Privacy Policy

Draft: this policy is pending legal review and will be finalized before launch.

Who we are

Africa Awaits You is a tailor-made travel planning service provided by Travel Ease Company LLC, a limited liability company registered in the United States ("Travel Ease," "we," "us" or "our"). Travel Ease is responsible for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us via the details on our Contact page.

This policy covers our website, our trip planner and inquiry forms, and the conversations we have with you by email, phone or WhatsApp while planning your trip. It doesn't cover third-party websites we link to, or the independent suppliers (such as lodges and airlines) who have their own privacy policies.

Information we collect

Information you give us

When you use our trip planner or contact us, we collect:

• Contact details: your first and last name, email address, phone number (optional), country of residence and preferred contact method (email, phone or WhatsApp).
• Trip preferences: the destinations and experiences you're interested in, your travel dates or approximate month, preferred trip length, the number of adults and children traveling and children's ages, your departure country, city or airport, accommodation style, approximate budget range and whether it includes international flights, your interests, and any special requirements or notes you choose to share.
• Context you've already given us: if you start from a particular journey, destination or country page, we record which one, so you don't have to repeat yourself.
• Your choices: confirmation that you've read this policy, whether you'd like to receive marketing emails, and when you made those choices.

If you go ahead with a trip, we'll later ask for the details needed to book it, such as the names and dates of birth of travelers, passport details for permits and flights, and dietary, medical or mobility information that suppliers need to look after you. We ask only for what's needed, when it's needed.

Sensitive information

Some details you share, such as health conditions, disabilities or dietary needs linked to health or religion, may be considered sensitive. We use them only to plan and deliver your trip safely, share them only with the suppliers who need them, and, where the law requires it, rely on your explicit consent.

Information collected automatically

• Technical information sent with a trip request: your language setting, the display currency you selected, the page you submitted the form from and your browser type.
• A salted hash of your IP address. We use this only to investigate and prevent spam and abuse. We don't store your raw IP address with your request. Our hosting and security providers may process IP addresses in their own logs to keep the website secure and reliable.
• Attribution information, only if you accept optional cookies: the page you first arrived on, the website that referred you and campaign parameters in the link you followed (such as utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign). If you decline optional cookies, we don't collect this.
• Security checks: we use Cloudflare Turnstile to check that form submissions come from people rather than automated bots. It processes technical information about your browser and device for this purpose.

For more detail, see our Cookie Policy.

How we use your information, and why

• To respond to your request and design your trip. This is necessary to take steps you have asked for before entering into a contract with us, and is in our legitimate interest in running our business.
• To book and deliver your trip once you've approved your itinerary and quote. This is necessary to perform our contract with you.
• To send payment requests and keep records. This is necessary for our contract and to meet our legal, tax and accounting obligations. We never collect card details on our website.
• To send marketing emails, only if you've opted in. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• To understand how visitors find us, using attribution information only if you've consented to optional cookies.
• To keep our website and services secure and prevent spam, fraud and abuse, which is in our legitimate interest and yours.
• To comply with the law and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

If you're in the United Kingdom or European Economic Area

Under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR, the legal bases we rely on are: contract (or steps before a contract at your request), legitimate interests (such as responding to inquiries, improving our service and keeping it secure, balanced against your rights), consent (for marketing emails, optional cookies and, where required, sensitive information) and legal obligation. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting what we did before.

Who we share information with

We share personal information only where needed:

• Local partners and suppliers who help plan and deliver your trip, such as ground handlers, guides, lodges and hotels, transport providers, airlines and, where permits are required, park authorities. Before you approve a trip, we share only what's needed to check availability and prepare your proposal.
• Service providers who help us operate, such as website hosting and database providers, our content management system, email delivery, security and spam protection (including Cloudflare), communication tools you choose to use with us (such as WhatsApp) and payment providers when you pay through a secure payment link. They may only use your information to provide their services to us.
• Professional advisers, such as lawyers and accountants, where necessary.
• Authorities, where the law requires it or to protect someone's safety.
• A successor business, if Travel Ease is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, subject to this policy.

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it with advertising networks or for cross-context behavioral advertising.

International transfers

Travel Ease is based in the United States, our local partners are in the African countries you plan to visit, and some service providers operate in other countries. This means your information may be processed outside your home country. Where UK or EU data protection law applies, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, or on the transfer being necessary to arrange the trip you asked for, such as sharing your details with a lodge in Kenya.

How long we keep information

• Trip requests that don't lead to a booking: generally no longer than 24 months after our last contact, after which we delete or anonymize them.
• Booked trips: for as long as needed to deliver your trip and then to meet accounting, tax and legal requirements, which can mean several years.
• Marketing preferences: until you unsubscribe, after which we keep a minimal record so we don't contact you again.
• The hashed IP address is kept with the request it relates to and deleted with it.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy;
• correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to delete your information;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, certain uses;
• receive your information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time, including for marketing emails and optional cookies; and
• complain to a data protection authority, such as the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK or your local authority in the EU.

If you live in a U.S. state with a consumer privacy law, such as California, you may also have rights to know, access, correct and delete personal information, and not to be treated differently for exercising them.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us via the details on our Contact page. We may need to verify your identity, and we'll respond within the time required by applicable law.

Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections and access controls that limit who on our team can see your trip details. We don't take card payments on our website. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so if you have reason to believe your information is at risk, please tell us.

Children

Our website is not directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect information directly from anyone under 16. Parents and guardians may give us details about children traveling with them, such as their ages, so we can plan a suitable trip.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we'll post the new version on this page with an updated date, and where changes are significant we'll let you know.

Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or how we handle your information, please contact us via the details on our Contact page.