Privacy and cookies
What the site records, why, on what basis, for how long, who can see it, and how to change your mind.
Last updated: 20 October 2026
Data controller and contact
Hugo Voyage is Hugo Marchal’s travel site, which he administers. It is published by Maxime Valette, publication director and controller of your data, whom you can write to with any question or request about your data: maxime@vltte.fr. Legal notice
What the site records, and why
Each use of your data has a specific purpose, a legal basis and a limited retention period. Nothing is used for advertising or to make automated decisions about you.
| Purpose | Data | Legal basis | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your account (signing in, favourite trips) | First name or nickname, email address, password (encrypted, unreadable even by the administrators), favourite trips | Performance of the service you request by creating an account | As long as the account exists; erased as soon as it is deleted |
| Sign-in security | IP address and browser of each sign-in | Legitimate interest: protecting your account | 30 days (length of a session) |
| Account emails (address confirmation, forgotten password) | Email address, first name | Performance of the service you request | Sending log (recipient, content, result): 12 months |
| Newsletter: one email for each new trip and a recap of my new Instagram photos (at most one a day) | Email address, language, sign-up and confirmation dates | Your consent (confirmed through a link sent by email) | Until you unsubscribe (one click, in every email) |
| Newsletter email measurement: opens (invisible image) and link clicks | Date and time of each open and each click, link clicked; no IP address, no device | Your consent (optional box when signing up), withdrawable in one click in every email | 12 months |
| Detailed visit statistics | IP address, approximate location (country, region, city, coordinates), device, operating system, browser, screen size, language, time zone, referring site or link, pages viewed, reading time, scrolling, clicks, account if you are signed in | Your consent (cookie banner), which you can withdraw at any time | 25 months; IP address erased after 13 months |
| Anonymous audience measurement (if you refuse detailed statistics, or until you choose) | Page viewed, date, country, device type, referring site; no cookie, no IP address, no link between pages | Legitimate interest: audience measurement exempt from consent (article 82 of the French Data Protection Act) | 25 months |
| Proof of your cookie choice | Choice, date, page, browser, random identifier | Legal obligation: being able to prove your consent | 25 months |
Visit statistics in detail
If you accept detailed statistics, each visit is recorded: pages viewed and reading order, time spent reading each page, how much of the page you saw, clicks on links and buttons (the text of the link or button, never what you type in a field), referring site or link, IP address, approximate location derived from the IP address, device, operating system, browser, screen size, language and time zone. A cookie (hv-vid) recognises your browser from one visit to the next. If you are signed in, the visit is linked to your account; if you delete your account, your past visits are no longer linked to your name.
If you refuse, or until you choose, only anonymous page views are counted: the page, the date, the country, the device type and the referring site. No statistics cookie, no IP address stored, no tracking from one page to the next.
This data is only used by Hugo Marchal and Maxime Valette to understand what readers are interested in and to improve the site. Visits by administrators are not counted, and bots are filtered out.
Location is estimated with DB-IP’s “IP to City Lite” database (CC BY 4.0 licence), installed on the site’s server: your IP address is not sent to any external service. This location is approximate (often the city of your internet provider).
Who can see your data?
Only Hugo Marchal and Maxime Valette, from the site’s administration area. Nothing is sold, rented or shared. Only technical providers host or transmit it on the site’s behalf, without being able to use it for themselves: OVHcloud, which hosts the site and its database in France, and Proton AG, which delivers the site’s emails from Switzerland (a copy of sent emails stays in the sending mailbox). Switzerland is recognised by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection; no other data leaves the European Union.
Cookies and storage on your device
“Necessary” items make the site work and do not require your consent. The only cookie that requires your consent is the detailed statistics one. No advertising cookies, no social media buttons, no tools from Google, Meta or any other tracking service.
| Name | Purpose | Retention | Consent required |
|---|---|---|---|
hv-consentCookie | Remembers your cookie choice so you are not asked on every page. | 6 months, then you are asked again | No (necessary) |
hv-langCookie | Remembers the language you chose. | 1 year | No (necessary) |
__Secure-better-auth.session_tokenCookie | Keeps you signed in to your account. Only set if you sign in. | 30 days | No (necessary) |
hv-vidCookie | Detailed statistics: recognises your browser from one visit to the next. Only set if you agreed, erased if you later refuse. | 13 months, not extended | Yes |
hv-themeLocal storage | Remembers the light or dark theme. | Until you clear the site’s data | No (necessary) |
hv-static, hv-images, hv-assetsBrowser cache | Keeps the site’s public files (images, styles, scripts) to speed up your next visits. No personal data. | Until the next site update | No (necessary) |
The administration area also uses a security cookie lasting a few minutes (ig_oauth_state, connecting the Instagram account) and remembers the editing language (hv-admin-lang): these only concern administrators.
You can also delete or block cookies in your browser settings; the site still works, but you will need to sign in again and make your choices again.
External services
Maps use OpenFreeMap base maps: to display them, your browser requests the map images from them, which sends them your IP address (without cookies). Fonts and the Instagram photos on the home page go through the site’s server: your browser contacts neither Google nor Instagram. No other external service is contacted by your browser. Likewise, the site’s emails load their images and fonts from the site’s server, Instagram photos included: your email app contacts neither Google nor Instagram.
Your rights
Regarding your personal data, you can at any time:
- access it and get a copy;
- have it corrected if it is inaccurate;
- have it erased;
- have its use restricted;
- receive it in a readable format to give it to another service;
- object to its use based on legitimate interest;
- withdraw your consent (statistics, newsletter, email measurement), without affecting what was done before;
- set instructions for what happens to it after your death.
To exercise these rights, write to maxime@vltte.fr; you will get an answer within one month at most. You can also edit or delete your account directly from “My account”, leave the newsletter in one click from any email, stop email measurement with the link included in each of them, and change your cookie choices with the button below or the “Manage cookies” link at the bottom of every page.
If you believe your rights are not respected, you can lodge a complaint with the CNIL, the French data protection authority (cnil.fr).