Last updated: November 30, 2023

Introduction

At Synergy Global Housing, we believe in being transparent about how we collect and use data related to you. In the spirit of transparency, this privacy policy (“Policy”) was developed by Synergy Global Housing (“us” or “we” or “Synergy”) in order for you to understand how we, our subsidiaries, and affiliates collect, use, communicate, protect, disclose, and make use of Personal Information in connection with our website (“Site”), our blogs (“Blogs”), or any other products and services, including the reservation and use of an accommodation at a Synergy unit (an “Accommodation”) (collectively “Services” and each individually as “Service”). This Policy also tells you about your rights and choices with respect to your Personal Information, defined as information relating to an identified or identifiable individual, and how you can contract us if you have any questions or concerns.

We encourage you to read the Policy carefully before you use any of our Services. This Policy applies to all of our Services that link to it, including when you interact with us in other contexts. Your continued use of our Services constitutes consent to the Policy. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy, please contact us at privacy@synergyhousing.com.

Our Commitment to Privacy

Synergy proudly offers Services for temporary housing and relocation to customers from all over the world. As Synergy’s reach has grown, so has our commitment to securing the personal data we receive from our customers and from users of our digital offerings via the internet.

The European Parliament adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) in 2016. While the regulation mandates that Synergy protect the personal data and privacy of EU data subjects, Synergy is committed to extending its many protections to all of its customers across the world. If there is any conflict between the policies in this privacy policy and GDPR, the GDPR principles shall govern.

The State of California has also passed the Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). This Privacy Policy has been updated to include required information for California residents where those requirements do not otherwise overlap with GDPR.

What data do we collect?

"Personal data", "personal information", or "PII" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. An identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly — in particular, by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his or her physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.

Where applicable, we indicate whether and why you must provide us with your Personal Information, as well as the consequences of failing to do so. If you do not provide Personal Information when requested, you may not be able to benefit from our Services if that information is necessary to provide you with them or if we are legally required to collect it to provide our Services. We may collect Personal Information about you directly from you and from third parties, as well as automatically through your use of our Services.

Information We Collect Directly from You

  • Registration. When you create an account on our Site (a "Synergy Account") or otherwise book an Accommodation with us, we may ask you for certain Personal Information including your name, phone number, email address, home postal address, password, date of birth, and/or booking information. We may also ask you to submit a completed travel document where required by local regulations.
  • Company profile. You also have the option to share information about your company, including the company name, address, and phone number, and the names, titles, phone numbers, and email addresses of your business, financial, and operational contacts.
  • ID Verification ("IDV") and Check-in. We may require our guests to provide a government-issued ID to ensure their safety and prevent fraud.
  • Third Party Services. We may make available to you at your election the services of third-party service providers, such as luggage storage, parking reservations, or activity concierge services. When you access these providers via the Services, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information, such as your name, address, phone number, email address, credit card number or other payment information, driver’s license number, and/or license plate number, which will be used by these service providers in the provision of their services. The treatment of the Personal Information you provide to any of these providers is governed by that provider's own Privacy Policy and Synergy is not responsible for their handling of your information; you should review them prior to providing your Personal Information.
  • Payment Information. If you make a purchase through the Services, your payment information, such as credit card number or billing information, is collected by our third-party payment processor on our behalf.
  • Administration and personalization of your Synergy Account profile. We may collect any Personal Information you provide to us as part of the administration and personalization of your Synergy Account profile (e.g., zip code, and individual preferences or demographic information). You may voluntarily provide us with information about yourself so that we can personalize your stays with us (e.g., whether you need a crib, etc.).
  • Communications. If you contact us directly (e.g., via email, SMS, phone call, in-App messaging), we will collect your name, contact details, the content, date and time of your message and any attachments thereto, and other information you may directly provide to us. You may choose to submit your email address and phone number on our Site to receive our updates. You may also provide us with your reviews of our Services or complete surveys regarding our Services.
  • Recruitment. If you apply for a job via the "Careers" page on the Site, we will collect your name, contact details, email, phone number and information in your resume or curriculum vitae. We may also ask you to provide a link to your publicly available professionally related social media accounts, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, GitHub or portfolio URLs or links to other websites, your current workplace, and any other information you want to share with us.

Information We Collect from Your Interactions with Us

  • Customer service. If you reach out to us with inquiries or requests, we will keep a record of how your inquiry or request was handled. If you contact us via phone, we may record your call for quality assurance, training, and compliance purposes.

