Privacy notice

This notice explains what The Chiehub (thechiehub.com) collects when you read the site or click a link to a store, why we collect it, who receives it and the choices you have. We have kept it short because we collect very little: there are no accounts, no comments, no newsletter sign-up and no advertising trackers on this site.

What we collect

When you read the site

• A visitor cookie (tch_v): a random ID that lasts a year, so we can count unique visitors who click store links rather than total clicks.
• A session cookie (tch_c): a random ID that ends when you close the browser, used to tie a store click to the page visit it came from.
• Your theme choice (tch-theme), saved in your browser's local storage only if you switch between light and dark. It never leaves your device.

Both cookies are set by this site only (first-party), can't be read by other websites and contain no name, email or other details about you. Searches you run on the site are used to show results and are not saved.

When you click a store link

Links to stores go through a short redirect on thechiehub.com (addresses starting with /go/). When you follow one, we record:

• the time, the link you clicked and where it sat on the page;
• your approximate country, region and city, as estimated by our hosting provider from your connection;
• your device type, operating system and browser, read from the browser's user-agent;
• the page you came from and any campaign tags (UTM parameters) in the address;
• the two random cookie IDs above;
• a one-way, salted hash of your IP address.

Your raw IP address is used for a moment to check whether the click comes from a data centre (a common sign of automated traffic) and is then discarded. It is not stored.

Why we collect it

• To count how often each guide's store links are used, so we know which guides are useful.
• To spot automated, repeated or fraudulent clicks and keep them out of our figures.
• To match clicks with the commissions stores report, under our affiliate agreements.

Where a legal basis is required (for example under the UK or EU GDPR), we rely on our legitimate interest in running and measuring the site and preventing fraud, using the minimum data needed.

Who receives it

• Service providers that host the site and its database process this data on our behalf.
• Affiliate partners receive click counts per store, not information that identifies you.
• Stores. When you arrive at a store from our link, the store and its affiliate network see that visit and may set their own cookies. What they collect is covered by their own privacy policies, not this one.

We don't sell or rent personal data, and we don't share it for targeted advertising.

How long we keep it

Individual click records are deleted automatically after 120 days. After that we keep only totals, such as clicks per store per day, which can't be traced back to a person. The visitor cookie expires after a year; the session cookie when you close your browser.

Your choices

• You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site works normally without them; your clicks just can't be told apart from other visitors'.
• Clearing your browser's site data removes your saved theme.
• Depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask what data we hold about you, or to have it corrected or deleted. Because we store only random IDs and a hashed IP, we may need the cookie ID from your browser to find your records. Email contact@thechiehub.com to make a request.

Children

This site is meant for adults. Some guides cover products for children, but the site isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

Changes to this notice

If what we collect changes, we'll update this page and its date. Affiliate links are explained in our disclosure, and use of the site is covered by our terms of use.