The Branson Guide
The Branson Guide
The Branson Guide — Last updated August 5, 2026
This Privacy & Data Policy describes how Branson Guide Media, LLC ("The Branson Guide," "we," "our," or "us") handles information across our services: The Branson Guide iOS app, our website at thebransonguide.com, and the Merchant Portal at portal.thebransonguide.com. The app does not require an account, and we do not collect information that identifies app users personally. Questions? Email admin@thebransonguide.com.
Location. With your permission, the App uses your device's location to show nearby restaurants, attractions, and shows, and to sort results by distance. It is not linked to your identity, not stored on our servers, and not used for advertising or cross-app tracking. Change permissions anytime in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services.
Weather. The App displays weather for the Branson, Missouri area using Open-Meteo. Weather data is requested using Branson's fixed geographic coordinates — not your device's location — so this feature works the same whether or not you grant location permission, and regardless of where you actually are.
Content You Create. Trip itineraries and favorites are stored on your device and, if you use iCloud, in your personal iCloud account — Apple syncs them across your devices and restores them if you reinstall the App. This content is visible only to you; it is never sent to or accessible by our servers. You can remove it by deleting items in the App, or turn off iCloud syncing for The Branson Guide in iOS Settings. Journal entries — including photos you add — are stored only on your device and are deleted when you uninstall the App. If you choose to share a journal entry, the text and any photos you select go directly from your device through Apple's Messages or Mail — we never receive, store, or transmit shared content.
Star Ratings. Ratings you submit are sent to our service with a random anonymous identifier (no personal information) so we can display community averages. The identifier is kept in your personal iCloud so your ratings stay consistent across your devices and reinstalls.
Usage and Diagnostic Data. The App uses Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (Google) to understand how features are used and diagnose crashes. This may include device type, OS version, app version, in-app interactions, and crash logs. This data is not linked to your identity and is not used to track you across other apps or websites. See Google's Privacy Policy for details.
Consent Record. When you agree to the in-app Privacy & Data Policy, we store an anonymous record of the agreement (a random install identifier, the policy version, and the date). This identifier contains no personal information and is created fresh if you reinstall the app.
We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, payment information, contacts, photos (other than those you save to your on-device journal), or browsing history. The app has no user accounts.
Businesses pay us for enhanced listings and optional Featured Placement in the app. Featured listings appear in a clearly labeled Featured section and are shown to all users equally — placement is contextual promotion and is never targeted, personalized, or selected using your personal information. We show no third-party advertising, use no advertising networks, and never use your data for advertising or ad tracking of any kind.
Local businesses registering at portal.thebransonguide.com provide: business name, contact name, email, phone, and business address; listing content such as photos, descriptions, and hours; and payment information processed by Stripe (we do not store card numbers). We also collect portal usage data for analytics and service communications.
If you submit a support ticket or feature request through the Merchant Portal, we collect the requester's name, email, and phone number (which may belong to an employee submitting on the business's behalf rather than the account holder), the content of the message, and any files attached to it. This information is used solely to respond to your request and is not used for any other purpose.
iOS App (consumer users): These are the only services that process data from app users.
Merchant Portal & Website (business accounts): These services process merchant account data only. No consumer app data flows through them.
Our website uses a small amount of browser storage, and only with your consent where required:
We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics cookies. You can clear all stored data at any time through your browser's site-data settings, and change your consent choice by clearing site data for thebransonguide.com.
Some web browsers offer a "Do Not Track" (DNT) setting. There is no industry-standard way to respond to DNT signals, and our website does not currently respond to them — however, this makes no practical difference for you: we do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics cookies regardless of your browser's DNT setting. The only tracking-adjacent mechanism on our website is the anonymous visitor ID described above, which is entirely controlled by our own Accept/Decline cookie banner, not your browser's DNT signal. If you decline the cookie banner, no visitor ID is stored and no page-view data is recorded, which has the same practical effect as honoring DNT.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for monetary or other valuable consideration, and we do not use your information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Because we do not sell or share personal information, there is no opt-out mechanism required — there is nothing to opt out of. California residents may still contact us at admin@thebransonguide.com with any questions about how their information is used; see California Privacy Rights (CCPA) below for your full rights.
We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information. We share data only with the service providers listed above, which process it solely to deliver the functionality described in this policy. We may disclose information if required by law.
Analytics and crash data are retained per Google Firebase's standard retention settings (analytics default: 14 months). Journal entries stay on your device and are removed when you delete the app. Itineraries and favorites synced to your personal iCloud persist until you delete them in the app or disable iCloud for The Branson Guide. Anonymous consent records are retained as required to document policy acceptance. Merchant account data is retained while the account is active and for 3 years after closure for legal and tax purposes.
California residents may exercise rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act — the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete it, the right to correct it, and the right to non-discrimination for exercising these rights — by emailing admin@thebransonguide.com. We do not sell personal information.
Our services are not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.
We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Material changes will be communicated to merchants by email.
Branson Guide Media, LLC
PO Box 835, Branson, MO 65615
admin@thebransonguide.com