Privacy Policy
This privacy policy explains what data cebu.tips collects, why, and what your rights are. It’s written in plain English because legal-language privacy policies tend to obscure rather than clarify. The substance is binding either way.
Last updated: 2026-05-15
Who we are
cebu.tips is an independent travel publication covering Cebu Province in the Philippines. The site publishes destination guides, tour and hotel comparisons, and transportation reference content, funded through affiliate commissions on bookings made via partner platforms.
Data controller: cebu.tips (site owner — to be named in final pre-launch update). Jurisdiction: Republic of the Philippines, with operations based in Cebu City. Contact: via the contact page or by email to privacy@cebu.tips (placeholder — final address to be confirmed before launch).
We are subject to Philippine privacy law — specifically the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and the related rules and circulars issued by the National Privacy Commission (NPC), including NPC Circular 2023-04 on personal data breach management. For readers in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we also apply the relevant General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles to the data we hold about you.
What information we collect
Information you give us directly
When you fill out the contact form or send us an email, we collect:
- Your name
- Your email address
- The content of your message and any attachments
That’s the entire set. We don’t ask for additional personal data.
Information collected automatically
When you visit any page on cebu.tips, our systems and our analytics provider collect standard technical data:
- Your IP address (used to identify approximate country and region, not your specific location)
- Browser type, version, and language settings
- Device type and operating system
- Pages you visited, time spent on each, and the path you took through the site
- The referring URL (the site or search engine that sent you to us)
- Anonymised session data (a randomised ID, no personal name attached)
We collect this through Google Analytics 4, configured with IP anonymisation enabled. Aggregated, non-personal data tells us which guides are useful and which need work.
Cookies and tracking technologies
The site uses cookies. They fall into four categories:
| Cookie type | What it does | Can you opt out? |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Keeps core site functions working (page navigation, theme toggle, language) | No — the site won’t function without them |
| Analytics | Google Analytics: anonymised session and page-view tracking | Yes — via the cookie banner or browser settings |
| Affiliate tracking | Tells partner booking platforms (Klook, GetYourGuide, Viator, Booking.com, Agoda, 12Go, Airalo) that you arrived from cebu.tips, so the platform attributes any resulting booking to us | Yes — but you may need to re-click our links to give us referral credit |
| Social/embed | Set by embedded content (e.g. YouTube videos, social media share buttons) when present on a page | Yes — via browser settings; disabling may break embeds |
You can manage cookie preferences in your browser settings (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge all expose this) or via the cookie banner shown to first-time visitors. Disabling essential cookies will break the site. Disabling analytics cookies means we have less data on what works. Disabling affiliate cookies means we don’t get referral credit on bookings — which affects our ability to keep the site free to use.
Why we collect this information
| Data | Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Contact form / email submissions | Reply to your message; respond to corrections, tips, or collaboration enquiries | Consent (RA 10173); legitimate interest under GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) |
| Analytics data | Understand which content is useful; improve guide quality and site structure | Consent (where required); legitimate interest under GDPR Art. 6(1)(f) |
| Affiliate tracking cookies | Allow partner platforms to attribute referred bookings so we earn commission | Contractual necessity (affiliate agreements); consent (cookie banner) |
We don’t sell your data. We don’t trade it. We don’t share it with marketing companies, data brokers, or “monetisation partners” beyond the affiliate platforms named above. We’re a content publishing site, not a data business.
Our affiliate relationships, in detail
When you click an affiliate link on cebu.tips and complete a booking:
- The partner platform (Klook, GetYourGuide, Viator, Booking.com, Agoda, 12Go, or Airalo) sets a tracking cookie on your browser so they can attribute the resulting booking to us.
- You complete the booking directly with the platform. We never see your payment details, your full name in connection with the booking, or your itinerary.
- If your booking goes through, the platform pays us a small commission from their margin.
- The price you pay is the same whether you came through cebu.tips or typed the platform URL directly. Affiliate commission does not increase your cost.
