Privacy Policy
Christopher Pollard Tours (“we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to safeguarding your personal information and respecting your privacy rights. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal data when you visit our website at christopherpollardtours.com, engage with our services, or communicate with us in any form. We adhere to the data protection regulations set forth by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), with a privacy-first approach in all aspects of our data handling practices.
1. Scope of This Policy and Our Role as Data Controller
This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data received and processed through christopherpollardtours.com and related services. Christopher Pollard Tours operates as the data controller for all personal information collected through the website and any affiliated platforms. As a data controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal information in accordance with applicable privacy laws.
2. Categories of Data Processed
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:
a. Usage Data
Includes information on how you interact with the website, such as pages visited, session duration, IP address, browser type, geographical location, device type, and navigation patterns.
b. Account Data
Includes name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, account login details, and similar identifiers provided upon account creation or registration for services.
c. Profile Data
Includes tour preferences, booking history, dietary requirements, travel behavior, and responses to surveys or promotions.
d. Communication Data
Includes records of your interaction with our customer service channels, support tickets, messages sent via contact forms, and any related correspondence.
e. Technical Data
Includes device model, operating system, language settings, system configuration, and mobile carrier information for technical diagnostics and service optimization.
f. Transaction Data
Includes billing and payment information, purchase history, credit/debit card identifiers (tokenized where applicable), delivery or fulfillment addresses, and invoicing records.
g. Preference Data
Includes your expressed marketing preferences, consents to receive communications, and interests in particular tour offerings or travel categories.
3. Legal Bases for Processing Personal Data
We process personal data pursuant to the following legal bases:
– Consent: When you voluntarily provide personal data and give explicit consent (e.g., subscribing to newsletters or accepting cookies).
– Contractual necessity: When processing is required to fulfil a contract or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract (e.g., booking tours).
– Legitimate interest: Where processing is deemed necessary for our legitimate interests, provided such interests are not overridden by your privacy rights (e.g., improving website functionality or preventing fraud).
– Legal obligation: When necessary to comply with applicable legal or regulatory obligations.
4. Your Data Protection Rights
You have certain rights under GDPR and CCPA concerning your personal data:
– Right of Access: To obtain confirmation of the personal data we hold and request a copy.
– Right of Rectification: To correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
– Right of Erasure: To request deletion of personal data under certain circumstances (“the right to be forgotten”).
– Right to Restriction: To request the limitation of data processing in specific scenarios.
– Right to Data Portability: To receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, and transmit it to another controller.
– Right to Object: To object to the processing of your data based on legitimate interests or direct marketing purposes.
– Right to Non-Discrimination: To not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your privacy rights (for California residents).
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected].
5. Data Security Measures
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your personal data. These include:
– End-to-end encryption of sensitive data during transmission.
– Role-based access controls that limit data access to authorized personnel only.
– Regular data backups and secure storage protocols.
– Ongoing data protection awareness training for all staff and service providers.
While we strive to protect your data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Users are encouraged to maintain the confidentiality of their credentials and report any suspicion of unauthorized access.
6. International Data Transfers
We may transfer your personal data to countries outside of your jurisdiction, including but not limited to the United States and the European Economic Area, for the purpose of hosting or processing. In such cases, we rely on one or more of the following safeguards:
– Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission;
– Adequacy decisions for certain jurisdictions;
– Binding corporate rules where applicable.
These measures ensure that your personal data remains protected in accordance with EU and relevant international standards.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Specific retention periods include:
– Account and Profile Data: Retained for the duration of the account’s active status and up to 5 years post-deactivation.
– Transaction and Communication Data: Retained for 7 years to comply with financial and legal obligations.
– Marketing Preference Data: Retained until you withdraw consent or express a preference to opt out.
Anonymized and aggregated data may be retained indefinitely for analytical and research purposes.
8. Cookie Policy
Cookies are small data files stored on your device when visiting christopherpollardtours.com. We use cookies for the following purposes:
– Essential Cookies: Necessary for site functionality and access management.
– Functional Cookies: Enhance your user experience (e.g., retaining your preferences).
– Performance & Analytics Cookies: Help us collect statistics to improve site performance and understand user behavior.
– Marketing Cookies: Track browsing habits to provide personalized content and advertisements.
We do not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information without your explicit consent.
9. Cookie Management & Compliance
In accordance with GDPR and CCPA, users are provided with a cookie consent banner upon their first visit to christopherpollardtours.com. From that banner and via your account settings or browser configurations, you can:
– Accept or decline non-essential cookies;
– Modify your cookie preferences at any time;
– Request deletion of stored cookie identifiers.
For California residents, we honor “Do Not Track” signals and provide mechanisms to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal data for advertising purposes.
10. Children’s Privacy
Christopher Pollard Tours does not knowingly collect or process personal information from individuals under the age of 13. If we are made aware that such data has inadvertently been collected, we will take immediate steps to delete it. Parents or legal guardians who believe that their child has submitted personal data are encouraged to contact us at [email protected].
11. Updates to This Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in regulations, our data processing practices, or website features. When substantial changes are made, we will notify you through appropriate channels (e.g., on-site announcement or direct communication). Continuing to use christopherpollardtours.com after such updates constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
12. Contact Information
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the way your personal data is handled, you may contact us at:
We are committed to complying with all applicable privacy laws and ensuring that your data is processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently. Please reach out if you believe your rights have been impacted or if you require further clarification.