Privacy Policy

1. Introduction and Overview

Welcome to Home Style Advice ("we," "our," or "us"). We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website homestyleadvice.com (the "Website") or use our interior design services.

This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect:

• On our Website
• In email, text, and other electronic communications
• Through our interior design consultation services

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Website or services. By accessing or using our Website, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

2. Information Collection

We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website, including:

2.1 Personal Data

Personal Data refers to information that can be used to identify you as an individual. We may collect the following Personal Data:

• Contact Information: Name, email address, postal address, telephone number
• Account Information: Username, password, account preferences
• Payment Information: Credit card details, billing address (note: payment processing is handled by secure third-party payment processors)
• Correspondence: Information provided when you contact us with questions, concerns, or for customer support
• Design Preferences: Information about your home, design preferences, and project requirements

2.2 Non-Personal Data

We also collect non-personal information that does not directly identify you:

• Usage Data: Information about how you use our Website, including browsing patterns, clicked links, and feature usage
• Technical Data: Internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access our Website

3. Use of Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• To provide, maintain, and improve our Website and services
• To process and fulfill your design consultation requests
• To create and manage your account
• To communicate with you about our services, updates, and promotional offers
• To respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
• To personalize your experience and deliver content relevant to your interests
• To analyze usage patterns and improve our Website functionality
• To protect the security and integrity of our Website
• To comply with legal obligations

We process your personal data in accordance with the legal bases provided under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable German data protection laws, including:

• Performance of a contract when we provide you with our services
• Your consent, where required
• Our legitimate interests, which do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms
• Compliance with legal obligations

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our Website and store certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data that may include an anonymous unique identifier.

4.1 Types of Cookies We Use

• Essential Cookies: Necessary for the Website to function properly
• Preference Cookies: Enable the Website to remember information that changes the way the Website behaves or looks
• Statistics Cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with the Website by collecting and reporting information anonymously
• Marketing Cookies: Used to track visitors across websites to enable us to display relevant advertisements

4.2 Your Cookie Choices

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of the Website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

4.3 Analytics

We use third-party analytics services, such as Google Analytics, to help us understand how users engage with our Website. These services may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your use of the Website and report website trends.

5. Third-party Sharing

We may share your personal information with the following categories of third parties:

• Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf, such as payment processing, data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, and customer service.
• Business Partners: We may share your information with business partners to offer you certain products, services, or promotions related to interior design.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency).
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

6. Data Storage and Security

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to secure your personal data from accidental loss and unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk.

6.1 Data Retention

We will retain your personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes for which we collected it, including to satisfy any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal information for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation.

7. User Rights

Under the GDPR and applicable German data protection laws, you have certain rights regarding your personal data, including:

• Right to Access: You have the right to request information about the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal data or completion of incomplete personal data.
• Right to Erasure: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request restriction of processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: If we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data.

In addition, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the EU member state of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Website is not intended for children under 16 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at [email protected]. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from children without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers.

9. International Data Transfers

We are based in Germany, and your information may be processed in Germany and other countries where our service providers are located. These countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country.

When we transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by implementing appropriate safeguards, including:

• Transferring data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission
• Using specific contracts approved by the European Commission that give personal data the same protection it has in Europe
• Implementing standard contractual clauses

10. Changes to Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.

If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you either through the email address you have provided us or by placing a prominent notice on our Website.

11. Contact Information

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: