GDPR STATEMENT

GDPR STATEMENT

What kind of personal data does Bookingcy.net  collect?

OK, so you’re looking for some more in-depth information. Here’s a closer look at what we collect.

Personal data you give to us.

Bookingcy.net  collects and uses information you provide to us. When you make a Trip Reservation, you are (at a minimum) asked for your name and email address.

Depending on the Trip Reservation, we may also ask for your home address, telephone number, payment information, date of birth, current location (in the case of on-demand services), the names of the people travelling with you and any preferences you might have for your Trip (such as dietary or accessibility requirements). In some cases you may also be able to check-in online with the Trip Provider, for which we will ask you to share passport information or a driving licence and signatures.

If you need to get in touch with our customer service team, contact your Trip Provider through us, or reach out to us in a different way (such as social media or via a chatbot) we’ll collect information from you there, too. This applies whether you are contacting us with feedback or asking for help using our services.

You might also be invited to write reviews to help inform others about the experiences you had on your Trip. When you write a review on the Bookingcy.net platform, we’ll collect any information you’ve included, along with your display name and avatar (if you choose one).

There are other instances where you’ll provide us with information, as well. For example, if you’re browsing with your mobile device, you can decide to allow Bookingcy.net to see your current location or grant us access to some contact details. This helps us to give you the best possible service and experience by, for example, showing you our city guides, suggesting the nearest restaurants or attractions to your location or making other recommendations.

If you create a user account, we’ll also store your personal settings, uploaded photos, and reviews of previous bookings there. This saved data can be used to help you plan and manage future Trip Reservations or benefit from other features only available to account holders (such as incentives or other benefits).

You can also choose to add details from your identification documents to your user accounts, so that you don’t have to submit this information for each individual Trip Reservation.

We may offer you referral programs or sweepstakes, and participating in these will mean providing us with relevant personal data.

Personal data you give us about others.

If you have a Bookingcy.net for Business account, you can keep an address book there to make it easier to plan and manage business travel arrangements for others.

In some cases, you might use Bookingcy.net to share information with others. This can take the form of sharing a wishlist, taking part in a travel community or participating in a referral programme, as described when you use the relevant feature.

At this point, we have to make it clear that it’s your responsibility to ensure that the person or people you have provided personal data about are aware that you’ve done so, and that they have understood and accepted how Bookingcy.net uses their information (as described in this Privacy Statement).

Personal data we collect automatically.

Whether or not you end up making a Trip Reservation, when you visit our websites or apps we automatically collect certain information. This includes your IP address, the date and time you accessed our services, and information about your computer’s hardware and software (such as the operating system, the internet browser used, software/application version data and your language settings). We also collect information about clicks and which pages have been shown to you.

If you’re using a mobile device, we collect data that identifies the device, as well as data about your device-specific settings and characteristics, app crashes and other system activity. When you make a Trip Reservation using this kind of device, our system registers how you made your reservation (on which website), and/or which site you came from when you entered the Bookingcy.net website or app.

Personal data we receive from other sources.

It’s not just the things you tell us, though – we may also receive information about you from other sources. These include business partners, such as affiliate partners, subsidiaries of the Bookingcy.net and other independent third parties.

Anything we receive from these partners may be combined with information provided by you. For example, Bookingcy.net Trip Reservation services are not only made available via Bookingcy.net and the Bookingcy.net apps, but are also integrated into services of affiliate partners you can find online. When you use any of these services, you provide the reservation details to our business partners who then forward your details to us.

We also integrate with third party service providers to facilitate payments between you and Trip Providers. These service providers share payment information so we can administer and handle your Trip Reservation, making sure everything goes as smoothly as possible for you.

Additionally, we collect information in the regrettable case that we receive a complaint about you from a Trip Provider, for example in the case of misconduct.

Another way we might receive data about you, is through the communication services integrated into our platforms. These communication services offer you a way to contact theTrip Provider you’ve booked with to discuss your stay. In some cases, we receive metadata about these communication activities (such as who you are, where you called from, and the date and length of the call).

We may also receive information about you in order to show you more relevant ads, such as the additional cookie data Bookingcy.net social media partners make available to us. Please read the section Why does Bookingcy.net collect and use your personal data? for more information.

When you link your Bookingcy.net user account to your social media account, you might trigger exchanges of data between Bookingcy.net and that social media provider. You can always choose not to share that data.

Trip Providers may share information about you with Bookingcy.net too. This could happen if you have support questions about a pending Trip Reservation, or if disputes or other issues arise about a Trip Reservation.

Why does Bookingcy.net collect and use your personal data?

