Volunteer International Adventures GDPR and POPIA Privacy Policy
Protecting your data is extremely important to us and we believe in being as transparent as we can, which is why we have compiled this GDPR and POPIA Privacy Policy to explain how we collect and manage, share and look after your data.
If you have any questions at any time please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at: info@volunteerinternationaladventures.com
What personal data do we collect
In order to deliver you your program, facilitate your booking arrangements and help keep you and all other participants safe we have to collect some data about you like your name, contact details, previous experience and other information.
We typically process the following types of personal information about you: Contact information (such as name, home address, mobile number, email address); passport details; information about your dietary requirements and health issues (if any); and other details relevant to your travel arrangements or required by the relevant travel service provider(s)(e.g. flight booking agent, travel insurance and accommodation or tour providers).
When you contact us for other purposes, we may also collect personal information about you in relation to those purposes. For example, we may collect your personal information to respond to an enquiry or feedback you have sent to us. We also collect information that is required for use in the business activities of Volunteer International Adventures and our related entities, including for example relevant personal information you may choose to provide to us.
We may also collect personal information from you which may be regarded as sensitive information under the data protection laws. Sensitive information may include (without limitation) your gender, affiliations, criminal history, health information, and any personal information relating to a child under the age of 16. We will only collect sensitive information in compliance with your local data protection laws, with your explicit consent and where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of our functions or activities (e.g. to make travel arrangements), unless we are otherwise required or authorised to do so by law. To the extent permitted or required under the data protection laws, you consent to us using and disclosing your sensitive information for the purpose for it was collected. We will not use sensitive information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, unless we subsequently receive your consent to use it for another purposes
Collecting your personal data
We collect your personal data from the information you submit during your relationship with us. We will collect this data directly from you unless it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so or for example via a third party for example a Facebook lead generation promotion. Generally, this collection will occur when you deal with us either in person, by telephone, letter, email, social media, online chat or when booking or enquiring about any of our projects, services or activities when you visit our website
We may also collect your provided personal information when your complete surveys or provide us with feedback.
In some circumstances, it may be necessary for us to collect personal information about you from a third party.
This includes where a person makes a booking on your behalf (e.g. a family, underage or group booking). Where this occurs, we will rely on the authority of the person making the booking on your behalf.
Where you make a travel booking on behalf of another person, you agree you have obtained the consent of the other person for Volunteer International Adventures to collect, use and disclose the other person’s personal information in accordance with this policy and that you have otherwise made the other person aware of this policy.
You should let us know immediately if you become aware that your personal information has been provided to us by another person without your consent or if you did not obtain consent before providing another person’s personal data to us.
How do we use your personal data
We process your personal data as necessary to provide the services you requested from us. For example, if you book a volunteer project through us, then we use your personal data to enable us to make the appropriate arrangements and disclose it to our representatives in the destination to enable them to provide the service to you.
We may therefore share your information with other service providers such as flight booking agents, hostels, or other providers, who fulfil your program with us. Please note that these service providers may also use your personal information as described in their respective privacy policy and may contact you as necessary to obtain additional information about you to facilitate arrangements. We, therefore, encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party travel service providers whose products you use through us. We will provide you with copies of all relevant service privacy policies on request.
As we work with many service providers in various destinations, it is not possible for us to set out in this policy all the providers we work with or their locations.
Where permitted under the data protection laws, we may use your personal information to send you targeted marketing information relating to our products and services (and those of third-parties) that we think may interest you. These may include, but are not limited to, mail outs, electronic marketing, and notifications as described below, and telephone calls). We will only use your personal information to send electronic marketing materials to you (including e-newsletters, email, SMS, and other messaging services) if you have opted-in to receive them. You can subscribe to receive e-newsletters and other electronic promotional/marketing materials by contacting us directly.
Should you no longer wish to receive promotional material, or receive other types of communication from us, please contact us via email.
Sharing your personal data with third parties
We do not sell, swop, or trade your personal information. We will only disclose your personal data to third parties in the ways set out in this policy and as set out below.
Your personal data may be disclosed to the following types of third-parties: our contractors, suppliers and service providers; Providers such as travel wholesalers, tour operators, airlines, hostels, transfer handlers and other related service providers; a person making your booking on your behalf, where you are travelling on a booking made on your behalf by another person (for example, a family member, underage, friend or work colleague); a person who can verify to us that they have a relationship with you (e.g. a family member) where you are not contactable, and the request is, in our opinion, in your interest (for example, where the person is concerned for your welfare or needs to undertake action on your behalf due to unforeseen circumstances); as required or authorised by applicable law, and to comply with our legal obligations; customs and immigration to comply with our legal obligations and any applicable customs/immigration requirements relating to your travel; government agencies and public authorities to comply with a valid and authorised request, including a court order or other valid legal process; various regulatory bodies and law enforcement officials and agencies, including to protect against fraud and for related security purposes.
Other than the above, we will not disclose your personal information without your consent unless we reasonably believe that disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a threat to life, health or safety of an individual or to public health or safety or for certain action to be undertaken by an enforcement body.
