Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Policy outlines in general terms how Southern Crossings collects, uses, holds, protects and discloses your personal data.

The policy applies to any personal information provided to us when using our website, making an enquiry or booking travel arrangements, or otherwise in the course of our dealings with each other. It applies equally to the provider and all travelling companions.

This Privacy Policy will also apply to any information that is provided to us by a travel agent or other third party in relation to your travel plans.

If at any time you wish to review, edit or remove the personal data we hold about you, please contact – ausdesign@southern-crossings.com

This privacy policy covers:

• What personal information we collect
• How we collect your personal information
• Why we will store your information

• How we use and share your information

• How we protect your personal information
• How to access or amend your personal information
• Internet Use

• Concerns or complaints

• Changes to our privacy policy

WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We only collect and hold personal information which is necessary in connection with our business purposes and to provide you with the services you request, along with any purposes connected to those products and services.

The specific kinds of personal information collected from you or about you will depend on the transaction you enter into with us, the goods and services you or your organisation have contracted us to provide or the goods and services you or your organisation are interested in receiving.

In general, the information collected includes / may include (but is not limited to): your name, date of birth, contact details (address, phone numbers and email address), identification details (such as passport details and drivers licence), flight and other travel details, payment details (credit card or bank details to pay for products and services requested), dietary or special requirements (which may include sensitive and health information such as ethnicity, religion, dietary requirements/allergies, mobility etc as relevant to your proposed travel arrangements and activities), weight and sizes (as required and relevant for specific travel arrangements and activities), information regarding travel preferences, past transactions or dealings with Southern Crossings to customise our services or any future services to your needs.

We collect this information from or about all people in your travelling party.

If we do not collect, hold, use or disclose your personal information (including sensitive information and health information), or if you do not consent, then we may not be able to answer your enquiry, complete the transaction you have entered into, or provide the travel products and services that you or your organisation have contracted us to provide.

HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

We aim to collect personal information only directly from you, unless it is unreasonable or impracticable for us to do so. For example, we collect personal information from you or about you from your letters, emails, and telephone calls with us when you request information, enquire about or book a trip with us. We also collect personal information from you or about you from application forms and documents that you submit to or through us. We may also collect personal information about you as submitted by your family members and/or other members of your travelling party.

We may also collect personal information about you, your family members and/or other members of your travelling party from third parties where you have authorised this, such as from people making travel bookings on your behalf, or from travel agents, booking agents or travel representatives whom you have contacted regarding travel or accommodation arrangements.

Or from third parties where the information is publicly available.

Before providing us with any details about a guest / accompanying traveller you must ensure that the individual is aware of the disclosure of their information to us and the purposes for which the information is collected and used by us and the individual’s ability to request access to the information that we hold about them.  Our Privacy Policy applies equally to any guest or accompanying traveller.

The information that we collect about you may include some ‘sensitive information’ (e.g. health, ethnic, religious or financial information), which is relevant to your travel plans. Under the Privacy Act, we are required to obtain your consent to the collection and use of any sensitive information. We will assume that you have consented to the collection, use and disclosure by us of any sensitive information, which you provide to us (directly or via a third party) for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, unless you tell us otherwise.

WHY WE WILL STORE YOUR INFORMATION

There are several reasons why we will store your data:

• Contract: much of the time we will store and use your data because of the contract between us – that is in order to provide you with the services or information requested by you and to book / tailor the travel arrangements booked by you (either directly or through a third party). We will usually retain this data for a period of up to seven years
• Consent: in some instances we may have received your consent to use your data.  You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting ausdesign@southern-crossings.com
• Legal obligations: we are under certain legal obligations (such as accounting to the government for tax purposes and making financial record available for audit) to store your information, usually for a period of seven years from the date of transaction
• Legitimate interests: we store and use data to make business improvement decisions and carry out appropriate marketing of our services. Our Legitimate interests will not override your legal rights.

HOW WE USE & SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information from you or about you where it is reasonably necessary for us to carry out our business functions and activities. For example, we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information as necessary to provide and tailor our travel products and services to you or your organisation.

