Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 23, 2026

Really Simple Surfing ("RSS", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding it. By using reallysimplesurfing.com, you agree to the practices described here.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly:

• Username, email address, and password (hashed) when you register
• Website URLs and titles you submit for the traffic exchange
• Banner ad destination URLs and headline copy
• Referral codes used at signup

Information collected automatically:

• IP address at the time of registration and login, used for fraud prevention and rate limiting
• Surf activity (pages viewed, credits earned, surf dates) to operate the credit system
• Session data stored in a secure, server-side session cookie
• Basic browser and device information via standard web server logs
• Country of origin — on your first surf session we perform a one-time IP geolocation lookup via ip-api.com to detect your country (stored as a 2-letter ISO country code, e.g. "US"). Your IP is sent to ip-api.com solely for this purpose and is not retained by us beyond the lookup. This data is used to power geographic traffic-targeting features.

2. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit, what pages they visit, and what other sites they used prior to coming to our site. We use this information to improve the service.

Google Analytics collects the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit, but not your name or other personally identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through Google Analytics with personally identifiable information.

You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. For more information on how Google uses data, see Google's Privacy Policy.

3. Cookies

We use the following cookies:

• Session cookie — keeps you logged in during your visit. Expires when you close your browser or after 30 days of inactivity.
• Google Analytics cookies — used to distinguish users and sessions for analytics purposes (see Section 2 above).

We do not use advertising cookies, third-party tracking pixels, or sell cookie data to any party.

4. How We Use Your Information

• To operate the traffic exchange — tracking surfs, allocating credits, serving your sites in the rotation
• To send transactional emails such as password resets
• To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service
• To process payments via Stripe (we never see or store your payment card details)
• To improve and maintain the service based on aggregate usage patterns
• To enable geographic traffic-targeting features — your country code may be used to match your sites with surfers in similar regions or to route traffic you earn toward a preferred geographic audience

5. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share it only in the following limited circumstances:

• Stripe — to process payments. Stripe's privacy policy is at stripe.com/privacy.
• Google Analytics — aggregate, anonymized usage data as described in Section 2.
• ip-api.com — your IP address is sent to ip-api.com on your first surf session for a one-time country lookup. ip-api.com's privacy policy is at ip-api.com/docs/legal. We do not share any other personal data with this service.
• Legal requirements — if required by law or to protect the rights and safety of our users or the public.

6. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you request deletion of your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or fraud-prevention purposes.

7. Security

We take reasonable technical measures to protect your data, including password hashing (bcrypt), HTTPS encryption, secure session cookies, and rate limiting on authentication endpoints. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Children's Privacy

Really Simple Surfing is not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Object to or restrict certain processing of your data

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@reallysimplesurfing.com.

10. Third-Party Sites

The surf bar displays websites submitted by our members. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third-party sites. Surfing a site means your browser connects to that site directly — their privacy policies apply to that interaction.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify active members of material changes by email or in-app notice. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

12. Contact

Questions or concerns about your privacy? Email us at support@reallysimplesurfing.com.