Privacy Policy

This Policy covers information collected through the Discover DeSoto website, including visitor accounts, the contact form, search, outbound link tracking, the AI Trip Planner, and production error-monitoring tools used to keep the Site reliable. It does not cover partner websites you visit after leaving Discover DeSoto; those sites have their own privacy practices.

Depending on how you use the Site, we may collect:

• Contact information you submit through the contact form (name, email address, optional subject, and message), which we store in Bureau systems and may forward by email to Bureau staff
• Account information when you sign in with an email magic link or Google, including your email address, optional display name, sign-in session data, and account timestamps
• Trip Planner chat messages, session identifiers, and usage counts needed to provide recommendations and enforce message limits (three messages for anonymous visitors; fifteen per day for signed-in visitors, Central Time)
• Saved trip items (places and events you save while signed in), stored in your account on Bureau systems
• An anonymous session identifier in a cookie that the Site may set on your first page view or tracked outbound link. It helps avoid double-counting repeat traffic from the same browser and enforces Trip Planner limits before you sign in. If you accept analytics cookies, we may store it with page views and outbound clicks for visit attribution; if you decline, we use it only inside a short-lived, salted server-side counter and do not store it in our analytics database
• Trip Planner conversation history stored in your browser for convenience between visits on the same device
• Usage and analytics information such as pages viewed, search queries, referring URLs, approximate device or browser information, and timestamps
• Outbound link click data through tracked redirect links (which listing or surface was clicked, when, and whether the click came from the Site or Trip Planner). Click counts are recorded whether or not you accept analytics cookies. If you accept analytics cookies, we may also store a session identifier, referring URL, and approximate browser information with the click; if you decline, we store the count without those identifiers
• Spam-protection signals from Cloudflare Turnstile when you submit the contact form or request a sign-in link
• Error, performance, and diagnostic information needed to operate and troubleshoot the Site in production, including exception details, approximate device or browser information, page URLs, and (when Session Replay is sampled) a recording of on-page interactions. Replay recordings are configured to mask text and form inputs and to block media by default before leaving your browser; see section 7
• Technical logs needed to operate, secure, and troubleshoot the Site

Discover DeSoto does not process payments, take reservations, or collect payment card details. If you book or buy something with a partner, that transaction happens on the partner's site under that partner's privacy policy.

The Trip Planner does not use a voice interface and is not intended to collect biometric voice data.

We do not require a password for visitor accounts. Magic-link sign-in uses your email address only.

We use information to:

• Respond to visitor and partner inquiries submitted through the contact form
• Authenticate you, maintain your session, and operate your visitor profile
• Operate search, directory browsing, saved trips, and the AI Trip Planner
• Enforce Trip Planner usage limits and protect the service from abuse
• Understand which listings and Site surfaces visitors use, so the Bureau can improve destination marketing and reporting
• Protect the Site from spam, abuse, and security threats
• Maintain, debug, and improve Site performance and accessibility
• Diagnose production errors and reliability issues (including limited Session Replay samples used only for that purpose)
• Comply with applicable law and respond to lawful requests

When you sign in with email, we send a one-time link to the address you provide. The link is valid for 15 minutes and can be used only once. Clicking it creates or restores a visitor account and signs you in. Sign-in emails are delivered through our email service provider (Resend). You may also sign in with Google; if the Google account email matches an existing magic-link account, we use the same visitor account.

Your account lets you save trip items to Bureau systems, continue using the Trip Planner beyond the anonymous message limit, and set an optional display name. You can log out from your profile at any time.

We associate Trip Planner messages sent while you are signed in with your account. Messages sent before you sign in may be associated with an anonymous session identifier until you authenticate.

When you use the Trip Planner, your messages and related context are processed to generate recommendations grounded in the curated Discover DeSoto directory.

Anonymous visitors may send up to three Trip Planner messages without signing in. Signed-in visitors may send up to fifteen messages per calendar day (America/Chicago). These limits are enforced on our servers.