On our website, you may choose to use certain features that can be accessed through, or for which we partner with, other entities that are not otherwise affiliated with us. These features, which include social networking and geo-location tools, are operated by third parties, including social networks, and are clearly identified as such. These third parties may use or share personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies. We strongly suggest you review the third parties’ privacy policies
Personal data transferred overseas
For almost all bookings we will disclose some of your personal data as necessary to certain overseas recipients. We will ensure that any such international transfers are both necessary for making suitable arrangements and the overseas recipient are made subject to appropriate or suitable safeguards. We will provide you with copies of the relevant safeguard documents on request.
It is possible that information will be transferred to an overseas recipient located in a jurisdiction where you will not be able to seek redress under the data protection laws and that does not have an equivalent level of data protection as in your jurisdiction. To the extent permitted by the data protection laws, we will not be liable for how these overseas recipients handle, store and process your personal information.
Volunteer International Adventures operates in Africa, and soon the USA. Your personal information may be disclosed to our overseas service providers in connection with facilitation of your travel booking and/or to enable the performance of administrative, advisory, and technical services, including the storage and processing of such information to fulfil our contract obligations to you as a participant on our programs. We deal with various service providers in other countries, so the location of a travel service provider relevant to your personal information will depend on the travel service and destination being provided. The relevant travel service providers will in most cases receive your personal information in the country in which they provide the services to us.
We may also disclose your personal information to third parties located overseas for the purpose of performing services for us, including the storage and processing of such information. Generally, we will only disclose your personal information to these overseas recipients in connection with facilitation of your travel booking and/or to enable the performance of administrative and technical services by them on our behalf.
Security of data
We are committed to safeguarding and protecting personal data. Volunteer International Adventures has implemented various physical, electronic, and managerial security procedures to protect the personal information it holds from loss and misuse, and from unauthorised access, modification, disclosure, and interference. We strive to protect your personal information as fully as we protect our own confidential information. We are not responsible for any third-party’s actions or their security controls with respect to information that third parties may collect or process via their websites, services or otherwise.
We will destroy or de-identify personal information once we no longer require it for our business purposes, or as required by law.
Your rights in relation to the personal data we collect
If you wish to: update, modify, delete or obtain a copy of the personal data that we hold on you; or restrict or stop us from using any of the personal data which we hold on you, including by withdrawing any consent you have previously given to the processing of such information; or where any personal data has been processed on the basis of your consent or as necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party, request a copy of such personal data in a suitable format. You can request this by emailing us on info@volunteerinternationaladventures.com
We reserve the right to deny you access for any reason permitted under applicable laws. Such exemptions may include national security, corporate finance, and confidential references. If we deny access or correction, we will provide you with written reasons for such denial unless it is unreasonable to do so and, where required by local data protection laws, will note your request and the denial of same in our records.
Please note that, if you request that we restrict or stop using personal data we hold on you, or withdraw a consent you have previously given to the processing of such information, this may affect our ability to provide services to you or negatively impact the services we can provide to you. For example, most bookings must be made under the volunteer’s full name and must include contact details and appropriate identification (e.g. passport details). We cannot and will not make bookings for you without that data.
You must always provide accurate information and you agree to update it whenever necessary. You also agree that, in the absence of any update, we can assume that the data submitted to us is correct, unless we subsequently become aware that it is not correct.
You can at any time tell us not to send you marketing communications by contacting us.
In any of the situations listed above, we may request that you prove your identity by providing us with a copy of a valid means of identification in order for us to comply with our security obligations and to prevent unauthorised disclosure of personal information
Social media
Our websites may use social media features (such as “Like” and “Share” features). These are provided and operated by third-party companies (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) and either hosted by a third-party or hosted directly on our website. Features may collect information such as the page you are visiting on our website, your IP address, and other information.
If you are logged into your account with the third-party company, then the third-party may be able to link information about your visit to and use of our website to your social media account with them. Similarly, your interaction may be recorded by the third-party. In addition, the third-party company may send us information in line with their policies, such as your name, profile picture, gender, friend lists and any other information you have chosen to make available.
For more information about the data practices of these third-party companies, and to find out more about what personal data is collected about you and how the third-party uses such personal information, please refer to their privacy policy directly.
Tracking technologies
Our website does not automatically recognize information regarding the domain or e-mail address of persons browsing our website.
If you engage in online chat (live chat) limited information is visible such as your country, page(s) visited on our site & duration. This is to enable us to better answer your questions.
If you engage via Social Media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) we will see the profile information allowed by you to be provided by that service.
Third-party linked websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites and our host server over which we have no control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any linked third-party websites you visit as their privacy policy and practices may differ from ours.
Contact us
If you have any enquiries, comments or complaints about this policy or our handling of your personal information, or wish to inform us of a change or correction to your personal information, would like a copy of the information we collect on you or would like to raise a complaint or comment, please contact your consultant or the Data Protection Controller using the details set out below:
Email: info@volunteerinternationaladventures.com
Changes to our Policy
We may amend this policy from time to time. If we make a change to the policy, the revised version will be posted on our website. It is your responsibility, and we encourage you, to check the website from time to time to determine whether there have been any changes. If we update our policy, in certain circumstances, we may seek your consent. This Privacy Policy was last updated on the 7th of July 2021.
