Privacy Policy

BeyondSeoul (“we”) is operated by an individual in the Republic of Korea. This policy covers https://beyond-seoul.vercel.app and the trip planner on it.

1. What we collect

Everyone, automatically

Every page view writes one record containing:

• the page path, and the query string of the URL you arrived on
• the referring URL, if your browser sends one
• your browser’s user-agent string
• whether the site is running in a browser tab or as an installed app
• a random visitor identifier we generate and keep in your browser’s local storage (bsVid:v1), plus a count of your visits. It is not linked to your name and we do not buy or sell any data that would link it.

We record the same kind of record for a few specific actions — starting or finishing the trip survey, generating a plan, pressing save, clicking an affiliate link, and errors — so we can tell which parts of the site work.

Your IP address

Plan generation costs money, so anonymous visitors are limited to one plan a day. Because a browser in private mode receives a fresh anonymous account, the limit is also counted against your IP address, which is stored as a counter key. It is kept for that purpose only, and it is not attached to your page-view records.

If you create an account

• your email address, and — if you sign in with Google — your display name and profile photo URL
• your answers to the trip survey: cities, trip length, budget level, interests, spice tolerance, whether you dine alone, whether it is your first time in Korea, and any free-text request you type
• plans you save, checklists you tick, and comments you post

You can use the planner without an account. In that case Firebase gives your browser an anonymous account, which holds the same survey answers but no email or name.

Stored in your browser, not on our servers

We do not use cookies.We use your browser’s local storage for: the visitor identifier and visit count above, your survey answers, your most recent generated plan, plans saved on this device, your packing checklist, and the date you dismissed the install prompt. Firebase also stores your sign-in state there. Clearing your browser’s site data removes all of it.

2. Why we collect it, and on what basis

• To run the service — your survey answers are what the itinerary is generated from, and an account is what lets a saved plan follow you to another device. (Performance of a contract.)
• To stop abuse — the daily limit and the IP counter exist because plan generation has a real cost. (Legitimate interest.)
• To understand how the site is used — which pages people read, whether they reach the planner, and whether anything is broken. (Legitimate interest.)

We do not run advertising, we do not use analytics products such as Google Analytics, and we do not build profiles for advertisers.

3. Who else processes it

• Google (Firebase) — authentication and database. All account data, survey answers, saved plans and usage records are stored here.
• Vercel — hosting. Serves the site and processes request metadata, including your IP address, as part of doing so.
• Anthropic — generates the itinerary. Your survey answers, including any free-text request you type, are sent to its API for that purpose. Do not type anything into that field you would not want sent.

These providers process data on our behalf. Their servers are outside the Republic of Korea, mainly in the United States, so using this site involves an international transfer of the data described above.

Affiliate links

Some links leave this site for partners such as Klook, Booking.com and Awin advertisers. We do not send them your personal data; the link itself tells them we referred you. Once you are on their site, their own privacy policy and cookies apply, not ours. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

4. How long we keep it

Usage records are currently kept indefinitely — the site is small and its measurements are read over months. Account data, saved plans and comments are kept until you ask us to delete them or delete them yourself. IP counters reset daily.

5. Your rights

You can ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or stop using it — including the right to object to the uses we base on legitimate interest. If you are in the EU or UK you also have the right to complain to your data protection authority; in the Republic of Korea you may raise a claim with the Personal Information Protection Commission.

Write to beyondseoul.help@gmail.com. Because an anonymous visitor identifier is not tied to a name, a request about one needs the identifier itself; you can read it from your browser’s local storage under bsVid:v1.

6. Children

This site is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 14, or under 16 in the EU and UK. If you believe a child has given us data, write to us and we will delete it.

7. Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top of this page changes with it. Material changes will be noted on this page rather than applied quietly.

8. Contact

BeyondSeoul — beyondseoul.help@gmail.com