Privacy policy
Last updated: 31 October 2026
LobbyInk is software that hotels install on their own front desk computer to have guests sign registration cards on a tablet. This policy explains what data the software handles, what reaches us, and who is responsible for what.
1. Guest data stays with the hotel
Guest data is created and stored on the hotel's own computer, and on a backup drive if the hotel chooses one. This includes registration cards, signatures and initials, vehicle details, guest photos, ID and passport scans (such as name, date of birth, address, ID number and the photo on the ID), phone numbers, stay history (Stay Tracker), the hotel's own Do Not Rent list, staff messages, damage reports and their photos, and shift notes. It is encrypted on that computer. This data is not sent to LobbyInk and we cannot access it, except for the optional features described in sections 2a and 2b.
The hotel decides what it collects from guests, how long cards are kept (5 years after check-out by default) and who at the hotel can see them. The hotel is responsible for this data and for telling its guests how it is used. Guests with questions about their registration card should contact the hotel directly.
2. What the software sends to us
To activate LobbyInk, keep a licence active and check for updates, the software sends our licence server: the licence key, the app version, a random identifier for the computer, the computer's name as set in Windows (for example "FRONTDESK"), and the number of signed cards, desks and tablets in use.
When LobbyInk is installed, we also receive the name of the person who accepted the licence agreement, when they accepted it and which version they accepted, as our record of the agreement. If a hotel starts a free trial, we receive the hotel name, owner name, email and phone number entered for the trial.
The software does not send us guest names, registration cards, photos, ID scans or any other guest details.
2a. Shared Do Not Rent list (optional add-on)
If a hotel owner chooses the Shared Do Not Rent list add-on, the owner's hotels share one Do Not Rent list. Each entry (name, birth year, the ID's state and last 4 digits, reason, notes, until when, who added it) is encrypted on the hotel's computer with a key that only the owner's hotels have, before it is sent. Our server stores and passes on these encrypted entries and cannot read them. Full ID numbers are never sent, even encrypted: the hotels recognise a guest by a fingerprint of the ID. We keep which hotels belong to the group. Entries are deleted from our server when they are no longer needed, and all of them when the group ends.
2b. Other services the software uses
- Room texts (optional). If the hotel turns on texting and connects its own Twilio or Telnyx account, sending a guest their room by text sends the guest's phone number and the message (hotel name, room number, directions and time) to that provider. The text goes through the hotel's account, not ours, and only when the desk chooses to send it. The provider's own privacy policy applies.
- Signature timestamps. To prove when a card was signed, LobbyInk sends a fingerprint (a SHA-256 hash) of the signed card to a public timestamp service (DigiCert, or FreeTSA as a backup). The fingerprint contains no guest details and can't be turned back into the card.
- Staff phone notifications. Alerts to staff phones are delivered through the phone's own push service (such as Apple or Google). They are encrypted on the hotel's computer first, so the push service can't read them.
- Spanish translation. The translation pack is downloaded once from our download site. Translation then runs on the hotel's computer.
3. This website
This website does not use advertising or tracking cookies. The customer portal uses one cookie to keep you signed in.
We count visits to this website with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which does not use cookies. For our brochure page, we record when it was opened or shared, the visitor's approximate city, state and country, device type and time zone. We do not store IP addresses or anything that identifies you with these counts. Like most websites, our hosting provider may keep short-term technical logs (such as IP address and pages requested) to keep the site secure and working.
4. When you contact us or buy a licence
If you email us or become a customer, we keep your name, hotel name, email, phone number and billing details so we can provide the service, support and invoices. Payments are processed by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers.
5. Customer portal accounts
Hotel staff can create an account at support.lobbyink.com. We keep the name, work email, phone, hotel name and city you give us, which licence the account is linked to, and when you last signed in. Your password is stored only as a salted hash; we can't read it. When you sign LobbyInk in with your account, the email and password are sent once to our licence server to activate that computer and are not kept by the app.
Messages you write to Penley (our AI assistant, also called LobbyInk Help) and to the website chat are sent to our AI provider, Anthropic, to produce an answer, and are kept with your support tickets. Please don't include guest details in them. Account and ticket emails are sent through our email provider.
When you ask for a demo or to be contacted, we check that your email address can receive mail and look up your hotel's public business listing (name, address, website) on the web, so the right person can reach you. We do not look up information about you personally.
If you request a demo on this website, we keep the details you enter to contact you about LobbyInk.
6. Sharing
We do not sell personal data. We share it only with service providers that help us run LobbyInk (such as hosting, email, our AI provider, payments and the timestamp services above) and when required by law.
7. Security
Cards and photos are encrypted on the hotel's computer. Backups remain encrypted and need the hotel's recovery key to open. Updates are digitally signed so only genuine LobbyInk updates install.
8. The hotel's responsibility for access and staff
LobbyInk runs on the hotel's own computers, tablets, phones and network, which we do not control. The hotel is responsible for:
- who it gives access to LobbyInk, its computers, tablets and staff phones, and for their passwords and PINs;
- how its owners, managers, staff and anyone else it gives access to use guest data;
- keeping its computers, Windows accounts, network and backup drives secure, and keeping its recovery key safe.
To the extent the law allows, LobbyInk is not responsible for any loss, misuse or disclosure of data caused by the hotel's staff or anyone the hotel gives access to, or by a compromise of the hotel's own computers, accounts or network.
9. Free, trial, pilot and unlicensed copies
LobbyInk accepts responsibility for the software only while the hotel holds a paid licence that is active on our licence server. A free trial, a free pilot or test copy, an expired or suspended licence, or a copy used without a licence is provided "as is" and used at the hotel's own risk. To the extent the law allows, LobbyInk accepts no responsibility for such copies, including for data loss, errors or security problems.
Whether or not a copy is licensed, we handle any data that reaches us as this policy describes.
10. Your choices
You can ask us for a copy of, or to delete, the customer information we hold about you by emailing .
11. Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date above and, for significant changes, tell customers by email.