Stay.com Privacy Policy

Last revised March 27, 2009

Stay.com’s privacy policy states many of the various ways in which the service uses (or does not use) the information you provide to us, or that we gather from you while you use the various services of our platform(s). One of our most inherent goals is to provide you each user with information that is tailored to their individual needs, while maintaining the ultimate security and privacy of our users. Privacy and a user’s welfare are supremely important in today’s interconnected world, and to this end we are dedicated to your security.

Your use of any aspect(s) of Stay.com services constitutes your agreement to this privacy policy. So, please carefully read this policy, and if you cannot for any reason agree with the terms and conditions, please do not use our services. Of course, this policy does not apply to information collected elsewhere. In addition, we strongly suggest you review our User Agreement/TOS, as you use of Stay.com services constitutes an agreement to these terms as well.

Stay.com reserves the right to modify these agreements from time to time. The date of the most recent revisions will appear on this page. It is the responsibility of the user to keep updated on the most recent changes to these and other policies, so checking periodically is strongly suggested. For the purposes of user and Stay.com ongoing understanding, the most recent versions of these agreements are always in force.

1. Stay.com and the Information We Receive from Users

When users register at Stay.com, they supply basic information such as; the user’s name, email address, password and other basic information. Besides this general information, we also collect (at the user’s discretion) information pertaining to demographics like; gender, location, marital status, travel plans, and a variety of preferential data.

Site visitors also provide information which Stay.com gathers including; the domain they are visiting from, the type of browser they are using, bounce rates. Their IP addresses, the time of the visit and other generally public information. Users or visitors who ask questions also provide various information which Stay.com uses to resolve both their inquiries, and for our own internal resolutions.

2. How, Why and When Does Stay.com Use Your Information?

Much of the information users provide us with is used to build their “stays”, travel itineraries, profiles, and for “opt in” delivery of periodic newsletters and offers. As with most expanded Web communities, Stay also uses this information to better target content that is relevant to any particular user or groups of users.

Sharing of user information with third parties is done only where the user has agreed by specifying these, in example; friends, relatives, colleagues, and in some cases other web services like Facebook. This depends on the type and kind of access you as a user allow. Most of this information is already publicly available once you make your profile live on Stay.com. Stay.com has no control over who reads a user’s public profile, so third parties can obviously gather this information for themselves. The user should consider this when providing this information, and determine what should be readily visible to the public.

All users should also be aware, that once they publish personal information online, cached version indexed by search engines and other sites, cannot be deleted either by the user or by Stay.com. This is very important.

Also, building collective stays, and other sharing or community activity, may distribute certain information about destinations, images, plans, or other collective data to a user’s Stay.com network. A user, can at any time change their privacy settings to control who sees their shared information however.

3. Other User Information Sharing

There are other times when Stay.com may share user information, which include:

• When a an account is perceived to be a threat to the legal rights or safety of Stay.com, other users, is suspected of illegal activity, or in conjunction with law enforcement authorities (where mandated), and in order to enforce the TOS and User Agreements between Stay.com and end users.
• In cases where Stay.com may be legally or morally bound to cooperate with law enforcement or where disputes arise which can only be effectively resolved in such a way. Such instances may include; when a user is expected of fraud or other activity which may effect other users or third party organizations that user has agreed to share information with.
• When Stay.com has business transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, where the sharing of user information is out of natural course of business.
• At times when overall data with regard to user activity, numbers of users, overall travel activity for the site, or other demographic type data is needed by Stay.com. In these cases, individual user information will not be used, but the statistics derived from user activity will be taken from user account information.

In all other instances Stay.com users will be notified of any intent to use their information, and when applicable, according to the TOS and User Agreements, asked for their permission.

4. Protecting User Information

Stay.com is maintains state of the art data handling, data storage and security procedures designed to protect the personal information of users, as well as the integrity of the platform overall. The best modern encryption and other security measures are employed to safeguard against unauthorized access to the system and to the individual accounts therein.

5. User Options, Email and General "Opt In"

All users maintain the right to refuse any of Stay.com's services. Choosing to "opt out" of some features is an option, but advanced features may not be available to the casual visitor. Choosing to received email, registering, sharing or private information, and in general being a part of the Stay.com community are all choices.

Choosing to opt out of any communications from Stay.som, including updates on the system and the like, is as easy as following the instructions on these communications. The “settings” aspect of a user’s profile also contains controls for discontinuing any number of features to the Stay platform as well. It is not our intention to in any way burden our users with unsolicited communication, undesirable features, or with regard to their personal preferences. Any user can request to be removed from, or get clarification on any of our services by simply emailing support@stay.com with their request. Of course, every user has the right to discontinue their use of Stay.com at any time as well, by choosing the appropriate option in their profile “settings” interface.

6. Advertising, Cookies and User Solutions

Because of any number of optimization or experience enhancing methods for users and Web companies alike, there are some functions users should be aware of. These include, but are not limited to; the use of “cookies”, advertising metrics, and other information gathering methods.

The user should rest assured, that though Stay.com does use cookies to store various data from the user, and though some of our third part advertisers may use metrics to discern data from a user’s usage, none of this data is of a personal or sensitive nature. Rather, the data gleaned is about usage and user patterns.

With respect to cookies, and so users who do not know will understand, the term “cookies” refers to an identification message sent from a user’s computer the server on the “host” site. It basically allows our servers to recognize your computer among millions of others. Cookies just make the job of loading pages, identifying unique users and make browsing a the Web or a specific site faster.

Any user can either disable cookies in their browser, or even clear these at the end of a session to prevent their use. However, some aspects of our site may not function properly and a user may not have an optimal user experience without their use. Advertisers use cookies and other methods which are beyond the user’s or our control, but as stated, there are governed by strict rules and regulations in this regard as well.

7. Other Notes On User Information and Options

As stated in the User Agreement7TOS of Stay.com, some user-generated content actually becomes the property of Stay by nature of this agreement. Testimonials by users, information gathered from some community activities like sweepstakes and other incentive based programs, feedback received on everything from bugs in the system to opinions of service features are kept for the expressed use of Stay.com

8. Minors and the Use of Stay.com

Minor children (anyone under the age of 18) are prohibited from using Stay.com services. Stay.com does not promote the use of its services to minors, does not knowingly collect data from minors, and our services are not actually designed or implemented with minor children in mind. If Stay.com discovers that any account is actually under the control of a minor child, that account can and will be discontinued without prior notice.

9. Applicable Law

As stated in the TOS and this privacy understanding, Stay.com gathers, stores and evaluates certain kinds of information about its users. This information is used so that Stay.com can provide services to you in the most expedient, safest and most flexible ways possible. Stay.com is a Norwegian company, and all this information is transferred from user, wherever they are in the world, to our servers here in Norway. Users agree that Stay.com, under the TOS and Privacy Policy agreements, may use said information in the manner so agreed to. Norwegian law is the primary governing authority with regard to the legal issues surrounding this information. However, Stay.com, and the users thereof, are also bound under other local and International laws as has been stated in these agreements.

Privacy, and safety are major concerns to us all. It is the intent of Stay.com to protect its users safety as a primary funtion of operating this service. Of course, different jurisdictions offer different levels of protection, with separate and different remedies accordingly. It is incumbent on the user to determine their country’s policies, and also to determine whether those of Norway and the International community of law coincide. Stay.com bears no responsibility for any disparity either real or perceived.

10. Questions – Please Contact Us

We welcome any other questions you may have with regard to these privacy statements, or any other questions you may have about Stay.com or the services we provide. Please feel free to contact us via email, or postal mail ( listed here) with any inquiries.