We use the information collected about you for a variety of purposes. Your personal data may be used in the following ways:

1. Trip Reservations: First and foremost, we use your personal data to complete and administer your online Trip Reservation – which is essential for us to provide this service for you. This includes sending you communications that relate to your Trip Reservation, such as confirmations (including, where applicable, providing you with a proof of purchase and/or payment), modifications and reminders. In some cases, this may also include processing your personal data to enable online check-in with the Trip Provider or processing personal data in relation to possible damage deposits.
2. Customer service: We provide international customer service from our local offices and we’re here to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sharing relevant details, such as reservation information or information about your user account with our global customer service staff allows us to respond when you need us. This includes helping you to contact the right Trip Provider and responding to any questions you might have about your Trip Reservation (or any other queries, for that matter).
3. Account facilities: Bookingcy.net users can create an account on our website or apps. We use the information you give us to administer this account, allowing you to do a number of useful things. You can manage your Trip Reservations, take advantage of special offers, make future Trip Reservations easily and manage your personal settings.

Managing personal settings gives you the ability to keep and share lists, share photos, easily see Trip Services you’ve searched for and check travel-related information you’ve provided. You can also see any reviews you’ve written.

If you want to, you can share certain information as part of your user account, by creating a public profile under your own first name or a screen name you choose.

If you’re a Bookingcy.net for Business account holder, you can also save contact details under that account, manage business reservations and link other account holders to the same Bookingcy.net for Business account.

1. Online groups: We give account holders the chance to connect and interact with each other through online groups or forums, such as travel communities.
2. Marketing activities: We use your information for marketing activities. These activities include:
   1. Using your contact information to send you regular news about travel-related products and services. You can unsubscribe from email marketing communications quickly, easily and at any time. All you need to do is click on the ‘Unsubscribe’ link included in each newsletter or other communication, or manage your preferences via your account settings.
   2. Based on your information, individualised offers might be shown to you on the Bookingcy.net website, in mobile apps or on third-party websites/apps (including social media sites) and the content of the site displayed to you might be personalised. These could be offers that you can book directly on the Bookingcy.net website, on co-branded sites, or other third-party offers or products we think you might find interesting.
   3. When you participate in other promotional activities (such as sweepstakes, referral programmes or competitions), only relevant information will be used to administer these promotions.
3. Communicating with you: There might be other times when we get in touch, including by email, by chatbot, by post, by phone or by texting you. Which method we choose depends on the contact information you’ve previously shared.

We process the communications you send to us. There could be a number of reasons for this, including:

1. 1. Responding to and handling any requests you or your booked Trip Provider have made. Bookingcy.net also offers customers and Trip Providers various ways to exchange information, requests and comments about Trip Providers and existing Trip Reservations via Booking.com. For more information, read the section titled ‘How does Bookingcy.net process communications that you and your Trip Provider send through Bookingcy.net?’.
   2. If you have started but not finished a Trip Reservation online, we might contact you to invite you to continue with your reservation. We believe that this additional service benefits you as it allows you to pick up the process where you left off without having to search for a Trip Provider or fill in your reservation details again.
   3. When you use our services, we might send you a questionnaire or invite you to provide a review about your experience with Bookingcy.net or the Trip Provider.
   4. We also send you other material related to your Trip Reservations, such as how to contact Bookingcy.net if you need assistance while you’re away, and information that we feel might be useful to you in planning or getting the best out of your Trip. We might also send you material related to upcoming Trip Reservations or a summary of previous Trip Reservations you made through Bookingcyprus.cy
   5. Even if you don’t have an upcoming Trip Reservation, we may still need to send you other administrative messages, which could include security alerts.
   6. In case of misconduct, we may send you a notice and/or warning.
2. Market research: We sometimes invite our customers to take part in market research. Please see the information that accompanies this kind of invitation to understand what personal data will be collected and how that data is used.
3. Improving our services: We also use personal data for analytical purposes and product improvement. This is part of our commitment to making our services better and enhancing the user experience.

In this case, we use data for testing and troubleshooting purposes, as well as to generate statistics about our business. The main goal here is to get insights into how our services perform, how they are used, and ultimately to optimise and customise our website and apps, making them easier and more meaningful to use. As much as possible, we strive to use anonymised and de-identified personal data for this analytical work.

1. Providing the best price applicable to you, depending on where you are based: When you search our apps or website, for example to find an accommodation, we process your IP address to confirm whether you are in the European Economic Area (EEA) or in another country. We do this to offer you the best price for the region (EEA) or country (non-EEA) where you are based.
2. Customer reviews and other destination-related information: During and after your Trip, we might invite you to submit a review. We can also make it possible for the people you’re travelling with or whom you’ve booked a reservation for to do this instead. This invite asks for information about the Trip Provider or the destination.

If you have a Bookingcy.net account, you can choose to display a screen name next to your review, instead of your real name. If you’d like to set a screen name, you can do that in your account settings. Adding an avatar is also possible.

