Introduction

At Destination Uganda, your privacy matters to us. When you use our services, you are placing your trust in us to ensure the privacy of your personal data and we are committed to protecting it.

This Privacy Policy covers what data we collect about you and why, what we do with that data, and how we handle that data. Throughout this policy, when we write “Destination Uganda” or “we” or “us,” it refers to Destination Uganda, a brand owned and operated by Gorilla Junction.

Gorilla Junction is a private travel company registered in the Republic of Uganda under the company registration number 2018/80020000312739.

The address of our headquarters is Plot 2 Uringi Crescent, Entebbe Uganda.

Please read the following information carefully. If you enquire or book on behalf of others, you are responsible for ensuring that others are aware of the content of this Privacy Policy and are in agreement with you supplying their personal data. By submitting your data while enquiring or making a booking, you agree to the transfer, storage and processing of this data as necessary. We will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy, however, if you do not agree with this policy, we cannot accept your booking and you should not use our websites.

Information we collect

Personal data you provide us

The sort of personal data we collect will be information such as name, address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, and personal travel arrangements. In addition, we may also be required to obtain your passport details. We will need to collect this information to arrange the travel and other services you are requesting.

In some cases, we may also need to collect more sensitive personal data such as information concerning medical conditions, disabilities and special requirements such as dietary requests, which may disclose your religious beliefs, so that we can consider your particular needs in relation to a booking.

Personal data we collect for legal, compliance, regulatory and crime detection and prevention purposes

We process your personal data so that we can meet our legal, compliance and regulatory obligations, for legal purposes, such as to respond to a valid legal claim, summons or regulatory order, and to protect our property, rights and interests as well as the property, rights and interests of other persons.

We also process your personal data for crime prevention and detection purposes, including the prevention of fraud for online payments, for identity verification, for credit checking and credit scoring purposes and accounting or audit purposes. If you visit one of our offices you may be monitored by closed circuit television for security purposes. In each case, we do so in compliance with applicable laws.

Personal data we collect from third parties

We collect personal data from third parties who you have authorised to provide your personal data to us (for example, this may be your travel agent or another person making a booking on your behalf, your travel companion, your travel coordinator, our promotion partners, social media and other digital website). We also collect personal data from individuals who may refer you as a friend to our products or services. We ask these individuals to confirm that you are happy to hear from us.

Sensitive personal data we collect

We do not generally collect sensitive personal data from you (or those you are booking for), but where we do, we seek to minimise the collection and use of it and handle it with extra care. We also share this information with third parties (who help manage our business and deliver services such as those parties who provide wheelchairs at airports) and other companies (who help manage your booking or journey), and we transfer it globally.

Where you (or any passenger travelling) provides us with sensitive personal data you agree that you have voluntarily provided such information, and you consent (and the passenger travelling consents) for us to use that information for the purposes for which it was collected.

Personal data we collect when you are making a payment

We collect different personal data depending on your payment method (such as credit card, bank transfer, cash). For example, for credit card payments we may collect the credit card holder name, address, card number, expiry date and CVC code.

Personal data we collect automatically

When you use our services, we automatically collect certain information, including personal data, concerning the services you use and the way you use them.

This includes:

  • Geo-location data, about your approximate location, as determined through data such as your IP address;
  • Usage and log data, such as the date and time you accessed our services, the duration of your session, data about clicks, the internet browser you use and which pages have been shown to you;
  • Data about your computer’s operating system, like application versions and language settings;
  • If you’re using a mobile device, we might also collect data about the type of device you are using and data such as the mobile network your device is using to access our services.

How we use your information

We use, store, and process information, including personal data about you to create tailor-made travel itineraries, for marketing purposes, for data analytics, data profiling and to improve the quality of our service.

