1.1 Controller

When this Privacy Policy refers to “WECO STAY,” “we,” “us,” or “our,” it refers to WECO STAY as the company responsible for your information under this Privacy Policy (the “Data Controller”).

1.2 Payments Controller

This Privacy Policy also applies to the payment services provided to you by Danal under the Payment Service Terms (the “Payment Terms”). When you use those services, you provide your information to Danal, which is generally responsible for your payment-related information based on your country of residence.

1.3 Insurance Controller

For details regarding the insurance-related data controller, please refer to the relevant document referenced in the supplemental insurance terms.

2.1 Information Required to Use the WECO STAY Platform

We collect certain personal information when you use the WECO STAY Platform. Without this information, we may be unable to provide the requested services. This includes:

2.1.1 Contact, Account, and Profile Information

Your name, phone number, mailing address, email address, date of birth, and profile photo. The specific data collected may vary depending on the features you use.

2.1.2 Identity Information

Where appropriate or required by law, we may request images or details from government-issued identification documents such as your ID card, passport, or driver’s license, as well as your date of birth, address, email, phone number, digital identity data, and/or a selfie. When ID copies are submitted, we extract only the relevant information. Refer to our Help Center for more information on identity verification.

2.1.3 Payment Transaction Information

Payment account details, credit card information, bank account information, payment method used, payment date and time, transaction amount, payment method expiration date, billing ZIP code, PayPal email address, IBAN information, your address, and other transaction details.

2.2 Information You Voluntarily Provide

2.2.1 Additional Profile Information

Gender, preferred language, city, personal details, and any additional profile information you choose to provide.

2.2.2 Information About Others

Information related to another person’s payment method, contact information, or accompanying travelers. By providing this information, you confirm that you have the authority to do so and that you have informed them about this Privacy Policy.

2.2.3 Biometric Information

If you submit identity documents and photos for verification, facial recognition data may be extracted (with your consent, if required by applicable law). See our Help Center for more information.

2.2.4 Communications Information

Emails, calls, messages, and texts sent via or through the WECO STAY Platform. This may include call recordings or transcripts, phone numbers, sender and recipient identifiers, account names, and routing or log information, as required by law.

2.2.5 User-Generated Content

Photos, videos, reviews, and any other content you choose to submit.

2.2.6 Customer Support Information

Call recordings or transcripts, chat messages, and other communications with customer support, collected to investigate issues and improve our services.

2.2.7 Other Information

Information provided through forms, surveys, research participation, community forum posts, promotions, address book imports, submitted addresses or locations, business information, and voluntarily provided health-related data.

2.3 Automatically Collected Information

We automatically collect certain information when you use the WECO STAY Platform or our payment services. This may include:

2.3.1 Location Information

Depending on your device settings: IP address, GPS data, and other device-derived location information. If enabled, we may collect location data even when the app is not in use.

2.3.2 Usage Information

Search history, bookings, selected add-ons, access dates and times, pages viewed or clicked, and actions taken on the platform. We may collect this information even if you do not have a WECO STAY account or are not logged in.

2.3.3 Device Information

IP address, hardware and software data, crash logs, device identifiers, and message delivery status. This information may also be collected without an account or login.

2.3.4 Cookies and Similar Technologies

See our Cookies Policy for more information.

2.4 Information Collected from Third Parties

We may also obtain information from other sources, including:

2.4.1 Third-Party Applications

If you log in using services such as Google, Facebook, or WeChat, those companies may share your authorized profile information, contacts, or registration details. Smart locks or connected devices may share logs and device information.

2.4.2 Corporate Product Invitations and Management

Organizations using WECO STAY’s corporate services may provide personal information to facilitate account invitations or manage corporate accounts.

2.4.3 Referrals and Travel Companions

If another user invites you to WECO STAY, they may provide your personal information.

2.4.4 Complainants

If someone files a complaint involving you, we may collect information about the complaint to review and address the issue.

2.4.5 Financial Institutions

When you make a payment via bank transfer, we may receive your bank account details and related balance information from your financial institution.

2.4.6 Installment and Financing Service Providers

If you choose installment payments, we may receive information such as your approved installment plan and payment schedule from the financing provider.

2.4.7 Other Sources

To the extent permitted by applicable law, WECO STAY may obtain additional information about you—such as identity data, demographic information, or data relevant to detecting fraud and safety risks—from:
(i) third-party service providers, partners, or other third parties, or
(ii) WECO STAY members, individuals, organizations, and governmental or public authorities.
For example, we may receive identity verification results or fraud alerts from identity verification providers to assist with fraud prevention, security investigations, and risk assessments. We may also receive information about your activities on and off the WECO STAY Platform from users, the public, government agencies, public institutions, or tax authorities. This may include publicly available information such as social media posts or profiles, as well as partner-provided information about your interactions.
WECO STAY may also receive certain health-related information, such as data related to infectious diseases.

