Privacy notice

The ten — Privacy

What this notice covers

I publish Ten Houses as an independent editorial desk, with essays, rankings and booking-request help for readers considering a stay at the houses covered on the site. This notice is written for Australian readers and is intended to sit with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, known as the APPs. It is not a contract for accommodation, because any booking is made between you and the hotel or a booking partner, as explained on how this site earns.

The site collects very little personal information. Most pages can be read without writing to me, making an account, or sending identifying details. If you use the letter form described on write to the desk, you choose to send information so that I can read the request and reply or pass the request to a hotel or booking partner where that is needed.

This notice applies to information collected through this website, including the letter form, ordinary email correspondence with the editor, and technical information collected when a page is loaded. It does not govern the privacy practices of the hotels, regulators, ticketing agencies, transport providers, or booking partners linked from the site. Their own notices apply once you leave this site or correspond with them directly.

Information you send in a letter

The letter form asks for practical booking-request details, such as your preferred dates, the house you are asking about, the room or room type you have in mind, the number of travellers, and any notes you add. You may also provide contact details so I can answer. Please do not send card numbers, identity documents, medical details, or other sensitive information unless I have specifically asked for it and you are comfortable sending it.

I use the information in the letter to understand your request, reply to you, and, where appropriate, ask the relevant hotel or booking partner to check availability or booking terms. I do not use letter-form information to encourage gambling, and the site is not a way to gamble online. Australia bans online casino play under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, and the pages here are about physical venues and hotel stays.

If your question is editorial rather than booking-related, I may use the message to check an error, update a page, or explain the source position. The same restraint applies: I use what you send for the reason you sent it, and I avoid collecting more than is needed.

Technical data and Google Tag Manager

Like most websites, Ten Houses may receive technical information when you visit, such as the page requested, the date and time of the request, browser and device information, referring page, and approximate network information. This helps the site load, keeps basic security records, and lets me understand which pages are being used.

The site uses Google Tag Manager. Google Tag Manager is a container used to load and manage website tags. Those tags may include measurement tools that report page views and related technical events. The purpose is to understand the site at an aggregate level, not to decide whether a particular reader should stay at all ten essays or any one house.

Google and other tag providers may process information under their own terms and privacy notices. I keep the set-up limited to ordinary website measurement and administration. If the site later adds new tools that materially change what is collected or why, this notice should be updated so the change is plain.

Storage, security and retention

Messages sent through the form or by email may be stored in the website system, email inboxes, and ordinary business records used to operate the desk. Technical logs and analytics records may be stored by the website host, analytics provider, or related service provider. I take reasonable steps to keep this information secure, including limiting access to the people and services needed to run the site and answer requests.

No internet service can be made risk-free. For that reason, the request process is deliberately modest. It is designed for dates, preferences and correspondence, not for payment details. The site does not ask for card details, and you should not send them through the letter form.

I retain correspondence for as long as it is useful for the purpose for which it was collected, including answering follow-up questions, checking what was asked, maintaining editorial records, and dealing with ordinary legal or administrative obligations. Technical and analytics records are retained according to the settings of the relevant systems. When information is no longer needed, I take reasonable steps to delete it, de-identify it, or leave it only in backups that are not actively used.

Sharing and disclosure

I do not sell the personal information you send in a letter. I share it only where it is needed to deal with your request, or where the law requires or permits it. In ordinary booking-request use, that means I may send the details you provided to the hotel named in your request or to a booking partner able to answer availability, rate, room or season questions.

I keep the sharing practical. If you ask about the comparison or about how a ranking was reached, there is usually no reason to pass your message to a hotel. If you ask the desk to check a stay, the hotel or partner will need enough information to respond. Once your information is with that hotel or partner, its own privacy notice and booking terms apply.

The site may also rely on service providers for hosting, email, form delivery, analytics and security. Those providers handle information so the site can function. I may disclose information if required by law, to protect the site, or to respond to a regulator, court, or lawful request.

Access, correction and contact

You may ask to access personal information I hold about you, or to correct it if it is wrong. The practical way to do this is to email the editor at the address published for the desk on the site. Please use the same email address you used in the original letter if you can, so I can find the correspondence and confirm the request sensibly.

You may also ask me to delete a message where it is no longer needed, although I may need to keep some information for legal, security, administrative or record-keeping reasons. If I cannot do what you ask, I will try to explain why in plain terms.

If you have a privacy complaint, write to the editor first and set out what happened, what page or message is involved, and what outcome you are seeking. I will consider it against this notice and the APPs. This page should be read with the terms, which explain the editorial nature of the site, and about, which explains the desk’s independence.