Privacy Policy

At a glance

Who we are and what this policy covers

WalkTalkHealth is a personal, non-commercial educational project operated by Shedz. It is not a company, medical practice, healthcare provider, or service that offers individualized care. In this policy, “WalkTalkHealth,” “we,” and “us” refer to Shedz as the operator of this site.

This policy covers the public website at walktalkhealth.com, including its articles, videos, trail map, and messages sent to a published WalkTalkHealth contact address. It does not govern the independent privacy practices of websites you choose to visit.

The public site does not currently offer visitor accounts, comments, a newsletter, checkout, payments, or a public information-submission form. The restricted admin area is for authorized site personnel only.

Information we process

Website delivery and security

When you request a page, Google's Firebase App Hosting and Google Cloud infrastructure may process the IP address used for the connection, request URL, date and time, browser and device details, referrer, response status, diagnostic information, and security events. This information is used to deliver the requested page, maintain reliability, prevent abuse, and investigate faults or security incidents.

Optional analytics

If you choose Allow analytics, Google Analytics may process a browser or cookie identifier, IP-derived approximate location, browser and device characteristics, and limited information about the pages you visit. WalkTalkHealth sends only page-view events containing:

• the exact canonical path of the public page, without URL query strings or fragments;
• the page title shown in the browser;
• a limited referring-site address used to understand how visitors found the site; and
• information Google Analytics ordinarily uses for basic measurement, such as a session identifier, browser and device category, and country-level IP-derived location.

Because many pages discuss health topics, a page path or title may reflect an interest in that subject. We use this only to understand readership and acquisition in aggregate—not to infer a diagnosis, build a health profile, make decisions about a visitor, personalize medical information, or advertise. We do not send names, email addresses, diagnoses, symptoms, medications, the words typed into site search, filter selections, clicks, playback activity, outbound destinations, or performance measurements to Google Analytics.

YouTube videos and thumbnail images

Video thumbnails are fetched and cached through the site's same-origin thumbnail endpoint, so displaying a thumbnail does not make your browser request the image directly from YouTube. The endpoint may contact YouTube from WalkTalkHealth's hosting infrastructure when an image is not already cached. On a video companion page, the native player loads automatically from YouTube's privacy-enhanced youtube-nocookie.com domain. This lets the visible YouTube play control receive your tap directly, including in mobile browsers that do not allow an asynchronously created player to start automatically. On video cards elsewhere on the site, the player loads only after you choose to play the video. When a player loads, Google and YouTube may receive your IP address, browser and device information, and the WalkTalkHealth origin as referrer information; they may also receive playback activity when you use the player. If you are signed in to Google, Google may associate the interaction with your account under its own settings and policies.

OpenStreetMap maps

When a page displays an interactive map, it automatically requests tiles from OpenStreetMap. The OpenStreetMap Foundation may receive request information such as your IP address, browser details, referrer, requested tile, and access time. WalkTalkHealth displays trail locations from its content; it does not ask your browser for GPS or precise device location.

Information you choose to provide

If you send us an email, we process the address, message, attachments, and related correspondence to respond and keep an appropriate record. Please do not send medical records, government identification, or other sensitive information unless we specifically request it through a secure method.

Authorized administrators

Authorized administrators sign in through Firebase Authentication. Google may process their account identifier, email address, sign-in records, and security information. This access is not offered to ordinary public visitors.

Why we process information and our legal bases

We use the information described above to:

• provide the pages, media, and maps you request;
• keep the site available, diagnose faults, and protect it from misuse;
• understand which content and features are useful, but only when you allow analytics;
• respond to messages and privacy requests;
• maintain and secure authorized administrative access; and
• comply with law and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Where a law requires us to identify a legal basis, we rely on consent for optional analytics; the steps you ask us to take when you contact us; legitimate interests in delivering, securing, and improving a public informational site where those interests are not overridden by your rights; and legal obligations where applicable. You may withdraw consent without affecting processing that occurred before withdrawal.

