PRIVACY POLICY

At Southbound Escapes, we understand that how we collect, use, disclose and protect your information is important to you. This Privacy Policy sets out the types of personal information we receive and collect when you use our services, how we collect it, and what we do with it, as well as some of the steps we take to safeguard information.  

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Information we collect about you

In the course of providing travel arrangements, Southbound Escapes may collect and hold personal information such as:

• your name, date of birth, gender, postal address, telephone number, email address, passport details, medical information and travel insurance details (where applicable);

• details of the products and services you have purchased from us or which you have enquired about, together with any additional information necessary to deliver those products and services and to respond to your enquiries; and

• any additional information relating to you that you or a third party has provided to us directly or indirectly through our travellers’ or agents’ phone enquiry lines, websites, online presence, customer surveys or to our in-store or other representatives. ​

When you are travelling with us, we may take video and images of you that may be used in brochures, in our advertising or on our website. All participants of Southbound Escapes trips authorise us to use his/her image (such as a photograph, videotape, film or pictorial representation or recorded voice). If you do not wish for this to happen, please notify us in writing using the contact details below.

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How do we collect personal information?

You may volunteer this information when you request information from us, contact us (and vice versa), make a booking, register interest for and/or enter a competition, subscribe to one of our newsletters, use our website(s)/apps, link to or from our website(s)/apps, connect with us via social media, by speaking to a consultant in-store or any other engagement we or our business partners have with you. 

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We may also receive the information from a third party, for example:

• from people making travel bookings on your behalf; 

• from market research and data companies contracted by us to obtain information so that we may improve and market our products and services;

• from partners performing services on our behalf; and

• your insurer, their agents or medical staff may disclose relevant information and sensitive personal information with us in circumstances where we/they need to act on your behalf or in the interest of passengers or in an emergency.

We will update your information whenever we can to keep it current, accurate and complete.

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You represent and warrant to us that you have obtained all required consents and are fully authorized to disclose all personal information you provide to us including without limitation personal information of your friends and family members provided in connection with making travel bookings.

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Why do we collect, use, hold and disclose your information?

We collect personal information about you so that we can perform our business activities and functions and to provide the best possible quality of customer service.

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We may collect, hold, use and disclose your information for the following purposes:

• administering services we are providing to you such as arranging your tour booking

• some countries will only permit travel if you provide your advance passenger data.  These requirements may differ depending upon your destination and you are advised to check.  Even if not mandatory, we may exercise our discretion to assist where appropriate

• manage our relationship with you, including updates about your tour booking and handling complaints to contact you in the event of an emergency

• combining information collected from you at different times for the purpose of research and analysis to provide a better customer experience, including customising online content for you

• to identify and tell you about services we think you may be interested in, including sending email newsletters or sending printed materials to your postal address

• providing relevant information, which may include sensitive personal information, to insurers, their agents and medical staff in circumstances where we/they need to act on your behalf or in the interest of passengers or in an emergency.

• to make improvements to our site(s) and make it easier to find the information you are looking for

• for identification of fraud or error or for regulatory reporting and compliance

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When you provide your email address to the Southbound Escapes to make an online booking, your contact details may be retained even if the transaction is not completed. These details are captured using a secure service. This is so we can assist you in future with online bookings, and as a result of this you may receive a follow up enquiry email. This email will contain information on what action, if any, you can choose that will direct us to cease any further contact with you or destroy the personal information we have collected about you.

We are only permitted to store your personal information for as long as necessary having regard to the purposes for which it was collected or a related or ancillary purpose. We may therefore delete your personal information after a reasonable period of time and, if you have not used our services for some time, you may have to re-enter or re-supply your personal information to us.

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We will not disclose your personal information otherwise than as described in this Privacy Policy without your consent unless we reasonably believe that disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a threat to life, health or safety or for certain action to be undertaken by an enforcement body (e.g. prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of criminal offences), disclosure is authorised or required by law or disclosure is otherwise permitted by applicable privacy laws.

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Who do we disclose your information to?

We may disclose your personal information as follows: 

• We may share information with third parties in limited circumstances without your consent where we reasonably believe the disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a threat to life, health or safety, or for certain action to be undertaken by an enforcement body (e.g. prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution or punishment of criminal offences), where disclosure is authorised or required by law or disclosure is otherwise permitted by applicable privacy laws.

• In order for you to travel abroad, we may disclose your personal information where disclosure is required by government authorities at the point(s) of departure and/or destination to process your information for immigration, border control, security and anti-terrorism purposes.

• Where you provide us personal information for the purposes of booking travel related services on your behalf or on behalf of another person, we must provide such personal information to the travel providers you have selected for the purposes of completing the booking. We have no control over how travel providers use, disclose or store personal information. Please ensure you agree with the privacy practices of the travel providers you select prior to providing us your personal information for the purposes of booking travel related services with such travel providers. You acknowledge and agree that we provide your personal information to such travel providers solely as your agent and not as the principal holder and we will not be required to ensure their compliance with applicable privacy laws, this privacy policy or otherwise be liable or accountable for your personal information including without limitation their use and disclosure of your personal information.

• Personal information is destroyed or de-identified when no longer needed.

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Whilst we take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is secure, as the internet is inherently insecure, any personal information or other information you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.

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How do I access and correct my personal information?

You can enquire about personal information we hold about you by using the contact details below.  We will need to verify your identity before disclosing personal information. Please allow up to 10 business days for us to process your request, however we will endeavour to deal with your request sooner. 

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You can ask us to update any inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date information we hold about you using the contact details below. There is no fee to make an enquiry or request in relation to your information, or for us to add to, correct or update our records. 

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There may be instances where we cannot grant you access to the personal information we hold. For example, we may need to refuse access if granting access would interfere with the privacy of others or if it would result in a breach of confidentiality. If that happens, we will give you written reasons for any refusal.

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Marketing and privacy

We may from time to time use your personal information to identify new or existing products that we believe may be of interest to you. We may communicate this via email, phone or your postal address. If you no longer wish to receive these updates via email, you may opt-out by clicking the unsubscribe link contained in the message. You can contact us using the contact details below to opt-out of receiving phone and postal updates. You can opt-in in future if you wish to receive these updates again.

We comply with the Spam Act 2003 and do not share, sell or rent information to any third parties for the purposes of direct marketing. 

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Lodging a complaint

If you believe that your privacy has been breached, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information below and provide details of the incident so that we can investigate it.

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We request that complaints about breaches of privacy be made in writing, so we can be sure about the details of the complaint. Our Privacy Officer deals with privacy complaints and any complaints should be directed to our Privacy Officer using the contact details below. We will attempt to confirm as appropriate and necessary with you your understanding of the conduct relevant to the complaint and what you expect as an outcome. We will inform you whether we will conduct an investigation, the name, title, and contact details of the investigating officer and the estimated completion date for the investigation process.

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After we have completed our enquiries, we will contact you, usually in writing, to advise the outcome and invite a response to our conclusions about the complaint. If we receive a response from you, we will assess it and advise if we have changed our view.

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Contacting us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or are concerned about how we have handled your personal information, we would like to hear from you. We treat privacy matters seriously and will endeavour to correct the matter.

We will contact you within a reasonable time after receipt of your complaint to discuss your concerns and outline options regarding how they may be resolved. We will aim to ensure that your query or complaint is resolved in a timely and appropriate manner.