Privacy Policy – Rujan Neupane

Last updated: 30 September 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information rujans.com collects, why it is collected, how it is used, and the choices you have. The website is run by Rujan Neupane, a licensed trekking and tour guide and photographer based in Kathmandu, Nepal (“I”, “me”, “my”).

1. Information I collect

Information you give me

Enquiries and trip requests: when you use the Book a Trek planner, a trek or tour enquiry form, or the contact form, I receive your name, email address, phone number (if given), country, travel dates, group size, chosen trip and any message you write.
Customer account: if you make an account, section 2 below lists everything it keeps, why, and who can see it.
Newsletter: if you subscribe to Trail Stories, I store your email address.
Reviews and feedback: if you leave a review or feedback, I store your name, your message and your email address. Your email address is only used if I need to contact you about your review; it is never shown on the website.
Emails: anything you send me by email, including trip arrangements and payment agreements.

Information collected automatically

Visit statistics: the site counts visits with its own statistics tool, described in detail in section 3 below. The information goes only to this website; it is not shared with or sold to anyone, and it does not identify you by name.
Google Analytics: if enabled, Google Analytics collects anonymous usage information (such as pages visited, time on site, device type and approximate location) to help me understand how the website is used.
Spam protection: forms on this site are protected by Google reCAPTCHA, which collects technical information about your device and browsing to tell people apart from automated spam.
Server logs: like any website, the hosting provider records technical data such as IP address, browser type and the pages requested, for security and reliability.

2. If you make an account

You don’t need an account to write to me or to book a walk. If you make one, this is what my website keeps, why, and who can see it.

What is kept

Your name, email address and password. The password is stored only in a scrambled form that nobody can read, not even me.
What you add yourself in “Your details”: nationality and passport number (I need them for trekking permits), your phone or WhatsApp number, the name and phone number of someone to call if something happens on the trail, and, under “For the trail”, your travel insurance (company, policy number, their emergency phone), when you arrive in Kathmandu and what you don’t eat. All of these are optional. The passport number is kept in full, because a permit needs it; on your account page it is shown with most of it hidden.
A profile photo, if you add one. It is kept out of the website’s public photo lists and is shown only on your own account page.
The treks you save or mark as walked, and your choice about emails from me.
Who shared the link, if you came through a friend’s link. Older accounts had a link to share with friends. If you arrive through one, a small cookie remembers it for 30 days, and when you make an account it notes whose link it was.
A new email address you asked to change to, for up to 24 hours, until you confirm it by the link sent there (or the link runs out).
Your earlier email address, if you change it. It is kept with your account as a record, so the enquiries you sent from it stay yours and are never shown to anyone who uses that address later. The enquiries themselves are not changed.
What I write to you for a confirmed walk: where and when we meet, and a short note, shown to you under that walk.
When you last signed in, so your account page can show it to you.
A short security record of account events: signing in, a wrong password, a password change or reset, signing out, closing the account. Each entry has the time, the account’s email and an internet address with its last part hidden. Passwords and reset links are never recorded. Only the most recent 1,000 events are kept; older ones are removed automatically.

Why

So that your walks, my replies and what you have paid stay together in one place, so I have what I need for permits without asking you again, and so I can reach someone, and your insurer, if something goes wrong on a walk. The security record is there only to protect your account from someone guessing its password.

Who can see it

You, on your account page, and me. Nobody else: it is not shared or sold, and it is not used for advertising. It is stored on my website, which is hosted by WordPress.com.

Seeing everything, and taking it with you

Under Settings on your account page, “Your details, as a file” gives you one plain text file with everything your account holds: your details, walks, enquiries, our messages and the security record. The file is made when you ask for it and is not kept on the site. For a confirmed walk you can also print a trail card with the details you need on the trail; it is made from what is already on your account page and is not kept either. You can change your details, and your email address, yourself on the same page.

Emails

You always get the emails that belong to your own account: confirming your email address, a link to choose a new password when you ask for one, a note if your password or email address is changed, and my replies about your walks and enquiries. Anything else, such as a note about new walks now and then, you get only if you tick it under “Emails from me”, and you can untick it at any time.

Cookies

Signing in places a cookie in your browser so you stay signed in. If you tick “Keep me signed in on this device”, it lasts longer; otherwise it ends when you close the browser. You can sign out every other device from your account page at any time.

Closing your account

You can close your account yourself, under Settings on your account page. That removes your account, your details (including “For the trail”), your profile photo and your saved treks straight away. Your bookings and the messages you sent me are kept by email address, not by the account, because I need them for the walks themselves; if you would like those removed too, write to me and I will delete them.

3. Visitor statistics

This site counts visits with its own statistics tool. The information goes only to this website; it is not shared with or sold to anyone.

