Privacy Policy

Data controller

Açores 9 (www.acores9.com), a portal of news, events, trails, places and stories from the Azores, is the controller of personal data processed through this website. For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at info@acores9.com.

Accounts created on Açores 9 belong only to this portal. Its content may also appear on partner websites, which have their own privacy policies and separate accounts.

Your Açores 9 account

When you create an account, we store your verified email, optional display name, preferred language and a secure password hash if you use a password. When you choose Google or Facebook sign-in, we receive basic profile information and store the provider’s account identifier to link that sign-in method. We do not receive your Google or Facebook password. These providers apply their own privacy policies.

We use these details to provide and manage the account you request. Security controls record sign-in and account changes, hashed IP addresses, and browser descriptions for active sessions. Security events are kept for up to 90 days; expired confirmation and recovery requests are removed by scheduled maintenance. Account data is kept until you delete the account. Deletion removes the live account and linked sessions; existing infrastructure backups follow their separate retention cycle.

Resend delivers confirmation codes, recovery links and security notifications from info@acores9.com, processing the recipient address and email content. Messages awaiting delivery are encrypted on our server and removed after sending or expiry. Creating an account does not subscribe you to marketing emails.

If you use the account features, we also store what you choose: saved content and lists (lists are only visible to others if you share them), whether you live in the Azores or are visiting, the islands and municipality you pick, the events you are going to, the trails you walked and when, and the corrections, trail reports and photos you send. Your personal calendar link is private: anyone who has it sees the events you are going to, and you can make a new one at any time. Published trail reports show your display name for 14 days. Approved photos are published in the place or trail gallery with the credit “Foto: display name” and stay published after you delete your account; photos still in review are deleted with it.

The secure, HTTP-only __Host-acores9_member cookie maintains your session. If you choose “Keep me signed in”, __Host-acores9_remember can restore it for up to 30 days. Both work across the Portuguese and English portal. You can revoke sessions, download account data or delete your account in Security. Analytics is not loaded on account pages.

Delete your account and Facebook data

To delete your Açores 9 account, including its Facebook or Google connection, sign in and open Account → Security. Under “Your data”, choose “Delete account”, enter your account email and confirm. If prompted, first confirm your identity with your password or a code sent by email.

Deletion immediately removes the account from the live database, its Facebook and Google connections, sessions and authorised devices. Existing backups follow the retention cycle described in this policy. To disconnect Facebook while keeping your Açores 9 account, use the Facebook disconnect option in Security; you must keep another sign-in method.

If you cannot sign in, use account recovery or send a deletion request to info@acores9.com from your account email. We may confirm your identity before processing the request. See “Your rights” for response times.

Personal data we process

When you contact us by email, we process your email address, your name if you give it, and the content of your message. Please send only the data needed for your request.

Browsing the website involves transmitting technical data such as your IP address, browser and device type, the pages requested and the date and time of access. This data may appear in the hosting provider’s technical logs. The terms you type into search are sent to the search service to show results and are not linked to your identity.

Purposes and legal bases

We use contact data to reply to the messages we receive, based on Açores 9’s legitimate interest in answering communications addressed to it.

Technical data is used to provide the website, search and maps, diagnose problems and protect our systems, based on our legitimate interest in keeping the website working and secure. We may also process data to meet legal obligations or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Analytics cookies require your prior consent. Simply browsing the website does not count as consent. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing. The website does not make solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on visitors.

Data retention

Messages are kept for as long as needed to handle and follow up on the request, unless a legal retention obligation applies or the data is needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Technical logs should be kept only for as long as needed to operate and secure the website. Cookie lifetimes depend on each service and its settings, as described below.

Recipients and international transfers

Data may be processed by providers of hosting, email, image storage (Cloudflare), search (Algolia), maps (OpenFreeMap) and analytics (Google), to the extent needed to provide those services. It may also be disclosed to authorities where required to meet legal obligations or exercise rights.

Some of these services may process data outside the European Economic Area. Such transfers require an applicable legal mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses and, where needed, additional safeguards. You can ask us for information about the recipients and the safeguards that apply.

Cookies and external services

The website uses Google Analytics to obtain statistics about visits, pages viewed and interactions. This service may use cookie identifiers and information about your browser, device and the source of your visit. The _ga and _ga_* cookies have a default lifetime of two years, which may vary depending on configuration. See Google’s information about these cookies.

Google Analytics only loads after you accept analytics cookies. You can accept or reject them in the cookie notice and change or withdraw your consent at any time using “Cookie settings” in the footer. Disabling this category deletes the analytics cookies and reloads the page to stop the service. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser and read the Google Privacy Policy.

We use CookieConsent, hosted with the website, to manage these preferences. The strictly necessary acores9_cookie_consent cookie stores your choice for 182 days across both the Portuguese and English versions. It is also used when you reject optional cookies and is not used for analytics or advertising.

Fonts are hosted on the website itself. Images are served from media.acores9.com through Cloudflare. Trail and place maps load imagery from OpenFreeMap, instant search queries Algolia, and videos embedded in stories load from YouTube, in privacy-enhanced mode, or from Vimeo; in each case your browser connects to that service’s servers, sending your IP address and technical request data, and video players may apply their own cookie policies. Links to calendars, social networks and other websites open external services, which are subject to their own privacy policies.

Your rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you may request access to, rectification or erasure of your data, restriction of processing and data portability, where applicable. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests on grounds relating to your particular situation, and withdraw consent where processing depends on it.

To exercise your rights, write to info@acores9.com. Where necessary, we may ask for proportionate information to confirm your identity. We will normally reply within one month; for complex requests this may be extended by two further months, and you will be told about the extension and the reasons for it within the first month.

You may also lodge a complaint with the Portuguese Data Protection Authority (CNPD) or another competent supervisory authority without contacting us first.

Security and confidentiality

Data processing should follow technical and organisational measures appropriate to protect it against unauthorised access, loss or disclosure, limiting access to those who need it for the stated purposes. No system or internet transmission is completely risk-free; please avoid sending sensitive information that is not needed for your request.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated to reflect changes to the website, its services or legal obligations. The current version is published on this page with its update date. For any questions, please use the privacy contact above.