To create tailor-made travel itineraries

When putting together tailor-made travel itineraries, we may use your personal data to:

  • Fulfil our contract with you and/or deal with your booking or intended booking, including processing your booking, sending you your itinerary or other details relating to your booking;
  • Update you on changes to your travel itinerary (for example, if there is a change to your booking pre-travel; if a flight is delayed or cancelled);
  • Manage your wider travel or services requirements (for example, liaising with and transferring your data to airlines, service providers and/or travel facilitators so that they can facilitate your booking and/or your travel arrangements so any disruption can be minimised), this includes when you book a tailor-made itinerary, hotel, car or another service which may be provided by us or third parties with us;
  • Process payments for your booking, fulfil requests for refunds and for accounting or audit purposes;
  • Personalise the service and offers you receive (for example, by being aware of previous travel experiences, transactions or preferences, and tailoring the way we provide our products or services to you based on your preferences and profile);
  • Communicate and interact with you at different times throughout your journey;
  • Communicate with airlines, accommodation providers and other parties that are part of your journey regarding your experience, preferences, compliments or complaints.

For marketing purposes

We may use personal data to let you know about our products and services that we think may be of interest to you. This may be based on your preferences, derived from Cookies, inferred from your interactions with us, including on our social media accounts or market research. We may also let you know about our corporate services which we believe may be relevant to you in a professional capacity.

We also work with social media and other digital websites to provide you with advertisements within those websites. We provide them with your name and contact details (such as your email address or phone numbers). If these social media and digital websites match profile information provided by us with your profile information held by them then they will serve you our advertisements. The social media websites will not identify you or share other personal data in your social media account with us.

We will only send you direct marketing, whether about us, carefully selected third parties or partners, products or services, in accordance with your marketing preferences. We may contact you by email, SMS/text, social media, or through other communication channels that we think you may find helpful. If at any time you would like us to stop sending you marketing material, please contact us or choose the relevant “unsubscribe” option.

For profiling purposes

We use personal data such as your date of birth, gender, country of residence, transactions (for example, payments made with us and flights taken), information derived from Cookies and your preferences and behaviours for profiling. Some of the legitimate purposes we profile personal data include:

  • To obtain a better understanding of what you would like to see from us and how we can continue to improve our services for you;
  • To provide you with tailored content online and optimise your experience of our Website;
  • To provide you with tailored advertisements on other websites you visit, such as social media websites;
  • To share marketing material we believe may be of interest to you, including from our third-party partners;
  • To help us operate our services more efficiently.

We will take steps to ensure that prior to profiling your personal data for a legitimate interest that our legitimate interest is not overridden by your own interests or fundamental rights and freedoms.

For data analytics

We aggregate personal data and remove any identifying elements in order to analyse patterns and improve our marketing and promotional efforts, to analyse website use, to improve our content and products and services, to customize our websites’ content, layout, products and services, and to support our business operations and we may appoint third parties to do this on our behalf.

We gather certain usage information like the number and frequency of visitors to our website. This information includes which website you were redirected from, which web pages you visit during your session, what browser you are using, your device ID and your IP address. This collective data helps us to determine how our customers use parts of our website and do research on our users’ demographics, interests, and behaviour to better understand them. One of the ways we do this is by installing and using Cookies on your browser or device.

To improve the quality of our service

In our efforts to improve the quality of service we offer you, we may use your personal data to:

Improve the products and services we offer or help us to create new ones;

Conduct customer satisfaction surveys so that we can obtain a better understanding of how we can continue to improve the products and services we offer or help us to create new ones. During these surveys, we may collect personal data from you relating to your thoughts/comments about your experience with us;

Improve our internal systems, for systems testing, IT maintenance or development training, benchmarking and performance measurement.

Legal basis for using your information

  • We will only collect, process, use, share and store your personal data where we are satisfied that we have an appropriate legal basis to do this. This may be because:
  • We need to use your personal data to perform a contract or take steps to enter into a contract with you. For example, to manage your enquiry, to manage your booking with us, to take payment for your booking, or to complete your travel arrangements;
  • We need to use your personal data for our legitimate interest as a commercial organisation. For example, we may record the calls of our travel consultants so that we can review how we handle calls. We may also capture your interactions with our website and booking journey via tools on our website in order to identify errors or issues and ensure your customer experience meets expectations. In all such cases, we will look after your information at all times in a way that is proportionate and that respects your privacy rights.
  • We need to use your personal data to comply with a relevant legal or regulatory obligation that we have; and
  • We have your consent to use your personal data for a particular activity. For example, where you consent to us sharing special offers with you which, we think, may be of interest.

