email marketing provider: Squarespace Email Campaigns, Mailchimp, MailerLite

  • Analytics providers: Squarespace Analytics / Google Analytics

  • Advertising and social platforms: Meta (Facebook/Instagram) / Google

  • Accounting and bookkeeping providers: QuickBooks Online and our accountant, for tax and record-keeping.

  • Professional advisers, regulators, or law enforcement where required by law or to protect our legal rights.

  • A buyer or successor if our business is sold or restructured, in which case your information may be transferred subject to this policy.

We require our service providers to protect your information and use it only for the services they provide to us.

5. International transfers

We are based in Australia and our team travels and works in several countries. Our service providers, including Squarespace and our payment and email providers, store and process data in other countries, including the United States and Australia. This means your information may be transferred outside the country where you live.

  • EEA and UK visitors: where we transfer your information to a country without an adequacy decision, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK equivalent), or on the transfer being necessary to perform a contract with you.

  • Australian visitors: we take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle your information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

  • New Zealand visitors: we only disclose your information overseas where the recipient is subject to comparable safeguards, or you have authorised the disclosure, in line with the Privacy Act 2020.

  • India and China visitors: see Sections 10.5 and 10.6, which include specific notices about cross-border processing.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small files stored on your device. We use:

  • Strictly necessary cookies: needed for the Site to work, such as keeping items in your cart, secure checkout, and security. These do not require consent.

  • Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors use the Site.

  • Marketing cookies and pixels: Used by Meta, Google, or others to measure ads and show you relevant ads.

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, though parts of the Site may not work properly. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or similar opt-out signal, we treat it as a request to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information where the law requires this.

7. Email marketing

We only send marketing emails if you have signed up or otherwise consented, in line with the Australian Spam Act 2003, the EU/UK ePrivacy rules, and the US CAN-SPAM Act. We will still send you transactional emails about your orders.

8. How long we keep your information

  • Order and payment records: at least 5 years, as required by Australian tax and corporate law.

  • Newsletter subscriber data: until you unsubscribe, after which we keep a minimal suppression record so we do not email you again.

  • Analytics data: 14 to 26 months, depending on provider settings.

When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

9. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections, reputable payment processors, and access controls on our accounts. No system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify affected individuals and the relevant regulator as required by law (for example the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, EU/UK supervisory authorities within 72 hours where required, and the Data Protection Board of India where applicable).

10. Your rights by region

Regardless of where you live, you can ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you, correct it, or delete it, by emailing info@thewaytowherever.com. We will respond within a reasonable period, and within any period required by your local law (usually 30 days). We may need to verify your identity first. The sections below add region-specific details.

10.1 Australia

We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and voluntarily follow them even if we are below the small business turnover threshold. You may request access to, or correction of, your personal information. If you are unhappy with how we handle a complaint, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au.

10.2 New Zealand

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to access and correct personal information we hold about you. You can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at www.privacy.org.nz.

10.3 European Economic Area and United Kingdom (GDPR / UK GDPR)

For visitors in the EEA and UK, The Way To Wherever is the "controller" of your personal data. You have the right to:

  • access your personal data and receive a copy;

  • have inaccurate data corrected;

  • have your data erased ("right to be forgotten") in certain circumstances;

  • restrict or object to our processing, including objecting to processing based on legitimate interests and to direct marketing at any time;

  • data portability, meaning you can receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format;

  • withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing; and

  • lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority (for example the ICO in the UK, or the supervisory authority in your EU country of residence).

Providing personal data is voluntary, but we cannot process orders or answer enquiries without the information described in Section 2.

10.4 United States

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16. Our use of advertising and analytics cookies may count as "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising under some US state laws. You can opt out using our cookie settings.

Residents of California and other US states with comprehensive privacy laws (such as Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas and others) may have the right to:

  • know what personal information we collect, use and disclose;

  • access and receive a copy of their information;

  • correct inaccurate information;

  • delete their information;

  • opt out of the sale or sharing of their information and of targeted advertising; and

  • not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

In the past 12 months we have collected the categories of information listed in Section 2 (identifiers, commercial information such as purchase history, internet activity, and approximate location) for the purposes in Section 3, and disclosed them to the service providers in Section 4.

10.5 India

If you are in India, we process your personal data in accordance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, as they come into force in stages. For the purposes of that law we act as a "Data Fiduciary".

  • Consent and purpose: we process your data only for the purposes in Section 3, on the basis of your consent or another "legitimate use" recognised by the Act (for example, to deliver a product you have purchased). You can withdraw consent at any time as easily as you gave it, by emailing info@thewaytowherever.com

  • Your rights: you may request a summary of the personal data we process, the identities of others we share it with, correction, completion, updating and erasure of your data, and you may nominate another person to exercise your rights if you die or become incapacitated.

  • Cross-border processing: your data is processed outside India, in Australia, the United States, and other countries where our service providers operate.

  • Children: the Site is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly process the personal data of children without verifiable consent from a parent or guardian.

10.6 China

If you are in mainland China, we handle your personal information in line with the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). We provide products and content from outside China and do not have an establishment in China.

  • Consent to overseas transfer: your personal information will be stored and processed outside mainland China, including in Australia and the United States, by us and the service providers listed in Section 4. The recipients and their contact details are our service providers named above; the categories of information are those in Section 2; and the purposes are those in Section 3. By providing your information to us, or by ticking the consent box where we present one, you give your separate and explicit consent to this overseas transfer. You can withdraw consent by emailing info@thewaytowherever.com, but this may mean we can no longer provide certain services to you.

  • Your rights: you may request to know about and decide on how we process your information, to access and copy it, to correct or supplement it, to delete it, to request an explanation of our processing rules, and to withdraw consent.

  • Sensitive personal information: we do not intentionally collect it. Please do not send it to us.

  • Minors: the Site is not intended for anyone under 14. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 14 without the consent of a parent or guardian.

11. Children's privacy

The Site and our products are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

12. Third-party links and social media

The Site links to and embeds content from other services, such as Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and travel booking or affiliate partners. Some links on our blog are affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The affiliate partner may set its own cookies and collect data under its own privacy policy. We do not control those third parties and are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to read their policies.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it was last changed. If we make significant changes, we will post a notice on the Site or email subscribers where appropriate. Where the law requires it, we will ask for your consent again.

14. Contact us

The Way To Wherever Email: info@thewaytowherever.com

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact your local privacy or data protection regulator, as described in Section 10.