Privacy policy.

Information we collect

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, private phone number, password, and account type. Creator registration may also include a city, bio, profile photo, and links to your Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube profiles. We record the date and signup language when you separately choose email or text updates. Your phone number is not shown on public profiles.

Business registration and claims include the business you select, your connection to it, and the listing details or photos you submit. If your business is not yet listed, we collect its name, city, Google listing link, and your connection to it for staff review. If you save a place or guide or build an itinerary, we store those choices, including any itinerary title, date, and notes. Suggestions and support requests may include the page or business concerned, your message, and an email address if you provide one.

Creator submissions include photos, cover images, titles, captions, image descriptions, and links to public social posts. Uploaded files may contain metadata supplied by your device. Please remove private information you do not want to share before uploading.

Our site and service providers also receive technical data needed to deliver and protect the site, such as IP address, browser and device details, requested pages, timestamps, and error or security logs. We may use traffic measurement to understand how people use the site. When an Ohio visitor opens a guide, we may record the guide and approximate city derived from their IP address in a short time window. We use this aggregate signal to show a recent-activity note to other visitors. The note does not identify an individual, and its city is an estimate rather than a precise location.

How we use it

We use this information to operate accounts, verify email addresses, reset passwords, save places and itineraries, review creator and business applications, publish approved content, answer messages, prevent abuse, and improve site performance. Staff may review submitted business claims, creator profiles, uploads, and suggested corrections before taking action. We send occasional news and local recommendations by email or text only when you separately choose that channel. Account and verification messages are separate from optional updates.

If you choose Google sign-in, Google provides your name and verified email address so we can create or access your Cleveland Guides account. We do not ask for your Google contacts, Drive files, or other Google account content.

What becomes public

Approved creator profiles can display your chosen public name, bio, city, profile photo, and social profile links. Content you publish to a business page can display your image, caption, title, attribution, and the social post link you supplied. Business listing details and photos may appear publicly after review or publication. Account passwords, private creator phone numbers, claim evidence, and staff review notes are not displayed on public profiles.

Service providers and other sites

We use providers for hosting, data storage, image storage, email delivery, authentication, analytics, maps, and security. They process information to provide those services. We may also disclose information when required by law, to protect users and the service, or as part of a business transfer. We do not sell your personal information or share mobile contact information with third parties or affiliates for their marketing or promotional purposes. A messaging provider may process a number to deliver texts you requested.

Some pages offer Google Maps, location features, and links to outside businesses or social platforms. A map or social video embed may send technical data to its provider when it loads. Social videos are loaded when you open them. If you choose “find my location,” your browser asks for permission before providing location to the map feature. Outside sites have their own privacy practices.

We use cookies for sign-in, verification flows, security, and staff preview settings. Your browser may also store a local preference when you dismiss a signup invitation. You can clear cookies and site storage through your browser; doing so may sign you out or reset those preferences.

Your choices and retention

You can update some account and creator details in your dashboard, remove creator posts you submitted, and manage saved places and itineraries. You can change your update preferences in your account contact settings. If you receive a text update, reply STOP to opt out of texts. You can also ask us to stop email or text updates at [email protected]. To request access, correction, or deletion of other account information, email [email protected]. We may need to confirm your identity and may keep records needed for security, legal obligations, or resolving claims.

We keep information for as long as needed to provide the service and handle these purposes. We may update this policy as the site changes and will post the revised date here.