How we share your information

We do not share your personal data with companies, organisations or individuals outside of Rhino Africa except in the following cases:

With your consent

We may share your personal data when you have provided consent as described at the time of consent.

Service providers of your tailor-made travel itinerary

We will share your personal data with service providers whose products or services you are purchasing through our websites and are part of your tailor-made travel itinerary; or otherwise to service providers such as airlines, tourism agencies, hotel, transfer and car hire companies, tour and excursion providers or travel agents, including if there is a problem with your booking so that your travel agent can resolve it with you.

Third-party service providers

We may share your personal data with third parties, who help us manage our business and deliver our products and services. These third parties have agreed to confidentiality obligations. Any personal data we share with them or which they collect on our behalf is used solely for the purposes of providing the contracted service to us.

These third parties:

  •     Help manage our IT and back-office systems;
  •     Advertise our company online and using social media websites;
  •     Manage communications and tailor marketing campaigns;
  •     Provide internet and infrastructure services for our facilities;
  •     Conduct research that assists us in understanding consumer interests.

Payment providers

We may need to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution to verify payments (such as banks and payment card companies). We may share information with relevant financial institutions if we consider it strictly necessary to detect fraudulent transactions and security incidents.

For legal reasons

We may share personal data with governments, government organisations and agencies, border control agencies, regulators, law enforcement and others as permitted or required by law, in relation to API or such other legal requirements as they apply from time to time when travelling to or from a particular country, and to generally comply with all applicable laws, regulations and rules, and requests of law enforcement, regulatory and other governmental agencies.

Aggregated data

We may share aggregated data (combined data of our website users or clients that no longer identifies or references an individual website user or client) and non-personally identifiable information for analysis, demographic profiling, marketing and advertising, and other business purposes.

How we protect and store your information

Protection of your personal data

We have implemented and maintain appropriate technical and organisational security measures, policies and procedures designed to protect the personal data that you share with us and safeguard the privacy of such information. For example, the measures we take include:

  • Placing confidentiality requirements on our staff members and service providers;
  • Destroying or permanently anonymising personal data if it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected; and
  • Following security procedures in the storage and disclosure of your personal data to prevent unauthorised access to it; and
  • Using secure communication channels on our website such as SSL (“secure sockets layer”) for transmitting data that is sent to us. SSL is the industry standard encryption protocol used to protect online transaction channels.

Storage of your personal data

We keep your personal data for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. For example, to manage bookings and provide you with any relevant products or services, as explained in this Privacy Policy. We will ensure that it is disposed of in a secure manner.

In some circumstances, we may store your personal data for longer periods of time, for example, where we are required to do so in accordance with legal, regulatory, tax, or accounting requirements. In specific circumstances, we may store your personal data for longer periods of time so that we have an accurate record of your dealings with us in the event of any complaints or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation relating to your personal data or dealings.

Other important information

How do we treat personal data about children

For children younger than 16 years old, the use of our services is only permitted with the lawful consent of a parent or a guardian. In the case where a child is part of a booking, we collect and use personal data of the child only as it is provided by the parent or guardian and with their consent.

We reserve the right to erase all personal data of any child under 16 years old if we become aware that the data was provided to us without the lawful consent of a parent or a guardian.

How do we use Cookies

A “cookie” is a small computer file which is downloaded to your device. It collects information as to how you navigate our websites and the internet and helps us provide better website services to you. Cookies cannot harm your computer in any way and are an industry standard. They are small text files that contain only information provided by you, the visitor, to the website. Furthermore, our users may configure their browsers to not accept our cookies.

Cookies may collect personal data about you. Cookies help us remember information about your visit to our website and other settings and searches. Cookies enable us to understand who has seen which web pages and how frequently, and to determine which are the most popular areas of our website. They can also help us to operate our website more efficiently and customise your view of the website to reflect your preferences and activities. They also help us tailor our marketing and advertisements to you on our website, other websites you visit, social media websites and your other devices.

Your rights

You have certain rights in relation to your personal data. In order to exercise your rights, we may ask you for additional information to confirm your identity and for security purposes, in particular before disclosing personal data to you.