3.1 Provision of the WECO STAY Platform

We may process your information for the following purposes:

• Enabling you to access the WECO STAY Platform and make or receive payments
• Enabling communication and interaction with other users
• Responding to and processing your requests
• Providing customer support services
• Sending messages, updates, security alerts, and account notifications
• Automatically determining your country of residence based on your account information and interactions with the WECO STAY Platform, as described in the “Change of Residence Country” section
• Supporting your use of our products and accommodation services

3.2 Improvement and Development of the WECO STAY Platform

We may process this information for the following purposes:

• Conducting analytics, debugging, and research
• Developing and improving our products and services
• Providing customer service training

3.3 Personalization of the WECO STAY Platform

We may process this information for the following purposes:

• Personalizing your experience based on your interactions with the platform, your search and booking history, profile information, preferences, and any other information you choose to provide
• Customizing your experience when using the WECO STAY Platform

3.4 Protection of the WECO STAY Platform and Community

We may process this information for the following purposes:

• Conducting research and preventing discrimination in accordance with WECO STAY’s Anti-Discrimination Policy
• Detecting, preventing, assessing, and resolving fraud and security risks
• Protecting the community from illegal or prohibited activities, including those described on the WECO STAY Safety Policy page
• Verifying or authenticating the information you provide (including identity information), as described in the “Information Required to Use the WECO STAY Platform” section
• Conducting checks using databases and other sources (e.g., identity verification services)
• Complying with legal obligations and ensuring the health and safety of guests and the public
• Enforcing contracts between WECO STAY and third parties
• Determining eligibility for certain types of reservations (e.g., Instant Book)
• Complying with laws, responding to legal requests, preventing harm, and protecting our rights
• Enforcing the WECO STAY Terms of Service, Anti-Discrimination Policy, and other applicable policies
• Evaluating your interactions with the platform and information obtained from third parties

In some cases, your account activity and related internal and external actions may be analyzed using automated processes. If a safety or other risk is detected, your access to the platform may be restricted.
To contest a decision based on an automated process, please refer to the “Contact Information” section.

3.5 Advertising, Marketing, and Performance Measurement

We may process this information for the following purposes:

• Sending promotions, advertisements, marketing messages, and other related information
• Displaying WECO STAY advertisements on advertising platforms, personalizing them, measuring their performance, and improving them
• Managing referral programs, rewards programs, surveys, sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions or events sponsored or operated by WECO STAY or our third-party partners
• Analyzing your characteristics and preferences to send promotional messages, marketing materials, advertisements, and other information you may find relevant or interesting
• Inviting you to events and related opportunities

3.6 Communication Analysis

3.6.1 Purpose

We may review, scan, or analyze your communications on or through the WECO STAY Platform for purposes of safety, support, product improvement, and for the reasons described in the “Why WECO STAY Reviews Messages” section.
For example, as part of our fraud-prevention efforts, we may scan or analyze messages to obscure contact information or references to other websites. Where permitted by law, we may also scan or analyze images uploaded by users in message windows, profiles, listings, or experience pages to detect certain illegal or inappropriate conduct (e.g., evidence of child abuse).

3.6.2 Method

Where reasonably possible, we use automated methods. In some cases, communications may be manually reviewed for investigative or customer support purposes.

3.6.3 No Sale

We do not sell the results of our review or analysis of such communications.

3.7 Provision of Payment Services

To enable third parties to use or gain access to payment services (as defined in the Payment Terms), we may use personal information for the following purposes:

• Processing payments
• Fulfilling contracts with you
• Conducting identity verification
• Detecting and preventing money laundering, fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• Conducting security investigations and risk assessments
• Complying with applicable legal obligations and regulations (including anti-money laundering laws and sanctions requirements)
• Enforcing the Payment Terms and other payment-related policies
• Providing and improving payment services

If you are not a WECO STAY user—for example, if a WECO STAY user provides your payment card to complete a booking—we may still receive and process your payment information.

4.1 Sharing Based on Your Consent or Instructions

If you authorize a third-party application or website to access your WECO STAY account, file an insurance claim, apply for installment or financing services, or participate in promotional activities with our partners or third parties, we will share your information as described at the time you provide your consent or instruction.

4.2 Recipients of Shared Information

We may share your information with the following categories of recipients:

4.2.1 Other Members

To facilitate bookings, interactions, or other engagements between members—including those located in jurisdictions with different data protection standards or who use service providers in such jurisdictions—we may share your information with other members as described in the “Sharing and Disclosure” section.

4.2.2 WECO STAY Business Program Partners

If a booking is designated for business or work purposes and the guest is affiliated with a company enrolled in the WECO STAY Business Program, WECO STAY may share booking-related information with that company to the extent necessary to fulfill contractual obligations and provide services. If requested, WECO STAY may also share this information with third parties hired by the company to provide support services.

