Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 13, 2025

Welcome to SAFETOURS IKE! We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with care and respect. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we might share it with, and what rights you have regarding your information.  

Our goal is to make this policy easy to understand. If you have any questions after reading it, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

1. Who We Are

When we say “we,” “us,” or “our,” we mean:

SAFETOURS IKE EXCURSIONS AND BOAT SERVICES
VAT Number: 802677111
Tax Office (DOU): HERAKLION
Address: HERSONISSOS, TK 70014, Greece Telephone: +30 694 096 8151
Email: privacy@safetours.gr

We are the “data controller” for the information we collect from you. This means we decide how and why your personal information is used.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

“Personal information” is any information that can be used to identify you directly or indirectly. We collect information in a few different ways:

• Information You Give Us Directly:

  • When you book a tour or service:
    
    • Your full name
    • Email address
    • Phone number
    • Billing address
    • Payment information (like credit card details – often processed securely by a third-party payment provider, we typically don’t store full card numbers)
    • Names and ages of other participants in your group (especially if different pricing or safety considerations apply, e.g., for children)
    • Any special requests or needs you tell us about (e.g., dietary requirements if food is included, accessibility needs)
  • When you contact us (e.g., via email, phone, or a contact form on our website):
    
    • Your name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message.
  • When you subscribe to our newsletter or promotional emails:
    
    • Your email address and sometimes your name.
  • When you create an account on our website (if applicable):
    
    • Your name, email address, and a password.

• Information We Collect Automatically When You Use Our Website:

  • Log Data: Like most websites, our servers automatically record information when you visit our site. This can include your IP address (a number that identifies your computer on the internet), browser type and settings, the date and time of your visit, and how you interacted with our website (e.g., pages visited, links clicked).
  • Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies (small text files stored on your device) and other tracking technologies to help our website work, to understand how visitors use it, and sometimes to help with our marketing. We explain more about this in Section 8 (“Cookies and Tracking Technologies”).
  • Device Information: We might collect information about the device you’re using to access our website, such as the type of device, operating system, and browser.

• Information from Third Parties:

  • Booking Platforms: If you book one of our tours through a third-party platform (like GetYourGuide, TripAdvisor/Viator, etc.), they will share your booking information with us so we can provide the service. The information they share typically includes your name, contact details, and booking specifics. Their use of your data is governed by their own privacy policies.
  • Social Media: If you interact with us on social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), we may see information from your public profile, depending on your privacy settings on those platforms.

Why We Collect This Information (Our Reasons):

• To Provide Our Services: To manage your bookings, process payments, communicate with you about your tour (confirmations, reminders, changes), and ensure you have a great experience.
• To Communicate With You: To respond to your inquiries, send you important updates about our services, or provide customer support.
• To Improve Our Services: To understand how our website and services are used, so we can make them better and develop new offerings.
• For Marketing (with your consent where needed): To send you newsletters, special offers, or other information about our tours that we think you might like. You can always opt out of these.
• For Legal and Safety Reasons: To comply with legal obligations (like tax and accounting requirements), prevent fraud, ensure the safety of our guests and staff, and resolve any disputes.

3. How We Use Your Personal Information

Here’s a more detailed look at the purposes for which we use your information:

• Managing Your Bookings:
  
  • Processing your tour reservations and payments.
  • Sending booking confirmations, tickets, and pre-trip information.
  • Communicating any changes or important updates regarding your booked tour.
• Customer Support:
  
  • Responding to your questions, requests, or complaints.
  • Providing assistance before, during, and after your tour.
• Service Improvement:
  
  • Analyzing website usage to understand user behavior and preferences.
  • Gathering feedback to enhance our tours and customer experience.
  • Troubleshooting issues with our website or services.
• Marketing and Communication (where you’ve agreed or where permitted):
  
  • Sending you newsletters with updates, news about Crete, or special offers for our tours.
  • Informing you about new tours or services.
  • You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in the email or by contacting us.  
    
     
• Legal Compliance and Security:
  
  • Meeting our legal and regulatory obligations (e.g., financial record-keeping, tax reporting to Greek authorities).
  • Protecting against fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims, and other liabilities.
  • Ensuring the safety and security of our operations and our guests.

4. Who We Share Your Personal Information With (And Why)

We don’t sell your personal information to anyone. However, we may share it with certain trusted third parties in the following situations:

• Payment Processors: When you make a payment, your payment information is shared with secure third-party payment processors (e.g., Stripe, Viva Wallet, or your bank if you pay by transfer) to authorize and complete the transaction. We do not store your full credit card details ourselves.
• Booking System Providers: We use specialized software (our “Travel Engine”) to manage our bookings and website. This system will store your booking details.
• Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) / Booking Platforms: If you booked our tour through a platform like GetYourGuide, Viator, etc., we share necessary information with them regarding the fulfillment of your booking, and they share your booking data with us.
• Email Marketing Services: If you subscribe to our newsletter, we may use a third-party service (e.g., Mailchimp, Sendinblue) to manage our email lists and send out communications. They only process your email address (and possibly name) on our behalf for this purpose.
• Analytics Providers: We use services like Google Analytics to help us understand how visitors use our website. These services collect data (like your IP address and Browse behavior) and provide us with aggregated reports.
• IT Service Providers: We work with companies that help us maintain our website, provide hosting, and offer other technical support. They may have incidental access to your data while performing these services but are contractually bound to keep it secure.
• Legal and Regulatory Authorities: We may be required to share your information with law enforcement, government bodies, courts, or other regulators if legally compelled to do so (e.g., to comply with a subpoena, for tax audits by the Greek authorities, or to protect our legal rights).
• Professional Advisors: We may share information with our lawyers, accountants, or insurers if necessary for them to provide their professional services to us.
• In Case of Business Transfer: If we sell our business or merge with another company, your personal information may be transferred to the new owners as part of that transaction. We would notify you in such an event.