The Bureau requires that visitor data not be used to train general-purpose AI models. Provider arrangements for the Trip Planner are selected and documented with that requirement in mind.

Trip Planner output can be wrong. It is provided as travel guidance only and does not create a booking relationship.

The Site uses cookies and similar technologies for several purposes:

• Sign-in session cookies when you authenticate with a magic link or Google
• An anonymous session cookie that the Site may set on your first page view or tracked outbound link, whether or not you accept analytics cookies. It identifies your browser to our traffic counter (not you as a person) and helps us avoid double-counting repeat views and clicks within a short window; if you decline analytics cookies, we do not store this identifier in our analytics database and use it only inside a short-lived, salted server-side counter. The same cookie enforces Trip Planner message limits before you sign in and is not gated by the CookieYes banner. If you accept analytics cookies, we may store the identifier with page views, searches, and outbound clicks for visit attribution
• Browser local storage for Trip Planner chat history and widget preferences on your device
• Session storage for short-lived Trip Planner interface preferences
• A CookieYes cookie banner so you can accept, reject, or change optional cookies and similar technologies
• Google Analytics, only after you accept analytics cookies in that banner. Google tags default to denied storage (Consent Mode) until that choice is made
• Cloudflare Turnstile, used as strictly necessary spam protection when you submit the contact form or request a sign-in link. It is not an optional analytics cookie and is not gated by the CookieYes banner
• Vercel Speed Insights, used for cookie-less real-user performance telemetry (Core Web Vitals). It does not set cookies and is not gated by the CookieYes banner
• Sentry, used in production only for error monitoring, performance tracing, and Session Replay so we can diagnose Site failures. It is an operational reliability tool, not marketing analytics, and is not gated by the CookieYes banner. Session Replay samples a portion of sessions and sessions that encounter errors; by default, text and form inputs are masked and media elements are blocked in the recording before data is sent. Local development and preview deployments do not send this telemetry

Saved trip items are stored on Bureau servers when you are signed in, not in your browser. You can change optional cookie choices through the CookieYes banner or Cookie settings in the site footer. Clearing cookies and local storage through your browser settings may sign you out, reset anonymous Trip Planner limits on a new device identifier, or clear chat history stored only on your device.

We may share information with:

• Service providers that help host the Site, store data, deliver email (including magic links and contact notifications), secure forms, analyze aggregate usage, provide maps, power the Trip Planner, or monitor production errors and Site reliability (including Sentry for error reports and masked Session Replay), under agreements appropriate to a public destination organization
• Partners or public agencies only when needed to respond to a specific request you made, or when required by law
• Professional advisors or authorities when reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, or legal compliance

We do not sell personal information. We do not share visitor personal information with third parties for their own independent marketing without an explicit, documented basis to do so.

We retain contact messages, account information, saved trips, analytics, link-click records, Trip Planner-related data, and production error-monitoring records for as long as needed for Bureau operations, destination reporting, security, reliability, and legal obligations, then delete or aggregate them when no longer needed.

Sign-in sessions expire according to our authentication configuration. Chat history stored in your browser remains until you clear it or your browser deletes it.

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information we hold. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

The Site is intended for a general public audience planning travel to DeSoto County. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information to us, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

You may contact us to ask questions about information you submitted through the Site, request a correction to your display name or contact details, or ask about Bureau-held visitor data related to your use of Discover DeSoto. We will respond as required by applicable law and Bureau practice.

You can log out from your Trip Planner profile at any time. Clearing browser cookies and local storage may sign you out and remove device-stored chat history.

To request deletion of account-related information we hold, contact us with the email address tied to your account.

The Site links to partner and third-party websites. Once you leave Discover DeSoto, their privacy policies apply. We encourage you to review those policies before providing personal information to a partner.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date above will change when we do. Continued use of the Site after an update means you accept the revised Policy.

Privacy questions may be sent to DeSoto County Convention & Visitors Bureau using the contact details on this page or through the Site contact form at /contact-us.