Privacy Notice
At Seashell Holidays we are committed to protecting any personal information that you provide us and safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors. Our notice provides an overview and sets out how we manage, use and protect your personal information and covers our UK website and all our platforms through which you choose to interact with us, including our mobile-enabled and social media sites. We also have a cookie policy which explains how we use cookies and other similar technologies and allows you to select the information that we can collect and use.
From time to time, we may make changes to our privacy notice and cookie policy, so please do re-visit these pages regularly if you want to keep up to date with any changes we’ve made. If the changes are significant, we will provide a prominent notice on our website(s) including, if we believe it is appropriate, electronic notification of Privacy or Cookie Policy changes.
When we provide you with a great holiday, we are also responsible for ensuring that your information is kept safe and secure and that we only use your personal data for what we legitimately need. The information we collect is categorised as personal data, which you supply, relating to you and your fellow travellers. Personal data includes things like name, address, email address, telephone number, date of birth and passport number. If you are providing information on behalf of another individual, such as a fellow traveller then it is your obligation to tell them about this privacy notice and the information contained within it about how we may process their personal information.
By making a booking or providing us with any personal information through our channels, you understand that we will handle your personal information as set out below, including to provide that information (where relevant and there is a need to do so) to suppliers and service providers (the third parties that you have selected as part of your booking to provide the travel services you have chosen, such as hotels, airlines, insurers and transfer providers). We may also share your personal details with finance organisations where they are providing tools to enable us to make payments on your behalf to book your holiday. We will keep your personal data only for so long as we need it to provide your holiday and for audit or legal purposes. If you object to us using your personal information in these ways, we will not be able to process your booking or other requests, and you shouldn’t use our websites, products or services. It is also important for you to know that we will never sell your personal data.
Under data protection law you have the right to know how your personal data is being used and you may exercise these rights at any time. Requesting what personal information we hold about you is easy. All you need to do is email our Data Protection Officer on privacy@seashellholidays.co.uk.
Please see below for more detail on how we use and manage your personal data. Changes may be made to this notice and changes will be published and dated on these pages.
Collecting Personal Data
When you book a holiday with us, both online or over the phone through one of our agents, you will be required to provide us with certain information, including your name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, payment information and voucher information. If you fill in a booking form but decide not to complete the booking, you will still have provided us with your information, and we will use this to check in with you as to whether you need any assistance and/or whether you would like to complete your booking. For more information about how we do this (and how to prevent this if you wish to do so), please see our cookie policy. If relevant to your booking or the service that you need, we may also collect medical information, any special dietary or disability requests (for example when you request or complete a special assistant form). If you are travelling with others or booking a holiday for someone else, you will need to give us personal data about them when making the booking, for example their name and age. It is your responsibility to ensure that anyone who you have provided personal data about is aware and happy that you have done so and is aware of how we use and process their information.
There are also other instances when you’ll provide us with information, for example if you sign up for alerts and/or updates, or register to use our website, enter one of our competitions or complete a survey. The personal data we collect may include:
Your name
Your address
Your phone number(s)
Your email
Your date of birth
Your passport number
Your marketing preference
Payment details (we do not keep full card details)
Special assistance
Information about products such as travel insurance and transfers
When you visit our website, even if you don’t make a booking, we will automatically collect certain information such as your IP address, the date and time you accessed the Website, the hardware, software or internet browser you use and information about your visit, including pages you viewed and interaction information. If you are using a mobile device, we may collect data that identifies your mobile device, location details and any specific settings. For more information, please see our cookie policy.
Using Personal Data
We use your personal information, financial and other information you provide us to make the booking you request, including flights, hotels, transport, insurance and other extras. For more information on other extras, please see the section below under “When do we share your data with third parties?”.
Your personal information is used in the following ways:
Bookings
To provide you with the services that we sell, we will use your personal data. We need certain information about you, so we can fulfil our obligations contained in the contract that you enter into with us when you make a booking. In certain circumstances to provide a seamless service to you, we may create temporary email addresses that will be used only to aid in our booking processes with the airlines or holiday suppliers. We may also pay for flights on your behalf. We will not use your payment card in such circumstance but will ensure payment is made, risk free, by us to ensure that your booking payment is on time.
Where necessary, we will use your personal information to access your bookings so that we can view, manage and make any changes to your booking, and give you notice of any cancellations or changes. Where there have been cancellations, we will also use your information to process and manage refund requests.
We will also need to monitor the status of (and handle correspondence in connection with) your bookings, for example, to deal with, monitor and send on to you, communications from your airline, hotel or other relevant third party relating to any rescheduling or other changes.
We will use the contact information you have shared with us to provide you with information relevant to your holiday. For example, helpful information about the destination to which you are travelling to, security alerts, administrative messages about your holiday and emails to remind you of your upcoming booking and any necessary checklists.
User Accounts
The information that you provide when you set up an account on our website allows us to provide you with services including the ability to manage your bookings, personal settings and access to special offers.