Information We Collect Automatically

  • Online usage data. We may automatically collect the following information about your use of our Services through cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies: your domain name; your browser type; operating system type, name, and version; page views; links you click; your IP address; location information; the length of time you visit or use our Services; referring URL; access date and time; mobile device ID; language information; device name and model; and other information about your activities within the Services and communications that we send you. Please see the section "Cookies” below for more information. Where required under applicable law, we will perform such data collection only with your consent.
  • Property usage data. We automatically collect your Synergy stay history (e.g., to identify you as a return guest). We may also automatically collect information regarding the use of an Accommodation (e.g., when a door was unlocked). Where required under applicable law, we will collect property usage data only with your consent.
  • Wi-Fi usage data. Synergy manages the guest W-Fi network on some of its properties. If you connect to a Synergy-managed guest Wi-Fi network offered on our premises, we temporarily log certain information about your connection necessary to provide and secure our Wi-Fi network, such as the IP address and MAC address of the device used to connect to our network, as well as the IP address of the destination to which the device is connecting. We do not access the content of your electronic communications when using our guest Wi-Fi network.

Information We Collect from Third Parties

  • Background checks. If you book an Accommodation in the United States, we may engage with a vendor to conduct a background check for use in our trust and safety, fraud prevention and risk assessment efforts, and/or to comply with landlord requirements. We may receive your name, date of birth, address, and the results of the background check. Our vendor will use U.S. County, state, and federal criminal databases and reports from U.S. credit agencies to run the checks.
  • Vendor and partner relationships. We receive Personal Information of employees and other individuals who are contact persons at our partners and vendors, such as contact details and other information relevant to the particular business relationship.

How will we use your data?

We use your Personal Information for the following purposes:

  • To operate, provide, and maintain our Services, to communicate with you about our Services, to respond to your inquiries, to fulfill our contract with you, to complete your transactions, and for other customer service purposes.
  • We may run a criminal background check on behalf of landlords or property managers who require it for Accommodations in the United States, to the extent permitted under applicable law.
  • To tailor the content and information that we may send or display to you, and to otherwise personalize your experiences while using our Services, including personalizing your Synergy Account and identifying you as a return guest to provide products or services to you according to your preferences or restrictions. We may also tailor our Services and communications on the basis of your Site browsing history. Where required under applicable law, we will use your Personal Information for such purposes, only with your consent.
  • To contact you with newsletters, marketing or promotional materials, and other information that may be of interest to you relating to Synergy or its partners, via email, SMS, and phone calls. Where required under applicable law, we will send you marketing communications only with your consent. We also may use the information that we learn about you to assist us in advertising our Services on third party websites.
  • For quality assurance purposes.
  • To solicit a review or other feedback from you.
  • To better understand how users access and use our Services, both on an aggregated and individualized basis, in order to improve the quality and value of our Services, provide you and others with a better experience, and develop new Services, and for other research and analytical purposes.
  • To find and prevent fraud and respond to trust and safety issues that may arise.
  • For compliance purposes, including enforcing our Terms of Service or other legal rights, or as may be required by applicable laws and regulations or requested by any judicial process or governmental agency.
  • For other purposes for which we provide specific notice at the time the information is collected.

How will we share your data?

Synergy will not rent or sell your Personal Information to others but may disclose Personal Information with third-party vendors and service providers that work with Synergy. We will only share Personal Information to these vendors and service providers to help us provide a better product or service to you in furtherance of the relationship you desire to have with Synergy.

In cases of onward transfer to third parties of your personal data, Synergy is potentially liable. In particular, Synergy remains responsible and liable under GDPR if third-party agents that it engages to process the personal data on its behalf do so in a manner inconsistent with its principles, unless Synergy proves that it is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.

We may share your Personal Information with the following categories of third parties:

  • Affiliates within our family of companies
  • Service providers and vendors who provide services such as data analytics, payment processing, order fulfillment, customer service, auditing, marketing services, and IT services
  • Third party security providers to help us prevent and detect fraud, security or technical issues, or illegal activities
  • Marketing partners
  • Our trusted third-party service providers and affiliates who provide a service to us or assist us with providing our products and services
  • Our auditors, consultants, accountants, attorney, and others providing advice to us
  • Payment processors
  • Any other person or entity we reasonably think is customary, necessary, or advisable for the business purposes disclosed in our Privacy Policy or to whom we are obliged by applicable law or regulation to make the disclosure
  • Any other party where we have obtained your consent or authorization

Data Retention and Storage

Synergy retains your information for business purposes, for as long as your account is active, and/or as long as is reasonably necessary to provide you with our products and services. Synergy will also retain your information as reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. We may also retain cached or archived copies of your information for a reasonable period of time. At any point in time, you can withdraw consent and we will immediately stop processing your data.

