The Privacy and Confidentiality Policy’s (“Policy”) defines how My Taiwan Escape (Digital Travel Pty Ltd trading as My Taiwan Escape ABN 15 011 054 685) and its related subsidiaries collect, use and disclose your personal information for the primary purpose of providing you with travel-related services. Any references to “the service”, “us”, “we” and/ or “our” means My Taiwan Escape.
We will not sell our consumer database to third parties and will only use your personal information for the purpose for which it was provided and/ or a related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise – or the use and disclosure is permitted in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles.
As a travel agency, we act as a representative for various third party travel service providers and are required to collect and disclose your personal information to perform our business functions and activities on your behalf. Our business functions and activities include, but are not limited to the following tasks:
- Arranging travel-related services and/or products for you.
- Completing the administrative functions associated with your purchase.
- Corresponding with you in relation to the services you have requested.
- Providing you with promotional and/ or marketing materials that may be of interest.
- Using the IP address of visitors to our website (mytaiwanescape.com.au) to assist with identifying problems with our server, to manage our website for statistical purposes, to examine how the service is used, maintaining security, and refining and / or personalizing content.
We are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information you have entrusted with us, and equally committed to regularly reviewing our procedural safeguards, both physical and electronic for the purpose of protecting your data. We cannot however, ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or guarantee that your information on the Service may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards. In the unlikely event personal information has compromised as a result of a security breach, we will quickly alert those persons whose personal information has been compromised in accordance the applicable law.
By providing your personal information to us or permitting another person to on your behalf, you hereby agree that this Policy will apply to how your personal information is controlled and consent to us collecting, using and disclosing your personal information as outlined in this Policy. If you do not agree with any part of this Policy, you must not provide your personal information to under any circumstance. If you do not provide your personal information, we will be unable to support you in creating any bookings as travel bookings generally require your full name, contact details and the appropriate level of identification.
In cases where your local data protections laws enforce a more restrictive handling practice on information than those set out in this policy, we will regulate our information handling practices to comply with these local data protection laws.
Personal Information
We do not collect or hold “sensitive information” about you or the persons acknowledged in your booking without your consent. (Reminder: If you are booking on behalf of other person/s, please make sure they consent to their personal information being released).
Sensitive information includes the following:
- Racial or ethnic origin.
- Political opinions or associations.
- Religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs.
- Trade union membership or associations.
- Sexual orientation or practices.
- Criminal record.
- Health or genetic information
- Some aspects of biometric information.
We do however collect “personal information” where such information is necessary for us to commence our business functions and activities to facilitate your travel arrangements. Personal information includes the following:
- Your name, signature, address, phone number and date of birth.
- Credit information.
- Employee record information.
- Internet protocol (IP) addresses.
- Voice print and facial recognition biometrics (because they collect characteristics that make an individual’s voice or face unique).
- Location information from a mobile device (because it can reveal user activity patterns and habits).
By creating a booking with us, you consent to us disclosing your personal information for the purpose of which it was collected, unless we subsequently receive consent for it to be used for another purpose. For example, if you provide health information to us for a travel insurance application, you consent to us using and disclosing that health information in association with the said application. Please note if we are requested to disclose your personal details by law, we will comply with the governing authorities.
Collecting Personal Information
Personal information is generally collected directly from you (in person, by phone, email, facsimile, letter or when you visit our website or connect with us by social media). When you make a purchase or enquire about travel services or products, when you enter competitions, register for promotions or subscribe to marketing materials such as brochures from us, complete surveys or provide feedback. Unless you have done so anonymously, your personal information is collected directly from you through these circumstances.
We may collect your personal information through a third party in accordance with your local data protection laws. When a person makes a travel booking on your behalf with the travel arrangements to be used by you, we will rely on the authority of the third party creating the booking. The person creating the booking (whether family, group or employer) shall bind all persons acknowledged within the said booking by making you aware of our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You will be understood to having consented to us releasing your personal details in the interest of facilitating these travel arrangements unless we are otherwise notified. Please advise us immediately should you become aware of your personal information being provided to us without consent or if you did not obtain a person’s consent before creating a booking with us.
Use, disclosure and liability (Re: Third Party Service Providers)
To “disclose” includes transferring, sharing, sending, or otherwise making available or accessible to another person or entity.
We collect personal information about you both for the reasons described in this Policy and for the relevant third party travel service provider who we act as an agent for (or on behalf of). All bookings are subject to their own terms and conditions, including the privacy policy enforced by these travel service providers whom we have no direct control over. Copies of all appropriate travel service provider terms and privacy policies can be provided upon request.
