Privacy Policy & Cookie Policy

1. Introduction

Stay for the View ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website.

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws. By using our website, you consent to the data practices described in this policy.

2. Analytics Tools & Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience and analyze website traffic. We partner with the following third-party services:

Analytics Services:

• Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC) - We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our website. This includes page views, clicks, navigation patterns, and demographic information.
• Google Tag Manager (Google LLC) - We use Google Tag Manager to manage tracking tags and scripts on our website.
• Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Corporation) - We use Microsoft Clarity to record user sessions (anonymized), heatmaps, and user behavior patterns to improve website usability.

Cookie Consent:

We use Cookiebot to manage your cookie preferences. When you first visit our site, you'll see a cookie consent banner. You can choose to:

• Accept all cookies (statistics and functional cookies)
• Reject non-essential cookies (only necessary cookies)
• Customize your preferences by cookie category

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking the cookie icon in the bottom corner of our website.

Cookie Categories:

• Necessary Cookies: Essential for website functionality (e.g., session management, security). These cannot be disabled.
• Statistics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors use our website (Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity). These require your consent.
• Marketing Cookies: We currently do not use marketing or advertising cookies.

3. Data We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

Automatically Collected Information:

• Page views: Which pages you visit on our website
• Hotel interactions: Which hotels you view, how long you view them, and which booking links you click
• Filter preferences: Search filters you apply (view score, distance, price, modifiers)
• Device information: Browser type, device type (mobile/desktop), screen resolution
• IP address: Anonymized by Google Analytics (last octet removed)
• Referrer URL: The website you came from (if applicable)
• UTM parameters: Marketing campaign tracking parameters (if present in URL)
• Session recordings: Anonymized recordings of your browsing session (via Microsoft Clarity)

Affiliate Click Data:

When you click on hotel booking links, we track the following information to measure our affiliate program performance:

• Hotel name, view quality score, and distance to landmark
• Booking platform (e.g., Booking.com, TripAdvisor)
• Applied filters and sort preferences at time of click
• Estimated booking value (for internal analytics only)

Important: We do not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) such as names, email addresses, credit card numbers, or booking details. Booking transactions occur directly on the hotel booking platforms (e.g., Booking.com), and we have no access to your personal or payment information.

We Do NOT Collect:

• Personal names, email addresses, or phone numbers
• Credit card or payment information
• Precise geolocation data (GPS coordinates)
• Login credentials or account information

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the collected data for the following purposes:

• Website Analytics: Understand which hotels and features are most popular
• User Experience Improvement: Identify usability issues and optimize our interface
• Performance Monitoring: Measure page load times and website speed
• Affiliate Revenue Tracking: Measure which hotels generate the most clicks and bookings
• Content Strategy: Determine which destinations and content types are most valuable to users

We do NOT:

• Sell your data to third parties
• Use your data for targeted advertising (we don't run ads)
• Share your data with marketing companies or data brokers
• Track you across other websites (no cross-site tracking)

5. Data Retention

We retain analytics data for the following periods:

• Google Analytics 4: 14 months (configurable, set to GDPR-compliant level)
• Microsoft Clarity: 30 days for session recordings
• Google Tag Manager: No data storage (only a management tool)

After these retention periods, data is automatically deleted or anonymized so that it can no longer be associated with individual users.

6. Third-Party Data Sharing

We share data with the following third-party processors under Data Processing Agreements (DPAs):

• Google LLC: Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager (DPA: Google Ads Data Processing Terms)
• Microsoft Corporation: Microsoft Clarity (DPA: Microsoft DPA)
• Affiliate Platforms: When you click a booking link, you are redirected to the hotel's booking platform (e.g., Booking.com, TripAdvisor). These platforms may set their own cookies and track your activity according to their own privacy policies. We have no control over or responsibility for their data practices.

International Data Transfers: Google and Microsoft are U.S.-based companies. Data transfers to the U.S. are governed by the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as required by GDPR.

7. Your GDPR Rights (EU Visitors)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the following rights under GDPR:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Right to Rectification: Request corrections to inaccurate data
• Right to Erasure ("Right to Be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your data
• Right to Restriction: Request that we limit how we use your data
• Right to Data Portability: Request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to Object: Object to our processing of your data
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your cookie consent at any time (via Cookiebot banner)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at: info@stayfortheview.com

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we have not handled your data appropriately.

8. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. This includes:

• HTTPS encryption for all website traffic
• Regular security audits and updates
• Access controls for analytics dashboards
• IP anonymization in Google Analytics

However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children's Privacy

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: info@stayfortheview.com
Website: Stay for the View

12. Cookie Policy Details

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser. They allow websites to remember your preferences and track your activity.

Types of Cookies We Use:

How to Manage Cookies:

You can control cookies in several ways:

• Cookiebot Banner: Use our cookie consent banner to accept, reject, or customize cookies
• Browser Settings: Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies via settings. However, this may affect website functionality.
• Google Analytics Opt-Out: Install the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on