Privacy policy

Last updated: 23 August 2026

Staysider publishes independent travel guides at staysider.com (the "Site"). This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect when you read the Site, subscribe to our newsletter, comment on a guide or contact us, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Staysider does not sell products and does not take payments. There is no shop, no cart and no checkout here, so we never collect payment card details, billing or shipping addresses, or order history. The Site is hosted on Shopify, which is why Shopify is described below.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the Site you acknowledge that you have read and understood it.

Information You Give Us

  • Newsletter subscriptions. Your email address, and the regions you tick if you choose any. Choosing regions is optional and nothing is selected for you.
  • Comments on guides. The name, email address and comment you submit. Comments are moderated before they appear. Your name and your comment become publicly visible; your email address does not.
  • Messages you send us. The name, email address, phone number if you provide one, and the message you send through our contact form or by email.

Information Collected Automatically

  • Device and connection information including your IP address, browser type, operating system and device identifiers.
  • Usage information including the pages you view, the site you arrived from, the search terms you enter on the Site, and the date and time of your visit.

This information is collected through server logs, cookies and similar technologies when you visit the Site.

How We Use Your Information

  • To send you the newsletter you asked for, covering the regions you selected where you selected any.
  • To publish and moderate comments, including checking submissions for spam and abuse.
  • To reply to you when you contact us.
  • To operate and improve the Site, including understanding which guides are read, diagnosing technical problems and keeping the Site secure.
  • To comply with the law or respond to valid legal process.

We do not use your email address for anything other than the newsletter you subscribed to and replies to messages you send us.

Cookies

Cookies are small files stored on your device. The Site uses them to keep it working correctly, to remember preferences, and to understand in aggregate how the Site is used. Shopify sets some cookies as part of hosting the Site. Most browsers let you refuse or delete cookies; the guides remain readable if you do, though some parts of the Site may not behave as intended.

Links to Other Websites

Our guides link to websites we do not control, including travel providers, booking platforms, transport operators and other services. When you follow one of those links you leave the Site. The website you arrive at may receive your IP address and device information, set its own cookies, and record that you arrived from Staysider — some of our outgoing links carry a parameter or cookie that identifies us as the referring site, which is how those companies recognise readers we send them.

We do not control those websites and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them. Their own privacy policies govern what they collect and how they use it, and we encourage you to read them. Including a link is not an endorsement of a third party's privacy practices.

How We Share Your Information

  • Shopify, which hosts the Site and stores newsletter subscriptions, comments and messages on our behalf. Information you submit is transmitted to and processed by Shopify, which may process it in countries other than the one you live in. To learn more, see the Shopify Consumer Privacy Policy, and the Shopify Privacy Portal for rights you may have over data Shopify processes.
  • Service providers we engage to send email, analyse Site usage or provide technical support, who process personal information on our behalf and under our instructions.
  • Legal and safety reasons, including to comply with applicable law, respond to valid legal process, enforce our terms, or protect our rights and the rights and safety of others.
  • A business transfer, such as a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case we will take steps to see that your information continues to be protected.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to direct us not to share information about you for targeted advertising. You can exercise that choice on our Your Privacy Choices page.

Children

The Site is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of majority in your jurisdiction. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has given us personal information, contact us using the details below and we will delete it.

Security and Retention

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information, but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please do not send sensitive or confidential information to us by email.

We keep newsletter subscriptions until you unsubscribe, plus a short period afterwards so that we can honour your unsubscribe request. Published comments remain until you ask us to remove them or we remove the guide. Messages you send us are kept as long as needed to deal with your enquiry and to keep a record of our correspondence.

Your Rights and Choices

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights. These rights are not absolute and may apply only in certain circumstances.

  • Unsubscribe at any time. Every newsletter email carries an unsubscribe link and it takes one click. You can also email us and we will remove you.
  • Access. Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
  • Deletion. Request that we delete personal information we hold about you, including your comments.
  • Correction. Request that we correct inaccurate personal information.
  • Portability. Request a copy of your information in a portable format, or that we transfer it to a third party, in certain circumstances.
  • Opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your personal information for targeted advertising, as those terms are defined in applicable privacy laws. You can do so on our Your Privacy Choices page. If you visit the Site with the Global Privacy Control signal enabled, we will treat that as an opt-out request for that browser and device.

If you are in the UK or the European Economic Area, and subject to limitations under local law, you may also:

  • Object to or restrict processing of your personal information for certain purposes.
  • Withdraw consent where we rely on it — for example, by unsubscribing from the newsletter. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew it.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request, and we will respond within the time required by applicable law. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about how we handle your personal information, please contact us first at admin@staysider.com. Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority. A list of the EEA supervisory authorities is available here.

International Transfers

We may transfer, store and process your personal information outside the country you live in, including in the United States where Shopify's infrastructure operates. Where we transfer personal information out of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we rely on recognised transfer mechanisms such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or their UK equivalent, unless the destination country has been found to provide an adequate level of protection.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to how we work or for legal or regulatory reasons. We will post the revised policy on this page and update the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to exercise any of your rights, email us at admin@staysider.com, or write to us at Staysider, 20 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001, United States.

For the purposes of applicable data protection law, Staysider is the controller of your personal information.