Overview

 

At Howgills Accommodation, we know that your personal information is very important to you. The purpose of this statement is to explain how we may use the information we obtain about you.

The Website Privacy Policy section below covers the Howgills Accommodation website and sets out the different areas where user privacy is concerned. It outlines the obligations and requirements of the users, the website and the website owners and it details the way the Howgills Accommodation websites processes, stores and protects user data and information. By visiting and/or registering on the Howgills Accommodation website, you agree to this use.

The “General Privacy Policy” section covers how Howgills Accommodation handles and processes personal data in all areas, including within its Supercontrol database.

Howgills Accommodation reserves the right to amend this policy at any time: we will notify you of any necessary changes.

For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU GDPR regulations, the data controller is Howgills Accommodation.

 

Website Privacy Policy

Howgills Accommodation takes a proactive approach to user privacy and ensure the necessary steps are taken to protect the privacy of their users throughout their visiting experience. The websites comply with all UK national laws and requirements for user privacy.

Storage of your personal information

We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in connection with the collection, storage and disclosure of personally identifiable customer information.

It is important for you to protect against unauthorised access to your password and to your computer. Be sure to logout when you finish using a shared computer.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access.

Use of Cookies

The websites use cookies to improve the users’ experience when visiting the websites. Where applicable, the websites use a cookie control system allowing the user on their first visit to the website to allow or disallow the use of cookies on their computer / device. This complies with legislation requirements for websites to obtain explicit consent from users before leaving behind or reading files such as cookies on a user’s computer / device.

Cookies are small files saved to the user’s computer’s hard drive that track, save and store information about the user’s interactions and usage of the website. This allows the websites to provide the users with a tailored experience. Users are advised that if they wish to deny the use and saving of cookies from The Howgills Accommodation website on to their computer’s hard drive they should take necessary steps within their web browser’s security settings to block all cookies from this website and its external serving vendors.

The Howgills Accommodation website uses tracking software to follow how visitors use the website. This software is provided by Google Analytics which uses cookies to track visitor usage. The software will save a cookie to your computer’s hard drive in order to track and monitor your engagement and usage of the website, but will not store, save or collect personal information. You can read Google’s privacy policy here for further information http://www.google.com/privacy.html

Website Email Newsletters

Howgills Accommodation operates a seasonal email newsletter which is sent out four times a year. If you have previously stayed with us we will add your details to our email newsletter database.

In compliance with UK Spam Laws and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 subscribers are given the opportunity to un-subscribe at any time by clicking on an ‘un-subscribe’ link at the footer of the newsletter, or you can email us info@howgillsaccommodation.co.uk and we will remove your details as requested.

Damage to accommodation property – We reserve the right to charge guests the cost of rectifying damage, caused by the deliberate, negligent or reckless act of the guest to the hotel’s accommodation. Should this damage come to light after the guest has departed, we reserve the right to make a charge to the guest’s credit / debit card, or send an invoice for the amount to the registered address. We will however make every effort to rectify any damage internally prior to contracting specialists to make the repairs, and therefore will make every effort to keep any costs that the guest would incur to a minimum.

Social Media Platforms

Communication, engagement and actions taken through external social media platforms that this website and its owners participate on are subject to the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policies held with each social media platform respectively.

Users are advised to use social media platforms wisely and communicate / engage upon them with due care and caution in regard to their own privacy and personal details. Howgills Accommodation website nor their owners will not ask for personal or sensitive information through social media platforms, nor encourage users wishing to discuss sensitive details to contact them through primary communication channels such as by telephone or email.

Resources & Further Information

Data Protection Act 2018

General Data Protection regulation (GDPR)

Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003

Facebook Privacy Policy

Instagram Privacy Policy

Google Privacy Policy

Linkedin Privacy Policy

Mailchimp Privacy Policy

General Privacy Policy

This policy (together with our terms of use and any other documents referred to on it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

Howgills Accommodation(The Company) provides accommodation to its guests, holiday makers, and clients. The Company must process personal data so that it can provide these services – in doing so, the Company acts as a data controller.

You may give your personal details to the Company directly, such as on a reservation or registration form or via our websites, or we may collect them from another source such as a review site or third party booking site or when talking with you on the telephone. The Company must have a legal basis for processing your personal data. For the purposes of providing you with guest services and/or information relating to services relevant to you, we will only use your personal data in accordance with the terms of the following statement.

Collection And Use Of Personal Data

The Company will collect your personal data (which may include sensitive personal data) and will process your personal data for the purposes of providing you with accommodation. If you make a reservation directly with us, we use a booking management system called ‘SuperControl’. SupeControl is fully compliant with GDPR. SuperControl does not store or capture any personal data that isn’t strictly needed for the booking process nor does it transfer any personal data to any other party if it
is not part of the booking process. All payment transactions made through our website and via on-line payment links follow PCI level one compliance through Supercontrols partners HolidayRentPayment, Stripe and PCI Card Storage credit card.

