Privacy
Short version: we don't set cookies, we can't identify you from a visit, and the only personal information we hold is an email address, if you subscribe, with the mailing service's record of your signup and of the emails it sends you, and your message, if you write to us.
What this site collects
Anonymous traffic statistics. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which is cookieless. It records which page was viewed, the referring site, approximate country, browser and operating system, and how quickly the page loaded. It does not use a persistent identifier, does not follow you between sites, and does not let us pick out an individual visitor. We look at it in aggregate to see which pages are useful and whether the site is fast enough.
Clicks on booking links. When you click through to a booking site, your browser sends this site a short notice of the click. We record six things: the time, this site, the page you were on, the listing you clicked, which block of booking links it sat in, and the country the click came from. Cloudflare looks up the country from your connection's IP address as the notice arrives; the address itself is never passed to our counter or stored, and neither are your browser details or any cookie, so a click cannot be traced back to you. That is how we learn which recommendations are useful. Browsers that do not send these notices, Firefox among them, are simply not counted.
Standard server records. Our host, Cloudflare, processes requests to serve pages and to block abuse. That is ordinary infrastructure logging, not something we mine.
Your email address, if you give it to us. The signup form — which appears on the home page, the trails page and the changelog, and part-way down most guide and tour pages and some trail pages — collects one thing: an email address. There is no name field, no phone number and nothing hidden.
That address goes to MailerLite, the service that stores our list and sends the emails. Like most mailing services, it can record which of our emails you open and which links in them you click. We use the address to write when something in Zion actually changes. Nothing else. We do not sell it, rent it, or pass it to operators.
You have to confirm it. Signing up sends you an email with a link, and nothing happens until you click it — so nobody can add an address that is not theirs. As its proof that you asked to join, MailerLite records the IP address your signup and your click came from, and when. Every email carries an unsubscribe link, and using it removes you immediately and permanently. If you would rather we deleted the record entirely, email hello@thezionguide.com and we will.
We keep addresses for as long as you stay subscribed. Everything we send is also posted on the changelog, with no address required — the email buys you the notice, not access to the information.
What this site does not do
- No advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or cross-site profiles on these pages.
- No Google Analytics.
- No selling or sharing of personal information.
- No accounts, so no passwords to lose.
Because we set no cookies of our own, there is no cookie banner here. That is deliberate — we picked analytics that made the banner unnecessary rather than adding a banner to excuse the tracking.
Affiliate links
Yes — this site has carried affiliate links since it launched in September 2026, and they are labeled where they appear. Every one carries a label naming the page it sits on, so whoever pays us can tell us which page a booking came from. There are five kinds.
- Most tours and trips go to Viator. The link takes you straight to Viator, whose own privacy practices then take over. Viator sets a cookie that credits us if you book any experience within 30 days.
- Some tours, activities and rentals go to FareHarbor, since 30 October 2026. FareHarbor is the booking system the operator uses: the link opens the operator's booking form on fareharbor.com, and the booking you make there is the operator's own. The operator pays our commission out of the price, so yours is the same. FareHarbor's and the operator's own privacy policies govern the booking.
- Most places to stay, and rental cars, go to Booking.com, since 1 October 2026, through CJ (Commission Junction), the affiliate network that runs Booking.com's program. The link goes first to CJ's own address, anrdoezrs.net, which records the click and sends you on to Booking.com. CJ's privacy policy lists what it collects, your IP address, browser type and the time among it, and says it may set a cookie. Booking.com credits us only if you book in that same visit; its terms for the program say it uses no cookie to do so. From there Booking.com's own privacy practices take over.
- Some places to stay go to Expedia, also through CJ, which runs Expedia's program too. The link goes first to the same CJ address, anrdoezrs.net, which records the click as above and sends you on to Expedia, which sets cookies of its own. Expedia's program tracks the click with a cookie and credits us if you book within 7 days, and only if no other site's link sent you to Expedia after ours. From there Expedia's own privacy practices take over.
- Whole homes to rent go to Vrbo, since 2 November 2026, also through CJ, which runs Vrbo's program too. The link goes first to the same CJ address, anrdoezrs.net, which records the click as above and sends you on to Vrbo, which sets cookies of its own. Vrbo's program tracks the click with a cookie and credits us if you book within 7 days, and only if no other site's link sent you to Vrbo after ours. From there Vrbo's own privacy practices take over.
What Viator and CJ send back describes the booking; it does not identify the person. Viator shows us how many visitors each of our pages sent and, for each booking, its reference number, the date it was made, the date of the trip, which trip it was, how many travelers it was for and the country Viator records for the customer. It shows the booking's status, whether it has been paid, its total and our commission and, if it was canceled, when and by whom. It also shows which of our pages the booking is credited to and, for some bookings, the exact link it came through. CJ shows us the clicks each site sent to Booking.com, Expedia and Vrbo, day by day, and for each stay or rental booked through any of them, its value and our commission. Neither shows us your name, your email or your payment details. From them we could not connect a booking to a person if we wanted to, and we have not asked for the ability. FareHarbor reports to us the bookings made through our links, with the page each came from, so that we can be paid.
Until 15 October 2026 this page named only Viator, though the Booking.com links had been live for two weeks, and said we never see what you booked. Until 19 October 2026 it also left out part of what Viator shows us, including how many travelers a booking is for, the customer's country, the page it is credited to and the link it came through. All three were our errors, and all three are corrected here.
Who else is involved
- Cloudflare — hosting, content delivery, the anonymous analytics and the click count described above, and receiving mail sent to hello@thezionguide.com.
- Google — the Gmail mailbox where that mail arrives, if you write to us.
- SMTP2GO — delivers our replies, if you write to us.
- MailerLite — stores the mailing list and sends the emails, if you subscribe.
- Viator — the booking platform behind most of the tour links, and only if you click one.
- FareHarbor — the booking system behind the other tour, activity and rental links, which the operators themselves use, and only if you click one.
- CJ — the affiliate network a Booking.com, Expedia or Vrbo link passes through, and only if you click one.
- Booking.com — the booking site behind most of the places-to-stay links and the rental-car links, and only if you click one.
- Expedia — the booking site behind some of the other places-to-stay links, and only if you click one.
- Vrbo — the vacation-rental site behind the whole-home links, and only if you click one.
That is the whole list. No advertising network, no retargeting, no data broker, and no analytics product that follows you anywhere else.
Your choices
If you want to know what we hold, or want an address you have emailed us from deleted, email hello@thezionguide.com and we'll do it — there isn't much to delete, which is rather the point.
Depending on where you live, you may have formal rights to access, correct or delete personal information about you. We'll honor those requests regardless of where you live, because the honest answer is usually short: an email address, MailerLite's record of its signup and of the emails we sent it, and any message you sent us.
Children
This site is aimed at adults planning travel. We don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has subscribed, tell us and we'll remove the address.
Changes
If these practices change — adding display advertising would be the likely reason — we'll update this page and change the date at the top. We won't quietly start collecting more and leave this page saying otherwise.
Contact
Questions about any of this, or a request to remove your data: hello@thezionguide.com.
Vrbo® and Expedia® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Expedia, Inc.