This page explains what data FairwayWise collects, why we collect it, and what we do with it. It is written in plain English — no legalese, and no fine print that says the opposite of the headline.
Who We Are
FairwayWise is an independent publication about golf gear. We write guides that help golfers compare equipment before they buy. We are not a retailer, not a manufacturer, and not a marketing arm for any brand. Our website is fairwaywise.com. For anything on this page, email [email protected].
What This Site Is — and Is Not
FairwayWise does not sell anything. There is no checkout here and we never ask you for a payment method. When a guide points you to a product, that link goes to a retailer who sells it. Whatever you buy, you buy from them, under their terms and their privacy policy.
That one fact shapes everything below: we hold very little data about you, because there is very little to hold.
What We Collect
- Email you send us. If you write to [email protected], we keep the message and your address so we can reply and follow up.
- Analytics data. We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which guides get read and how readers move through the site. See Analytics below for exactly what that involves and how to opt out.
- Server logs. Our hosting provider records IP addresses and browser user agents for security — detecting scraping, brute-force attempts, and other attacks. These logs rotate and are not kept indefinitely.
What We Do Not Collect
- Payment details of any kind. There is no checkout, no payment processor, and no way for us to charge you. We do not hold card numbers because we never receive them.
- Shipping addresses or order history. We do not ship anything, so we have no reason to hold either.
- Accounts. There is nothing to sign up for and no login on this site.
- Advertising or social tracking. No advertising pixels, no retargeting tags, no embedded social widgets that track your browsing.
- Browser fingerprinting or device profiling.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 (property G-MZFJWNMDZD) to see which guides are read and how readers move between them. This is the only third-party tracking script on the site, and we would rather name it plainly than describe it vaguely.
GA4 records things like the pages you view, your approximate location, your device and browser, and how you arrived here. It sets first-party cookies to recognise a returning browser. Google processes this data on our behalf.
Google Analytics never receives your name, your email address, or any payment information from us — because we do not have those things to give it.
If you would rather not be counted: you can install Google’s opt-out browser add-on, block the analytics script with an ad or script blocker, or use a browser that enforces Do Not Track.
Cookies
This site sets very few cookies, and none of them identify you by name:
- Analytics cookies — set by Google Analytics 4 to recognise a returning browser. See Analytics above.
- Affiliate cookies — set by a retailer or an affiliate network when you click one of our links. Those are their cookies, not ours. See Affiliate Links below.
- No advertising cookies, and no third-party tracking beyond Analytics.
Affiliate Links
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, the retailer may pay us a small commission at no additional cost to you.
When you click an affiliate link, the retailer — or an affiliate network acting on their behalf — may set a cookie on your device so that a later purchase can be credited to our site. These cookies are set by those third parties; we do not control their duration or their contents. Typical attribution windows run from 24 hours to 30 days.
Our full Affiliate Disclosure explains how we make money and what we will not do for it.
How We Use Your Data
For exactly three purposes, and nothing else:
- Replying to you — if you email us, we use your address to answer.
- Understanding readership — analytics tells us which guides are worth updating and which are not landing.
- Keeping the site secure — server logs and security monitoring, and legal compliance where it applies.
Who Sees Your Data
The complete list of third parties that receive anything at all:
- Google — Analytics 4, as described above. Google’s Privacy Policy.
- Our hosting provider (Vultr) — the server this site runs on. Administrators can access server logs for maintenance and security, as with any hosting arrangement.
- Retailers and affiliate networks — only if you click an affiliate link, and only the data their own cookie carries.
That is the whole list. We do not sell, trade, or rent personal data, and we do not share it with data brokers or advertising networks.
How Long We Keep Your Data
- Email correspondence: kept for reference so we can pick up a thread where it left off. Ask us to delete old emails and we will.
- Analytics data: retained by Google according to our Analytics property settings. We do not export it or store it ourselves.
- Server logs: rotated automatically and not retained beyond 30 days.
Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights under laws such as GDPR (EU/UK), CCPA (California), and similar regulations:
- Right to access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. Email [email protected]. We respond within 30 days, usually much faster.
- Right to correction: if something we hold is inaccurate, tell us and we will fix it.
- Right to deletion: ask us to delete your personal data. We will comply unless we are legally required to keep something, and if that happens we will tell you exactly what we must keep and why.
- Right to portability: request your data in a machine-readable format.
- Right to object: object to our processing of your data. In practice the only processing tied to you personally is your own email, so an objection usually means we delete the thread.
To exercise any of these, email [email protected] with the subject “Privacy Request.” We do not require anything beyond confirming you are the person who wrote to us — normally by replying from the same address.
We do not discriminate against anyone for exercising these rights. You will not be charged, refused an answer, or treated differently.
Children’s Privacy
This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Data Breach Procedures
If a breach ever involved your personal information, we would notify affected people by email within 72 hours of discovery and move immediately to secure the system. Because we hold no payment credentials and no customer records, the reach of any breach here is inherently small.
Third-Party Links
Our guides link to other sites — manufacturers, retailers, forums, and reference material. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. This policy covers fairwaywise.com only.
International Data Transfers
FairwayWise is based in the United States and this site runs on servers in the United States. Analytics data is processed by Google under its own global infrastructure. If you are visiting from outside the US, your data is transferred to and processed in the United States.
Changes to This Policy
We update this page when our practices change. Material changes are noted here and, if significant, announced on the homepage. The date at the bottom tells you when this policy was last reviewed.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or want to exercise a right? Email [email protected]. We respond within 1 business day.
Last updated: September 24, 2026