Use of Email and Marketing

We will use your email address to send a confirmation and, if necessary, may use the other information to contact you for help in processing the Accommodation; send you pre-arrival confirmation details; send you copies of your bills when you request them; and send you periodic or market research surveys.

Synergy uses your contact information to recommend products and services that might be of interest to you, to send you marketing and advertising messages such as newsletters, announcements, or special offers or to notify you about our upcoming events.

Synergy allows you to opt-in to receive advertisements based on your interests. If you do not opt-in, you may still receive advertisements, but they will not be tailored to your interests. Synergy also allows you to opt-in to receive communications, such as emails or text message marketing. You may be removed from any future marketing communications by responding with “unsubscribe” in the body of your request.

What are your data protection rights?

It is important that you have control over your Personal Information. That’s why we are taking steps to enable you to access, receive a copy of, update, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Information.

  • Right of access: you have the right to obtain confirmation that your personal data is processed, and in the case of processing, information regarding the purposes of your data processing, the retention period (and the criteria used to determine this period) of the data, the recipients to whom your personal data has been or will be disclosed, and a copy of your personal data that we maintain.
  • Right to data portability: you have the right to receive your personal data that you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
  • Right to modification or correction: you have the right to modify of any inaccurate, incomplete, or changes in personal data that we maintain about you.
  • Right to erasure (right to be forgotten): you have the right, in some circumstances, to obtain the erasure of the personal data that we maintain about you. The right to be forgotten is not unreservedly guaranteed. It is limited especially when colliding with the right of freedom of expression and information. Other exceptions are if the processing of data which is subject to an erasure request is necessary to comply with legal obligations, for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes, or statistical purposes or for the defense of legal claims.
  • Right to restriction of processing: you have the right, in some circumstances, to obtain restriction of processing to the personal data that we maintain about you.
  • Right to object: you have the right to object to any processing of your personal data that we maintain, but there may be compelling reasons for continuing this processing from our side. In any case we will assess your request and respond to you accordingly. Marketing activities are not included in the aforementioned compelling reasons.

Before disclosing the requested records of Personal Information we keep of you, we may ask you for additional information in order to confirm your identity and for security purposes. We reserve the right to charge a fee where permitted by law (e.g., if your request is unfounded or excessive).

If you believe that Synergy has failed to take appropriate action in responses to your privacy rights request, you have the right to appeal and can do so by contacting us as described below. You also have the right to file a complaint with your local supervisory authority for data protection (but we still recommend that you contact us first).

In case you wish to exercise one of these rights, please contact us at privacy@synergyhousing.com. We will make all reasonable efforts to honor your request promptly (unless we require further information from you in order to fulfill your request), subject to legal and other permissible considerations.

Information Security and Privacy Incident Reporting

Security of all information is of the utmost importance for Synergy. Synergy uses technical and physical safeguards to protect the security of your Personal Information from unauthorized disclosure. We use industry standard encryption protocols to keep all information secure. We also make all attempts to ensure that only employees and third parties have access to the Personal Information that they need to perform their function as it relates to the Service we provide you. Nevertheless, such security measures cannot prevent all loss, misuse or alteration of Personal Information and we are not responsible for any damages or liabilities relating to any such incidents to the fullest extent permitted by law. In the case of a data breach, we will notify you of any loss, misuse, or alteration of Personal Information that may affect you within 72 hours of the discovery of a breach.

\We also require that our third-party service providers agree to keep all Personal Information we share with them confidential and to use the information only to perform their obligations in the agreements we have in place with them. These third-party service providers are expected to maintain privacy and security protections that are consistent with Synergy's privacy and information security policies.

Cookies

You should be aware that information and data may be automatically collected through the standard operation of our Internet servers and through the use of cookies. A cookie is a small data file that is placed on your computer or other device to allow a website to recognize you as a user when you return to the website using the same computer and web browser. Generally, cookies work by assigning a unique number to each customer that has no meaning outside the assigning site. If you do not want information collected by using cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows a customer to deny or accept the cookie feature; however, you should note that cookies may be necessary to provide customers with certain features.