By completing a review, you’re agreeing that it can be displayed (as described in detail in our Terms and Conditions) on, for example, the relevant Trip Provider information page on our websites, on our mobile apps, on our social media accounts and social media apps, or on the online platform of the relevant Trip Provider or business partner’s website. This is to inform other travellers about the quality of the Trip Service you used, the destination you have chosen or any other experiences you choose to share.

1. Call monitoring: When you make calls to our customer service team, Bookingcy.net uses an automated telephone number detection system to match your telephone number to your existing reservations. This can help save time for both you and our customer service staff. However, our customer service staff may still ask for authentication, which helps to keep your reservation details confidential.

During calls with our customer service team, live listening might be carried out or calls might be recorded for quality control and training purposes. This includes the usage of the recordings for the handling of complaints, legal claims and for fraud detection.

We do not record all calls. In the case that a call is recorded, each recording is kept for a limited amount of time before being automatically deleted. This is unless we have determined that it’s necessary to keep the recording for fraud investigation or legal purposes. You can read more about this below.

1. Promotion of a safe and trustworthy service: To create a trustworthy environment for you, the people you bring with you on your Trip, Bookingcy.net’s business partners and our Trip Providers, we continuously analyse and use certain personal data to detect and prevent fraud and other illegal or unwanted activities.

Similarly, we use personal data for risk assessment and security purposes, including when you report a safety concern, or for the authentication of users and reservations. When we do this we may have to stop or put certain Trip Reservations on hold until we’ve finished our assessment.

1. Legal purposes: Finally, in certain cases, we may need to use your information to handle and resolve legal claims and disputes, for regulatory investigations and compliance, to enforce the Bookingcy.net online reservation service terms of use or to comply with lawful requests from law enforcement.

Providing your personal data to Bookingcy.net is voluntary. However, we may only be able to provide you with certain services if we can collect some personal data. For instance, we can’t process your Trip Reservation if we don’t collect your name and contact details.

If we use automation to process personal data which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you, we’ll always implement the necessary measures to safeguard your rights and freedoms. This includes the right to obtain human intervention.

To process your personal data as described above, we rely on the following legal bases:

As applicable, Bookingcy.net relies on the legal basis that the processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract, specifically to finalise and administer your Trip Reservation.

If the required personal data is not provided, Bookingcy.net cannot finalise the Trip Reservation, nor can we provide customer service. In view, Bookingcy.net relies on its (or third parties’) legitimate interest, to provide and improve services and to prevent fraud and other illegal acts.

When using personal data to serve Bookingcyprus.cy’s or a third party’s legitimate interest, Bookingcy.net will always balance your rights and interests in the protection of your personal data against Bookingcyprus.cy’s rights and interests or those of the third party. Bookingcy.net also relies, where applicable, on compliance with legal obligations (such as lawful law enforcement requests).

Finally, where needed under applicable law, Bookingcy.net will obtain your consent prior to processing your personal data, including for email marketing purposes or as otherwise required by law.

If you wish to object to the processing set out, please contact us at [email protected]

How does Bookingcy.net share your data with third parties?

In certain circumstances, we’ll share your personal data with third parties. These third parties include:

1. The Trip Provider you booked: In order to complete your Trip Reservation, we transfer relevant reservation details to the Trip Provider you have booked. This is one of the most essential things we do for you.

Depending on the Trip Reservation and the Trip Provider, the details we share can include your name, contact and payment details, the names of the people accompanying you and any other information or preferences you specified when you made your Trip Reservation.

In certain cases, we also provide some additional historical information about you to the Trip Provider. This includes whether you’ve already booked with them in the past, the number of completed bookings you’ve made with Bookingcy.net a confirmation that no misconduct has been reported about you, the percentage of bookings you’ve cancelled in the past or whether you’ve given reviews about past bookings.

If you have a query about your Trip, we may contact the Trip Provider to handle your request. Unless payment is made during the booking process, via the Bookingcy.net website, we will forward your credit card details to the booked Trip Provider for further handling (assuming you’ve provided us with those details).

In cases of Trip Reservation-related claims or disputes, we may provide the Trip Provider with your contact details and other information about the booking process, as needed to resolve the situation. This can include, but might not be limited to, your email address and a copy of your reservation confirmation as proof that a Trip Reservation was made or to confirm reasons for cancellation.

For completeness, Trip Providers will further process your personal data outside of the control of Bookingcy.net Trip Providers may also ask for additional personal data, for instance to provide additional services, or to comply with local restrictions. If available, please read the Privacy Statement of the Trip Provider to understand how they process your personal data.

