Curiosity is welcome here. Your personal information deserves care.

Last updated: 29 September 2026

Who we are and what this notice covers

Talk to the Cork ~ Travel, at talktothecork.net, is the home of our developing Behind the Bottle Adventures. Graham, the Keeper of the Cork, is your contact for this website and questions about your information: hello@TalktotheCork.com.

This notice covers browsing this travel site, our Cork Compass interest poll, and enquiries you send us. Our companion Discovery site has its own Privacy Policy, including the arrangements for Leave Your Corkprint contributions. The two sites share our approach to care and consent, but their forms and storage arrangements differ.

When you point our Cork Compass

The poll asks for your preferred first destination, an optional destination that sparks your curiosity, and any optional ideas you choose to add. It does not ask for your name, email address, payment details or membership information. Please leave out sensitive information and other people’s private details.

We use responses to understand interest in possible destinations and experiences. This is an informal planning poll, not a reservation, a representative survey or a promise that a trip will operate. Submitting it does not sign you up for marketing, a newsletter or membership.

WPForms processes the form and sends the response to our dedicated hello@TalktotheCork.com inbox, which we use as the working record. WPForms LiteConnect cloud entry backups are not enabled for this travel poll. Website and email providers still process information to deliver and store messages, and their routine backups may retain copies until those backups expire.

We keep individual poll responses for up to 12 months after receipt, then delete them or retain only a summary that no longer identifies a person. We may share overall destination preferences. We will ask permission before publishing your free-text comments. Although the poll does not request identifying details, anything you type may identify you, and our website services process technical information as described below; we do not promise complete anonymity.

When you say hello

If you email us, we receive your email address, message and anything else you choose to share, such as your name, group interests or attachments. We use these to reply and follow up on your enquiry. Ordinary enquiries are kept only as long as needed to deal with them, then reviewed for deletion. If a conversation develops into a longer project, we will explain any different record-keeping needs.

Sending an enquiry is not permission to publish it or add you to a mailing list. If you send a story or photograph for possible publication, we will agree the use and credit with you. Contributions made through the Discovery site are covered by its contribution notice and retention arrangements.

Technical information and cookies

WordPress, our hosting, email and security services process information needed to run, secure and troubleshoot the site. This can include IP addresses, browser and device information, requested pages and access times. Spam protection helps us distinguish genuine form responses from automated abuse.

Cookies may support functions such as signing in, remembering preferences and commenting. Login and editor cookies apply to people who manage the site. If you choose to save your details when commenting, WordPress can remember those details in cookies for up to one year. You can clear or block cookies in your browser, although some functions may be affected.

Our site uses WordPress, Bluehost hosting and WPForms; Jetpack and other maintenance tools may process technical information according to the features in use. For more information, see the Bluehost/Newfold privacy center, Jetpack privacy center and WPForms privacy notice.

Analytics, advertising and sponsorship

We are developing the site and may introduce audience analytics, Google-served advertising or direct sponsorship from wine, travel and related businesses. Google Analytics is not currently connected through this site’s MonsterInsights setup. An installed tool does not mean that every feature is in use.

Before introducing new advertising or analytics tracking, we will update this notice to describe the providers, information used and choices available. Where required, we will ask for consent before activating non-essential tracking. Poll participation or an enquiry is not consent to advertising tracking or marketing emails.

Paid placements will be identified. We do not sell poll responses or enquiry contact details, or give them to sponsors for their own marketing. An ordinary sponsor mention or link is not permission to pass along your message or email address.

Comments and material from other sites

Where public comments are available, WordPress receives the information in the comment form, an IP address and browser information for moderation and abuse prevention. Your comment and display name may be public; your email address is not displayed. Comments and moderation records may remain while the discussion is retained. Contact us if you want a comment removed.

If avatars are used, a coded version of your email address may be sent to Gravatar to look for a profile image. See Automattic’s privacy notice. Images or embedded content loaded from another website may connect your browser to that provider, which can receive technical information or use cookies. Links to Discovery, wineries or other websites lead to sites with their own privacy notices.

Providers, security and retention

Service providers help us host the site, deliver email, process forms, maintain backups and protect against abuse. Information may be processed in countries other than your own. We take reasonable steps to limit access and protect it, but no website, email service or backup can be guaranteed completely secure.

Technical and backup records follow the relevant provider’s retention arrangements and may outlast a deleted working copy. We may retain or disclose information when required by law or necessary to address misuse or protect someone’s rights or safety. We will explain any retention exception relevant to a request you make.

Your choices and requests

Email hello@TalktotheCork.com to ask what information we hold about you, request a copy, correct it or ask us to delete it. If your poll response contains no identifying information, we may be unable to reliably locate it; please provide enough context to help without sending unnecessary sensitive details.

Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to object to or restrict processing or raise a concern with a privacy regulator. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. We will explain any information we need to retain and why.

As our adventures take shape

We will update this notice when our features or handling of information change. If we introduce bookings, payments, newsletter subscriptions or membership, we will explain those arrangements before asking for the additional information. Changes to this notice do not expand publication permission you have already given us.

Privacy question? Knock on the cellar door →