Via Vestigia
Last updated: September 2026 · Applies to viavestigia.com
This page explains what data viavestigia.com actually collects, why, and what choices you have. It covers this website only. Our Substack publication (viavestigia.substack.com) and Viator, which handles bookings, run under their own privacy policies — linked below.
Via Vestigia is operated by Uğur M. Ulakci, a Ministry-licensed tourist guide based in Istanbul, Turkey. For any privacy question or request, contact hello@viavestigia.com.
We use two analytics tools to understand how people use this site: Google Analytics (GA4) and Microsoft Clarity. Neither is loaded, and neither sets any cookie, until you actively choose "Accept Analytics" in the cookie banner shown on your first visit. If you choose "Reject Non-Essential," these tools are never loaded on your device.
| Service | What it does | What it collects if accepted |
|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 | Standard traffic and behavior analytics | Pages visited, approximate location (country/city level), device/browser type, referring site, session duration |
| Microsoft Clarity | Session recording and heatmaps, so we can see how visitors actually use the pages | Mouse movement, scroll behavior, clicks, and page interactions during your visit — recorded per session |
Both are configured with advertising storage permanently set to "denied" — we do not use either tool for advertising, retargeting, or ad personalization, and neither tool is used to build advertising profiles.
You can open your cookie preferences at any time using the Cookie Preferences link in the footer of any page. Choosing "Reject Non-Essential" after previously accepting clears existing analytics cookies from your browser and reloads the page.
The "Subscribe to the Journal" link takes you directly to our Substack subscription page. We do not collect or process your email address on viavestigia.com — you enter it on Substack's own page, under Substack's own privacy policy. See Substack's Privacy Policy.
Bookings are currently completed through Viator, a third-party booking platform. When you click a "Book Now" or "Reserve" button, you leave viavestigia.com and complete your booking, including any payment and personal details, entirely on Viator's site under Viator's own privacy policy. We do not receive or store your payment information.
This website is hosted on GitHub Pages (GitHub, Inc.). Basic technical access logs (such as IP address and browser type) may be retained by GitHub as part of standard hosting infrastructure, independent of the analytics tools described above. See GitHub's Privacy Statement.
Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity are provided by companies based in the United States, so data collected through these tools (only after you accept) may be processed outside Turkey and the EEA. Both providers maintain their own compliance frameworks for international transfers.
Depending on where you are located, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or object to the processing of your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, or to ask a question about this policy, contact hello@viavestigia.com.
We will update this page if what the site actually collects changes — for example, if direct booking is activated, or a new analytics tool is added. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent change.