To read more about our payment processor HolidayRentPayment

The legal bases we rely upon to offer these services to you are:

  • Legitimate interest
  • Consent
  • Legal obligation
  • Contractual obligation

We collect and use your personal data for accommodation, business management, invoice processing and accounting reasons including:

  • identifying and evaluating guest information for the purpose of their stay, service, or function at the property;
  • record keeping in relation to previous and future stays/functions at the hotel;
  • Ability to communicate and offer future services;
  • ensuring compliance with statutory and legal requirements, including the provision of tax information to HMRC;
  • protecting our legal rights to the extent authorised or permitted by law; or
  • emergency situations where the health or safety of one or more individuals may be endangered.

We process your personal data for the purposes described above: when we have your consent to do so; when necessary to enter into an contractual arrangement with you; when necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation; or when necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests as a provider of guest and hotel services.

Legitimate interest

Where the Company has relied on a legitimate interest to process your personal data our legitimate interests are as follows:

  • in pursuit of the Company’s legitimate business interest in the supply of guest and accommodation services.

Recipient/s of data

The Company will process your personal data and/or sensitive personal data with the following recipients:

Our insurers/professional advisers

We may disclose your personal data to our insurers and/or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice and managing legal disputes.

Our clients/partner agencies

We may disclose your personal data and account data to our clients, and our partner agencies insofar as reasonably necessary in relation to providing guest and accommodation services.

We may receive your details and personal data from other third parties for example when your reservation has been made via another booking channel or Online Travel Agency.

To comply with legal obligations

In addition to the specific disclosures of personal data detailed above, we may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another individual.

Data retention

The Company will retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary. Different laws require us to keep different data for different periods of time.

We must keep your invoice records and reservation details for as long as is legally required by HMRC and associated tax legislation.

We will retain details of your booking and payment history for the purposes of providing financial information to HMRC. We may also need to retain details of your history, address, and contact details for six years following the date you last stayed with us, in order to provide a legal defence against possible claims for breach of contract.

Your rights under GDPR

Please be aware that you have the following data protection rights:

The right to access

You may ask us to give you access to any personal information we hold about you; we will provide you with a copy of the personal information we hold provided your request is not found to be excessive or unjustified, in which case a charge may apply; we will also require appropriate evidence of your identity. We may withhold personal information that you request according to legal constraints.

The right to rectification of your personal data;

You have the right to request that we correct any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you.

The right to erasure of your personal data in certain circumstances;

In certain circumstances you may ask us to delete the personal data that we hold about you. For example:

  • it is no longer necessary for us to hold your personal data in relation to the purposes for which it was originally collected or otherwise processed;
  • you withdraw your consent to any processing for which you gave us explicit consent;
  • the processing is for direct marketing purposes;
  • you believe we have processed your personal data unlawfully.

However, there are certain general exclusions to the right to erasure, including where processing is necessary in order to exercising the right of freedom of expression and information or for compliance with a legal obligation or for establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

The right to object to processing of personal data based on public or legitimate interest;

You can object to us processing your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only as far as our legal basis for the processing is that it is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of our legitimate interests or those of a third party. If you make an objection, we will stop processing your personal information unless we are able to: demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing, and that these legitimate grounds override your interests, rights and freedoms; or the processing is in relation to a legal claim.

The right not to be subjected to automated decision making and profiling;

We do not perform automated data processing.

If we have obtained your explicit consent to processing your personal data, you are entitled to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.

Your right to object to direct marketing

You may ask us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes. However, usually you will either have agreed in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or you will be able to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes.

Our websites aim to include safe and relevant external links. However, users are advised to adopt a policy of caution before clicking any external web links located on the Howgills Accommodation website. (External links are banners or images which link to websites outside the control of the Howgills Accommodation and associated technology suppliers).

 

Security Bond Policy

We reserve the right to charge guests the cost of replacing any items that are damaged or removed from the premises by them without consent. The charge will be the full replacement amount of the missing item, including any carriage charges. Should the fact that the item is missing come to light after the guest has departed, we reserve the right to make a charge to the guests credit/debit card, or send an invoice for the amount to the registered address.

We reserve the right to charge guests for additional cleaning which is above and beyond our cleaning allocation.

In all instances, we will contact you with a report, including a quotation for repair/loss/extra time. The deduction(s) will then automatically be made from your security bond deposit. 

CCTV Policy

Howgills Accommodation has CCTV cameras at the properties, principally at the entrance and exit points and at the car parking area. CCTV is in operation for the personal safety of guests, staff, visitors and to assist in the day to day management including ensuring the health and safety of guests and others. No camera focuses, or will focus, on toilets, shower facilities, changing rooms, staff kitchen areas, staff break rooms or private offices. A full copy of our CCTV policy can be found here and please get in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns.

CCTV Policy

 

Complaints or queries

If you have any questions or complaints regarding this privacy notice or any of the procedures set out in it please contact the Business Administration Manager email info@howgillsaccommodation.co.uk

You also have the right to raise concerns with Information Commissioner’s Office on 0303 123 1113 or at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/, or any other relevant supervisory authority should your personal data be processed outside of the UK, if you believe that your data protection rights have not been adhered to.