Our privacy promises

• We will be transparent about the information we are collecting and what we will do with it.
• We will use the information you give us for the purposes described in our Privacy Policy, which include providing you with services you have requested and enhancing your experience with WOW Scotland.
• We will use the information to help us understand you better and so that we can give you relevant offers.
• If you tell us you don’t want to receive marketing messages we will stop sending them. We will, of course, continue to send important information relating to a product or service you have purchased to keep you informed about your booking and travel itinerary.
• We will put in place measures to protect your information and keep it secure.
• We will respect your data protection rights and aim to give you control over your own information.

Any personal information processed by WOW Scotland in connection with this Privacy Policy is controlled by WOW Scotland, which is considered the “data controller” of your personal information under European Union and UK data protection law. Any provider of services such as a ferry companies will also separately be a “data controller”. You can access the privacy policies of those providers from them directly. 

Bookings made through travel agents and operators

If you have booked a package (e.g. a tour plus another service) through a travel agent, your travel agent will send your details (the details that you have consented your travel agent to pass to us) to WOW Scotland to make your booking. WOW Scotland share your name (and contact telephone number in some cases), with our third party suppliers such as  ferry companies and visitor attractions for the purpose of your tour only. This allows us to offer a high level of service and tour. Without this, we would not be able to fulfil your tour booking and quality of service. In these circumstances we are a ‘data processor’. WOW Scotland suppliers will only use your details to fulfil the service we are booking. 

When we do so we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.

The personal information we collect and us

Personal information means details which identify you or could be used to identify you, such as your name and contact details, your travel arrangements and purchase history. It may also include information about how you use our websites and mobile applications.

In the course of you buying a WOW Scotland product we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

• Names of persons booking tours or products, payment details, address, email address, phone number and country of residence.
• Additional details e.g. Information about your health, if you have a medical condition that may affect your tour such as the provision of wheelchair assistance or oxygen or you may have volunteered information such as dietary requirements services (such as a meal) which is not ’sensitive data’ but may imply or suggest your religion, health or other information.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information:

• To fulfil your travel arrangements and deliver the services you have asked for.
• To manage the tour check in and boarding process.
• To send tour updates and communications to you.
• To provide services tailored to your requirements and to treat you in a more personal way.
• To carry out analysis and market research.
• To carry out marketing and keep you informed of WOW Scotland products and services. When we collect information directly from you we will ask you if you want to ‘opt in’ to our marketing communications. If you decide you would no longer like to see our marketing communications, you can change your mind at any time, each marketing communication we send by email will have an unsubscribe option which will allow you to stop you receiving further marketing emails. Please note that if you tell us that you do not wish to be sent further marketing communications, you will still receive service communications which are necessary, for example, to confirm your booking or to provide you with an update on your tour booking.
• To improve our websites, products and services.
• For management and administrative purposes.

Who we share your personal information with

We share your name (and in some cases your contact telephone number) with our third party suppliers such as ferry companies and visitor attractions for the purpose of your tour only. For a list of our third party suppliers related to your booking please contact us by email on [email protected] or in writing to Privacy Manager, WOW Scotland Tours Ltd, Birkenshaw, Tomatin, IV13 7XY. This data sharing enables WOW Scotland to source appropriate providers (e.g. ferries & visitor attractions) and allows us to offer a high level of service and tour. Without this, we would not be able to fulfil your tour booking and quality of service.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.

We will share with credit and charge card companies, credit reference agencies and anti-fraud screening service providers to process payments, and (where necessary) to carry out fraud-screening.

We will not share your personal information with any other third party.

What information must be provided by you, and why

The provision of your name, address, contact telephone number, email address and payment details are required from you to enable us to process your booking. We will inform you at the point of booking, the detail that we require from you in order to fulfil your booking.

WOW Scotland will only process your personal information where we have a legal basis to do so. The legal basis will depend on the reason or reasons WOW Scotland collected and needs to use your information. Under EU and UK data protection laws in almost all cases the legal basis will be:

• Because we need to use your information so that we can process your booking, fulfil your travel arrangements and otherwise perform the contract we have with you.
• Because it is in WOW Scotland’s legitimate interests as a tour operator to use your personal information to operate and improve our business.
• Because WOW Scotland needs to use your personal information to comply with a legal obligation.
• To protect the vital interests of you or another person.
• Because you have consented to WOW Scotland using your information for a particular purpose.