You can exercise your rights by emailing us at travel@destinationuganda.com. Subject to legal and other permissible considerations, we will make every reasonable effort to honour your request within 30 days or inform you if we require further information in order to fulfil your request.

We may not always be able to fully address your request, for example, if it would impact the duty of confidentiality we owe to others, or if we are legally entitled to deal with the request in a different way.

Access your personal data

You have the right to be given reasonable access to your personal data. You may also have the right to request copies of personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

Rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data

You have a right to request that we rectify inaccurate personal data. We may seek to verify the accuracy of the personal data before rectifying it.

Erase your personal data

If you no longer want us to use your information, you can also request that we erase your personal data in limited circumstances where:

  • It is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected; or
  • You have withdrawn your consent (where the data processing was based on consent); or
  • Following a successful right to object; or
  • It has been processed unlawfully.

We are not required to comply with your request to erase personal data if the processing of your personal data is necessary:

  • For compliance with a legal obligation; or
  •  For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Please note that if you request the erasure of your personal data:

  • We may retain some of your personal data as necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as fraud detection and prevention and enhancing safety;
  • Due to maintenance reasons and protection from accidental or malicious loss and destruction, residual copies of your personal data may not be removed from our backup systems for a limited period of time.

Object to us processing of your personal data

You can object to any processing of your personal data, which has our legitimate interests as its legal basis if you believe your fundamental rights and freedoms outweigh our legitimate interests.

Lodge a complaint with a regulator

If you think that we have not complied with data protection laws, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Changes to this policy

Kindly take note that we reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time in accordance with this provision and in our sole discretion. If we make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised Privacy Policy on our websites and update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. Once made available on our websites, your continued access or use of our services will constitute your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.

Cookies

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small amount of data that is placed in the browser of your computer or on your mobile device. This Privacy and Cookies Policy applies to cookies and similar technologies (hereafter together referred to as “cookies”).

Why are cookies used?

Web pages have no memory. If you are surfing from page to page within a website, you will not be recognized as the same user across pages. Cookies enable your browser to be recognized by the website. So cookies are mainly used to remember the choices you have made – choices such as the language you prefer and the currency you use. They will also make sure you are recognized when you return to a website.

Do all cookies do the same thing?

No, there are different types of cookies and different ways of using them. Cookies can be categorized according to their function, their lifespan and according to who places them on a website.

How are cookies used?

Our website uses the following types of cookies:

  • Technical cookies: We try to provide our visitors with an advanced and user-friendly website that adapts automatically to their needs and wishes. To achieve this, we use technical cookies to show you our website, to make it function correctly, to create your user account, to sign you in and to manage your bookings. These technical cookies are absolutely necessary for our website to function properly.
  • Functional cookies: We also use functional cookies to remember your preferences and to help you use our website efficiently and effectively. For example, we remember your preferred currency and language, your searches and the property you viewed earlier. These functional cookies are not strictly necessary for the functioning of our website, but they add functionality for you and enhance your experience.
  • Analytics cookies: We use these cookies to gain insight on how our visitors use the website, to find out what works and what doesn’t, to optimize and improve our website and to ensure we continue to be interesting and relevant. The data we gather includes which web pages you viewed, which referring/exit pages you entered and left from, which platform type you used, date and time stamp information and details such as the number of clicks you make on a given page, your mouse movements and scrolling activity, the search words you use and the text you type while using our website. We also use analytics cookies as part of our online advertising campaigns to learn how users interact with our website after they’ve been shown an online advertisement, which may include advertisements on third-party websites. We will not know who you are, and we only obtain anonymous data.
  • Commercial cookies: We use these to show you Traveler advertisements on other websites. This is called “retargeting” and it aims to be based on your browsing activities on our website, such as the destinations you’ve been searching for, the properties you’ve viewed and the prices you’ve been shown.

How long do Traveler cookies stay active?

The cookies we use have varying lifespans. The maximum lifespan we set on some is five years from your last visit to our website. You can erase all cookies from your browser any time you want. To remove Traveler cookies from your browser, go to the following link (please note that when you click on this link, all Traveler cookies will be removed immediately): Purge Cookies.

