Who we are and how to contact us
Kaydar is an independent English-language publication about LGBTQ+ travel and culture in South Korea. Michael Bahk is the responsible publisher and the person accountable for the personal information Kaydar handles directly. Our purpose is to protect and advance the interests of LGBTQ+ visitors to Korea and make their journeys easier and better informed.
For privacy inquiries, access or deletion requests, and questions about our service providers, email contact@kaydar.net. Our public contact is an email address; we do not require a visitor to disclose their sexual orientation to use our ordinary editorial resources.
Information we collect and why
You may browse the current publication without creating a Kaydar account. The reviewed release does not operate a membership system, newsletter signup, payment checkout or server-submitted contact form. When you email us, we receive your email address, message, attachments and ordinary delivery metadata. We use this information to respond, investigate corrections or rights concerns, manage necessary correspondence and protect the publication’s legitimate interests where applicable law permits. We do not use editorial inquiries to build a marketing list.
Please do not send passwords, payment-card details, identification documents or sensitive personal information unless a secure and necessary process has been agreed. If unnecessary sensitive information is received, we limit its use and delete or redact it when no longer needed. We do not intentionally collect information about a reader’s sexual orientation through ordinary browsing or correspondence.
Our hosting and security providers may process IP addresses, request timestamps, requested URLs, browser or device information, error records and other technical data needed to deliver and protect the website. Such technical records are not a claim that Kaydar knows the identity or sexual orientation of a visitor.
How long we retain information
Kaydar has adopted the following retention schedule for information under its control. We review ordinary correspondence monthly and delete or irreversibly anonymize information when its purpose has ended and no continuing lawful reason requires retention. Applicable statutory obligations and necessary legal preservation take precedence; retained records are separated and access is restricted.
| Information | Retention policy |
|---|---|
| Ordinary editorial inquiries and correspondence | Up to 12 months after the inquiry is closed or the last substantive response, unless further necessary handling or a legal obligation requires limited retention. |
| Unnecessary sensitive information and identity-document copies | Deleted or redacted as soon as no longer necessary, normally within 30 days of identification. |
| Privacy access, correction and deletion request records | Minimal records retained for 3 years after closure to document the request and response, subject to applicable law. Unnecessary identity-document copies are deleted promptly. |
| Routine raw access and error logs controlled by Kaydar | A maximum of 30 days under Kaydar’s own retention schedule. Independently managed provider logs may follow different periods. |
| Necessary security-incident evidence | Up to 12 months after closure, subject to a continuing lawful need or preservation obligation. |
| Deleted personal information in backups controlled by Kaydar | Kaydar’s target is expiry within 30 days of active-data deletion. Independently managed provider backups may follow different schedules. |
| Legally required accounting or transaction records, if any | The applicable statutory period, where such records exist. |
| Editorial permissions, source provenance and rights records | Only as long as reasonably necessary for the publication, relevant permission, correction handling or a legal claim, with periodic necessity review and data minimization. |
These periods are Kaydar’s selected operating policies, not universal statutory minimums. The 12-month correspondence period is managed through periodic review and deletion, not an automatically enforced 12-month mailbox rule. Hostinger’s documented Spam and Trash cleanup is separate from its independent backup and infrastructure retention. We do not promise that deleting a message instantly removes every provider-controlled backup. Where a service or legal obligation requires a different period, we will assess it, minimize the information retained and provide the relevant details on request.
