Which Train Side respects the privacy of visitors and aims to collect only the information reasonably necessary to operate, protect, improve, and understand the use of the website.
This Privacy Policy explains what information may be collected when you visit Which Train Side, how that information may be used, when it may be shared, and the choices and rights available to you.
Information Collected Automatically
When you access the website, certain technical information may be collected automatically by the website, hosting infrastructure, security systems, analytics services, or other service providers used to operate the site.
This information may include:
- IP address,
- browser type and version,
- device type and operating system,
- pages and routes viewed,
- referring pages or websites,
- date and time of access,
- general language and regional settings,
- technical error and performance information,
- security and server log data.
This information is generally used to operate the website, maintain security, diagnose technical problems, measure performance, prevent abuse, and understand how visitors use the site.
Route Searches and Sun Calculations
Which Train Side allows visitors to view railway routes, compare directions of travel, and, where available, select dates and times for sun exposure calculations.
Information such as an origin, destination, route direction, selected date, or selected time is used to generate the requested route information. These selections are not intended to identify an individual traveler.
The website does not require a visitor to provide their name, home address, travel ticket, seat number, or passenger booking information in order to use the route and scenery tools.
Information You Provide Voluntarily
If you contact Which Train Side, report an error, or otherwise send information directly to the site, information you provide may be received and retained as necessary to respond to the request.
This may include your:
- name, if provided,
- email address,
- message content,
- route or data correction information,
- other information you choose to include in your communication.
Please do not send sensitive personal information that is not necessary for your request.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
Which Train Side may use cookies, local storage, or similar technologies for website functionality, security, preference storage, analytics, advertising, and performance measurement.
Some technologies may be necessary for the website to function correctly. Others may be used only where permitted by applicable law or after an appropriate consent choice has been made.
Depending on your location and the services active on the website, you may be shown a consent or privacy preferences interface that allows you to accept, reject, or manage certain uses of cookies and similar technologies.
Browser settings can also be used to remove or block cookies, although blocking necessary cookies may affect some website functions.
Analytics
Which Train Side may use analytics services to understand how the website is used.
Analytics information can help identify popular routes, commonly used features, device types, technical problems, traffic patterns, and general website performance.
Depending on the analytics service and your consent choices, analytics technologies may process information such as IP addresses, device information, page views, referral information, approximate geographic information, and interactions with website features.
Where consent is legally required for analytics storage or similar tracking, such technologies are intended to operate according to the visitor’s consent choices.
Advertising
Which Train Side may display advertising supplied by third-party advertising services.
Advertising providers may use cookies, device identifiers, local storage, IP addresses, browser information, or similar technologies to deliver, measure, limit, and improve advertisements, subject to applicable law and the privacy choices available to the visitor.
Advertising may be personalized or non-personalized depending on factors such as location, consent status, advertising settings, and the services being used.
Google Advertising Services
If Google advertising products are used on Which Train Side, Google and its advertising partners may process information in connection with ad delivery, measurement, fraud prevention, frequency management, and, where permitted, ad personalization.
For visitors in regions where consent is required, advertising and related storage technologies may be controlled through a consent management system before eligible advertising technologies are activated.
Consent choices can affect whether advertising is personalized and whether certain advertising or analytics storage is permitted.
How Information Is Used
Information collected through the website may be used to:
- provide route and scenery information,
- operate website features,
- calculate requested route or sun information,
- maintain website security,
- detect spam, abuse, fraud, or malicious activity,
- investigate errors and technical failures,
- measure website performance,
- understand how visitors use the site,
- improve route coverage and usability,
- respond to messages and correction reports,
- display and measure advertising where applicable,
- comply with applicable legal obligations.
Legal Bases for Processing
Where data protection law requires a legal basis for processing personal data, the basis may depend on the purpose and circumstances of the processing.
Processing may be based on:
- consent, where you have made a choice regarding optional cookies, advertising, analytics, or similar technologies;
- legitimate interests, such as securing the website, preventing abuse, maintaining performance, and operating basic website functions where those interests are not overridden by applicable privacy rights;
- contractual or requested activity, where processing is necessary to respond to something you specifically request;
- legal obligations, where information must be processed or retained to comply with applicable law.
