Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
Welcome to Somehow Dad.
This is a personal blog about foster care, parenting, caregiving, and the messy bits in between. I take privacy seriously, particularly when it comes to children and other vulnerable people.
This policy explains what information this website may collect, why it is collected, and how it is handled.
Children’s Privacy
This is particularly important to me.
Although Somehow Dad is a blog about my experiences as a foster Dad, it is not a place for me to share private information about the children involved.
I will not intentionally publish identifying information about children in my care, including their full name, address, school, personal history, medical information, family circumstances, or details that could reasonably identify them.
The experiences I write about are mine to share. A child’s personal history is theirs, and I will treat it that way.
I also don’t use this website to knowingly collect personal information directly from children.
If you believe that something published on this website could identify or unnecessarily expose a child, please contact me at [email protected] so I can look into it.
Who operates this website?
Somehow Dad is a personal blog operated by the person behind the website.
If you need to contact me about privacy or how your information is handled, you can email:
Information I collect automatically
When you visit the website, some technical information may be collected automatically. This can include things such as:
- Your IP address
- Browser and device type
- Operating system
- Approximate location
- Pages you visit
- Links or buttons you interact with
- The website or page you came from
- Date and time of your visit
- Other technical information about your browser or device
This information is generally used to understand how people use the website, keep the website secure, and identify technical problems.
Information you choose to provide
If you contact me through the website or by email, you may provide information such as your name, email address and whatever information you include in your message.
Please don’t send sensitive personal information through the website unless it is genuinely necessary. In particular, please don’t send identifying information about children involved in foster care.
I don’t need to know a child’s name, address, school, case details or personal history to have a conversation with you.
Google Analytics
Somehow Dad uses Google Analytics to understand how people use the website.
Google Analytics may collect information such as:
- Pages viewed
- How long you spend on the website
- General information about your device and browser
- Approximate geographic location
- How you arrived at the website
- A pseudonymous identifier used to distinguish visits
This helps me understand things like which articles people find useful and whether the website is actually being visited by anyone other than me obsessively checking it.
I do not intentionally send personally identifying information to Google Analytics.
Google may process information collected through Analytics in accordance with its own privacy policies and terms. You can find more information about Google’s privacy practices on Google’s website.
Cookies
Somehow Dad may use cookies and similar technologies.
These can include cookies that are necessary for the website to function and cookies used by Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the website.
You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect how some websites function.
How I use information
Personal information collected through this website may be used for reasonable purposes connected with why it was provided or collected, including:
- Responding to enquiries
- Understanding how people use the website
- Improving the website and its content
- Maintaining website security
- Troubleshooting technical issues
- Meeting legal obligations where applicable
I don’t sell or rent personal information to other people.
I also don’t use information submitted through the website for unrelated marketing purposes.
Who may receive information?
Depending on how you interact with the website, information may be processed by service providers that help operate and secure it.
These may include:
- Website hosting and infrastructure providers
- Cloudflare, which is used for website security and performance
- Google, through Google Analytics
- Email providers used to receive and respond to messages
- Other technical service providers necessary to operate the website
Some of these providers may process information outside New Zealand. Where this happens, I will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is handled in accordance with applicable New Zealand privacy requirements.
Keeping information secure
I take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure or alteration.
That includes using appropriate website security measures and limiting access to information where practical.
However, no website or internet transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
How long I keep information
I only keep personal information for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or where I am required to retain it for another reason.
Information held by third-party services, such as Google Analytics, may be retained according to the settings and retention policies of those services.
Your privacy rights
Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, you generally have the right to request access to personal information I hold about you and to ask for incorrect information to be corrected.
If you’d like to make a privacy request, contact me at:
I may need to verify your identity before providing or changing personal information.
External links
Somehow Dad may contain links to other websites.
Once you leave this website, those websites have their own privacy practices and policies. I am not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites.
Changes to this policy
I may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, particularly if the website’s functionality or the information it collects changes.
The date at the top of this policy will be updated when changes are made.