Privacy Policy & Affiliate Disclosure

Last updated: 24 September 2026

PART ONE: AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

shirleysomewhere.com (the “Site,” “we,” “us”) participates in affiliate marketing programs. This means that some of the links on this Site are affiliate links, and if you click through and make a booking or purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Who we work with

We are currently affiliated with:

  • Stay22: An affiliate network for accommodation bookings (hotels, hostels, guesthouses and similar).
  • Travelpayouts: An affiliate network covering flights, car rentals, tours and activities.

These networks may, in turn, connect us to specific brands (for example Booking.com or GetYourGuide) through their platforms. As our partnerships change over time, this list will be kept current – check back here for the latest.

How it works

When you click an affiliate link on this Site and go on to book or buy something, the merchant or network may pay us a small commission. This is typically tracked using a cookie placed in your browser at the time you click the link, which is why some of our cookie information appears in the Privacy Policy below.

This never changes the price you pay. The commission comes out of the merchant’s marketing budget, not your pocket.

Our editorial standards

Recommendations on this Site reflect our own genuine, firsthand experience. We do not accept payment to write positive reviews, and affiliate relationships do not determine which destinations, accommodation or products we choose to feature or how favourably we describe them. Where a post includes an affiliate link, it is because we recommend the product or service regardless of whether a commission is attached.

If you’d prefer not to use an affiliate link, you’re always welcome to search for and book directly with the provider, we’d rather you have a good trip than click through us.

Questions

If you have any questions about our affiliate relationships, contact us at shirleysomewhere@outlook.com

PART TWO: PRIVACY POLICY

1. Who we are

shirleysomewhere.com is operated by an individual blogger under Shirley ‘Xinqian’ Jiang, based in Melbourne, Australia.

Contact: shirleysomewhere@outlook.com

2. A note on scope

Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), businesses with an annual turnover under AU$3 million are generally exempt from the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The exemption has exceptions, and we’ve chosen to handle your information as though the APPs apply. As the Site grows, we’ll keep this policy current with our legal obligations.

Because readers may visit from outside Australia (including the EU/UK and the US), this policy also references the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, briefly, US state privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), though our primary compliance framework is Australian.

3. What personal information we collect

Depending on how you use the Site, we may collect:

  • Email address and name — if you subscribe to our newsletter or download a lead magnet (e.g. a free guide or template).
  • Contact form submissions — name, email address, and other information you choose to include in a message to us.
  • Comments — if commenting is enabled, your name, email address, and website (if provided), along with the comment content and, for spam-prevention purposes, your IP address and browser user agent string.
  • Usage data — collected automatically via cookies and analytics tools (see Section 5), including pages visited, time on site, referring site, approximate location (derived from IP address), and device/browser type.
  • Affiliate click data — which affiliate links you click, tracked via cookies placed by our affiliate networks (Stay22, Travelpayouts) and other partners.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive information (health data, financial account details, government ID numbers, etc.) through this Site, and we ask that you don’t include any in contact form messages or comments.

4. How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Send you the newsletter and related content, if you’ve subscribed
  • Deliver any lead magnet, template or resource you’ve requested
  • Respond to enquiries sent via the contact form
  • Understand how the Site is used, so we can improve content and navigation
  • Track affiliate referrals so commissions can be correctly attributed
  • Meet legal obligations (e.g. responding to a lawful request from a regulator)

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

5. Cookies and tracking

This Site uses cookies and similar technologies, which generally fall into these categories:

  • Essential cookies — needed for the Site to function (e.g. WordPress session cookies).
  • Analytics cookies — e.g. Google Analytics, which help us understand aggregate traffic and reading patterns. This data is generally anonymised or pseudonymised.
  • Affiliate tracking cookies — placed by Stay22 or Travelpayouts when you click an affiliate link, so that a resulting booking can be attributed to this Site.
  • Email platform cookies — placed by Kit if you interact with a signup form.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time. Blocking cookies may affect how some parts of the Site function, and will mean affiliate commissions cannot be tracked (which does not affect your ability to browse or book, it simply means we won’t be credited for the referral).

6. Third parties who may receive your data

We share limited data with:

  • Kit — stores subscriber email addresses and engagement data, to deliver newsletters and lead magnets. Their own privacy policy governs how they handle this data, and it may be stored on servers outside Australia (commonly the United States).
  • Affiliate networks (Stay22, Travelpayouts) — receive click and, where applicable, conversion data via cookies, to attribute and pay commissions.
  • Hosting and infrastructure providers — Hostinger, who host the Site’s underlying data, and Cloudflare, who provide security/performance services and may process visitor IP addresses as part of that.
  • Analytics providers — Google Analytics, who process usage data as described above.

We don’t otherwise disclose your personal information to third parties, except where required by law.

7. International data transfers

Some of the third parties listed above (particularly email and analytics platforms) may store or process data outside Australia, including in the United States. Where this happens, we rely on those providers’ own compliance frameworks (e.g. their standard contractual clauses or Privacy Shield-equivalent protections) and choose reputable providers with established privacy practices.

8. Data security

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold, including using reputable, secure third-party platforms for hosting, email delivery and payment/affiliate processing rather than storing sensitive data ourselves. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. How long we keep your information

  • Newsletter subscribers: retained until you unsubscribe, at which point your details are removed from active mailing lists (subject to your email provider’s own retention/backup practices).
  • Contact form enquiries: retained only as long as needed to respond to and resolve your enquiry, then deleted or archived.
  • Comments: retained indefinitely as part of the public discussion thread, unless you request removal.
  • Analytics data: generally retained in aggregated/anonymised form per our analytics provider’s default retention settings.

10. Your rights

You can:

  • Unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time via the link in every email
  • Request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal information we hold about you, by emailing shirleysomewhere@outlook.com
  • Opt out of cookies via your browser settings
  • Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at oaic.gov.au if you believe your privacy has been breached and we haven’t resolved it satisfactorily

If you’re in the EU/UK: you additionally have rights under the GDPR, including data portability and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

If you’re a California resident: you may have rights under the CCPA, including the right to know what personal information is collected and to request its deletion. We do not sell personal information as defined under the CCPA.

11. Email marketing and consent (Spam Act 2003)

In line with Australia’s Spam Act 2003, we only send marketing emails to people who have knowingly opted in (e.g. by subscribing via a signup form or requesting a lead magnet). Every marketing email:

  • Clearly identifies shirleysomewhere.com as the sender
  • Includes a functional, easy-to-use unsubscribe link
  • Will stop within a reasonable time of you unsubscribing

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example as the Site adds new tools or affiliate partners. The “last updated” date at the top will reflect the most recent version. Material changes affecting how we handle your data will be flagged prominently on the Site or via email to subscribers where appropriate.

13. Contact us

Questions about this policy, or a request relating to your personal information, can be sent to us through out contact page.