How can you recognize Traveler cookies?

You can find our cookies in your browser settings.

Does Traveler use third-party marketing and analytics cookies?

Yes Destination Uganda uses the services of trusted and recognized online advertising and marketing companies. Traveler may also use third-party providers for analytical purposes. To enable their services, these companies need to place cookies.

The providers we use are committed to building consumer awareness and establishing responsible business and data management practices and standards.

When it comes to online advertising and marketing companies, we strive to only work with companies that are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) and/or the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Members of NAI and IAB adhere to industry standards and codes of conduct. NAI and IAB members allow you to opt out of the behavioral advertising. Visit www.networkadvertising.org and www.youronlinechoices.com to identify the NAI members that may have placed an advertising cookie file on your computer. To opt out of an NAI or IAB member’s behavioral advertising program, simply check the box that corresponds to the company from which you wish to opt out.

In order to control the collection of data for analytical purposes by Google Analytics, you may want to visit the following link: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Who has access to Traveler cookie data?

Only Traveler has access to Traveler cookies. Cookies placed by third parties can be accessed by these third parties.

How can you manage your cookie preferences?

Using your browser settings in, for example, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox or Chrome, you can set which cookies to accept and which to reject. Where you find these settings depends on which browser you use. Use the “Help” function in your browser to locate the settings you need.

If you choose not to accept certain cookies, you may not be able to use some functions on our website. Plus, opting out of an online advertising network doesn’t mean that you won’t receive or be subject to online advertising or marketing analysis. It means that the network you opted out of will no longer deliver ads tailored to your web preferences and browsing patterns.

Does Destination Uganda use web beacons?

In addition to using cookies, Destination Uganda sometimes uses web beacons. A web beacon is a tiny graphic image of just one pixel that’s delivered to your computer either as part of a web page request or in an HTML email message. Either directly or through service providers, we use these pixels as part of our online advertisements either on our website or on third-party websites to learn whether a user who is being shown an online advertisement also makes a reservation; to track conversion with partner websites and to analyze a user’s traffic patterns in order to optimize the travel-related services we bring to you.

Security

What security procedures does Destination Uganda put in place to safeguard your personal data?

In accordance with European data protection laws, we observe reasonable procedures to prevent unauthorized access and the misuse of personal information.

We use appropriate business systems and procedures to protect and safeguard the personal information you give us. We also use security procedures and technical and physical restrictions for accessing and using the personal information on our servers. Only authorized personnel are permitted to access personal information in the course of their work.

Your credit card details – when they are needed as part of the reservation process – are stored for a maximum of 10 days. After that, your credit card data will be either permanently deleted from our systems or will remain hashed in our system for fraud detection purposes. This is unless you have chosen to store your credit card details in your personal account.

Children

The services offered by Destination Uganda are not directed at children under 18 years old. The use of any of our services is only allowed with the valid consent of a parent or a guardian. If we receive information from a child under 18 years old, we reserve the right to delete it.

Contact

How can you control the personal data you have given to Destination Uganda?

You always have the right to review the personal information we keep about you. You can request an overview of your personal data by emailing us at travel@destinationuganda.com. Please write “Request personal information” in the subject line of your email and include a copy of your identity card to help us prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing your personal data.

If the personal information we have for you is incorrect, we will update it at your request. You can also ask us to remove your personal data from our customer database by sending an email to travel@destinationuganda.com with “Request for removal of personal information” in the subject line. However, we may need to retain certain information, for example, for legal or administrative purposes, such as record keeping or to detect fraudulent activities. You can delete your user account at any time by signing into your account on the Destination Uganda website and choosing to remove your account.

Who is responsible for the processing of personal data on the Destination Uganda website and apps?

Destination Uganda controls the processing of personal data on its websites and mobile apps. Destination Uganda is a brand owned and operated by Gorilla Junction, a private limited liability company, incorporated under the laws and has its office in Entebbe, Uganda. If you have any suggestions or comments about this privacy notice, please send an email to info@gorillajunction.com.

Last updated on September 12, 2022