We ensure that any third party we share your data with is obligated to protect it and use it only for the purposes for which it was shared. For third parties located outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we take steps to ensure your data is protected to the same standards as within the EEA, for example, by using Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

5. How We Keep Your Personal Information Safe (Data Security)

We take the security of your personal information very seriously. We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your data from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or access. These measures include:  

• Secure Servers: Our website and data are hosted on secure servers.
• Encryption: We use SSL/TLS encryption to protect data transmitted to and from our website (you’ll see “https” in the website address). Payment transactions are encrypted by our payment processors.
• Access Controls: Access to your personal information is restricted to authorized personnel who need it to perform their job duties.   
• Data Minimization: We only collect and keep the information that is necessary for the purposes we’ve told you about.
• Regular Security Reviews: We regularly review our security practices to ensure they remain effective.
• Staff Training: Our staff are trained on the importance of data protection and security.

While we do our best to protect your data, please remember that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure.   

6. Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information

Under data protection laws (including GDPR), you have several rights concerning your personal information. These include:

• The Right to Be Informed: You have the right to know how we are using your personal information. That’s what this Privacy Policy is for!
• The Right of Access: You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• The Right to Rectification (Correction): If you believe any of your personal information we hold is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it.
• The Right to Erasure (Deletion or “Right to be Forgotten”): You can ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances (e.g., if it’s no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or if you withdraw consent and there’s no other legal ground for us to keep it).
• The Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your personal information in certain situations (e.g., if you contest the accuracy of the data, or if you’ve objected to our use of it).
• The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to have it transferred to another data controller, where technically feasible, if our processing is based on your consent or a contract with you.   
• The Right to Object: You can object to us using your personal information for certain purposes, such as direct marketing. You can also object to processing based on our legitimate interests if you believe your rights and freedoms outweigh our interests.
• Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making and Profiling: We currently do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that would have a legal or similarly significant effect on you. If this changes, we will inform you.
• The Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are processing your personal information based on your consent (e.g., for marketing emails), you can withdraw that consent at any time. This won’t affect the lawfulness of any processing we did before you withdrew consent.

How to Exercise Your Rights: To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided in Section 10 (“Contact Us”). We will respond to your request within one month, as required by law, unless the request is particularly complex. We may need to ask you for more information to confirm your identity before we can process your request.

7. How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which we collected it, or as long as we are legally required to keep it.   

• Booking Information: We keep information related to your bookings for as long as needed to provide the service and then for a period as required by Greek tax and accounting laws (typically several years).
• Enquiries: If you contact us with an enquiry, we’ll keep your information for as long as it takes to resolve your enquiry and for a short period afterwards for follow-up or record-keeping.
• Marketing: If you’ve consented to receive marketing communications, we’ll keep your contact details for this purpose until you unsubscribe or withdraw your consent.
• Website Usage Data: Anonymized or aggregated data about website usage may be kept for longer periods for statistical purposes.

Once your personal information is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymize it.

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses “cookies” and similar technologies (like web beacons or pixels). Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, smartphone, tablet) when you visit a website.   

Why We Use Cookies:

• Essential Cookies: These are necessary for our website to function correctly (e.g., to remember what’s in your booking cart, to keep you logged in if you have an account, or for security). You cannot usually disable these.
• Performance/Analytics Cookies: These help us understand how visitors use our website (e.g., which pages are most popular, how long people spend on the site). This information helps us improve the website and our services. (e.g., Google Analytics).
• Functionality Cookies: These allow our website to remember choices you make (like your language preference or region) and provide enhanced, more personal features.
• Marketing/Targeting Cookies: These cookies may be set through our site by us or our advertising partners. They may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not directly store personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device.   
  
    

Managing Your Cookie Preferences:

When you first visit our website, you will see a cookie banner or pop-up asking for your consent to use non-essential cookies. You can manage your preferences and choose which types of cookies you allow.

You can also usually change your browser settings to refuse some or all cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of our website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, our services, or the law. If we make any significant changes, we will let you know, for example, by posting a notice on our website or by sending you an email if we have your contact details and the change directly affects you.   

The “Last Updated” date at the top of this policy will tell you when it was last revised. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.   

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, how we handle your personal information, or if you want to exercise any of your rights, please get in touch with us:   

SAFETOURS IKE EXCURSIONS AND BOAT SERVICES
VAT Number: 802677111
Tax Office (DOU): HERAKLION
Address: HERSONISSOS, TK 70014, Greece Telephone: +30 694 096 8151
Email: privacy@safetours.gr

11. Complaints

If you are not happy with how we have handled your personal information or responded to your request, you have the right to make a complaint to the relevant data protection authority. In Greece, this is the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA).

Hellenic Data Protection Authority (Αρχή Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα – APDPH) Address: Kifissias 1-3, PC 115 23, Athens, Greece Telephone: +30-210 6475600 Website: www.dpa.gr

However, we would appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns first, so please contact us directly if you have any issues.