Privacy & disclaimer
In plain language: what I keep track of, why, and what you can expect from me.
What data do I collect?
If you create an account, I store your username, email address, and an encrypted (hashed) password — I never see or store your actual password in readable form. I also keep track of which routes, passes, and attractions you mark as "driven" or "visited", the ratings you leave, and any suggestions you submit. This is used purely to power the site's features: showing your progress, stats, and achievements.
I also use Google Analytics to get general, anonymized insight into how the site is used (e.g. which pages are popular) — this isn't linked to your account.
Roadtrip planner
If you use the Roadtrip planner, I store your trips: the days, stops, markers and whatever you add yourself, such as accommodation, prices, notes and whether something is booked. That's needed to save and show your planning. Your trips are private unless you share them.
- Sharing with a link: anyone with the link can view your trip, without an account. Your prices, cancellation dates and notes are not shown. Recipients can only download the GPX and Excel if you allow it. You can always create a new link; the old one then stops working.
- Views: I count how often a shared link is viewed, so you can see it. I only store the number and the date, not who viewed it.
- Deleting: you delete a trip yourself in the planner. If your account is deleted, your trips are deleted too.
The planner uses a few external services. Maps come from OpenStreetMap and OpenTopoMap; your browser loads them directly, so those parties see your IP address, as with any website that shows a map. Searching for places goes through my server to Photon (Komoot) and Nominatim (OpenStreetMap); they only receive your search text, not who you are. Routes are calculated by my own routing server. For currency conversion I fetch the daily rates of the European Central Bank, without any data about you.
In the suggestion form, searching for places also goes through my server, and so does looking up the place name and country for a point on the map. The elevation of a pass comes from Open-Meteo; it only receives the coordinates of that point, not who you are.
Who sees my data?
I never sell or share your data with third parties for marketing purposes. A few technical services process data on my behalf, purely to make the site work:
- Resend — sends the verification email when you register
- Google Translate API — automatically translates content; doesn't process personal account data
- Google Analytics — anonymized visitor statistics
If you click an affiliate link (e.g. to Booking.com, Viator, or GetYourGuide), you leave bestroadtrips.nl and that provider's own privacy policy applies from then on. At most, I receive an anonymous notification that a booking was made through my link — no personal data about you.
Where is it stored?
All data lives on my own server (a VPS based in Europe). I don't use any external database or cloud service beyond the parties mentioned above.
What can you do?
Want your account or data deleted, or want to know what's stored about you? Get in touch — I handle this personally, there's no automated "delete my account" button on this site, but I do respond quickly.
Disclaimer
The information on this site (road conditions, elevations, opening hours, costs, etc.) is compiled carefully, but conditions on mountain passes and routes can change — think roadworks, seasonal closures, or weather. Always cross-check with current, official sources when planning a drive, and drive responsibly. I'm not liable for any damage or accidents resulting from the use of information on this site.