Who We Are

The Costa Rica Travel Blog is operated by Pura Vida! eh? Incorporated.

Cookies

Unlike the majority of websites, which display out-of-house ads to their visitors and use cookies for this purpose, our website is free of a) ads that aren’t our own, b) sponsored content, and c) affiliate marketing.

Our website uses cookies for the purposes of recognizing you as a visitor, and for providing you with a better online experience. Some of our website’s features, including our Questions and Answers Forum, rely on cookies to operate. Most are run by themes, plugins, and other add-ons to our website that we do not and cannot control, which means the cookies you receive are mainly provided by third parties. Because simple actions like reading our articles, asking a question, and even visiting our website’s homepage require the use of cookies, it is not possible to explore or use our website without them. If you would prefer not to receive cookies, we kindly (and sadly) ask that you do not visit our website. (Alternatively, you can try setting your browser to remove or reject browser cookies before visiting our website, but you may find that our website doesn’t function properly without them.) By visiting or submitting information through our website, you acknowledge and accept our use of cookies, and the use of third-party cookies.

Data Collection

In addition to our use of cookies (described above), which is a form of data collection, we collect only the information we need to be able to communicate with you, and to be able to use themes, plugins, security and spam-detection services, and other third-party services that help us provide a positive visitor experience.

These services may collect data of their own when you visit our website. For example, when you submit a question or a comment through our Forum, the plugins we use to run the Forum may see the question or comment data that you provide, such as your name, email address, and inquiry. Similarly, when you sign up for our e-course by submitting your first name, last name, email address, and travel dates through our sign-up form, the plugin we use to run the e-course may see the information you provide. Other opportunities for data collection include but are not limited to when you browse our website, read articles, and click on links. By visiting or submitting information through our website, you acknowledge and accept that data, including your IP address and website browsing behaviors, is being sent to us and the providers of the services we use on our website. For the security of our website and its users, we use only the minimum number of themes, plugins, and other third-party services needed to operate and maintain our website. At any time, you may request a list of the current themes, plugins, and other third-party services that contribute to our website and may opt to collect data, so you can inquire about their Privacy Policies.

At any time, you may request to receive access to and/or a copy of the information we have, or to change your information.

Data Selling and/or Sharing

We never sell any personal information we collect, including but not limited to your first name, last name, email address, and travel dates.

We also never intentionally share your personal information with other parties. (Please see the Data Collection section above for information regarding the potential for third-party services to collect personal information submitted to our website.)

Submissions, including but not limited to questions, comments, and their associated data, including but not limited to personal information and/or IP addresses, may be sent to and checked by third-party services that our website utilizes, such as website security and spam detection services.

Data Security

When you submit a question or a comment through our website, including in our Forum, the information you provide, including but not limited to your name and inquiry, will be visible to the public. Additional data, such as your email address and IP address, is kept private but is visible to us and people who have access to our website’s database. Though we strive to maintain a secure website, we cannot fully guarantee that information submitted to our website cannot be seen by other individuals.

If you wish to delete a question or comment submitted through our website, please see the Data Removal section below.

Data Retention

If you sign-up for our e-course, or leave a question or a comment on our website, the information and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so that we can recognize repeat e-course participants, and so that conversations can continue to appear in our Forum to benefit future Costa Rica travelers. It is also so that we have the option to recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically, instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

Data Removal

At any time, you may request that we delete from our website and operating system any question or comment that you submitted to our website. You may also request that we delete your data from our e-course recipient list, which includes but is not limited to your first name, last name, email address, and travel dates. This request will remove data stored by our website but will not include data that we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Communication

We will only contact you by email, if not through our website’s Forum, and only for purposes related to Costa Rica travel. At any time, you may request that we stop contacting you. If you wish to stop receiving our e-course emails after you signed up for our e-course, click on the “unsubscribe from this list” link at the bottom of any e-course email and follow the unsubscribe prompts.

If you leave a question or a comment on our website, including in our Forum, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also your IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here. After approval of your question or comment, your profile picture (if you use one) will be visible to the public in the context of your question or comment.

Profiling/Automated Processing

Our website does not engage in profiling. Our website does not practice decision-processing without human involvement.

A Summary of Your Rights

As evidenced by this Privacy Policy and covered in further detail above, when visiting our website you have the right to a) be informed of how we collect and process your information, b) access your information, c) amend or correct your information, d) delete your information, e) restrict the collection or processing of your information, f) obtain a copy of your personal information, g) object our use of your information, and h) not be subject to profiling or a decision based solely on automated processing (i.e., without human involvement).