Affiliate Disclaimer

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: [10/23/2025]

Rural Water Guide (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates ruralwaterguide.com (the “Site”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website.

Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the site.

Information We Collect

Personal Information You Provide

We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you:

  • Subscribe to our email newsletter
  • Fill out a contact form
  • Leave a comment on our blog posts
  • Participate in surveys or contests

This information may include:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Any other information you choose to provide

Automatically Collected Information

When you visit our Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including:

  • IP address
  • Browser type and version
  • Operating system
  • Referring URLs
  • Pages viewed and time spent on pages
  • Date and time of visit
  • Device identifiers

This information is collected through cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide and maintain our Site – Ensure the website functions properly
  • Improve user experience – Understand how visitors use our site and optimize content
  • Send newsletters – Deliver email updates if you’ve subscribed (you can unsubscribe anytime)
  • Respond to inquiries – Answer questions submitted through contact forms
  • Analyze site traffic – Use analytics tools to understand visitor behavior
  • Prevent fraud and abuse – Protect the security of our site
  • Comply with legal obligations – Meet legal and regulatory requirements

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit our website. They help us recognize your browser and remember certain information.

Types of Cookies We Use

Essential Cookies:

  • Required for the website to function properly
  • Cannot be disabled

Analytics Cookies:

  • Help us understand how visitors interact with our site
  • We use Google Analytics to track website traffic and user behavior
  • These cookies collect anonymous information

Advertising Cookies:

  • Used to deliver relevant advertisements
  • May be set by third-party advertising networks

Managing Cookies

You can control cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect your experience on our site.

To opt out of Google Analytics tracking, visit: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Third-Party Services

Affiliate Programs

Rural Water Guide participates in various affiliate marketing programs, including:

  • Amazon Associates
  • SpringWell Water Affiliate Program
  • Waterdrop Affiliate Program
  • Crystal Quest Affiliate Program
  • ShareASale Network
  • Other affiliate networks

What This Means: When you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. These affiliate partners may use cookies to track your visit and attribute sales to our site.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to analyze website traffic. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect information such as:

  • How you found our site
  • Which pages you visited
  • How long you stayed on each page
  • Your general location (city/country level)

Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Email Service Provider

If you subscribe to our newsletter, your email address is stored with our email service provider (e.g., Mailchimp, ConvertKit, etc.). We will never sell or share your email address with third parties for their marketing purposes.

Comment System

If you leave comments on our site, the comment content, your name, email address, and IP address are stored. This information is used to detect spam and prevent abuse.

Social Media

Our site may contain links to social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.). These platforms have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for their practices.

How We Protect Your Information

We implement reasonable security measures to protect your personal information, including:

  • Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption for data transmission
  • Regular security updates and patches
  • Restricted access to personal information
  • Secure hosting with reputable providers

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

General Rights

  • Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
  • Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
  • Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information
  • Objection: Object to our processing of your personal information
  • Restriction: Request restriction of processing your information
  • Portability: Request transfer of your information to another service

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at: [your-email@ruralwaterguide.com]

GDPR (European Users)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

  • Right to withdraw consent at any time
  • Right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

CCPA (California Users)

If you are a California resident, you have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

  • Right to know what personal information is collected
  • Right to know if personal information is sold or disclosed
  • Right to say no to the sale of personal information
  • Right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights

Note: We do not sell your personal information.

Children’s Privacy

Our Site is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us immediately.

Do Not Track Signals

Some browsers have “Do Not Track” features. Our Site does not currently respond to Do Not Track signals. However, you can control cookies through your browser settings.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes outlined in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

  • Newsletter subscribers: Until you unsubscribe
  • Contact form submissions: Up to 2 years
  • Comments: Indefinitely (unless you request deletion)
  • Analytics data: Google Analytics retains data for 26 months

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside your country of residence. By using our Site, you consent to such transfers.

We take appropriate measures to ensure your information remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last Updated” date.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. Continued use of the Site after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Affiliate Disclosure

Rural Water Guide is a participant in various affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to affiliate partners.

What You Should Know:

  • We only recommend products we believe will help you
  • Affiliate commissions do not increase your purchase price
  • Our reviews are based on research and honest opinions
  • Some links on this site are affiliate links

For more details, see our Affiliate Disclaimer page.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

Email: [info@ruralwaterguide.com]
Website: https://ruralwaterguide.com/contact

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

If you are in the EEA, our legal basis for collecting and using your personal information depends on the information collected and the context:

  • Consent: You have given explicit permission (e.g., newsletter signup)
  • Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests (e.g., analytics)
  • Contractual Obligation: Processing is necessary to fulfill a contract with you
  • Legal Obligation: Processing is required by law

By using RuralWaterGuide.com, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.