Customer Services
You are free to contact us at any time about our services, whether this is a general query, a question about your booking or to report a problem/issue on our website. This can be done by visiting “My Booking” on our website, by telephone or via social media. We will use the information that you have provided to help us answer any questions and respond to your query (along with any future queries that you may have). If you contact us by telephone, your call may be recorded for quality control and training purposes, but we will always ask for your consent before recording communications for these purposes.
Marketing, Personalisation and Promotions
When you make a booking with us and you have not opted out (or in any other case, if you have opted in to receive marketing by phone, post, e-mail or text message), we may contact you by phone, post, e-mail or text message with information about other goods and services that we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about and we think may be of interest to you based on the information we hold about you. We may also use your contact details to contact you by phone or post with details of products and services that we think may be of interest to you (unless you have told us you don't want to receive these communications, or you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service). We will use information we hold about you, such as the products and services you have purchased from us in the past, to enable us to show you the products and services we think you will like on our website and communicate these with you, such as the recommended deals and special offers we put to you. For example, we will save your searches to tailor future searches you make to your needs. If you would like to turn off this functionality you can do so through your account. We may share some personal information, including your first name and past searches when you click on one of our interactive videos (provided by a partner of ours). Your personal data in this case will only be shared when you click on a link, to provide you with a better experience. Your personal data will not be used for other purposes and because clicking on an interactive story video is optional, this does not affect your marketing preferences.
If you participate in our promotions or a promotional campaign that we are running (such as a survey or competition) we will use the information you provide to us to administer these activities.
Service Improvement
Sometimes we will use your data to help us improve the quality and functionality of the services that we offer. This includes us analysing your recent visits to our website and how you move around different sections of it for analytics purposes and to understand how people use our website so that we can make it more seamless and intuitive. We also use your data to troubleshoot, for data analysis, testing, research and for statistical and survey purposes, all of which helps us to provide the best service that we can. Sometimes we may send data about our website users in aggregate or anonymised form, to third parties for them to provide these services to us.
Legal basis for processing personal data
Our legal basis for collecting and using the personal data described above will depend on the personal data concerned and the specific context in which we collect it. Normally however, we collect personal data from you under the following legal bases:
Performance of a contract
If we have obligations under a contract with you, we will use your information to perform our obligations to you. For example, if you make an online booking on our website or through our agents by telephone, we will use the information that you provide us when making the booking, to complete and administer the reservations with the relevant third-party suppliers.
Consent
You will be asked to consent to us providing you with marketing information and if you give us this consent, we will rely on this when contacting you with marketing information by e-mail, post, telephone and text message (although please note that in limited circumstances we are allowed to send marketing information to you without your consent). You can opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us at any time by contacting us using the details at the end of this policy, by using the link at the bottom of each email that we send to you or by logging in to your account and changing your contact preferences.
Legitimate interests
We will use your information for our own legitimate interests, for example, to provide you with the best suitable content on our website, to improve and promote our services and for our own administrative purposes, including creating and maintaining business records of our relationship with you.
Legal requirements
In some cases, we will have a legal obligation to collect personal data from you (for example, for us to comply with tax laws which require us to collect and retain records of products and services that we sell) or where we need the personal data to protect your vital interests or those of another person (for example, if you are involved in an emergency and we need to provide the details which we hold about you to the emergency services).
Data Processing
Any information that we hold about you is stored on our secure servers and all payment transactions are encrypted. We do not keep your card details, and we are PCI-DSS compliant, the standard required of businesses to enable them to take card payments. Only authorised personnel are permitted to access personal data in the course of their work. Whilst we do our best to protect your personal data, no information transferred over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure and you provide your information at your own risk.
When your credit card details are required as part of the booking process, we store the last 4 digits and an authorisation token.
The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the UK, including where we may transfer your data to our suppliers so that they can assist us with providing our services to you. Where your information is transferred to another country, we will take steps to ensure that the information receives the same level of protection as if it remained within the UK, including by entering into data transfer agreements, using standard contractual clauses (which are data transfer agreements approved by the UK government or the European Commission), or by relying on certification schemes and supplementary measures. You have the right to request details of the mechanism under which your data is transferred outside of the UK – for this information, please contact us using the details set out under "Contacting us" below.
When do we share your data with third parties?
In certain circumstances we do share your personal data with parties outside of Seashell Holidays. The third parties who we share your personal data with include:
Our suppliers: If you make a booking with us, it is necessary for us to share your reservation data with relevant third parties, such as hoteliers, airlines, insurers and ground-handling agents, to complete your booking. This may include your name, contact details, payment details, the names and ages of any guests travelling with you, along with any preferences or special circumstances you told us about when you made your booking. If you contact us with a query about your booking, we may pass this on to our suppliers if they are better placed to help you.
Third party service providers: This includes anyone who provides services or functions on our behalf, including credit card processing, business analytics, advertising, administration of competitions and promotions, collection of customer feedback and customer service. We use these service providers to process your data on our behalf, this may be to send our marketing material or to collate information that can be analysed to improve our service. They have access to and may collect information only as needed to perform their functions and are not permitted to share or use information for any other purpose. Where we provide data to third party service providers for them to provide data analysis or statistical services for us, we will only ever send them aggregated or anonymised data.