4.2.3 Service Providers

We share personal information with affiliated and unaffiliated service providers (including their subcontractors) who assist us in operating WECO STAY and complying with legal obligations. This includes providers who support:

• Identity or credential verification
• Information checks using public databases
• Identity checks, fraud prevention, security investigations, and risk assessments
• Product development, maintenance, and debugging
• Delivery of WECO STAY services via third-party platforms and tools
• Customer service, advertising, or payment processing
• Additional services selected by you
• Insurance claim processing or similar matters
• Reviewing, scanning, and analyzing communications on the WECO STAY Platform for specific purposes (see “Analysis and Sharing of Communications”)
• Installment or financing services provided by third-party credit providers

These service providers are contractually required to protect your information and may access your personal data only as necessary to perform their assigned tasks. We may also disclose information when legally required to do so.

4.2.4 Corporate Affiliates

To support, operate, integrate, promote, or improve WECO STAY’s platform, payment services, and services offered by our affiliates, we may share your personal information with our parent company (House Sarah Co., Ltd.) and other affiliated entities.

4.3 Why We Share Your Information

We may share your information for the following purposes:

4.3.1 Public Profile Creation

Information you choose to make public on the WECO STAY Platform may be indexed by third-party search engines. In some cases, you may disable this feature in your account settings.
We may publicly display:

• Your profile, account details, and derived information
• Approximate or exact descriptions of listing or experience locations, availability, profile photo, and demand metrics
• Reviews, ratings, and other publicly submitted feedback
• Content published in community forums, blogs, social media, and other public areas (including listings displayed on third-party platforms, applications, or websites)

4.3.2 Legal Compliance, Legal Requests, Preventing Harm, and Protecting Our Rights

(i) Disclosure

Where appropriate or required by law, we may disclose your information or communications to courts, law enforcement agencies, government authorities, tax authorities, authorized third parties, or other members to:

• Comply with legal obligations
• Respond to valid legal requests (e.g., subpoenas, court orders)
• Cooperate with criminal investigations or respond to allegations of unlawful conduct
• Enforce our Terms, agreements, and other policies
• Investigate potential legal violations, including emergencies involving the risk of death or serious injury
• Respond to actual or potential legal claims involving WECO STAY or third parties
• Protect the safety, security, rights, or property of WECO STAY, its users, or the public

For more information, see our Law Enforcement Guidelines.

(ii) Notification

Where appropriate or legally required, we may notify you about such disclosures unless:

• The law, court order, or legal process prohibits notification; or
• We believe notification would be futile, ineffective, create a risk of harm or fraud, or interfere with legal procedures.

4.3.3 Business Transfers

If WECO STAY is involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, sale of assets, bankruptcy, or insolvency proceeding, we may sell, transfer, or share your information as part of such a transaction or during related due diligence.

If your personal data will be transferred and become subject to a different Privacy Policy, we will notify you in advance.

5.1 Connecting to Third-Party Services

You may choose to connect your WECO STAY account to certain third-party services, such as social networks. If you instruct us to enable such a connection, the following applies:

• Some information from the connected account may be displayed on your public WECO STAY profile.
• Information obtained through this connection may be stored, processed, and transmitted for fraud prevention, security investigations, and risk assessments.
• We may share your booking-related information with third-party travel partners and rewards programs.

The display and sharing of information from these connections is governed by your settings and consent on both the WECO STAY Platform and the third-party service.

5.2 Third-Party Service Terms

WECO STAY may include partial integrations with third-party services. We do not own or control these third parties. If you interact with or use their services, you are providing your data directly to them.

Use of these services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies, including the Google Maps/Earth Additional Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy (see here for more details on how Google uses data).

6.1 Applicable Data Controller

If you change your country of residence (or state, for U.S. residents), the applicable Data Controller, Payment Data Controller, and/or Insurance Data Controller will be determined based on your new country or state of residence as of the date of the change.

6.2 Transfer Between Data Controllers

To facilitate this change, the Data Controller, Payment Data Controller, and/or Insurance Data Controller that originally collected your information will transfer it to the newly applicable Data Controller, Payment Data Controller, and/or Insurance Data Controller. The new controller(s) will continue processing your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy, where applicable.

6.3 Applicable Rights

Your country or state of residence, as defined under applicable law, may affect the rights you are entitled to exercise.

7.1 Managing Information

You may access and update certain personal information through your account settings. You are responsible for ensuring that your information remains accurate and up to date.

8.1 Retention Period

We retain personal information for as long as necessary or permitted under applicable laws, taking into account the purposes for which it was originally collected and subsequently processed. The criteria used to determine retention periods include:
• The duration of our ongoing relationship with you and the provision of WECO STAY services (e.g., as long as you maintain an account or continue using our services), plus any additional period necessary for legitimate business purposes (e.g., operations, issue resolution, or defense against potential claims).
• Legal, tax, and regulatory obligations applicable to us (e.g., retaining transaction records as required under anti-money laundering regulations).
• Situations where retention is advisable for legal reasons, such as statutes of limitations, litigation, regulatory investigations, or to protect personal safety.

8.2 Shared Information

Information you have shared with others (e.g., reviews, forum posts) may continue to be publicly displayed on WECO STAY even after your account has been deactivated.

8.3 Residual Copies

Due to our backup systems and safeguards against accidental or malicious loss or destruction, residual copies of your personal data may not be immediately deleted and may remain for a limited time.