1. Connectivity Providers: Please note that certain Trip Providers may need us to share your personal data with a contracted Connectivity Provider in order to be able to finalise and administer your reservation. Connectivity providers act on behalf of Trip Providers and help them to manage their reservations.
2. Your local Bookingcy.net office: To support the use of Bookingcy.net services, your details may be shared with subsidiaries of the Bookingcy.net corporate group, including for customer service. To find out more about the Bookingcy.net corporate group, visit About Bookingcy.net
3. Third-party service providers: We use service providers from outside of the Bookingcy.net corporate group to support us in providing our services. These include:
   • Customer support
   • Market research
   • Fraud detection and prevention (including anti-fraud screening)
   • Insurance claims
   • Payment

We use third parties to process payments, handle chargebacks or provide billing collection services. When a chargeback is requested for your Trip Reservation, either by you or by the holder of the credit card used to make your reservation, we need to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution so they can handle the chargeback. This may also include a copy of your reservation confirmation or the IP address used to make your reservation. We may share information with relevant financial institutions, if we consider it strictly necessary for fraud detection and prevention purposes.

When a chargeback is requested for your Trip Reservation, either by you or by the holder of the credit card used to make your reservation, we need to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution so they can handle the chargeback. This may also include a copy of your reservation confirmation or the IP address used to make your reservation.

We may also share information with relevant financial institutions, if we consider it strictly necessary for fraud detection and prevention purposes.

1. • Marketing services

We share personal data with advertising partners, including your email address, IP address and telephone number, as part of marketing Bookingcy.net services via third parties (to ensure that relevant advertisements are shown to the right audience). We use techniques such as hashing to enable the matching of your email address, IP address and/or telephone number with an existing customer database, to prevent this data from being used for other purposes. For information on other personalised advertisements and your choices, please read our Cookie Statement.

1. • Advertising partners

We use advertising partners, to allow you to compare our offers with offers from other Online Travel Agencies. When you make a reservation on Bookingcy.net after using an advertising partner, we will send the details of the reservation that you made on Bookingcy.net to that partner.

1. Other professional third parties: In certain cases (such as disputes or legal claims or as part of auditing activities), we may need to share your personal data with professional advisors. These advisors include parties such as law firms or auditors. We only share your personal data to the extent that is necessary and such third parties process this data in line with their own professional obligations.
2. Competent authorities: We disclose personal data to law enforcement to the extent that it is required by law or is strictly necessary for the prevention, detection or prosecution of criminal acts and fraud, or if we are otherwise legally obligated to do so. We may need to further disclose personal data to competent authorities to comply with a legal obligation (for instance, under short term rental laws), to protect and defend our rights or properties, or the rights and properties of our business partners.
3. Business partners: We work with many business partners around the world. These business partners distribute and advertise Bookingcy.net services, including the services and products of our Trip Providers.

When you make a reservation on one of our business partners’ websites or apps, certain personal data that you give them, such as your name and email address, your address, payment details and other relevant information, will be forwarded to us to finalise and manage your Trip Reservation.

If customer service is provided by the business partner, Bookingcy.net will share relevant reservation details with them (as and when needed) in order to provide you with appropriate and efficient support.

When you make a reservation through one of our business partners’ websites, the business partners can receive certain parts of your personal data related to the specific reservation and your interactions on these partner websites. This is for their commercial purposes.

When you make a reservation on a business partners’ website, please also take the time to read their privacy notice if you’d like to understand how they process your personal data.

For fraud detection and prevention purposes, we may also exchange information about our users with business partners – but only when strictly necessary.

If an insurance claim is made, concerning you and a Trip Provider, we may provide the necessary data (including personal data) to the insurance company for further processing.

1. • Partner Offer: We may present you with a ‘Partner Offer’. When you book a stay marked ‘Partner Offer’, your reservation will be facilitated by a Trip Provider who is separate from the accommodation you’re booking. As part of the reservation process, we’ll need to share some relevant personal data with this business partner.

If you book a Partner Offer, please review the information provided in the booking process or check your reservation confirmation for more information about the Trip Provider and how they will further process your personal data.

Bookingcy.net is a global business. The data that we collect from you, as described in this Privacy Statement, could be made accessible from, transferred to or stored in countries which may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially provided the information. In such cases, we will protect your data as described in this Privacy Statement.

This may also be applicable if you are in the European Economic Area (EEA). Countries your data may be transferred to may not have laws that provide the same level of protection for your personal data as laws within the EEA. Where this is the case, we will put appropriate safeguards in place to make sure that these transfers comply with European privacy law.

In particular, when your data is transferred to third-party service providers, we establish and implement appropriate contractual, organisational and technical measures with them. This is done by putting in place Standard Contractual Clauses as approved by the European Commission, by examining the countries to which the data may be transferred, and by imposing specific technical and organisational security measures.

In certain specific cases, we transfer your data outside the EEA because it is in your interest or is necessary to conclude or perform the contract we have with you. For instance, when you make a reservation on Bookingcy.net or through a business partner, we might need to transfer your data to a Trip Provider or business partner who is located outside the EEA.