eCHO SEO Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 16, 2026

Digital Stride (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of data handled by the ECHO SEO WordPress plugin (the “Software”) and our related hosted infrastructure (the “Services”).

This Privacy Policy explains exactly what data is collected, how it is processed, and the rigorous safeguards we use to ensure that your business metrics and configurations remain secure.

1. Local Data Sovereignty (The Free Version Collects Nothing)

By default, ECHO SEO is designed around a strict "local-first" architecture.

• Free Version Data Footprint: The free version of the Software operates entirely locally on your WordPress server. It collects no personal data, tracks no user behaviors, and makes zero network requests or "phone home" telemetry calls to Digital Stride’s servers.

• What Stays on Your Server: All business identities, location hours, schema configurations, page titles, meta descriptions, and custom tracking codes (e.g., Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag) are stored exclusively in your website's local WordPress database.

• Our Access: We cannot view, access, or manipulate this local data. If you contact our customer support team for troubleshooting, we will only access your data if you voluntarily provide temporary admin access.

2. Premium Telemetry and Service Data Collection (Premium Users Only)

For licensed Premium users, certain minimal telemetry is transmitted to Digital Stride’s secure hosted infrastructure to maintain software security, activate premium features, and process technical requests.

A. Information Collected Automatically

• License Key & Site URL: When validating a premium license key, the Software transmits the license key and your website's URL to confirm authorization.

• Software Version: The Software periodically queries our update server to check for compatibility and retrieve premium features, security patches, or update packages.

• Basic Diagnostics: Routine technical headers (such as PHP version, WordPress version, and server type) are processed purely to ensure stable update deployment and compatibility.

B. The Page Speed Relay (Premium Only)

When a Premium licensed user initiates a Page Speed performance check within the dashboard, the request is brokered through Digital Stride’s secure update and utility API relay.

• Data Processed: We receive the specific page URL being checked, your site’s domain URL, and your active license key to validate and broker the API call.

• Data Minimization: No visitor information or personal data is collected or transmitted during this process. The metadata is used strictly to execute the speed check and is not permanently stored on our servers.

3. Google OAuth Relay Data

If you utilize our Premium single-tenant features to manage your Google Business Profile or fetch Google Search Console data, the connection is brokered via Digital Stride's secure Google OAuth relay server.

• Minimum Scopes Requested: We request only the absolute minimum permissions required to perform these functions. We explicitly never request permissions to read your Google Analytics account through this pipeline.

• Token Management: The relay server acts as a secure broker to handle API tokens. It independently verifies your license validity on every connection and token refresh.

• Data Boundary: Your fetched Google account metrics are piped directly to your local WordPress dashboard. We do not index, aggregate, or store your Search Console or Business Profile statistics on our hosted servers. Disconnecting the account via the plugin settings instantly and permanently revokes our access to those stored tokens.

4. User-Configured Integrations (No Digital Stride Processing)

The Software allows you to configure external services directly on your site, such as IndexNow submissions, Google PageSpeed API checks (for free users), Nominatim geocoding, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, or LinkedIn Insight Tag.

• These connections are established directly between your server (or your visitors' browsers) and the third-party providers.

• Digital Stride does not run, operate, or receive any data flowing through these user-configured integrations. Ensuring appropriate visitor consent and cookie disclosures for these third-party tools is your sole legal responsibility.

5. Data Retention and Deletion

We only retain your data for as long as strictly necessary to provide our Services, validate active licenses, or maintain software security.

• Core License Data: Retained for the duration of your active subscription window plus an additional twelve (12) months to facilitate renewals, after which it is permanently purged.

• Google OAuth Tokens: Stored securely only for the duration of your active connection. Disconnecting your Google account or deleting the plugin triggers an immediate, automated command that erases your stored tokens from our relay servers.

• Security Logs: Raw server IP addresses of the WordPress site's hosting server making API calls to our licensing or update servers are temporarily logged raw purely for rate-limiting, firewall security, and DDoS protection. These security logs are automatically flushed and overwritten within thirty (30) days.

You may request manual, permanent deletion of any licensing or connection data tied to your site footprint at any time by contacting us directly at [email protected].

6. Data Security

Digital Stride implements industry-standard technical and organizational measures to safeguard all data routed through our Services. This includes end-to-end Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS) encryption for all automated plugin syncs, restricted server access limits for internal personnel, and isolated database architectures for hosted relay elements.

7. International Data Transfers

Digital Stride operates hosted infrastructure primarily within the United States. If you are accessing our Services or operating a website from the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, please note that information we collect to validate premium licenses will be transferred to and processed in the United States. We utilize robust data processing safeguards and standard contractual clauses where necessary to ensure equivalent protections.

8. Contact and Inquiries

For questions regarding this Privacy Policy, your data rights, or to submit a manual data erasure request, please contact our privacy compliance officer at [email protected].