Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 24, 2026 · Last updated: October 24, 2026

Your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains what information Trou (“Trou”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects when you visit trou.org (the “Site”), how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have.

Who we are
Information we collect
How we use your information
Legal bases (EEA/UK)
Cookies & similar technologies
Affiliate links & Amazon
Third-party services
How we share information
Data retention
Security
Your privacy rights
U.S. state privacy rights
Do Not Track & Global Privacy Control
Children’s privacy
International transfers
Links to other websites
Changes to this policy
Contact us

1. Who we are

Trou is an independent product review website. For the purposes of applicable data protection laws, including the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Trou is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at any time at [email protected] (attention: Mickey Freeman).

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

Contact form and email: your name, email address, the topic you choose and the content of your message when you contact us.
Comments: if you leave a comment, we collect the name, email address and (optional) website you enter, plus the comment itself.
Newsletter or giveaways (if offered): your email address and any preferences you choose to share.

Information collected automatically

Log and device data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, date and time of access, and similar technical information recorded by our web server and security/CDN providers.
Cookies and similar technologies: small files stored on your device that help the Site function, remember preferences and understand usage. See Cookies below.
Approximate location: a general location (such as country or city) derived from your IP address.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information (such as health, financial account, government ID or biometric data), and we ask that you do not send it to us.

3. How we use your information

To operate, maintain, secure and improve the Site.
To respond to your messages, review requests, corrections and privacy requests.
To display and moderate comments.
To understand which content is useful so we can plan future reviews.
To track affiliate referrals so we can be paid commissions by our partners.
To detect, prevent and respond to spam, fraud, abuse and security incidents.
To comply with legal obligations and enforce our terms.

We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not use your information to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.

4. Legal bases for processing (EEA and UK visitors)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

Consent — for non-essential cookies and similar technologies, where required. You may withdraw consent at any time.
Legitimate interests — to run, secure and improve the Site, respond to enquiries, moderate comments and measure affiliate referrals, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
Legal obligation — where we must process data to comply with the law.

5. Cookies and similar technologies

We and our partners use cookies, pixels and local storage for the following purposes:

Strictly necessary: required for security, load balancing and core functionality (for example, cookies set by our content delivery and security provider, and WordPress cookies when you log in or leave a comment).
Preferences: remembering details such as your name and email in the comment form, if you choose that option (stored for up to one year).
Analytics: if enabled, helping us understand how visitors use the Site, in aggregated form.
Affiliate and advertising: set by partners such as Amazon when you click an affiliate link, so that a qualifying purchase can be attributed to Trou.

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings, and most browsers let you block third-party cookies entirely. Blocking some cookies may affect how the Site works. Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies.

6. Affiliate links and Amazon

Trou is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you click an Amazon link on our Site, you leave Trou and go to Amazon, where Amazon may collect information about you and set cookies on your device in accordance with the Amazon Privacy Notice. We do not receive your name, address or payment details from Amazon — only aggregated reports about qualifying purchases and commissions. See our Affiliate Disclaimer for more.

7. Third-party services we use

Hosting and WordPress: our website host stores Site data and server logs on our behalf.
Cloudflare: provides content delivery, performance and security services and may process IP addresses and request data to protect the Site from attacks. See Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy.
Google Fonts: fonts on the Site are loaded from Google’s servers, which receive your IP address and browser information. See Google’s Privacy Policy.
Gravatar: if you comment, an anonymized string (hash) created from your email address may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you have a profile picture. See Automattic’s Privacy Policy.
Email delivery: messages you send through our contact form are delivered to our inbox through our hosting provider’s mail service.
Embedded content: posts may include embedded content (videos, images, product widgets) from other websites. Embedded content behaves exactly as if you visited the other website and may collect data, use cookies and track your interaction with it.

We share personal information only as described in this policy:

With service providers that process data on our behalf (hosting, security, email) under appropriate confidentiality and data protection terms.
With affiliate partners, limited to the cookie and click data needed to attribute referrals.
When required by law, subpoena or other legal process, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Trou, our readers or others.
In connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of all or part of the Site, in which case the successor will be bound by this policy.
With your consent or at your direction.

9. Data retention

Contact messages: kept for as long as needed to respond and for up to 24 months afterwards for reference, then deleted.
Comments: kept indefinitely along with their metadata so that follow-up comments can be approved automatically, unless you ask us to remove them.
Server and security logs: generally kept for no longer than 90 days unless needed to investigate a security issue.

10. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect your information, including HTTPS encryption across the Site, a security-focused CDN and restricted administrative access. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

Access the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy.
Correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Delete your personal information.
Restrict or object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests.
Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
Complain to your local data protection authority (for example, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office or your EU supervisory authority).

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected] or use our contact form and choose “Privacy request”. We will respond within the time required by law (generally 30 days, or 45 days under U.S. state laws). We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

12. U.S. state privacy rights (including California)

Residents of California and other U.S. states with comprehensive privacy laws (such as Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon and others) may have additional rights, including the right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, to request deletion and correction, and to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

In the past 12 months we have collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (such as name, email address and IP address), internet or network activity (such as pages viewed and referral data), and approximate geolocation. We collect this information from you directly and automatically from your device, for the purposes described in Section 3. We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration. Cookies set by affiliate partners when you click a link could be considered “sharing” under some laws; you can opt out by blocking third-party cookies in your browser, enabling Global Privacy Control, or contacting us. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.

You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf, and you may appeal any decision we make about your request by replying to our response.

13. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers offer a “Do Not Track” (DNT) signal. Because there is no common industry standard for DNT, the Site does not currently respond to DNT signals. Where required by law, we treat a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal as a valid request to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information for that browser.

14. Children’s privacy

The Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA/UK). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

15. International data transfers

Our service providers may process information in countries other than the one in which you live, including the United States, which may have different data protection laws. Where we transfer personal data from the EEA, UK or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms.

16. Links to other websites

The Site contains links to third-party websites, including retailers such as Amazon. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any information.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology or legal requirements. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page, and for material changes we will provide a more prominent notice. Your continued use of the Site after an update means you accept the revised policy.

18. Contact us

If you have questions, concerns or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, contact:

Mickey Freeman
Trou — Privacy Enquiries
[email protected]