Each partner platform has its own privacy policy that governs what happens once you click through to them:
- Klook Privacy Policy
- GetYourGuide Privacy Policy
- Viator / Tripadvisor Privacy Policy
- Booking.com Privacy Statement
- Agoda Privacy Policy
- 12Go Privacy Policy
- Airalo Privacy Policy
If you have specific privacy concerns about a particular platform, check their policy before booking.
How long we keep your data
- Contact form submissions and email correspondence: retained for as long as the conversation is relevant, with a default maximum of three years from last activity, unless an ongoing matter (a correction in progress, a collaboration in motion) requires longer.
- Google Analytics data: individual session-level data is retained for 14 months (the lower of the platform options). Aggregated, non-personal data may be kept longer to track multi-year site trends.
- Affiliate tracking cookies: these expire automatically — typically 30 days for Booking.com and Agoda, 30–60 days for Klook and GetYourGuide, 30 days for Viator, 90 days for 12Go, varying for Airalo. Once they expire, no referral attribution is possible from your prior click.
- Server logs: retained for up to 90 days for security and abuse-prevention purposes, then deleted.
We do not retain data we don’t need. The default at every layer is to keep less, not more.
Your rights
Under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 and (where applicable) the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right to be informed — explained on this page.
- Right to access — you can ask what personal data we hold about you. We’ll respond within 30 days under RA 10173 (or one calendar month under GDPR).
- Right to rectification — if data we hold is wrong, you can ask us to correct it.
- Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) — you can ask us to delete your data. We’ll comply unless we have an overriding legal reason to retain (for example, an unresolved correction thread or an active legal matter).
- Right to restrict processing — you can ask us to stop using your data for certain purposes while a question is resolved.
- Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interest (e.g. analytics) and we will stop unless we can demonstrate compelling grounds.
- Right to data portability — you can request a copy of personal data you’ve provided to us, in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Right to withdraw consent — for processing based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.
- Right to lodge a complaint — with the National Privacy Commission (Philippines) or, for EEA/UK readers, with your local supervisory authority.
To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@cebu.tips (placeholder) or use the contact page with “Privacy request” in the subject line. We’ll respond within 30 days.
If our response is unsatisfactory, you can file a complaint with:
National Privacy Commission (Philippines) 5th Floor, Philippine International Convention Center Vicente Sotto Avenue, Pasay City 1308 Email: complaints@privacy.gov.ph Phone: +63 2 8234-2228 Website: privacy.gov.ph
EEA and UK readers can additionally complain to their national data protection authority.
Data security
We implement reasonable technical and organisational security measures: TLS encryption in transit, access controls on backend systems, regular software updates, and limited data retention. No website can guarantee absolute security — anyone claiming otherwise is overselling.
In the event of a personal data breach affecting your information, we will:
- Notify the National Privacy Commission within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, as required by NPC Circular 2023-04.
- Inform you directly, without undue delay, if the breach poses a real risk to your rights and freedoms.
- Take immediate steps to contain and mitigate the breach and prevent recurrence.
International data transfers
Some of our service providers (notably Google Analytics) process data outside the Philippines. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on safeguards approved under the GDPR and RA 10173 — standard contractual clauses, adequacy decisions, or equivalent mechanisms.
Children’s privacy
Cebu.tips is a general-audience travel resource. It is not directed at children under 18 and we do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you’re a parent or guardian and believe a minor has submitted information to us, contact privacy@cebu.tips and we’ll delete the data without delay.
Links to third-party sites
This site links extensively to external sites — partner booking platforms, ferry operators, airline websites, government tourism pages, news sources. Once you click through, the linked site’s privacy policy applies, not ours. We’re not responsible for how third parties handle your data. Check their policies before submitting personal information on those sites.
Updates to this policy
We’ll update this policy when our practices change or when new legal requirements apply. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will always show the latest revision. Material changes — those that affect your rights or how we handle data — will be flagged via a notice on the site for a reasonable period after the change.
Questions
For privacy questions, data requests, or to exercise any of the rights listed above: email privacy@cebu.tips (placeholder) or use the contact page with “Privacy” in the subject line. We’ll respond within 30 days.
The companion document to this policy is the terms of use, which covers the legal framing for using the site itself.