Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 6, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Zipyell.com ("ZipYell", "we", "us") collects, uses and protects personal information when you use zipyell.com and its country sites (such as us.zipyell.com and uk.zipyell.com), together "the Site". Visitors in the EU, EEA and UK should also read our GDPR Privacy Notice; California residents, our CCPA Privacy Notice.

1. The short version

  • You can use the Site without an account and without telling us who you are.
  • We collect personal information only when you contact us, subscribe to the newsletter, create an account or post feedback — plus standard technical data every website receives.
  • Analytics and advertising cookies are used only if you click "Accept all" in our cookie banner.
  • We do not sell your personal information for money.
  • You can ask us to access, correct or delete your information at any time.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

  • Contact form: your name, e-mail address, optional company and website, the subject and message, and the page you asked about.
  • Newsletter: your e-mail address, the site you signed up on, and the date and time you signed up and confirmed.
  • Member accounts: your username, e-mail address and password (stored only as a one-way hash), and the ratings, likes, dislikes, comments and reports you submit. Your e-mail address and any full name are never shown publicly — only your username and avatar.

Information collected automatically

  • Technical data: IP address, browser and device type, pages requested, referring page, and date and time. Our server keeps this in standard access logs for security and troubleshooting.
  • Anti-spam and security data: when you submit a form, sign up, log in, comment or rate, we record the IP address, browser information and the time, and we may analyse patterns (such as how fast or how often content is submitted, repeated text, or many accounts from one connection) to detect spam, fraud and abuse.
  • Cookies and similar technologies: see section 6 and our Cookie Policy.

Information from others

Postal code and place data on the Site comes from public geographical sources (GeoNames) and is not information about you.

3. How we use information

  • To run, secure and improve the Site and fix problems.
  • To answer your messages and requests.
  • To send the newsletter you asked for (only after you confirm your address), and to honour unsubscribes.
  • To create and manage member accounts, verify e-mail addresses, show your public username with your feedback, and enforce our Community Guidelines, including limits on how often you can rate.
  • To prevent spam, fraud and abuse, and to protect our users and the Site.
  • With your consent, to measure how the Site is used (analytics) and to show advertising, which may be personalised.
  • To comply with the law and respond to lawful requests.

4. Third-party services on the Site

Some parts of the Site are provided by other companies. When they load, your browser connects directly to them and they receive your IP address and browser information under their own privacy policies:

  • Google Maps — the map on code and place pages is an embedded Google map.
  • YouTube — videos load from youtube-nocookie.com only when you press play.
  • Wikimedia Commons — photos are loaded from Wikimedia's servers.
  • Gravatar — member avatars are loaded from Gravatar using a hashed form of the member's e-mail address.
  • Google reCAPTCHA — if enabled, it checks that forms (contact, sign-up, log-in, newsletter) are sent by people, not bots. It loads only when you use one of those forms and receives your IP address and browser data under Google's Privacy Policy and Terms.
  • jsDelivr — a content delivery network that serves our page styles and scripts.
  • Google Analytics and advertising partners such as Google AdSense — only if you accept analytics and advertising cookies.

5. When we share information

We share personal information only:

  • with service providers who help us run the Site (web hosting, e-mail delivery, analytics, advertising), under contracts that limit how they may use it;
  • publicly, when you choose to post: your username, avatar, ratings and comments are visible to everyone;
  • if required by law, court order or a valid request from authorities, or to protect the rights, safety and property of ZipYell, our users or others;
  • as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of the Site, in which case this policy continues to apply to your information.

We do not sell personal information for money. Allowing advertising cookies may count as "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising under some U.S. state laws; you can refuse or withdraw this at any time with "Necessary only" in . We also honour the Global Privacy Control signal.

6. Cookies

We use a few essential cookies (for example to remember your cookie choice and keep you logged in). Analytics and advertising cookies are set only after you click "Accept all". Details are in our Cookie Policy.

7. How long we keep information

  • Contact messages and our replies: up to 24 months after the conversation ends, unless needed longer for a legal claim.
  • Newsletter: while you are subscribed. After you unsubscribe we keep your address on a suppression list only so we never e-mail you again. Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after about 30 days.
  • Member accounts: while your account is open. When you delete your account, your personal details are removed; your comments are deleted or anonymised.
  • Security, anti-spam and e-mail delivery logs: generally up to 24 months.

8. Security

We use HTTPS encryption, hashed passwords, encrypted storage of mail-server passwords, access controls and rate limits. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you and the authorities of a breach where the law requires.

9. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal information, to object to or restrict certain uses, and to withdraw consent. You can:

  • unsubscribe from the newsletter with the link in every e-mail;
  • change your cookie choice in ;
  • edit or delete your account and your comments from your account page;
  • write to contact@zipyell.com or use our contact form for any other request.

We will respond within the time the law requires (usually 30 days, or 45 days under the CCPA) and may need to verify your identity first. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.

10. Children

The Site is a general reference service and is not directed to children. Member accounts are for people aged 16 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in the EU/UK). If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. International transfers

We and our service providers may process information in countries other than yours, including the United States. Where the law requires, we use appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when it was last changed. If the changes are significant, we will give a more prominent notice.

13. Contact

Zipyell.com, see the Contact Us page
E-mail: contact@zipyell.com