Your information, clearly handled.
Submissions and private review
Applications, project submissions and contact messages are stored for owner review. Application contact emails and supporting review documents are private. Approved company contact details, credentials and published project material are public. Project photos become publicly accessible only after an owner publishes them.
The publication’s owner handles reader messages and requests about personal information. The contact form stores your name, email address, selected topic, message, and any page link you include. The owner may add private handling notes and a status. These details are used to review and answer the request; they are not published with a story.
Contact records remain in private storage until removed by the owner. To request access, correction, or removal, use the privacy contact form or write to privacy@backyardsmagazine.com. Include your message reference or the relevant page link when available. We may ask for enough information to locate the record and confirm that the request concerns your information. Do not send passwords or identity documents through the form.
Memberships and Readers’ Choice
Membership accounts retain application details, payment references, article balances and submitted manuscripts. Card details are handled by the payment provider when online checkout is enabled. Story material may be sent to our editorial drafting provider when that service is enabled; private application documents and payment credentials are excluded. The editor reviews every story before publication.
Readers’ Choice uses your signed-in account to prevent repeat votes within a category and region. Private account and network fingerprints support duplicate and abuse checks. Nominee contact addresses and individual votes are not published. Taking part does not subscribe you to marketing. Aggregate reading measurement remains optional.
Saved ideas
Your saved story identifiers, collection names, and personal notes stay in this browser’s local storage. No account is created. Your shortlist is not sent to Backyards unless you explicitly create a shared copy. Removing an idea removes it from the shortlist; clearing this site’s browser data removes the whole shortlist.
Shared collections and planning worksheets
Creating a shared copy stores its title, selected stories, and any notes you explicitly include. Anyone with the unlisted reading link can view it. A separate private editing link allows updates and deletion; keep it confidential. Shared collections are excluded from search indexing. Planning worksheets stay in local browser storage and are shared only when you print or export them yourself.
Email and message confirmations
The contact form confirms receipt on screen and provides a message reference. It does not send an automatic email receipt. If a reply is needed, the owner uses your supplied email address. Messages sent directly by email are handled through the publication’s email service. Sending a message does not subscribe you to marketing emails.
Older unsent delivery records, where present, remain private for administrative review. New contact-form messages do not enter that email queue. This site does not use advertising trackers.
Help us understand what is useful.
Optional measurement counts page reads and actions without sending your name, email, notes, search terms, or a visitor identifier. It is off until you opt in.
Photography and sources
Our editorial photography is credited to its photographer. Licensed reference photographs illustrate ideas in our guides; they are not presented as the work of a featured contractor. Project notes link to the originating firm’s portfolio and photographs.
View the photography credits and licenses ↗