How do we use cookies?

We use cookies principally because we want to make our websites and mobile applications user-friendly, and we are interested in anonymous user behavior. Generally, our cookies don't store sensitive or personally identifiable information such as your name and address or credit card details.
In the unlikely event that our websites use cookies to store personal information about you, Synergy Global Housing encrypts the personal data to prevent unauthorized use by anyone else. View our Cookie Policy to learn more about the cookies we use.

Synergy Global Housing uses two main categories of cookies: (1) strictly necessary cookies and (2) optional cookies.

1. Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

2. Optional Cookies

Optional cookies consist of all the other cookies we use to enhance our products and services and deliver you the best user experience. These optional cookies fall into several categories which you can read more about below.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site and will not be able to monitor its performance.

Some of these are analytics cookies, which are used to track website visitors and their user behavior. This data is then used to improve the way the website works and in turn, used to improve user experience. For example, we use Google Analytics to help us do this. These analytics cookies may also tell us how many of our visitors are male or female and may summarize the number of visitors who fall within certain age ranges or certain interest categories. However, this sort of information is not linked to any individual; it just shows us what percentage of our visitors fall in particular categories.

Find out more about how Google uses your data or opt out from having your data sent to Google.

Functionality Cookies

These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your username, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance, these cookies can be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts, and other parts of web pages that you can customize.

These cookies may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all the services may not function properly.
The information these cookies collect is anonymous and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

Targeting Cookies

These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Third-Party Cookies and Social Networks

If you click on a hyperlink from Synergy Global Housing's websites to any third-party websites (for example, if you 'share' content from Synergy Global Housing’s websites with friends or colleagues through social networks), you may be sent cookies from these third-party websites.

Third-party websites will have their own privacy and cookie policies which Synergy Global Housing cannot control. Please check the third-party websites for more information about their cookies and how to manage them.

Third-party cookies are placed on your device by a website outside the one you’re on. For example, if you use a social media ’share’ button on a website, the social network (like Facebook) will put a cookie on your device, so they know what you’ve liked. If you want to control how third parties can use your data, then you need to set your privacy choices on their site.

The following list defines the information that is collected from third parties that are used by Synergy:

