Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 28, 2026

This policy describes what happens to information when you read cowboypoets.com, which covers cowboy poetry, western music, and gatherings and festivals. The operator is the person or organization running the site, and the words we and us refer to the operator.

Visit logs

The servers that deliver our pages record routine details of each request. These may include your IP address, the time of your visit, the article you opened, your browser and device type, and the page that sent you here. We use this to keep the site running, to catch errors and abuse, and to see in general terms whether readers prefer a festival guide or a piece about verse.

Cookies and similar technology

The site may set cookies or use similar browser storage. A few simply let an article or a festival page load as intended. Others, where switched on, count audience numbers, remember a reading preference, support advertising or note which link led a reader to a seller, for example a ticket or music retailer, so that affiliate attribution works. Cookies placed by outside parties are governed by those parties’ own practices.

Controlling tracking in your browser

Your browser lets you block or clear cookies, browse privately or add tools that limit tracking. If your browser sends a do-not-track or global privacy signal, we will honor it as an opt-out wherever our tools can recognize it. Blocking certain cookies may change how some features, such as embedded videos of performances, behave.

Emails and forms

If you write to [email protected], we receive your address and whatever you include, such as a poem credit correction or a festival tip. We use it to answer you, to fix the site and to keep a record of the exchange. We do not sell your messages. We will not publish your words or name without asking first.

Newsletters

If a newsletter or sign-up form is offered, the details you give are used to send what you requested and for no unrelated purpose. Each mailing will explain how to unsubscribe, and you may also ask us by email to remove you.

Outside services

A site about recitations, ballads and festivals still depends on outside providers to reach readers. These may include hosting and content delivery providers, analytics tools, advertising and affiliate networks, and embedded media such as video of recitations or concert recordings. They may receive technical information about your visit so their service can work, and they handle it under their own notices.

How long information stays

Visit logs are kept only for a short working period, after which they are erased or boiled down to counts that cannot identify a reader. Emails are kept while they help us answer you, correct an article or meet a legal duty, and are removed after that.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may be able to ask what personal information we hold about you, have it corrected or erased, object to certain uses or withdraw earlier consent. To ask, email [email protected] and tell us what you want. We may need to confirm your identity first, and we will reply within the period the law sets.

Children

Cowboypoets is meant for a general audience and is not aimed at children under 13. We do not knowingly gather personal details from children. If a young reader has sent us something, let us know and we will delete it.

Security

We take sensible steps to protect information, such as secure connections and limited access to the inbox. No online system is perfectly safe, so we cannot guarantee complete protection.

Data moving across borders

Some providers behind the site may handle data in other countries, where rules may differ from your own. By reading the site you accept that information about your visit may travel that way.

Changes to this policy

When our practices shift, for instance if we add a mailing list or a new embedded video service, this page will be rewritten to match. The effective date above shows when this version began, and continuing to read the site after an update means you accept the revised text.

Withdrawing consent and complaints

Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time; this does not affect anything done before. Our Cookie Policy sets out which cookies are used and how to change your mind about them. If you live in the EU, EEA or UK you can complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office); in Australia, to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.