By creating a booking through us, you are understood to consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information to be provided to the relevant travel service provider in the interest of facilitating your travel arrangements. We exercise care in our selection of reputable travel service suppliers, however it is not possible due to the many thousands of providers to directly oversee their everyday operations and practices or for us to set out all the travel service providers for whom we act and their locations.
Where we disclose your personal information to any travel service providers (including overseas recipients), you agree that we will not be required to ensure the third parties compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles or otherwise be held accountable for how they handle your personal information. Your legal rights in connection with the provision of travel services and any breaches of your privacy are to be directed at the specific travel service provider.
Disclosing Personal Information
Your personal information may be disclosed to our various contractors, suppliers and service providers. These include (but are not limited to) the following conditions:
- A person making a travel booking on your behalf.
- A person who can authenticate their relationship with you by answering our security questions when the request is, in our estimation, for your benefit (e.g. a welfare check)
- Your employer when travelling for work purposes.
- Travel service providers (airlines, lodging, tour companies and other related providers).
- IT solutions that assist us in the provision of products and services to you.
- Customs and/or immigration to fulfill with our legal duties related to your travel.
- External consultants such as solicitors, accountants, auditors and recruitment advisers.
- Editors, printers and distributors of our promotional material.
- Event and presentation managers.
- Mailing, freight and courier services.
- Our related entities.
- Regulatory bodies to protect against fraud and for related security purposes.
- Government agencies and public authorities such as enforcement agencies, where we suspect that illegitimate activity has been or may be engaged in and the personal information is essential for the investigation or reporting the matter.
- Any probable buyers in the event of a company merger, acquisition or sale of My Taiwan Escape (or any of its subsidiaries or related entities).
When we are contacted regarding a travel booking or enquiry, our principal reason for collecting your personal information is to arrange those travel-related services and/or products for you. For example, when you involve us book your flights we will disclose your personal information such as your name, email address and/or mobile number to the applicable carrier. This enables them to advise you if the flight is running on time of if there are any disruptions.
The reason for collecting personal information may be altered (as a secondary purpose). For example, if you have entered a competition with us your personal details are required and will be disclosed for the purpose of which it was collected – the competition you entered.
By using our services and/ or by providing us with personal information or consenting to a person doing so on your behalf, you consent to us collecting, using and disclosing your information for the purpose of which it was collected.
We may also use your personal information to comply with legal requirements and any customs requirements related to your travel arrangements.
The personal information you provide to us is also used to provide you with optimal functionality of the service/ website. For example, creating a travel profile on our website, saving preferences and personal information, approving pre-population of online forms allow us to service you better or provide you with options we think you would be interested in based on your preferences. Giving you options such as participation in reward programs, encouraging participation in market research for analysis and a forum for feedback to evaluate our service to you all relates to augmenting the service for mutual benefit.
Non-Personally Identifiable Information
We will not provide any personally identifiable information without your consent under any circumstance. We may however provide non-personally identifiable information by allowing third party ad servers or networks to send their advertisements to your IP address.
When you visit our website, we use cookies. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer by us. Cookies allow us to identify the computer or device you are using to access our website however we can’t identify you personally from them. This information is sent back to our systems as you move around our website.
Our website may contain links to third party websites, micro-sites or analytical tools we do not control. The use of cookies by on third party websites is not protected under this Policy. We do not have contact or control over these particular cookies. If you do respond to any of the advertisements or links by clicking on them, please ensure you read their applicable privacy policies and terms of use carefully. It is your responsibility to check the status of these sites before using them. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of third party websites nor are we responsible for the privacy policies or content of their websites.
Promotional/ Marketing Material
Where we use your personal information for marketing and promotional reasons, it is because you have requested us to contact you, entered a competition with us or have agreed to join our mailing list at some juncture. We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and do not share, sell or rent information to any third parties for the purposes of direct marketing.
We may use your email address or mobile phone number to send you other messages, such as newsletters or special offers. If you do not want to receive these notifications, you may opt-out or unsubscribe by contacting us on our website through our website or talking directly to your travel consultant.
If you are not currently receiving promotional/ marketing materials from us and wish to do so, you can subscribe to receive e-newsletters and other electronic promotional/marketing materials by following the relevant links on our website.
Feedback and Contact
If you wish to inform us of a change or a amendment to your personal information or have any concerns (or complaints) about our practices in relation to the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles, please contact us immediately.
We will respond to your concerns with due diligence and with the relevant provisions of the Australian Privacy Principles.
