Privacy policy
This policy explains what we collect when you use our website, enquire, stay in one of our homes or work with us, why we need it, who sees it, how long we keep it and the choices you have.
The short version
- We collect what you choose to send us, plus a little about how the website is used.
- We use it to reply to you, to look after your stay or your home, and to meet our legal duties.
- Analytics and advertising tools only load if you choose Accept cookies. Choose Essential only and they never load.
- We only send our newsletter to people who ask for it, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
- We never sell your information.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete what we hold. Email info@staysin.co.uk.
Who we are
Stays In is the trading name of Select Letting Solution Ltd, a company registered in Scotland (company number SC779546). Our registered office is C/O H Baker Accountant Limited, Gyleview House, 3 Redheughs Rigg, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH12 9DQ. We manage short-term let homes in Edinburgh and East Lothian.
We are the controller of the personal information described here. That means we decide how it is used and we are responsible for looking after it.
For anything about your information, email info@staysin.co.uk and put "Privacy" in the subject line. We don't have an office open to the public, so email is the best way to reach us.
What we collect when you use the website
Each form asks only for what we need to answer it. Every form also records the page you sent it from and the date and time, so we know what you were looking at.
Booking a call
Your name, mobile number, email, the postcode of the home, the best time to call, what the call is about and anything else you choose to tell us.
The contact form
Whether you are a guest, owner, neighbour or partner, your name, email, your message, and your phone number if you add it.
A free listing review
Your listing link, your name, your email, what you would most like help with and anything else you add. We then read your public listing, its photos and its public reviews, as any guest could.
Stay enquiries
Our stay pages for company stays, contractors, insurance claims, Fringe performers, visiting professionals, graduations, golf trips and Murrayfield all use the same short form. It asks who is coming, your name, your email, your dates, the number of guests, your message, and your phone number if you add it.
If you book for a company or an insurance claim, you may also give us the company name, a claim reference or a purchase order number so we can invoice correctly. If you are booking for someone else, such as a household moved out of their home, please only share what we need to find the right home, and let them know you have shared it. Please don't send health details unless they matter for the stay, for example step-free access.
Free guides
Before a guide downloads, we ask for your name and email, and we note which guide you chose. There is a box to join our monthly newsletter. We only add you to the newsletter if that box is ticked when you send the form.
The free plan questionnaire
Our four-question form for owners asks for the postcode and size of the home, what you would like from it, the dates you have in mind, your name, your email, and your mobile if you would like a WhatsApp note too. It also asks whether you would like our newsletter. If you arrive from one of our checklists or guides, we note which one, and any answers you gave there.
While you fill it in, your answers are saved in your own browser (its local storage) on that device, so you can come back and finish later. They are not sent to us until you send the form, and they are removed from your device once it has been sent. To remove an unfinished form sooner, clear this website's data in your browser.
Our hosts' community
If you ask to join our private WhatsApp group for local hosts, we ask for your name, your WhatsApp number, your Airbnb listing link, your area, how many homes you let, and your email if you add it. The listing link helps us check you host in Edinburgh or East Lothian. Other members of a WhatsApp group can see your name and number, as with any WhatsApp group.
WhatsApp, text, phone and email
When you message or call us, we see your number or email address and what you send. Our chat button opens WhatsApp or your text messages with a short note naming the page you were on. WhatsApp is run by WhatsApp LLC, part of Meta, under its own privacy policy.
How the website is used
Only if you choose Accept cookies, Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel record which pages are visited and a few actions, such as tapping a call or WhatsApp link, opening a guide, viewing an earnings range, or sending a form. They are told the name of the form, never what you typed into it. Our cookie policy has the detail.
Our fonts load from Google Fonts, so Google sees your device's IP address when a page loads, as it would for most websites.
What we collect if you stay with us
Most guests book through Airbnb, Booking.com or our own booking site. We receive the details needed to run your stay: your name, contact details, dates, number of guests, the price and any messages you send. Card payments are handled by the booking platform or its payment provider. We do not see your full card details.
ID checks
Before we send the access code for a home, we check the lead guest's identity. The check happens through the booking platform you booked with, or our booking system for direct bookings. We see the result and the details needed to match it to your booking. We do this to keep homes, guests and neighbours safe, and to meet our licence conditions.
The Visitor Levy and tax
For Edinburgh stays we keep the booking records needed for the Visitor Levy and for tax, and share them with the council or HMRC when the law requires it.
Noise sensors
Our homes have a Minut sensor that measures sound levels, as a number, to help us keep stairs and neighbours calm. It does not record or listen to conversations, and it has no camera. A sound level on its own doesn't identify anyone. If a reading leads to an alert during a stay, we may contact the guests, and we keep a note of that with the booking.
What we collect if you are an owner, partner or neighbour
Owners
When you work with us, we hold what we need to run your home and pay you: your contact details, the address and details of the home, your management agreement, your bank details for payouts, licence and safety documents, keys and access arrangements, bookings, statements and our messages with you. If you use your owner login, we keep a record of your account and when you sign in.
Partners
For cleaners, engineers, photographers and other partners, we hold your contact details, the work you do for us, and invoices and payments.