How long your personal information will be kept

We will keep your information for as long as we need it for the purpose it is being processed for. For example, where you book a tour with us we will keep the information related to your booking, so we can fulfil the specific travel arrangements you have made and after that, we will keep the information for a period which enables us to handle or respond to any complaints, queries, feedback or concerns relating to the booking and for accounting purposes the period required under UK tax laws. The information may also be retained so that we can continue to improve your experience with us and to ensure that you receive any loyalty rewards which are due to you.

We will actively review the information we hold and delete it securely, or in some cases anonymise it, when there is no longer a legal, business or customer need for it to be retained.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

It will be necessary for WOW Scotland to use your personal information to complete a booking you have made with us. For example, we will need to use information such as your contact details and payment information to provide you with the tour or other product you have requested and paid for.

As a travel provider WOW Scotland has a legitimate business interest to use the personal information we collect to offer an effective service and carry out our business

There are situations where WOW Scotland is subject to a legal obligation and needs to use your personal information to comply with those obligations

Cookies or other tracking technologies

We use cookies on our website, mobile app and in our emails. Cookies are small pieces of information stored by your browser on your computer’s hard drive. They enable you to navigate on our website or app and allow us to provide features such as remembering aspects of your last tour search to make subsequent searches faster. You can delete cookies if you wish; while certain cookies are necessary for viewing and navigating on our website or app, most of the features will be still accessible without cookies.

Cookies and other tracking software allow us to improve our services, to provide you with more relevant content and to analyse how visitors use our website and app.

For example, we use software to monitor customer traffic patterns and website usage to help us develop the design and layout of the website in order to enhance the experience of visitors to our website. This software does not enable us to collect any personal data.

We also monitor the monthly email newsletters we send out to understand how our customers interact with the emails and the content that we send, we monitor if the emails we send are opened or how the content of our emails is displayed. We use this information to enhance the experience of customers signed up to our monthly email newsletter.

For more information on how we use cookies and how you can remove them, read our Cookie policy.

Transfer of your information out of the EEA

We will not transfer your personal information outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

Your rights

Under the current UK Data Protection Regulations you have a number of important rights free of charge. In summary, those include rights to:

• Fair processing of information and transparency over how we use your use personal information.
• Access to your personal information require us to correct any mistakes in your information which we hold.
• Require the erasure of personal information concerning you in certain situations.
• Receive the personal information concerning you which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to a third party in certain situations.
• Object at any time to processing of personal information concerning you for direct marketing.
• Object to decisions being taken by automated means which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you.
• Object in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal information.
• Otherwise restrict our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please email [email protected] with the subject title “My data request” including the following required Information:

• Your full name;
• A description of the data that you are requesting (such as tours booked/taken with WOW Scotland), including a date range;
• Confirmation of booking references and/or email addresses (past and present) used to book tours or products with WOW Scotland; and
• Any other information that may assist us with identifying the data you require.

Please note that we may contact you to request additional information to verify your identity before we share any data requested. From the date that we receive all of the required information, we will process your request in the time frame outlined in current UK legislation.

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way.

We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

If you want detailed information on how to protect your information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.

How to complain

We hope that we can resolve any query or concern you raise about our use of your information. Please contact us on the details below if you have any queries or concerns.

The Data Protection Regulations also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the European Union (or European Economic Area) state where you work, normally live or where any alleged infringement of data protection laws occurred. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or telephone: 0303 123 1113.

Updates to our privacy notice

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 5th June 20202. We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time and in line with data protection legislation. Please check this page occasionally to ensure you’re happy with any changes.

How to contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about this privacy notice or the information we hold about you.

Telephone: 01808 511773

Email: [email protected]

Post: Privacy Manager, WOW Scotland Tours Ltd , Birkenshaw, Tomatin, IV13 7XY