Cookie Policy

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you use Sommer's vacation rental management platform. They help us provide essential functionality for managing your properties, coordinating with your team, and operating your direct booking business - all while helping you save 15-20% on every booking by eliminating OTA commissions.

These files are completely safe and cannot harm your device. They're an industry-standard technology that enables features like staying logged in to your dashboard, remembering your property view preferences, and switching between organizations if you manage multiple rental businesses.

Sommer uses cookies specifically to support your vacation rental business operations:

• Keep you securely logged in to your property management dashboard
• Remember which organization you're currently managing (for agencies with multiple clients)
• Maintain your dashboard preferences and property view settings
• Enable secure team collaboration with role-based permissions
• Protect your account from unauthorized access and security threats
• Track platform performance to ensure fast loading of your property listings
• Support your custom booking site functionality for direct guest bookings

Cookies are essential for delivering the features that help you save thousands of dollars annually:

• Multi-Property Management: Efficiently switch between properties without re-entering information
• Team Coordination: Maintain secure access for property managers, cleaners, and maintenance staff
• Organization Switching: For agencies managing multiple client portfolios seamlessly
• Custom Booking Sites: Power your commission-free direct booking website
• Dashboard Efficiency: Remember your preferred views, filters, and settings
• Security Protection: Prevent unauthorized access to your valuable property and guest data

We partner with trusted authentication providers to give you secure, convenient login options:

• Auth.js: Our primary authentication framework for secure session management
• Google OAuth: Optional login with your Google account for convenience
• GitHub OAuth: Optional login for technical teams managing property websites
• Magic Links: Secure email-based authentication without passwords

These providers only set cookies necessary for authentication. We never share your property or business data with these services beyond what's required for secure login.

Essential infrastructure services that power your property management platform:

• Vercel: Hosting and content delivery for fast, reliable platform access
• Neon (PostgreSQL): Secure database hosting for your property and guest data
• Uploadthing: Property photo upload and management system
• Upstash Redis: Rate limiting and caching for platform performance

These services may set technical cookies for functionality like content delivery optimization and upload progress tracking. All services are bound by strict data processing agreements.

Services that support your day-to-day vacation rental operations:

• Resend: Transactional email delivery for team invitations and notifications
• Stripe (Configured): Payment infrastructure ready for when you need payment processing

These services operate under strict privacy standards and only process data necessary for their specific functions in supporting your rental business.

As a Sommer user, you have important rights regarding cookies and data:

• Access: Request information about what cookies we use and why
• Control: Choose which non-essential cookies to accept or reject
• Deletion: Clear cookies at any time through your browser
• Portability: Export your property and business data anytime
• Questions: Contact us about our cookie practices
• Updates: Be notified of significant changes to cookie usage

Unlike OTAs that control your data, Sommer ensures you maintain 100% ownership of your property information, guest data, and business operations.

We implement robust security measures to protect cookie data:

• Encryption: All cookies containing sensitive data are encrypted
• HTTPS Only: Cookies are only transmitted over secure connections
• HttpOnly Flags: Protection against cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks
• SameSite Attributes: Prevention of cross-site request forgery
• Regular Audits: Continuous security monitoring and updates
• Multi-Tenant Isolation: Complete separation between organizations

Cookie retention periods are designed to balance functionality with privacy:

• Session Cookies: Deleted when you close your browser
• Authentication Cookies: Active for 30 days or until logout
• Preference Cookies: Retained for up to 12 months
• Analytics Cookies: Anonymized data retained for 90 days
• Security Cookies: Refreshed with each session for protection

You can clear all cookies at any time through your browser settings or by logging out of your account.

We may update this Cookie Policy as we add new features to help you save more on bookings and improve your property management experience. When we make changes:

• The 'Last Updated' date at the top of this policy will be revised
• For significant changes, we'll notify you via email if you have an account
• We'll display a notice on the platform dashboard for material updates
• Changes that affect your rights will include at least 30 days' notice

Different types of updates become effective at different times:

• Security Updates: Immediate implementation for platform protection
• New Features: Effective when the feature launches
• Material Changes: 30 days after notification
• Bug Fixes: Immediate implementation
• Legal Compliance: As required by applicable laws

Your continued use of Sommer after policy updates indicates acceptance of the changes. If you disagree with any changes, you can adjust your cookie settings or contact us for clarification.