Last updated: October 2026
This policy explains what HowIGotEngaged.com collects, why, and who else sees it. We do not sell your personal information.
What we collect when you visit
Analytics. Our analytics services, including Google Analytics, record the pages you view, roughly where you are (worked out from your IP address), your device and browser, and how you reached the site. We use this to see which pages are useful.
Advertising. Advertising tags from Google and Pinterest run on every page. They tell those companies which of our pages you visited, so we can see whether our ads lead to visits and so they can show our ads to people who have been here before. If you arrive by tapping one of our ads on TikTok, we also load the TikTok Pixel for that visit and for seven days afterwards. It tells TikTok which of our pages you viewed and whether you added a ring to the register, so we can see whether our TikTok ads work. Visitors who did not come from a TikTok ad do not load it.
Server logs. Like most websites, our server records each request: the page, the time, your IP address and your browser. We use these logs to keep the site running and secure.
Content from other services. Some pages load material from other companies, and your browser contacts them directly when it does: fonts and site code from content delivery services, the Pinterest Save button on articles and guides, and YouTube's player on video stories.
What you give us
Engagement stories. Your names, your email address, your story and any photos. Published stories are public. We never publish your email address. We remove the location and camera details a phone attaches to a photo.
The ring register. A photo of your ring and, if you choose, your first name, city, story, the ring's maker, the photographer, your email address and your Instagram, TikTok or X handles. Your handles appear on your entry as links. Your email address is never shown: we use it to tell you when your entry is up. By adding a ring you let us show it on the register and post it on our own social accounts. We remove the location and camera details a phone attaches to a photo.
Vendor listings and claims. Business details and a contact email when you list a business or claim a listing.
Messages and accounts. Whatever you send through our contact forms. If you create an account, a username, an email address and a securely hashed password. If you sign in with Google instead, the name and email address Google shares with us.
How we use it
To publish what you have chosen to share, respond to messages and requests, send transactional emails such as password resets and notes that your entry is live, keep spam out, and understand and improve the site. We do not sell or rent personal information to anyone.
Services we use
We work with service providers for analytics, advertising, spam prevention, sign-in, video, hosting, email delivery, and fonts and site code. The ones whose tools collect information on this site include:
- Google: Analytics, Google Ads, reCAPTCHA, Google sign-in and YouTube
- TikTok: the TikTok Pixel, for visitors from our TikTok ads only
- Pinterest: the Pinterest tag and the Save button
- Amazon Web Services: hosting and email
Each is governed by its own provider's privacy policy.
Cookies and similar storage
Our analytics and advertising tools set cookies to tell visits apart and to recognise people who have visited before. If you came from a TikTok ad, the TikTok Pixel sets a cookie on this site to connect your visit to the ad, and we keep a note in your browser's local storage of when you arrived, so the pixel loads for seven days. YouTube may set cookies when a video story loads its player. If you log in or submit a form, we set a session cookie. You can block or clear cookies in your browser settings, and opt out of Google Analytics with Google's opt-out tool.
How long we keep it
Published stories, register entries and listings stay up until you ask us to remove them. Messages and server logs are kept only as long as we need them to run the site.
Children's privacy
This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
Your rights
To see, correct or delete information you have given us, including removing a published story or ring entry, email admin@howigotengaged.com.
Changes to this policy
We update this policy as the site changes. The date at the top shows when it last changed.