Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Siftela is a brand operated by Startip L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company (United States) (startip.net). The company's postal address is 182-21 150th Avenue DOH 367800, Springfield Garden, New york 11413, United States of America. Startip L.L.C. is the controller of the personal data processed through the Siftela website and channels. Privacy contact: support@siftela.com.

• Phone: +1 310 810 3008

2. In short

• You don't need an account to use Siftela, and we don't ask for your name or e-mail to browse the site.
• We use Google Analytics only to count visits, with no advertising cookies, and we don't sell your data.
• We collect personal data only if you subscribe to price alerts on WhatsApp or Telegram, or write to us.

3. What we collect

a. Browsing the site

Like any website, our hosting provider (Vercel) processes technical data for each request, such as IP address, browser type and the page requested, to deliver pages and protect the site from abuse. We don't use this data to identify you or build a profile.

We also use Google Analytics 4 to see how many people visit, which pages they open and where they came from (for example a search engine or a post). It sets two cookies holding a random number, and Google sees the IP address, device and browser type and approximate country. We have switched off every advertising signal and Google signals, so this data is not used for ads. We only see it in aggregate, and Google deletes it after the retention period we set (at most 14 months). Details and how to switch it off are on the Cookies page.

Product images are normally served from our own servers. If that fails, your browser may load the image directly from the brand's website, which then receives your IP address as with any web request.

b. Country and language cookie

When you pick a country or language, we remember it in one strictly necessary cookie (siftela_locale) for 12 months. It holds no personal information. Details are on our Cookies page.

c. Clicking “Go to store”

We log the click so we know which offers are useful and can reconcile commissions: the offer, the store, the seller, the page language, the type of page you clicked from, the time and a random reference code. We do not log your IP address, browser, or any personal or device identifier. The random reference code is passed to the store or affiliate network so the sale can be credited to us; it cannot be linked to you.

d. Price alerts

When you create an alert on the site, we turn your WhatsApp number or Telegram username into a one-way hash (SHA-256 with a secret server-side key) and store only the hash, together with the product, your target price, the currency, the language and the time created. We don't store the number itself at this step.

e. Messaging on WhatsApp and Telegram

To activate an alert, you send the confirmation message to Siftela's WhatsApp number or Telegram bot. The provider then passes us your phone number or WhatsApp user ID (or your Telegram chat ID and username), your profile name and your message. We keep your number or ID together with a record of your opt-in (date and time, the alert reference and the confirmation message) so we can send the alerts you asked for and show that you agreed to receive them.

Following a Siftela WhatsApp Channel does not reveal your phone number to us. On Telegram channels, Telegram may show admins the public name and username of subscribers; we don't copy or use that data.

f. When you write to us

If you e-mail us, we use your address and message to reply and handle your request.

4. Why we use data, and on what basis

• Sending price alerts and WhatsApp/Telegram messages: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• Running and securing the site, non-personal click statistics and commission reconciliation: our legitimate interest in providing a reliable, secure service.
• Answering your messages and requests: to handle what you asked for.
• Legal obligations, such as keeping consent records: compliance with the law.

5. WhatsApp (Meta) and Telegram

• We use Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, and Telegram, to deliver messages. Your messages pass through their systems, and they also process data under their own terms and privacy policies.
• Opt-in is required: we send you no alerts or promotional messages unless you start the conversation and confirm your subscription.
• To stop messages at any time: reply STOP or “إيقاف” in the WhatsApp chat, or send STOP or /stop to the bot on Telegram. To stop following a channel, unfollow or leave it in the app.

6. Service providers that process data

• Vercel: hosting and running the website.
• Supabase: database, hosted in Frankfurt (EU).
• Google (Google Analytics 4): audience measurement in aggregate, with no advertising use.
• Cloudflare: domain name service (DNS) and e-mail forwarding for siftela.com.
• Meta Platforms: WhatsApp Business Platform and WhatsApp Channels.
• Telegram: the Siftela bot and channels on Telegram.

Stores and affiliate networks receive only the random reference code. We don't sell or rent personal data or share it with advertisers. We may disclose data if the law requires it.

7. Transfers outside your country

Startip L.L.C. is a US company, our database is in the EU, and the providers above operate from the United States and other countries. Your data may therefore be processed outside the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Egypt. We choose providers that offer appropriate safeguards and keep the data we transfer to a minimum.

8. How long we keep data

• siftela_locale cookie: 12 months, or until you delete it.
• Click records: contain no personal data; kept as long as needed for commission reconciliation and statistics.
• Price alerts: while the alert is active. When you stop it, we keep only the hash and the stop date so we don't message you again, and delete them on request.
• Phone number or chat ID and opt-in record: while you are subscribed. We delete the number or ID within 30 days after you opt out and keep only the opt-out record.
• E-mails: as long as needed to handle your request, and no more than 24 months afterwards unless the law requires longer.
• Technical hosting logs: kept by Vercel for a short period under its service plan.

9. Your rights

Depending on the law that applies in your country, you can ask to access or get a copy of your personal data, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to its processing, and withdraw your consent at any time without affecting processing done before. You can also complain to the data protection authority in your country.

Deleting your data

1. E-mail support@siftela.com with the subject “Delete my data”.
2. Tell us the channel (WhatsApp or Telegram) and the phone number or username you used. We need it because site alerts store the number only as a hash, so we compute the hash to find your records.
3. We may ask you to confirm the number or account is yours, for example by sending us a message from it.
4. We delete your alerts, your number or ID and the linked opt-in records, and confirm within 30 days. Click records contain no personal data, so there is nothing in them to delete.

You can also delete your Siftela chat in WhatsApp or Telegram at any time, but that only removes it from your device, not from our records; use the steps above for that.

10. Affiliate links and Amazon

We may earn a commission when you buy through links on Siftela. It never changes how we rank products.

As an Amazon Associate, Siftela earns from qualifying purchases.

When you go to a store, that store's privacy and cookie policies apply. Details are on How we make money.

11. Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS) on every page, store site-alert contacts as hashes, and limit database access to authorised staff. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep our measures under review.

12. Children

Siftela is not directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from children.

13. Applicable law

We aim to comply with the data protection laws of the countries we serve where they apply to us, including the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data, Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree No. M/19 of 9/2/1443H), and Egypt's Personal Data Protection Law No. 151 of 2020. This policy does not claim any registration, licence or certification with any authority.

14. Changes to this policy

If we change how we process data (for example by adding analytics), we will update this page and its effective date before the change takes effect. If a material change affects alert subscribers, we will tell them too.

15. Contact

Startip L.L.C. · support@siftela.com · Contact