Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 10, 2026

Benninghofen House ("we," "us," or "our") operates the website at benninghofenhouse.com and related services. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, and your choices.

Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account or sign in (including via Google), we collect:

  • Email address and name

  • Phone number (optional)

  • Password (stored securely in AWS Cognito — we never see or store your password directly)

If you sign in with Google, we receive your email, name, and email verification status from Google. We do not access your Google contacts, calendar, or other data.

Booking & Reservation Information

When you book a stay, register for a yoga class, or sign up for a retreat, we collect:

  • Contact details: name, email, phone

  • Booking details: dates, unit selection, guest count, pricing tier

  • Retreat-specific info: dietary restrictions, special accommodations, emergency contact (name, phone, relationship), roommate preferences

  • Intake form responses (for retreats that require a questionnaire)

Payment Information

We use Stripe to process all payments. When you pay:

  • Your credit card details are entered directly on Stripe's secure checkout page — card numbers, CVV, and expiration dates never touch our servers

  • We store only Stripe reference IDs (payment intent ID, customer ID) to link payments to your booking

  • If you save a payment method for future use, it is stored by Stripe, not by us

Contact & Inquiry Information

When you submit a contact form or event inquiry, we collect:

  • Name, email, phone (optional)

  • Your message and inquiry details

  • Event type, date preferences, group size, budget range (for event inquiries)

Email Subscriptions

When you subscribe to our newsletter or updates, we collect:

  • Email address and name (optional)

  • Interest tags you select (yoga, retreats, stays, events)

  • Consent timestamp and version (for compliance tracking)

  • Source of signup (which page you subscribed from)

AI Chat Assistant

When you use our website chat assistant:

  • Your conversation messages are processed to generate responses

  • Messages are sent to OpenAI for response generation (OpenAI does not use this data for model training under their API terms)

  • Before any conversation data is stored, personally identifiable information is automatically redacted (emails, phone numbers, addresses, etc. are replaced with [REDACTED])

  • Chat sessions automatically expire after 30 days

  • Your IP address is used for rate limiting only and is not stored

Automatically Collected Information

  • Server logs: HTTP request method, path, and response status are logged for error monitoring (retained 30 days in AWS CloudWatch)

  • We do not use Google Analytics, tracking pixels, or advertising cookies

  • We do not track your browsing behavior across pages

How We Use Your Information

  • Process bookings and reservations — using your contact details, booking details, and payment references

  • Send booking confirmations and check-in instructions — using your email and booking details

  • Manage yoga class registrations and pack credits — using your account info and registration history

  • Coordinate retreat logistics (meals, accommodations) — using dietary restrictions, special needs, and emergency contact

  • Respond to inquiries and event requests — using your contact form submissions

  • Send newsletters and updates (with your consent) — using your email and interest tags

  • Prevent abuse and ensure security — using IP address (temporary, not stored) for rate limiting

  • Improve our AI assistant responses — using redacted conversation logs

Third-Party Services

We share your data only with the following services, solely to operate our business:

Stripe (Payments)

  • Receives: your name, email, billing address, and card details (entered on their page)

  • Purpose: process payments, manage saved payment methods, handle refunds

  • Privacy: stripe.com/privacy

OwnerRez (Booking Management)

  • Receives: guest name, email, phone, booking dates, guest count

  • Purpose: manage property availability, sync bookings, generate confirmation codes

  • Privacy: ownerrez.com/privacy

Mailgun (Email Delivery)

  • Receives: subscriber email, name, interest tags

  • Purpose: send transactional emails (confirmations, password resets) and marketing emails (newsletters)

  • We sync subscriber data to Mailgun; delivery events (bounces, opens) are synced back

  • Privacy: mailgun.com/legal/privacy-policy

OpenAI (AI Chat Assistant)

  • Receives: chat messages (with PII redacted where possible) and system context

  • Purpose: generate helpful responses to visitor questions

  • OpenAI does not use API data for model training

  • Privacy: openai.com/privacy

AWS (Infrastructure)

  • All data is hosted on Amazon Web Services (US East region)

  • Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest (AWS-managed encryption)

  • Privacy: aws.amazon.com/privacy

We do not sell your personal information to anyone. We do not share data with advertisers.

Data Security

  • All data transmitted over HTTPS/TLS encryption

  • Database data encrypted at rest using AWS-managed keys

  • Password reset codes encrypted with AWS KMS

  • Credit card data handled exclusively by Stripe (PCI-DSS compliant) — never on our servers

  • Admin access protected by role-based access control with multi-factor authentication

  • AI chat logs have automatic PII redaction before storage

Data Retention

  • Account information — until you request deletion

  • Booking records — retained for tax and legal purposes

  • Yoga registrations & pack credits — until account deletion or pack exhaustion

  • Retreat registrations — retained for tax and legal purposes

  • Email subscriptions — until you unsubscribe

  • Contact form messages — retained for business records

  • AI chat sessions — automatically deleted after 30 days

  • Server logs — 30 days

Your Choices & Rights

Email Communications

  • Every marketing email includes a one-click unsubscribe link

  • You can update your interest tags or unsubscribe at any time

  • Transactional emails (booking confirmations, password resets) are not marketing and will still be sent as needed

Account Data

  • You can update your profile information from your account page

  • To request a copy of your data or deletion of your account, contact us at hello@benninghofenhouse.com

  • We will respond to data requests within 30 days

Cookies

  • We use only essential cookies required for authentication (login sessions)

  • We do not use advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies

  • No cookie consent banner is needed because we don't use non-essential cookies

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe we have collected data from a child, please contact us immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page with a new "Last Updated" date.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your personal data:

Last updated: February 9, 2026

Questions? Contact us