Privacy Policy
This policy explains what information Tafuta collects when you use tafutadeals.com, how we use it, and the choices you have. We will never sell your personal information.
Who we are
Tafuta Deals ("Tafuta", "we") is a deals website for people in the United States.
Information we collect
Information you give us, such as your email address when you create an account (which you type in, or which Google shares with us if you choose Continue with Google), the username you choose, the deals and comments you post, the votes you cast on deals, reports that a deal is over, and your answers when we ask whether a deal was still on, and the questions you ask our AI assistant.
Information collected automatically, such as your device and browser type, the pages you visit and the links you select, as most websites do.
How we use it
We use information to run Tafuta, make deal searching smoother, personalize your experience, answer your questions, keep the service secure, and send you sign-in codes and messages you have asked for.
Your username
Every Tafuta account has a username. We give you one automatically (such as @shopper_1234), and you can choose your own. Your username is public: it is shown as "Posted by @name" on the deals you post, where anyone can see it, and deals you posted before show your current username. Your email address is never shown publicly.
You can change your username once every 30 days. When you change it, or delete your account, your old username is held for 30 days so that no one else can take it straight away.
Usernames are checked automatically when you save one: against lists of reserved and offensive words, and by an automated moderation check run by our AI service provider, which receives only the username you chose. Other members can report a username, and our staff review reports and names the automated check flags. Staff may reset an offensive or misleading username to an automatic one.
Your username is deleted with your account. Reports you make or receive are deleted too.
Signing in with Google
What we access. If you choose Continue with Google, Google shares your name, email address and profile picture with us, and whether Google has verified the email address. We ask Google for nothing else: no contacts, files, calendar, Gmail or other Google data.
How we use it. We use it only to create your Tafuta account and sign you in. We keep your email address, whether Google verified it, and the identifier Google gives us for your Google account. We do not store your name or picture.
Sharing. We share this information only with the service provider that runs our sign-in, Amazon Web Services, so it can sign you in. We do not sell it, use it for advertising (including personalized or interest-based ads), give it to data brokers or information resellers, use it for credit or lending decisions, or use it to train AI or machine learning models.
How we protect it. It is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and encrypted at rest by our sign-in and hosting providers, and only the people who run Tafuta can access it, through accounts protected by multi-factor authentication.
How long we keep it, and deleting it. We keep it while your Tafuta account exists. You can delete your account at any time from your account settings, or by emailing support@tafutadeals.com; we then delete this information, keeping only a record that the deletion request was made, as described under deleting your account and how long we keep information. You can also remove Tafuta's access in your Google Account settings at any time.
Tafuta's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, make deal searching smoother and personalize your experience, and to remember which questions we've already asked you.
We also use Google Ads to measure how well our ads work and to show Tafuta ads to people who have visited our site. For this, Google's advertising tag on our pages may set cookies on your browser and collect information about your visit, such as the pages you view, your device and browser, and your IP address, under Google's own privacy policy. Outside the United States the tag does not set advertising cookies, and Google receives only limited information about your visit without cookies. We do not load this tag on our staff pages, and we do not load it at all if your browser sends the Global Privacy Control signal or you have opted out on the Your Privacy Choices page.
Stores and affiliate partners
When you follow a link from Tafuta to a store, such as Amazon, you leave Tafuta. The store, and any affiliate partner the link belongs to, may set cookies or use similar technologies on your browser and collect information about your visit, under their own privacy policies. Some links can earn Tafuta a commission; see our Affiliate Disclosure.
The AI assistant
Questions you ask our AI assistant are processed by AI service providers to write the answers. Please do not include personal information in a question.
Sharing
We will never sell your personal information for money. We do use Google Ads, described under Cookies, which some US state laws treat as "sharing" personal information for targeted advertising. You can opt out as described under Your choices and rights.
We share information only with service providers who help us run Tafuta, when the law requires it, to protect people or the service, or as part of a sale or merger of our business.
Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal information, or to opt out of its sale or sharing. To make a request, email support@tafutadeals.com. We honor the Global Privacy Control signal as a request to opt out.
To opt out of Google Ads on Tafuta, use the Your Privacy Choices page, or turn on the Global Privacy Control signal in your browser or browser extension: we then do not load Google's advertising tag at all. A choice made on that page applies to the browser you make it in. You can also control the ads Google shows you, and turn off personalized ads, in your Google ad settings, and learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
You can delete your account at any time. When you do, we delete the personal information tied to it, except what we must keep for legal or security reasons.
How long we keep information
We keep information only as long as we need it:
- your account, username, preferences and saved items: while your account exists; a username you change from, or one whose account is deleted, is held for 30 days so no one else can take it straight away;
- reports of a username, and the staff review of them: while both accounts exist;
- your votes on deals: while your account exists. Deals show only their total score, never who voted. If you vote without an account, your votes are tied to a random identifier kept in a cookie on your browser and are deleted after 400 days without a change. To limit abuse of voting and reporting we also keep short-lived counts linked to a scrambled (hashed) form of your network address, for no more than two days;
- Deal reports are kept as the deal's history. If you report without an account, the random identifier from your browser's cookie that stops repeat reports is removed after 90 days; your account's link to a report is removed when your account is deleted. "Still on" answers are counted without any identifier;
- your questions to the AI assistant and its answers: 30 days, or until your account is deleted; records of AI requests with no question or answer text: 400 days;
- clicks on store links: 90 days, after which only daily totals remain;
- security and technical logs: up to 90 days;
- sign-in sessions: up to 30 days, or until you sign out;
- deals you submit: 30 days if declined, 90 days if never published; once published, the link to your account is removed after 90 days;
- consent records and the record of an account deletion request: 24 months after the account is deleted, as proof of what was agreed and done.
Security
We protect your information with encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest, access limited to the people who run Tafuta through accounts protected by multi-factor authentication, and security monitoring. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep your information safe.
Children
Tafuta is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The effective date at the top shows when it last changed.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your information: support@tafutadeals.com.