Your choices

Privacy and analytics

We use website analytics to improve Wingnut. You can turn it off at any time.

Last updated: 13 October 2026.

Website analytics and your choice

Wingnut uses Google Analytics to understand visits, which experiences people view, filter choices and clicks to operator websites. This helps us improve the catalogue and decide which useful content to create. Analytics starts automatically unless you have turned it off in this browser. We show a notice explaining this when you visit; dismissing the notice is not recorded as consent.

For visitors Google identifies as being in Australia, analytics cookies are enabled by default. Outside Australia, our default setting asks Google not to read or write analytics cookies. Google may still receive limited cookieless measurement signals, including page and event information, consent settings and technical request information. Cookieless measurement does not mean no information is sent to Google. You can explicitly enable analytics cookies through Analytics settings, or turn all Wingnut analytics off.

Choosing “Turn off analytics” stops our Google Analytics collection in this browser. A saved opt-out, including a rejection made under our earlier policy, prevents the Google tag from loading on later visits until the choice expires or you change it. Turning analytics off does not stop you browsing or visiting operators. We do not use analytics for advertising personalisation, session recordings or Google Signals.

Information measured

Analytics can include page views, approximate location, device and browser information, referral website, approved campaign labels, experience and operator identifiers, filter result counts and operator link clicks. Google receives your IP address when your browser connects to its service. For visitors outside the EU, Switzerland and UK, Google uses IP addresses for functions such as spam detection and approximate location, then discards the raw addresses. Wingnut has no linked Google Ads account.

Our tracking removes page query strings and filter fragments, except campaign labels we have explicitly approved. It sends only the origin of a referring website. We do not send names, email addresses, contact form text or raw error messages. A click to an operator is a referral, not evidence of a booking or purchase.

Cookies and your saved choice

Where analytics cookies are enabled, Google Analytics uses first-party cookies such as _ga and _ga_… to distinguish browsers and sessions. We set an expiry of up to 180 days without extending it on every visit. Your browser may apply shorter limits. Advertising cookie storage is disabled in our Google tag settings.

We store an explicit enable or opt-out choice in this browser’s local storage for up to 180 days. We separately remember when you dismiss the notice for up to 180 days. Dismissing it does not enable cookies in regions where they are off by default.

You can change your choice below or in any page’s footer. Turning analytics off stops new measurement, clears accessible Google Analytics cookies for this site and reloads the page to unload the Google tag. It does not remove data already sent. Choices apply to this browser, not all your devices. When a choice expires, or you clear browser storage or use another browser, the regional defaults apply again. You can also use your browser’s cookie and tracking controls.

Google, retention and access

Google processes analytics data on its systems, which may be outside Australia. We limit access to authorised people who maintain Wingnut. Event and user-level analytics retention is set to 14 months for year-on-year analysis; aggregated reports can remain available longer.

Read how Google uses information from websites, Google’s use of IP addresses outside the EU, Switzerland and UK, and its regional privacy information.

Hosting and external operators

Our hosting provider, Micron21, may process technical access and security logs needed to deliver and protect the site, regardless of your optional analytics choice. Operator websites have their own privacy practices. When you follow an operator link, you leave Wingnut and book directly with that operator.

Contact

For questions about Wingnut’s analytics, privacy or requests concerning your data: privacy@thewingnut.com.au

If you email us, we use the information you provide to respond and handle your request. Our privacy address forwards to the site owner’s Gmail inbox, so Micron21 and Google process that correspondence. Please avoid sending sensitive information unless it is needed for your request.