Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 May 2026 · Effective immediately

NZ Privacy Act 2020. GuideNow is operated from New Zealand and complies with the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ). If you are located in the EEA, the UK, or California, additional rights may apply under GDPR, UK GDPR, or CCPA respectively — please contact us for details.

1. Who We Are

GuideNow is a tourism guidance platform operated from Queenstown, New Zealand. Our website is guidenow.nz. For privacy enquiries, contact us at privacy@guidenow.nz.

2. What We Collect

We collect only what we need to provide the service:

  • ·Session data: A random session ID stored in your browser (localStorage). This is anonymous — we do not link it to your name or email.
  • ·Messages: The messages you send to our AI guide, stored temporarily to maintain conversation context. Stored for up to 24 hours.
  • ·IP address (hashed): Used solely for abuse prevention and rate limiting. We store a one-way hash — we cannot recover your real IP from what we store.
  • ·Geo-country: The country code from your network connection, used to direct you to the right regional experience. Not stored beyond the request.
  • ·Deal interactions: Which deals you clicked (deal ID, timestamp, session ID). Used to report anonymised click-through counts to operators.
  • ·Payment data: If you upgrade to a Pro session, payment is processed entirely by Stripe. We receive only a Stripe session ID and payment status — no card details ever reach our servers.
  • ·Waitlist email: If you submit your email on the coming-soon page, we store it to notify you when GuideNow expands to your area.
  • ·Partner enquiry data: Business name, contact email, booking setup details submitted via the partner form.

3. How We Use It

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide and improve the AI guide experience
  • Prevent abuse, spam, and bot activity
  • Verify Stripe payments and unlock Pro sessions
  • Send anonymised click-through data to partner operators
  • Email you when GuideNow expands (waitlist only, with your consent)
  • Respond to partner enquiries

We do not sell your data. We do not use it for advertising profiling.

4. Third-Party Services

We use the following sub-processors:

ServicePurposeLocation
VercelWeb hosting and edge functionsUSA (global CDN)
AnthropicAI language model (Claude)USA
StripePayment processingUSA
SupabaseDatabase and authenticationUSA (AWS us-east-1)
UpstashRate limiting (Redis)USA
CloudflareBot protection (Turnstile), DNS, CDNGlobal
ResendTransactional emailUSA

Data transferred to the USA is protected under Anthropic, Stripe, Vercel, and Supabase's standard contractual clauses and privacy frameworks.

5. Data Retention

  • ·Session data and messages: deleted after 24 hours of inactivity
  • ·IP hashes for rate limiting: deleted after 24 hours
  • ·Deal click logs: retained for up to 12 months for operator reporting
  • ·Waitlist emails: retained until you unsubscribe or we expand to your region
  • ·Partner enquiry data: retained for up to 2 years

6. Your Rights (NZ Privacy Act 2020)

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to:

  • ·Access the personal information we hold about you
  • ·Request correction of inaccurate information
  • ·Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
  • ·Make a complaint to the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz)

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@guidenow.nz. We will respond within 20 working days.

7. Cookies and Local Storage

We use browser localStorage (not cookies) to store your anonymous session ID. This allows your conversation to persist if you close and reopen the page. No tracking cookies are set by GuideNow. See our Cookie Policy for full details.

8. Children

GuideNow is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified via a banner on the website. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact

Privacy Officer · GuideNow · Queenstown, New Zealand
Email: privacy@guidenow.nz