Payment Providers and other financial institutions: If you request a chargeback for your booking, it may be necessary for us to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution so they can handle the chargeback. This may include a copy of your booking confirmation or the IP address that was used to make your reservation.
Law enforcement body, regulator, government agency, court or other third party: where we believe disclosure is necessary (i) as a matter of applicable law or regulation, (ii) to exercise, establish or defend our legal rights (including to investigate any suspected fraudulent or other criminal activity), or (iii) to protect your vital interests or those of any other person.
Any other person (with your consent to the disclosure).
Any information that is collected from you directly by hotels or other suppliers or which you share through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram etc. is not covered under this Privacy Notice and we would urge you to check their own privacy notices before handing over any of your personal data.
Categories of business we share your personal data with
Your personal data is only shared where there is a lawful purpose to do so. Categories of organisations with which we share personal data include
Hotel suppliers – hotels may be directly paid by us, on your behalf or via an agent dealing in beds. In such cases only basic details are provided so that suitable rooms may be allocated.
Airlines – Airlines need to know who is flying and we provide the minimum information they require to secure your chosen flights. Some airlines may require you to create an account with them to manage your flight directly and in this case, your personal details will be shared to enable this to happen in as seamless a way as possible and so that we may honour our contract with you, to provide the holiday of your choice.
Other airlines, where we integrate with their systems will become a controller of your information in order that they can further manage your flight booking and ensure that you are informed of any flight changes.
Holiday Partners – We may share your personal details with companies that provide your holiday extras such as car hire, transfers and travel insurance. In most instances you will have selected to purchase these and provide your details directly to them but in some instances, we may do this for you.
Payment providers – We use payment providers to manage payments we take from you for your holiday. Only very basic details are required for this. We also have payment providers who make payments to, for example, airlines on our behalf and your contact details may be used to facilitate this payment. We do this to remove any financial risk to you as your own payment information is not used and the processing may involve a check to verify your details in line with standard financial checks which do not affect your credit history.
Marketing - We do not share your personal information for marketing purposes and will send you marketing information only if you have consented to receive it.
Data protection and insolvency
In the event of our insolvency we, or any appointed insolvency practitioner, may disclose your personal information to the CAA so that they can assess the status of your booking and advise you on the appropriate course of action under any scheme of financial protection. The CAA’s General Privacy Notice is at https://www.caa.co.uk/Our-work/About-us/General-privacy-notice/.
Retention of your personal data
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal data (for example, to provide products or services to you or to retain records to manage any claims which you or we may have in respect of the products and services we provide to you), we will either delete or anonymise it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal data has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal data and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
Your rights in relation to your personal data
You have the following rights in relation to the personal data that we hold about you:
If you wish to access, correct, update or request deletion of your personal data, you can do so at any time.
You can object to processing of your personal data, ask us to restrict processing of your personal data or request portability of your personal data.
You have the right to opt-out of marketing communications we send you at any time. You can exercise this right by clicking on the “unsubscribe” or “opt-out” link in the marketing e-mails we send you. To opt-out of other forms of marketing (such as postal marketing or telemarketing), then please contact us.
Similarly, if we have collected and processed your personal data with your consent, then you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your personal data conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
You have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your personal data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority. The Information Commissioner's Office is the data protection authority for the UK.
If you would like to exercise any of your above rights, please contact us using the details provided under “Contacting us”, below. We respond to all requests received from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Changes to our Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. When we update our Privacy Notice, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make. We will obtain your consent to any material Privacy Notice changes if and where this is required by applicable data protection laws.
Contacting us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer at:
Book your dream holiday
Seashell Holidays
Our commitment is to provide unforgettable holidays with a personal touch, ensuring every trip is special. Let Seashell Holidays be your choice for a beach getaway that promises more than just sun and sand, but a truly unique and enjoyable holiday experience.
Total peace of mind
Packages that include a flight element are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. The ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL certificate, then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected.
For more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate visit: http://www.atol.org.uk
Seashell Holidays sells travel services on behalf of Hays Travel Limited and benefits from Hays Travel’s membership of ABTA with membership number P8693. ABTA and ABTA Members help holidaymakers to get the most from their travel and assist them when things do not go according to plan. We are obliged to maintain a high standard of service to you by ABTA’s Code of Conduct.
For further information about ABTA, the Code of Conduct and the arbitration scheme available to you if you have a complaint, contact ABTA, 30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQ. Tel: 020 3117 0599 or www.abta.com
Hays Travel Limited are registered in England and Wales with company number 1990682 and VAT number 193167195. Registered office: Gilbridge House, Keel Square, Sunderland SR1 3HA.
Seashell Holidays is a trading name of Seashell Holidays Ltd who are registered in England and Wales with company number 15727863 and VAT number 468 4085 60. Registered office: 11-12 Old Bond Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4PN.