Cookies and local storage

WalkTalkHealth stores your analytics choice in your browser's local storage so it can be honored on later visits. This record contains the choice and policy version, not your name or the health topics you viewed.

Google Analytics does not load until you allow it. Once allowed, Google Analytics may set first-party measurement cookies. Turning analytics off through Privacy choices stops future measurement and removes applicable Google Analytics cookies that this site can access. Browser settings can also block or delete cookies and local storage, although deleting the saved choice may cause the site to ask again.

A supported Global Privacy Control signal is treated as a direction to keep optional analytics off. We do not separately respond to the older Do Not Track signal because there is no consistent industry standard for interpreting it.

Who receives information

We disclose information only as described here:

• Google Cloud and Firebase: website hosting, server-side content access, authentication for authorized administrators, logging, reliability, and security.
• Google Analytics: optional audience and site-use measurement after you allow analytics.
• YouTube: upstream thumbnail retrieval by the site's same-origin thumbnail endpoint, automatic delivery of the native player on video companion pages, and video playback you request.
• OpenStreetMap Foundation: map-tile delivery for pages that display an interactive map.
• Professional advisers, authorities, or transaction participants: only when reasonably necessary for legal compliance, safety, claims, or a legitimate organizational transaction subject to appropriate protections.

We do not sell personal information, use it for cross-context behavioral advertising, or disclose it to data brokers. If those practices change, we will update this policy and provide any notice and choice required before the new practice begins.

These providers publish their own information at the Google Privacy Policy, Google Analytics privacy information, and OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.

International processing

WalkTalkHealth is available globally, and the providers named above may process information in the United States and other countries where they or their service providers operate. Those countries may have privacy rules different from those where you live. Where required, we rely on an adequacy decision, approved contractual protections, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

How long we keep information

We use the following retention criteria:

• Hosting, security, and diagnostic records are retained only for the period reasonably needed to operate and protect the service, investigate incidents, and meet legal requirements, subject to the provider's configured retention controls.
• Optional analytics data follows the configured Google Analytics retention period of 2 months. Aggregated reports that no longer identify or single out a visitor may be kept longer.
• Correspondence is kept while a request is active and afterward only as long as needed for follow-up, recordkeeping, dispute resolution, or legal obligations.
• Administrator authentication and security records are kept while access is active and for a reasonable audit and security period afterward.

We may retain limited information longer when necessary to comply with law, preserve security, prevent fraud, or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. We delete or deidentify information when the applicable period ends.

Your choices and privacy rights

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

• know whether and how we process your personal information;
• access or receive a portable copy of certain information;
• correct inaccurate information;
• delete information, subject to lawful exceptions;
• object to or restrict certain processing;
• withdraw consent and lodge a complaint with your local privacy regulator; and
• appeal a refusal where applicable law provides that right.

Use Privacy choices in the footer to allow or turn off optional analytics. For another request, use the contact details below. Describe the request and the country and state or region where you live. We may ask for proportionate information to confirm that the request concerns you, but please do not send identity documents in your first message. Authorized agents may submit requests where permitted by law.

Children's privacy

WalkTalkHealth is a general-audience educational site and is not directed to children who cannot lawfully consent to the processing described here. We do not knowingly ask children to create accounts or submit personal information. If you believe a child provided personal information to us, contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information and the nature of this service. These include restricted administrative access, authentication controls, encrypted network connections, provider access controls, and monitoring. No internet service can promise absolute security, and this policy is not a guarantee that an incident can never occur.

Changes to this policy and contact

We may update this policy when the site, providers, or legal requirements change. The effective and last-updated dates at the top identify the current version. When required, we will provide more prominent notice and obtain consent before using information for a materially new purpose.

Questions and privacy requests should be sent to the contact below. This monitored inbox is for privacy matters, not medical questions or emergencies.