Where processing relies on consent, consent may be withdrawn through the available privacy controls where applicable. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before consent was withdrawn.
Sharing of Information
Personal information is not disclosed to third parties merely because it has been collected.
Information may, however, be processed or shared where reasonably necessary with categories of recipients such as:
- website hosting and infrastructure providers,
- security and anti-abuse services,
- analytics providers,
- advertising and advertising measurement providers,
- consent management providers,
- technical service providers,
- professional advisers where necessary,
- public authorities where disclosure is legally required.
Service providers may process information according to their own roles, contractual obligations, and applicable privacy laws.
Sale and Sharing of Personal Information
Which Train Side does not sell personal information in the ordinary meaning of exchanging personal information directly for money.
Some privacy laws use broader definitions of terms such as sale, sharing, or targeted advertising. Under those definitions, certain advertising or cross-site tracking activities may be treated as a sale or sharing of personal information even when no money is paid for the information itself.
Where applicable law gives visitors the right to opt out of such processing, appropriate privacy controls or request methods will be made available.
Global Privacy Control
Some browsers and privacy tools can send signals such as Global Privacy Control (GPC) to communicate an opt-out preference.
Where applicable law requires recognition of such a signal and the website’s active technologies support it, the signal may be used to apply the corresponding privacy preference.
International Data Processing
Which Train Side can be accessed from many countries, and service providers used to operate the website may process information in countries other than the visitor’s own country.
Where required by applicable data protection law, appropriate mechanisms may be used for international transfers of personal data.
Privacy protections and government access rules can differ between countries.
Data Retention
Personal information is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, subject to technical, security, contractual, and legal requirements.
Different categories of information can have different retention periods.
For example, server security logs may be retained for a limited operational period, while correspondence may be kept longer when necessary to resolve a request, maintain a record of a correction, prevent abuse, or comply with legal obligations.
Information may also be deleted, anonymized, or aggregated when identifiable information is no longer required.
Data Security
Reasonable technical and organizational measures are used to protect information associated with the website against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, destruction, or misuse.
However, no website, network, database, or transmission method can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Visitors should therefore avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through ordinary website communication channels.
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live and which privacy laws apply, you may have rights relating to personal information about you.
These rights may include the ability to:
- request access to personal information,
- request correction of inaccurate information,
- request deletion of information, subject to applicable exceptions,
- request restriction of certain processing,
- object to certain processing,
- request data portability where applicable,
- withdraw consent where processing is based on consent,
- opt out of certain advertising, sale, sharing, or targeted advertising activities where applicable,
- make a complaint to an appropriate data protection authority.
Which rights apply depends on the visitor’s jurisdiction and whether the relevant law applies to the particular processing activity.
California Privacy Rights
California residents may have additional rights under California privacy law where those laws apply to Which Train Side and the relevant processing activity.
Applicable rights can include requests to know about personal information collected, request deletion or correction, and opt out of certain sales or sharing of personal information.
Exercising an applicable privacy right will not result in unlawful discrimination.
European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland
Visitors in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland may have additional data protection rights depending on the processing involved.
Where required, consent is requested before certain non-essential storage technologies or personal-data processing activities are used for advertising or similar purposes.
Visitors may also have the right to contact their local data protection authority regarding the processing of their personal information.
Children’s Privacy
Which Train Side is a general travel information website and is not designed to collect personal information from children.
The website does not knowingly seek personal information from children for the purpose of creating profiles or providing personalized travel services.
If personal information from a child is believed to have been submitted improperly, a request can be made for the information to be reviewed and, where appropriate, deleted.
Third-Party Websites and Services
The website may refer to external services, railway operators, mapping providers, or other third-party resources.
Third-party websites and services operate under their own privacy practices. Which Train Side is not responsible for how an independent third party collects, uses, stores, or shares personal information after a visitor interacts with that third party.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated when website functionality, data practices, service providers, advertising systems, legal requirements, or privacy controls change.
Material changes may be reflected by updating the policy and its effective date where appropriate.
Privacy Requests
Questions about this Privacy Policy or requests relating to applicable privacy rights can be submitted using the contact information provided on Which Train Side.
Additional information may be requested where reasonably necessary to verify the identity of a person making a privacy request and to protect personal information from unauthorized disclosure or deletion.