Last updated: August 3, 2026
This page explains what KoreaCrush collects when you visit, why it gets collected, and what you can do about it. I’ve tried to write it in normal English instead of legal English. If anything here is unclear, email me and I’ll explain it properly.
KoreaCrush is a personal blog run by one person, Jae Yong Lee (이재용), based in Seoul, South Korea. You can reach me at hellokoreacrush@gmail.com about anything on this page.
The short version
I don’t sell your data, and I have no interest in it as a person. What happens here is what happens on most blogs: an analytics tool counts visits, an ad network shows ads and uses cookies to do that, and if you leave a comment, WordPress stores it. The rest of this page is the detail.
What gets collected, and by whom
Analytics (Google Analytics 4)
This site uses Google Analytics 4, a service from Google LLC, to count how many people visit and which posts they read. It uses cookies and similar identifiers, and it collects things like:
- Which pages you looked at and how long you stayed
- Which site or search sent you here
- Your device type, browser, operating system, and screen size
- An approximate location, usually at the country or city level, worked out from your IP address
- How far down a page you scrolled, which outbound links you clicked, and anything you typed into the site’s search box
That last group comes from a setting Google calls enhanced measurement, which is switched on here. It’s how I find out whether people finish a post or give up halfway.
I use this to decide what to write next. It can’t tell me who you are, and I don’t try to find out.
Google’s own handling of this data is covered by the Google Privacy Policy. If you’d rather not be counted at all, Google publishes a browser opt-out add-on that blocks Analytics on every site, not just this one.
Advertising (Google AdSense and third-party vendors)
This site plans to show ads through Google AdSense.
The disclosures Google requires from publishers, in plain terms:
- Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- You can opt out of personalized advertising at any time by visiting Google’s Ads Settings.
- If you’d rather opt out of a wider set of third-party vendors, you can do that at aboutads.info, at YourAdChoices, or through the Network Advertising Initiative.
Some of these cookies are set from Google-owned advertising domains such as doubleclick.net, or country-specific Google domains, rather than from koreacrush.com. Ad vendors other than Google may also place cookies or use web beacons when their ads appear here. I don’t control which vendors those are on any given page load, and I don’t receive the data they collect.
Turning off personalized ads doesn’t remove ads. It means the ones you see stop being based on your browsing history.
Comments
If you leave a comment, WordPress stores what you wrote along with the name and email address you typed in, your IP address, and your browser’s user agent string. That’s standard WordPress behaviour and it exists mainly so spam filtering works.
Your email address is never shown publicly. Your name and your comment are.
If you have a Gravatar account, the profile image next to your comment comes from Gravatar, run by Automattic. To fetch it, an anonymized hash of your email address is sent to their service. Their privacy policy covers what happens after that.
There’s no contact form on the site, so email is the only way to reach me. If you email me, I get your message, your email address, and whatever else you chose to put in it. I keep it so I can reply, and so I can find the thread again if you write back later.
I don’t add you to any mailing list because of it, and I don’t share your address with anyone.
Server logs
The company hosting this site keeps standard access logs: IP addresses, timestamps, requested URLs, and error messages. Those exist for security and troubleshooting. I don’t use them for anything else.
Embedded content
Posts sometimes embed things from other sites, like a YouTube video or a map. Those embeds behave exactly as if you’d visited the other site directly: the provider can set its own cookies and track your interaction with the embedded content. Their privacy policies apply, not mine.
Cookies, grouped by what they’re for
| Type | What it does | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | Keeps the site working and the pages fast | This site, WordPress, the caching plugin |
| Analytics | Counts visits and measures which posts get read | Google Analytics 4 |
| Advertising | Selects and measures ads, limits how often you see the same one | Google AdSense and third-party ad vendors, once ads are running |
| Comments | Remembers your name and email so you don’t retype them | WordPress, only if you leave a comment |
You can delete cookies or block them entirely in your browser settings. Blocking everything will break some things on most websites, including this one.
Why I’m allowed to process this (for readers in the EU and UK)
Under the GDPR, processing needs a legal basis. Here’s mine:
- Consent. Analytics cookies, and advertising cookies once ads are running. You give it, and you can take it back at any time without it affecting anything that already happened.
- Legitimate interest. Basic security logging, spam filtering, and keeping the site running.
- Performing what you asked for. Publishing your comment, or replying to your email.
Your rights
If you’re in the EU, the UK, or Switzerland
Under the GDPR you can ask me to:
- Tell you what personal data I hold about you
- Correct it if it’s wrong
- Delete it
- Restrict or object to how it’s processed, including direct marketing
- Send you a copy in a portable format
- Withdraw consent you gave earlier
Email me at hellokoreacrush@gmail.com and I’ll deal with it as quickly as I can, normally within a month. Two honest caveats. I may need something to confirm you’re the person the data belongs to, and for data held by Google rather than by me, such as advertising profiles, you’ll get further faster by going through Google’s own controls linked above. You also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.
If you’re in California
Under the CCPA, as amended by the CPRA, you can ask me to tell you what categories of personal information have been collected about you, where it came from, and why. You can ask for it to be deleted, ask for a copy, and you can’t be treated worse for asking.
I don’t sell personal information for money. But under California’s broad definition, letting an ad network use cookies for cross-context behavioral advertising can count as “sharing”, so treat it as if it does and opt out if you’d rather not participate. The fastest route is Google’s Ads Settings.
To make a request, email me at hellokoreacrush@gmail.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line.
Where your data goes
I’m based in South Korea, and the services this site uses (Google, Automattic, Hostinger) run servers in several countries, including the United States. If you’re reading from the EEA or the UK, that means your data can be processed outside your country. Those providers publish their own safeguards for international transfers, including the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, and their policies are linked throughout this page.
How long things are kept
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Comments | Indefinitely, unless you ask me to delete yours |
| Emails you send me | 2 years, unless the thread is still useful |
| Google Analytics data | 14 months, the maximum Google Analytics allows |
| Server logs | Kept by Hostinger under their own retention schedule |
| Advertising and analytics cookies | Set by Google, with lifetimes described in Google’s cookie documentation |
Children
KoreaCrush is written for adults and isn’t directed at children. Under the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), I don’t knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13.
If you’re a parent or guardian and you think your child has left a comment or sent me something containing personal information, email me and I’ll delete it. Readers under 13 shouldn’t leave comments or send me email.
Security
The site runs over HTTPS, and I keep WordPress and its plugins updated. That’s genuinely useful and it’s also not a guarantee. No website can promise perfect security, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. Please don’t send me anything sensitive by email or in a comment.
Links to other sites
Posts link out constantly, to restaurants, brands, tourism sites, and shops. Once you click away, this policy stops applying and theirs starts. I have no control over what they collect.
Changes to this policy
I’ll update this page when the site changes, and the “Last updated” date at the top will change with it. If something significant changes, like adding a newsletter or a new ad network, I’ll note what changed rather than quietly editing the text.
Questions
Email hellokoreacrush@gmail.com, or use the contact page. If something here reads as evasive, tell me and I’ll rewrite it.