Privacy Policy

Overview

SiftStay Premier ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your data.

The short version: We collect very little. SiftStay is a static website that does not require user accounts and does not collect personal information. We use Google Analytics to understand aggregate traffic patterns and an optional travel quiz that stores your preferences on your own device.

Information We Collect

Information We Do NOT Collect

• Personal identification (name, address, phone)
• Email addresses
• Payment information (handled by affiliate partners)
• Location data
• Browsing history or tracking data

Information Automatically Collected

Our hosting provider (Cloudflare) automatically collects standard server logs which may include:

• IP address (anonymized/aggregated for analytics)
• Browser type and version
• Pages visited and time of visit
• Referring website

This data is used solely for security purposes and aggregate analytics. We do not use this data to identify individual users.

Travel Style Quiz

SiftStay offers an optional travel style quiz that personalizes property recommendations based on your preferences. Here is exactly what happens when you take the quiz:

• Stored on your device only: Your quiz answers (e.g., "Me and my partner", "A pool", "Close to the beach") are saved in your browser's localStorage. This data never leaves your device and is never sent to our servers.
• Anonymous analytics: We send the quiz question and answer label (e.g., question: "priorities", answer: "A pool") to Google Analytics as anonymous events. These events contain no personal information -- they help us understand what travelers care about in aggregate so we can improve the site.
• No account required: The quiz does not ask for or store your name, email, or any personal information.
• You control it: You can clear your quiz preferences at any time using the "Clear Preferences" button on any city page, or by clearing your browser's localStorage. There is nothing to delete on our end because we never had it.

Cookies

SiftStay does not use advertising cookies. The following cookies may be set:

• Cloudflare: Strictly necessary cookies for security purposes (e.g., DDoS protection). These do not track browsing behavior.
• Google Analytics: First-party measurement cookies used to distinguish unique visitors and sessions. These cookies do not identify you personally. You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Local Storage

If you take the travel style quiz, your preferences are stored in your browser's localStorage (not cookies). This data remains entirely on your device, is never transmitted to us, and persists until you clear it via the "Clear Preferences" button or your browser settings. The keys used are:

• siftstay_preferences -- your weighted travel preferences
• siftstay_quiz_taken -- whether you have completed the quiz
• siftstay_profile_notes -- readable labels of your selections
• siftstay_profile_debug -- your full answer history (for your reference)

Third-Party Services

Hosting (Cloudflare)

Our website is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. Cloudflare processes data in accordance with their Privacy Policy and maintains GDPR compliance through a Data Processing Agreement.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors interact with our site in aggregate -- which pages are visited, how long sessions last, and which channels drive traffic. Google Analytics collects data such as your IP address (which Google anonymizes), browser type, device type, pages visited, and referring site. This data is processed by Google in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy. We do not use Google Analytics data to identify individual users or build advertising profiles.

In addition to standard page analytics, we send the following custom events to Google Analytics:

• Quiz events: When you take the travel quiz, we record which answers you select (e.g., "A pool", "Close to the beach") as anonymous events. These contain no personal identifiers.
• Click events: When you click a booking link, website link, or map link on a listing card, we record the listing name and page path. This helps us understand which properties are most useful to visitors.
• Navigation events: We record anonymous clicks from blog posts to city pages, from city pages to collection pages, and from collection pages back into related navigation. These events include page paths and destination URLs so we can understand which site paths actually help visitors move toward a booking decision.
• Search events: When you open site search, run a hotel search, or click a search result, we record anonymous search interaction data such as query length, result count, and the selected hotel name. We do not use this to identify you personally.

Google Maps Platform

SiftStay uses the Google Maps Platform to assist in property discovery and scoring. Our use of Google Maps Platform services is subject to the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy. We do not store raw data from Google's services. Property scores shown on SiftStay are our own proprietary analysis.

Affiliate Partners

When you click an affiliate link and visit a third-party site (such as Booking.com or Amazon), that site's privacy policy applies. Booking.com affiliate tracking is managed by Awin. We recommend reviewing their privacy policies before making purchases.

We do not receive any personal information about you from our affiliate partners — only aggregate commission data.

Your Rights (GDPR/CCPA)

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights:

• Right to Access: Request what data we have about you
• Right to Deletion: Request deletion of your data
• Right to Portability: Request your data in a portable format
• Right to Object: Object to processing of your data

Since we do not collect personal data, these requests would typically result in confirmation that we hold no data about you.

Data Retention

Server logs are retained by Cloudflare according to their standard retention policies (typically 72 hours to 30 days depending on the log type). Google Analytics data is retained according to our GA4 configuration (default: 14 months). Quiz preferences stored in your browser's localStorage persist until you clear them -- we have no ability to access or delete this data because it never leaves your device. We do not maintain any additional data stores containing personal information.

Children's Privacy

SiftStay is not directed at children under 13 (or 16 in the EU). We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact

For privacy-related inquiries, please contact us at: [email protected]