Neighbours
If you contact us about one of our homes, we keep your name, contact details, the address or stair, and what you tell us, so we can sort it out and show the council how we handled it if asked.
How we use your information, and our legal reasons
Data protection law asks us to give a legal reason, called a lawful basis, for each use. Here are ours.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry, book your call, write your free plan or listing review | Legitimate interests: answering people who ask us something. For owners, also steps you ask for before a contract. |
| Find homes for your dates and handle your booking | Contract, or steps you ask for before one |
| Check guest identity before sending access codes | Legitimate interests: keeping homes, guests and neighbours safe. Also our licence conditions. |
| Manage an owner's home, pay owners and partners, send statements | Contract |
| Measure sound levels in homes and act on alerts | Legitimate interests: protecting neighbours and homes, and meeting licence conditions |
| Handle neighbour concerns | Legitimate interests: being a good neighbour and keeping our licences |
| Keep tax, Visitor Levy and licensing records, and share them when required | Legal obligation |
| Send the newsletter and new guides | Consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Analytics and advertising measurement on the website | Consent, through the cookie banner |
| Load fonts and keep the website secure and working | Legitimate interests: running a working website |
| Deal with complaints, claims and disputes | Legitimate interests, and legal obligation where it applies |
When we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed our needs against yours. You can ask us about that balance, and you can object (see Your rights below).
We don't make decisions about you using only automated means. The earnings ranges on our website are general figures for an area, not a decision about you.
Who we share it with
We never sell your information. We share it only with people and services that help us do the job, and only what they need.
| Who | Why |
|---|---|
| Lodgify | Our booking system: direct bookings, calendars, guest details and messages |
| Airbnb and Booking.com | Where you booked. They are responsible for the information you give them. |
| Minut | Noise sensors in our homes |
| Analytics and Google Tag Manager (only if you accept cookies), Google Fonts, and our email and documents | |
| Meta | The Meta Pixel (only if you accept cookies), and WhatsApp when you message us |
| Our website host, form and email providers | Running the website, receiving forms and sending emails, including the newsletter |
| Cleaners, engineers and other partners | Only what they need for a job, such as arrival dates and the number of guests |
| Our accountants and professional advisers | Bookkeeping, tax and advice |
| The City of Edinburgh Council, East Lothian Council and HMRC | Licensing, the Visitor Levy and tax, when the law requires it |
| Police, insurers or a court | Only when the law requires it, or to deal with a claim, damage or a safety concern |
The services that work for us, such as Lodgify, Minut, Google and our hosting and email providers, act on our instructions under written agreements and must keep your information safe.
Transfers outside the UK
Some of these services store information outside the UK, for example in the European Economic Area or the United States. When they do, we make sure the transfer is protected, using UK adequacy regulations (which cover the EEA and companies certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) or the UK's approved contract terms.
How long we keep it
We keep information only as long as we need it, then delete it or make it anonymous.
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Enquiries, call requests, free plans and listing reviews that don't lead to a booking or an agreement | 24 months from our last contact with you |
| Guest booking records | 6 years after the stay, for tax and Visitor Levy records |
| The result of a guest ID check | Until 30 days after check-out, or longer if it is needed for a claim or incident |
| Noise sensor readings and alerts | Readings 12 months. Alerts are kept with the booking record. |
| Owner records, agreements and statements | 6 years after our agreement ends |
| Partner records and invoices | 6 years after the last job |
| Neighbour concerns | 3 years after the concern is closed |
| Hosts' community details | While you are a member, then removed within 30 days of leaving |
| Newsletter list | Until you unsubscribe. We then keep your email on a do-not-send list so you are not added again by mistake. |
| Website analytics | 14 months in Google Analytics |
| Unfinished questionnaire answers on your device | On your device only, until you send the form or clear this website's data |
We may keep something for longer if the law requires it, or if it is needed for a complaint, claim or dispute.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- See the information we hold about you and get a copy.
- Correct anything that is wrong or incomplete.
- Delete your information, where we don't need to keep it.
- Restrict how we use it while a concern is looked into.
- Object to uses based on legitimate interests. You can always object to marketing, and we will stop.
- Move information you gave us to another organisation, in a common format.
- Withdraw consent at any time, for the newsletter or cookies. This doesn't affect anything we did before.
To use any of these, email info@staysin.co.uk. It's free. We may ask you to confirm who you are, and we will reply within one month.
To stop the newsletter, use the unsubscribe link in any email. To change your cookie choice, see our cookie policy.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first and we will try to put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.
Keeping it safe
Access to personal information is limited to the people in our team who need it. We use accounts with strong passwords and two-step sign-in where available, and services that encrypt information. Access codes for homes are only sent to verified guests.
No system is perfect. If something goes wrong that puts your information at risk, we will tell you and the ICO where the law requires it.
Children
Our website and services are for adults. Bookings must be made by someone aged 18 or over. We don't knowingly collect information from children, except the number of children in a booking and anything a parent tells us to help the stay go well.
Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when what we collect or how we use it changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change matters to you, for example a new use of your information, we will tell you before it happens where we can.
Read this alongside our cookie policy and our terms. Questions are always welcome on our contact page or at info@staysin.co.uk.