Our business necessarily works closely with travel suppliers, airlines, hotel partners, ground tour operators, guides etc. We routinely disclose your personal information to these third parties for them to assist us in carrying out our business functions and activities, and to provide you with the best possible travel experiences.

We may also share your data with:

• any business that supports our services and products, including any person that hosts or maintains any underlying IT system or data centre that we use to provide the website or other services and products
• other third parties (for anonymised statistical information)
• a person who can require us to supply your personal information (e.g. a regulatory authority)
• any other person authorised by the Act or another law (e.g. a law enforcement agency)
• any other person authorised by you.

Please note; A business that supports our services and products may be located outside Australia. This may mean your personal information may be held and processed outside Australia.

Specifically, we may use and share your data for the following purposes:

• Replying to emails from you
• Supplying our services (and those of relevant third parties – ie: the travel providers we book on your behalf) to you
• Personalising our services (and those of relevant third parties – ie: the travel providers we book on your behalf) for you
• Supplying you with emails that you have opted into (you may unsubscribe or opt-out at any time by clicking on ‘Unsubscribe’ in the email)
• With your permission and where permitted by law, we may also use your data for marketing purposes or to improve our services to you which may include contacting you by email, telephone or post with information, news and events on our services. We will not, share your information with any third parties for marketing purposes
• Where required or authorised by law; Where disclosure is necessary to prevent a threat to life or health, to enforce the law, or to investigate a suspected unlawful activity
• For any other purpose authorised by you.

We also collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for related purposes that you would reasonably expect, such as our administrative and accounting purposes, providing you with information about other travel products and services offered by us or customer feedback.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose.

Where we wish to use or disclose your personal information for other purposes, we will obtain your consent.

We may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent where this is required or permitted by law.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Your personal information is held and stored on paper, by electronic means or both. We have physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in place for personal information and take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

• Data held and stored on paper is stored in locked offices. Paper records no longer required are shredded or sent for secure destruction
• Data held and stored electronically (including in the Cloud) is protected by firewalls, limited access via file passwords, and files can be designated read-only or no access
• Data stored or archived off-site is contained within secure facilities.

We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach or suspected personal data breach where we are legally required to do so.

HOW TO ACCESS OR AMEND YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

To assist us to keep our records up-to-date, please notify us of any changes to your personal information.

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:

• Request access to your personal data
• Request correction of your personal data
• Request erasure of your personal data
• Object to processing of your personal data
• Request restriction of processing your personal data
• Request transfer of your personal data
• Right to withdraw consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above or to amend any of the information we hold about you, please email us at ausdesign@southern-crossings.com.  You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights).

Please note: We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response. We will endeavour to respond to all legitimate requests within one month.

INTERNET USE

Whilst we take reasonable steps to maintain secure internet connections any personal information provided over the internet is at your own risk.

Any information posted on the Southern Crossings website or social media forums may be publicly available.

When you browse the Southern Crossings website www.southern-crossings.com and have not registered for any online services from Southern Crossings, you browse anonymously. Personal information is not collected. Southern Crossings may however use ‘cookies’, client variables and session variables to collect information about how the site and server are used and to recognise you as a Southern Crossings online service user when you re-enter our site. You may disable cookies by changing the settings of your browser.  Information such as the server your computer is logged on to, browser type and whether you entered the site via a website or email hyperlink is collected and tracked in aggregate. This information is used for monitoring the site performance and for marketing purposes.

It is important to note that the Southern Crossings website, hyperlinks, blogs and social media may contain links to other sites not controlled by Southern Crossings. The Southern Crossings privacy policy does not apply to these sites.

CONCERNS OR COMPLAINTS

If you are not happy with any aspect of how we collect and use your data, you have the right to contact Australian Privacy Commissioner at www.oaic.giv.au. We would be most grateful if you would contact us first so that we can try to resolve it for you.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

Southern Crossings may review and update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, changes in our business practices, procedures and structure, and the community’s changing privacy expectations. While it is not generally feasible to notify you of changes to this Privacy Policy, the latest version of the Privacy Policy will be available by emailing ausdesign@southern-crossings.com at any time.

The policy was updated  June 2018