Privacy policy

Effective September 14, 2026 · Updated September 21, 2026

Stepstay helps you pick a hotel by what is nearby. This page says what the app collects, why, and what it never does. It is written to be read, not skimmed past.

What we collect, and why

• Searches you run (the place, dates, categories, walk budget, brands). Used to show results, to rerun past trips, and to fit the score to how you travel.
• Hotels you save and places you tap. Used to sync across your devices and to fit the score to you.
• One-tap answers after a trip ("Did you stay at X?"). Used only to improve your own recommendations.
• Account details when you sign in: email, and name if you share it through Sign in with Apple. Used to sign you in and sync your data. Signing in is optional; free search works without an account.
• Travel profile you choose to fill in: how often you travel, work or leisure, loyalty programs, how you book, home city, company size. All optional. Used to preselect presets and filters.
• Location, only while the app is open and only if you allow it: to search near where you are, and, when you open the app at a hotel it showed you, to offer tonight's picks. Stepstay never tracks location in the background and never stores a location history.
• Calendar events, only if you allow it and only events with a street address, read on the device to start a search from a meeting. Nothing from your calendar is uploaded or stored.
• Booking clicks: which hotel you tapped Book on. Used to understand what the app is good at and, later, to credit affiliate commissions.

What we do not do

• We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with data brokers or advertisers.
• We do not read your email, your messages, or your calendar beyond the event you pick.
• We do not track you across other apps or websites, and we do not use advertising identifiers.

Who else sees data

To do its job the app sends requests to service providers, each under their own privacy terms:

• Supabase hosts your account and synced data (United States).
• OpenStreetMap and public Overpass mirrors supply map places, requested by area, not by user.
• Foursquare supplies ratings, hours, and photos for places, requested by area, not by user.
• Nuitee (LiteAPI) supplies hotel photos, facilities, reviews, and rates, requested by area and dates.
• Valhalla (FOSSGIS) computes walking and driving times from coordinates.
• Anthropic parses invite text you paste, only when you use that button; the text is not used to train models.
• Apple handles Sign in with Apple and, if you use them, Apple Maps links.

Your choices

• Turn off learning in Settings under "Fit the score to you", and reset what it learned any time.
• Delete your account in Settings. This removes your profile, searches, saved hotels, and everything the app learned, immediately and permanently.
• Location and calendar access can be revoked in iOS Settings at any time.

Retention

Account data stays until you delete the account. Cached place and hotel data is shared, not personal, and expires on its own within 30 days.

This website

stepstay.co sets no cookies and runs no analytics or advertising scripts. It is hosted by Vercel, whose servers keep ordinary access logs (IP address, browser, pages requested) for a short time to run and secure the site. Links to the App Store and to hotel booking pages take you to those companies, under their own privacy terms.

Affiliate links

Some booking links in the app are affiliate links. When you book through one, the hotel or its booking partner may pay Stepstay a commission. What is shared with them is the fact that a booking came from Stepstay, never your name, email, or search history.

Children

Stepstay is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect their data.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes in a way that matters, the app will tell you. Questions: support@santosandhalp.com.