  • LinkedIn
    • The LinkedIn Insight Tag enables the collection of data regarding members' visits to your website, including the URL, referrer, IP address, device and browser characteristics (User Agent), and timestamp. You can use the LinkedIn Insight Tag to track conversions, retarget website visitors, and unlock additional insights about members interacting with your ads.
  • Meta (Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram)
    • Http Headers – Anything that is generally present in HTTP headers, a standard web protocol sent between any browser request and any server on the internet. This information may include data like IP addresses, information about the web browser, page location, document, referrer and person using the website.
    • Pixel-specific Data – Includes Pixel ID and the Facebook Cookie.
    • Button Click Data – Includes any buttons clicked by site visitors, the labels of those buttons and any pages visited as a result of the button clicks.
    • Optional Values – Developers and marketers can optionally choose to send additional information about the visit through Custom Data events. Example custom data events are conversion value, page type and more.
    • Form Field Names – Includes website field names like email, address, quantity, etc., for when you purchase a product or service. We don't capture field values unless you include them as part of Advanced Matching or optional values.
  • TikTok
    • Ad/Event information: Information about the ad a person on TikTok has clicked or an event that was triggered.
    • Timestamp: Time that the pixel event fired. This is used to determine when website actions took place, like when a page was viewed, when a product was purchased, etc.
    • IP Address: Used to determine the geographic location of an event.
    • User Agent: Used to determine the device make, model, operating system and browser information.
    • Cookies: First-party cookies are optional but third-party cookies are on by default with the TikTok Pixel. Cookies help with the measurement, optimization, and targeting of your campaigns. Performance is boosted when first- and third-party cookies are paired with Advanced Matching. See Using Cookies with TikTok Pixel to learn more.
    • Metadata & Button Clicks: this includes descriptive page metadata (e.g., page titles and product information), structured microdata, page performance data (e.g., page load times), and button clicks (e.g., button name, descriptive text, and attributes). This information will, in the future, enable TikTok to provide recommendations on how to enhance your pixel event setup and even offer automated solutions. This data may also be used to personalize ad campaigns for people on TikTok and improve TikTok's ad delivery systems. You can manage this data in your pixel settings. Learn more here. Refer to Enhance Data Postback with the TikTok Pixel to learn more.
  • X
    • The new X Pixel is made up of two parts:
      • Base code - similar to the Universal Web Tag, this should be implemented across all pages of your site. Any previously integrated Universal Web Tags are able to operate as the base code of the new X Pixel. The base code tracks visits to a website and initializes the pixel so that you can track additional events via event code or create audiences using Audience Manager.
      • Event code - requires the base code to be implemented. Similar to Single Event Tags, event code should be implemented in key locations (like an add-to-cart button). Any previously integrated Single Event Tags have been transitioned to operate as event code of the new X Pixel. Event code allows you to track individual actions on your website, like Purchases.
  • Pinterest
    • The Pinterest Tag allows you to track actions people take on your website after viewing your ad on Pinterest
    • Use this information to measure your return on ad spend (RoAS) and to create target audiences
    • The Pinterest Tag has two components:
      • The base code that you place on every page of your website
      • The event code that you place on pages where you want to track conversions
  • Google
  • Microsoft
    • Universal Event Tracking (UET) is a powerful tool that records what customers do on your website. Microsoft Advertising will collect data that allows you to track conversion goals and target audiences with remarketing lists.
  • Weglot
    • The weglot.com website uses audience measurement cookies (Google Analytics cookies). These cookies collect data relating to your navigation, such as the pages visited, the contents consulted or the duration of navigation.
    • This data is aggregated and used to understand the preferences of our users in order to improve the presentation and content of the site. This use is justified by WEGLOT’s legitimate interest in improving its site and its content, in accordance with article 6.1.f) of the GDPR.
  • GeoTargeting Pro
    • Experience enhancement
      • This Application uses Trackers to provide a personalized user experience by improving the quality of preference management options, and by enabling interaction with external networks and platforms.
    • Measurement
      • This Application uses Trackers to measure traffic and analyze User behavior with the goal of improving the Service.
  • Salesforce / Pardot
    • Visitor Tracking:
      • Page Views: The tracking code records the pages that visitors view on your website.
      • Time on Page: Pardot can measure the time visitors spend on each page.
    • Form and Form Field Tracking:
      • Form Submissions: Pardot tracks when a visitor submits a form on your website.
      • Form Field Data: It captures information entered into form fields, helping you understand user preferences and interests.
    • Custom Redirects:
      • If you use custom redirects, Pardot can track when a prospect clicks on links that have been set up with Pardot tracking.
    • Analytics:
      • Pardot provides analytics and reports on visitor activities, allowing you to assess the performance of your marketing efforts.
    • Campaign Attribution:
      • Pardot helps attribute website activities to specific marketing campaigns, providing insights into which campaigns are driving engagement and conversions.

How can you manage your cookies?

You can adjust your cookie settings through our cookie consent manager. If you want to remove existing cookies from your device, you can do this using your browser options. If you want to block future cookies being placed on your device you can use our cookie consent manager.

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. For example, you can delete all cookies that are already stored in your computer, and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit this or other websites. Additionally, some services and functionalities may not work.

With some browsers you can set up rules to manage cookies on a site-by-site basis, giving you more granular control over your privacy. What this means is that you can disallow cookies from all sites except those that you trust.

Please bear in mind that deleting and blocking cookies may have an impact on your user experience.
If you are unable to adjust your settings or have any questions, please contact us using the information below.

Links to Other Websites

The Site may contain links to other websites not operated or controlled by Synergy, including social media services (“Third Party Sites”). The information that you share with Third Party Sites will be governed by the specific privacy policies and terms of service of the Third-Party Sites and not by this Privacy Policy. By providing these links we do not imply that we endorse or have reviewed these sites. Please contact the Third-Party Sites directly for information on their privacy practices and policies.

Changes to This Policy

Because we're always developing and improving the standards of services we provide to you, this Policy may change over time. We will post the new Policy online and we will change the "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices. If any modifications materially change your rights, we will provide notice on the Site or we will notify you by email (sent to the email address specified in your Synergy Account).

Contact Us

For any privacy queries, please contact us using the information below.

Email

privacy@synergyhousing.com

Mailing Addresses

US

Synergy Global Housing
3000 Executive Pkwy #315
San Ramon, CA 94583

EMEA

Synergy Global Housing
17 The Hyde Building, The Park
Carrickmines, Dublin 18
Ireland

APAC

Synergy Global Housing
1 George Street
#10-01
Singapore 049145