Privacy Policy

Genius Loci ("we", "us") provides an AI-powered assistant that helps guests during their stay. We built this service with privacy at its core — your conversations are anonymous and we collect only what is strictly necessary to answer your questions.

1. Who we are

Genius Loci is operated by Mgr. David Balas, ID number 09069186, with registered office at CSA 145, Breclav, 691 41, Czech Republic. For any privacy-related inquiries, contact us at info@geniusloci.homes.

2. What we collect — and what we don't

Guest chat (visitors scanning a QR code)

• Conversation content — the messages you send and receive. These are processed in real time to generate AI responses and are stored so you can return to a conversation during your stay.
• Browser language — detected automatically so the assistant can reply in your language.
• Location (optional) — only if you explicitly allow it. Used solely to provide directions and nearby recommendations. Never stored permanently.
• Voice input (optional) — when using voice-to-text, speech recognition runs entirely in your browser. No audio recordings are sent to or stored by Genius Loci. Text-to-speech audio is generated on-demand and not retained.
• Images (optional) — you may upload images within the chat to ask questions about them. Uploaded images are compressed, stored on cloud infrastructure, and sent to the AI model provider for visual analysis. Images are linked only to your anonymous chat session and follow the same retention period as conversation content.

We do not collect your name, email, phone number, IP address, or any device identifiers. Conversations are fully anonymous — there is no way to trace them back to you as an individual.

Property owners (registered users)

• Account data — email, name, and authentication credentials (or SSO provider ID for Google / Microsoft sign-in).
• Billing data — processed via Stripe. We do not store credit card numbers; Stripe handles payment data under PCI DSS standards.
• Property information — details you provide about your property (name, address, knowledge base documents) to power the AI assistant for your guests.

3. How we use the data

• To generate real-time AI responses for guests.
• To provide property owners with conversation insights (topics, sentiment, message counts). Owners may review individual conversations to improve their service, but all guest conversations remain fully anonymous — no personal identifiers are ever attached.
• To process payments and manage subscriptions.
• To send transactional emails (verification, billing notifications).
• To improve the quality and reliability of the service.

4. AI & third-party processing

Guest messages and any uploaded images are sent to OpenAI's API to generate responses (including visual analysis of images). When the AI cannot answer from its knowledge base, it may perform a web search using a third-party search API (Tavily); only the search query is sent — no guest identifiers or conversation context. OpenAI processes this data under a data processing agreement that prohibits using your data to train their models. No personal identifiers are included in these requests.

Text-to-speech functionality uses OpenAI's audio API to convert AI responses into spoken audio on demand. Only the text of the AI response is sent — no guest identifiers or conversation metadata. Generated audio is streamed to the guest's browser and is not stored on our servers.

5. Data retention

• Guest conversations (including any uploaded images) are retained for up to 90 days after the last message, then permanently deleted.
• Owner accounts are retained for the duration of the subscription. Upon account deletion, all associated data (properties, conversations, knowledge base) is permanently removed within 30 days.

6. Data security

All communication is encrypted in transit (TLS/HTTPS). Data at rest is stored on infrastructure hosted within the European Union (Scaleway, Paris). Access to production systems is restricted and monitored.

7. Cookies & local storage

The guest chat uses local storage to remember your conversation history across visits on the same device. This data stays in your browser and is never sent to our servers. You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser data. We do not use tracking cookies, advertising pixels, or any third-party analytics on the guest chat interface.

The owner dashboard uses local storage to keep your authentication session and language preference. No third-party tracking is used.

8. Your rights (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectify inaccurate data.
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Restrict or object to processing.
• Data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
• Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (ÚOOÚ in the Czech Republic).

For guest chat users: since conversations are anonymous and we hold no identifying information, there is typically no personal data to access or delete. If you have concerns, contact us and we will assist you.

9. Children

The service is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from minors.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to registered users via email. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.