What is recorded: the pages you open, how long each page is in use, how far down you scroll and how long each part of the page is on screen, where on the page you tap or click (the position, which part of the page it was, and the text of the link or button you tapped), taps on WhatsApp, phone and email links, links you follow to other sites, and whether a visit sent an enquiry, booking request, newsletter sign-up or created an account (only that it happened, not what you wrote). With each visit I also record the website or campaign you came from, your type of device, system and browser, screen width, browser language, and your country, worked out from the time zone set on your device.
What is not recorded: your name, email address or IP address, or anything you type into forms. When a form is sent, only the form’s technical name is noted (for example “contact form”). To stop abuse, a scrambled (hashed) form of your network address is held for 10 minutes and then discarded; it is never saved with your visit.
How visits are recognised: two random codes are kept in your browser’s local storage (one for your browser, one for the current visit), and a short-lived cookie (rins_s, 30 minutes) links an enquiry to the visit it came from. You can remove them by clearing this site’s data in your browser.
Enquiries and bookings: if you send an enquiry or booking request while not logged in, the pages opened on this site before sending it (in that visit and in earlier visits from the same browser in the last 90 days) are shown to me with your enquiry, so I can answer it better. The link between your enquiry and these visits is deleted after 90 days, or earlier if your enquiry is deleted, and is not kept in the backup.
Opting out: if your browser sends “Do Not Track” or “Global Privacy Control”, nothing is recorded. Logged-in accounts are not recorded.
How long: detailed records are used in reports for 90 days. After that they are moved into a compressed backup kept on this website’s own server, and reports use daily totals only. The backup contains the same records as above and no names, emails or IP addresses.

4. Why I use your information

To answer your enquiry and plan, quote and run your trek or tour.
To arrange trekking permits, national park and conservation area entry, and, for restricted areas, special permits. Nepali authorities require passport details for these, which is the only reason I ask for your passport number.
To book services on your behalf, such as hotels, lodges, domestic flights and transport.
To contact your emergency contact, or rescue and medical services, if something goes wrong during a trip.
To send the Trail Stories newsletter, only if you subscribed.
To keep the website secure and free from spam, and to improve it (for example, seeing which pages are hard to use or where people stop reading).

5. Cookies and browser storage

This site uses a small number of cookies:

Login cookies (set by WordPress): keep you signed in to your account.
rins_s (30 minutes): links an enquiry, booking request or sign-up to the visit it came from, for visit statistics (section 3).
rujan_viewed (about 30 minutes): stops the same page view being counted twice.
rujan_traffic_source (30 days): remembers how you first found the site, for visit statistics.
rujan_ref (30 days): only set if you arrive through a referral link, so the referral can be credited.
Google Analytics cookies (such as _ga): used by Google Analytics, if enabled, to measure website use.
Google reCAPTCHA cookies: used by Google for spam protection.

The visitor statistics also keep two random codes in your browser’s local storage (rins_v for your browser and rins_s for the current visit). They contain no personal information.

You can block or delete cookies and site data in your browser settings. If you do, the site will still work, but you will not be able to stay signed in, and forms may ask you to complete an extra check.

I never sell your personal information. I only share what is necessary, and only with:

Government offices and park authorities in Nepal, to issue permits for your trip.
Hotels, lodges, airlines and transport providers that are part of your booked trip.
Rescue, medical and insurance providers, if needed in an emergency.
Service providers that run this website: WordPress.com (hosting) and Google (Analytics, reCAPTCHA spam protection, and fonts or video previews on some pages).
Authorities, if the law requires it.

The visitor statistics described in section 3 are not shared with anyone.

7. Photos taken during trips

As a photographer, I often take pictures during treks and tours. I will not publish photos in which you are clearly recognisable on this website or on social media without your permission. If you would like a photo of you removed, contact me and I will remove it.

8. How long I keep information

Enquiries and booking records are kept for as long as needed to run your trip and meet legal and accounting requirements.
Account information is kept until you delete your account.
Newsletter emails are kept until you unsubscribe.
Passport details are used only for permits and bookings and are not kept longer than needed.
Visitor statistics: detailed records for 90 days, then a compressed backup on this website’s own server and daily totals (section 3).
The link between an enquiry or booking and the pages viewed before it: 90 days, or until the enquiry is deleted (section 3).

9. Your choices and rights

View and update: you can view and edit your profile at any time from My Account.
Delete: you can delete your account yourself from My Account. This removes your profile information from the website.
Unsubscribe: you can stop the newsletter at any time using the link in any newsletter email, or by contacting me.
Visitor statistics: turn on “Do Not Track” or “Global Privacy Control” in your browser, and nothing is recorded. Clearing this site’s data in your browser removes the random codes.
Ask: you can ask me for a copy of the information I hold about you, or ask me to correct or delete it.

10. Security

The website uses a secure (HTTPS) connection, passwords are stored in encrypted form, and passport numbers are partly hidden when shown in your account. No website is completely secure, but I take reasonable care to protect your information.

11. Children

This website is not intended for children under 16. Families booking a trip with children should make the booking through a parent or guardian.

12. Changes to this policy

I may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.

13. Contact

For any question about your information, contact me through the contact form or the email address shown in the footer of this website.

Rujan Neupane
Kathmandu, Nepal

A question about this page? Write to me.Write to me