Keep a little mystery in your trip planning: flip this switch on and Explorer Picture Mode shows a stylized version of every place instead of the real photo, so you can go by the description and reviews first and picture it your own way -- turn it off again any time, or reveal the real photo for just one place at a time from its own page.

Create a free account to pick your own style (Vintage, Oil Painting, Illustration, and more) and have it remembered next time you visit.

Privacy Policy

Last updated July 20, 2026.

This policy explains what personal information Goparoo collects, why, and what rights you have over it. It applies to goparoo.com and is written to describe what this site actually does, not generic boilerplate.

Who is responsible for your information

Goparoo's operator is responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us with any privacy question, correction, or deletion request through our Contact page.

What we collect

  • Account information: when you sign up, we collect your email address and, if you choose to provide them, a first and last name. We use a one-time emailed code instead of a password, so we never store a password.
  • Contact form submissions: your name, email address, and message when you send us something through the Contact page.
  • Content contributions: if your account has editing access, we record which account proposed or published a change to a page, and when, as part of reviewing and moderating contributions.
  • Basic technical data: we log IP addresses briefly for anti-spam rate-limiting on forms (e.g. the contact form and sign-in code requests). This is used for abuse prevention, not tracking.

We do not run any advertising network or ad-serving cookies on this site. Your browser stores whether Explorer Picture Mode is on or off entirely on your own device — it is never sent to us. If you're signed in and choose a picture filter (Vintage, Oil Painting, Black & White, or Vintage Black & White) on your account page, that choice is stored with your account so it follows you between devices.

Cookies and analytics

This site sets a first-party session cookie that keeps you signed in; it carries no advertising or tracking payload.

We run our own self-hosted pageview analytics — we do not use Google Analytics or any other third-party analytics service, and nothing here sets a cookie or stores anything on your device. For each page view we record the page, the referring site (if any), and your approximate location (country, and city where our offline location database can resolve one — many IP addresses, especially outside the US/EU, only resolve to a country; cities are only shown in our internal reporting once enough visits accumulate, so a single rarely-visited city can't single out an individual visitor). All of this is resolved from your IP address at the time — the IP address itself is never stored. We also keep a one-way, irreversible hash of your IP address and browser that changes every day, used only to approximate how many distinct visitors we get; it can't be used to identify you or track you across days.

How we use it

  • To sign you in and keep your account secure (the emailed one-time code).
  • To respond to messages sent through the Contact page.
  • To attribute and review content contributions before they're published, and to maintain a record of who changed what.
  • To detect and prevent abuse, spam, and unauthorized access.
  • To understand overall site traffic and engagement through our own self-hosted analytics, as described above.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.

Who we share it with

We use a third-party email provider (SMTP2GO) solely to deliver sign-in codes and contact form notifications, and a hosting provider to run the site; site-usage analytics are handled entirely by our own self-hosted system, described above, not a third party. These providers process data on our behalf — we don't share your information with anyone else, except where required by law.

Where your information is processed

Goparoo is operated from Quebec, Canada, but our hosting and email-delivery providers may process and store data outside Quebec and Canada, including in the United States. By using this site, you acknowledge that your personal information may be transferred to and processed in jurisdictions with data protection laws that may differ from those of your own.

How long we keep it

We keep account information for as long as your account exists. Contact form messages are kept only as long as needed to address your request. You can ask us to delete your account and associated personal information at any time through the Contact page.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, request that we correct it, withdraw consent for its collection going forward, or request its deletion. To exercise any of these, contact us through the Contact page. If you're not satisfied with our response, residents of Quebec can contact the Commission d'accès à l'information.

Children's privacy

Goparoo is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

Security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect your information, but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the date at the top of this page.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your personal information? Reach us through the Contact page.