Website features, local storage and external services
When a Pexels image or video is requested, your browser connects directly to Pexels or its delivery infrastructure. The provider may receive your IP address, request time, requested media URL, browser/device information and technical request data, and may process that information under its own privacy practices. We do not receive Pexels visitor-level playback logs as part of this Hero. The media is not used by Kaydar to infer your sexual orientation or to identify you as a member of any community. External media availability, provider-side retention and any cookies or other storage controlled by that provider are outside Kaydar’s direct control. Pexels Privacy Policy · Media Credits
The search feature downloads a locally hosted index and performs matching in your browser. The Hero uses locally hosted AI-generated editorial illustrations and two recorded Seoul street videos supplied by Pexels. The recorded videos are not live broadcasts. On supported desktop devices, the video files may be requested automatically when their scene is selected; on smaller screens, reduced-motion or data-saving settings, the Hero uses still images by default. You may pause or enable motion using the Hero controls. Ordinary browser caching may store website files temporarily. The optional USD/KRW reference-rate feature contacts Frankfurter and may temporarily store the returned reference rate and publication date in your browser’s session storage. It is not a live trading quotation.
The previous Open-Meteo weather and air-quality API integration has been disabled. Weather and air-quality panels link to official services rather than retrieving those data through the old API. The Community Media area links to independent organizers rather than automatically playing their videos. When you choose to open an external website, that provider’s own privacy practices apply. See Media Credits and the official source desk for further information.
Hosting, email providers and international processing
Kaydar uses Hostinger for website hosting and Hostinger Email for its public correspondence mailbox. Hostinger provides storage, mail delivery, security, backup and related technical services and may use contracted service providers. Depending on the service and account configuration, information may be processed or accessed outside South Korea. Hostinger’s own privacy documentation and data-processing terms describe its service arrangements, safeguards and the information it handles.
We do not claim that all mail, logs or backups are stored in South Korea, or that every provider-controlled copy is deleted within Kaydar’s own retention periods. The precise account-specific contracting entity, storage locations, subprocessors and independent retention periods are subject to the applicable Hostinger agreements and service configuration. You may request the relevant available details from us at contact@kaydar.net. We will review changes to these arrangements and provide any additional disclosure or choice required by applicable law.
Provider information: Hostinger Privacy Policy · Data Processing Addendum. The provider’s general documents do not establish the exact data-center location or retention configuration of this particular account.
Advertising, analytics and consent
The packaged release has no activated AdSense advertising script. AdSense approval and the live account’s review status are not claimed here. Before enabling advertising, analytics or additional optional tracking technologies, we will review the actual data processing, update this policy and implement applicable notice, consent and user-choice requirements. The separate Pexels media requests described above may occur before advertising is enabled.
If Google advertising is enabled, Google and its partners may use cookies or other identifiers to provide, measure and personalize advertising, subject to your choices and applicable law. We will disclose the actual advertising partners and purposes and provide the required privacy controls. Before serving personalized ads to visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we will configure an appropriate Google-certified consent management platform integrated with the IAB Transparency and Consent Framework and meet applicable consent requirements. The live consent interface, including any refusal or withdrawal options, must reflect the actual installed system. This policy alone does not activate advertising or establish legal compliance.
For information about Google’s use of information on sites or apps that use its services, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
Your rights and choices
You may contact contact@kaydar.net to request access to, correction of or deletion of personal information you have supplied, to withdraw consent where applicable, or to raise a privacy concern. Other rights may apply under the law relevant to your circumstances. We may request proportionate information to verify a request but will not routinely require an identity-document copy. We will respond within applicable legal deadlines and explain any lawful limitation or refusal. You may also contact an appropriate data-protection authority.
Security, corrections and complaints
We restrict access to personal information to those who need it, use appropriate account and transport security measures, and review unnecessary records for deletion. No internet service can guarantee absolute security. If you believe information has been exposed or an image has been published without appropriate permission, contact us with the relevant URL and only the details needed to investigate. Do not use this editorial mailbox for emergencies.
Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when our processing changes and record the effective date of substantive revisions. New advertising, analytics, contact forms or other personal-data collection will not be treated as covered by an inaccurate old notice. Material changes will be disclosed through the website and any additional notice required by applicable law.
Policy adopted: 8 September 2026 · Media disclosure revised: 9 September 2026 · Publication: Kaydar v2.6.3.1 · Responsible publisher: Michael Bahk · Privacy contact: contact@kaydar.net