Who we are
Our website address is: https://hostagenation.com.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Who we share your data with
If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where your data is sent
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.Privacy Policy
Last updated: 21 September 2026
Who we are
Our website address is https://hostagenation.com. Hostage Nation is published by Jamie Driscoll, the “data controller”. If you have any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at privacy@hostagenation.com.
Newsletter and email updates
When you sign up to our newsletter, we collect your email address. We use it only to send you updates about Hostage Nation.
Our lawful basis for processing this data is your consent. You give that consent by ticking the box on the signup form and confirming your subscription through the email we send you. You can withdraw it at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send, or by contacting us at [privacy@hostagenation.com].
We use Mailchimp to manage our mailing list and send emails. Your email address is stored and processed by Mailchimp on our behalf. Mailchimp is operated by Intuit Inc., based in the United States, so your data is transferred outside the UK. This transfer is covered by Mailchimp’s data processing terms and the safeguards they put in place for international transfers. You can read Mailchimp’s privacy policy at https://www.intuit.com/privacy/statement/.
We keep your email address on our list until you unsubscribe.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string, to help with spam detection.
An anonymised string created from your email address (a hash) may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you use it. You can read the Gravatar privacy policy at https://automattic.com/privacy/. Once your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible to the public alongside it.
Media
If you upload images to the website, avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the site can download and extract location data from any images on it.
Cookies
If you leave a comment, you can opt in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies, so you do not have to re-enter them next time. These last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check whether your browser accepts cookies. It contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we set cookies to save your login details and display choices. Login cookies last two days and display cookies last a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login persists for two weeks. Logging out removes the login cookies.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie is saved. It holds no personal data, just the ID of the post you edited, and expires after a day.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles may include embedded content such as videos, images or posts. Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if you had visited that website. Those sites may collect data about you, set cookies, embed third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with the embedded content, including if you are logged in to them.
How long we keep your data
Newsletter subscribers: we keep your email address until you unsubscribe.
Comments: comments and their metadata are kept indefinitely, so we can recognise and approve follow-up comments automatically rather than holding them for moderation.
Registered users: we store the information provided in the user profile. Users can view, edit or delete their profile information at any time, except their username. Administrators can also see and edit it.
What rights you have over your data
You can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to correct or erase it. To do this, contact us at [privacy@hostagenation.com]. This does not include data we are required to keep for administrative, legal or security reasons.
If you are on our mailing list, you can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator, at https://ico.org.uk.
Where your data is sent
Newsletter data is processed by Mailchimp in the United States, as described above. Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.