This Privacy Policy explains how EarthData.IO (“we,” “us”), operated by Zeal Automation, Inc., handles information when you use https://earthdata.io. By using the site, you agree to this policy.
Matching is anonymous
Matching is anonymous by design. We do not require an account, and we do not ask for your name, email address, phone number, or similar identifiers to generate place suggestions. Preference answers you enter (for example climate tastes or household type) are used to match places; they are not tied to a personal identity in EarthData.IO. If you buy a trip kit, Stripe collects billing identity for that charge — see Payments below. That purchase does not create an EarthData.IO account or attach your name to your preference profile.
Information we process
Preferences you enter — household, languages, nationality, domain priorities, constraints, and notes. On your device these may be stored in browser local storage so you can continue a session; when you generate matches, the preference profile is sent to our servers only to run that matching request. We do not use it to build a named user profile.
Technical data — standard server and security logs (for example IP address, browser type, timestamps) may be recorded by our hosting provider as part of operating and securing the site. We do not use those logs to identify you for matching or marketing. Approximate country may be read from the network request so we know whether a cookie choice is required.
Saved exports — if you download a session PDF or HTML file, that file lives on your device; we do not receive a copy unless you separately send it to us.
Email you choose to send — if you contact us at the address below, we will see whatever you include in that message (including your email address) solely to reply.
Payments — if you buy a trip kit for one place, you leave EarthData.IO for Stripe Checkout. Stripe, not EarthData.IO, collects the information needed to take payment. That typically includes your name, an email address for the receipt, payment-method details, and sometimes a billing address — especially with Apple Pay or Google Pay. Stripe processes the charge under Stripe’s privacy policy. Zeal Automation, Inc. is the merchant. We can see that billing information in the Stripe Dashboard so we can confirm the payment, send or resend a receipt, handle refunds and disputes, and meet tax and accounting duties. We do not copy your name, email, or card details into EarthData.IO matching, preferences, or a named user profile. On our servers we store an opaque paid-unlock token in an httpOnly cookie bound to the place you paid for, plus Stripe session and payment identifiers. We do not receive or store your full card number.
AI providers
Place matching and follow-up explorations are powered with assistance from AI services (currently xAI / Grok). Preference text needed to produce a match is sent to that provider on our servers to generate results. That is not a cookie in your browser. Because matching is anonymous, avoid putting names, contact details, or other personally identifying information into preference notes.
Cookies and similar technologies
We use a short list of necessary cookies and similar storage so the product works: a paid-unlock token, an in-flight match job id, your language preference, and on-device drafts of preferences and results. Those are not advertising cookies. Matching, language, and a trip kit still work if you refuse optional cookies.
Optional: YouTube (privacy-enhanced embeds) may set video cookies if you play a travel film. We ask first if you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom (including the Crown Dependencies), or Switzerland. Yes loads those Google video tags. No keeps YouTube off this site. Stripe Checkout cookies, if any, are set on Stripe’s domain when you choose to pay. We do not run advertising on EarthData.IO.
You can change that choice any time:
Your rights (EEA, UK, Switzerland)
If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we rely on: (a) legitimate interests / necessity to operate matching, security, and a paid trip kit you requested; and (b) consent before YouTube embeds. You may withdraw consent with the button above. Because we do not run named EarthData.IO accounts, matching data is not a personal profile. If you paid, access, correction, or erasure requests may also concern Stripe payment records we can see as the merchant, and email you sent us. Contact us and we will help as required by GDPR, UK GDPR, and Swiss nFADP. Stripe also processes payment data under its own policy.
California and similar US state laws
We do not sell personal information for money, and we do not run advertising. Optional YouTube embeds can still involve Google video cookies under the CCPA/CPRA and similar state laws. You may opt out here, or with the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal in a supporting browser. Opting out does not affect matching, language, or a paid unlock.
Retention and security
Preference data in local storage remains until you clear site data in your browser. The trip-kit cookie lasts up to 7 days for the place you paid for (also 7 days for a complimentary code). Match-job cookies expire in six hours. Server logs are retained only as long as needed for security and operations. Stripe retains payment records according to Stripe’s policies and applicable law; we can see those records in Stripe for as long as they remain on our merchant account. We do not keep a separate named customer database on EarthData.IO. We use reasonable safeguards appropriate to a small independent site, but no method of transmission is perfectly secure.
Children
EarthData.IO is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
