Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Travelling Pandas is a UK-based travel content and planning business. We share destination blogs, run the Travelling Pandas YouTube channel and our other social media, sell paid PDF travel guides, and offer a bespoke itinerary service, all built from trips we've taken ourselves.

For data protection purposes, Travelling Pandas is the data controller of the personal data described in this policy.

What We Collect And Why

We only collect what we need to run the site and deliver what you've asked for.

We do not collect sensitive personal data (health, religion, and so on) as part of normal site use. If you voluntarily share accessibility requirements as part of an itinerary request, we only use that to plan your trip.

Our Lawful Basis, Explained

• Contract: we need the data to deliver something you've asked for, like a PDF guide or a bespoke itinerary.
• Consent: you've actively opted in, like joining our newsletter. You can withdraw this at any time.
• Legitimate interests: it helps us run and improve the business in a way that doesn't override your rights. For example, we use basic analytics to understand how visitors use the site. We've weighed that benefit against any impact on your privacy and believe it's proportionate.
• Legal obligation: sometimes we're required to, such as keeping purchase records for tax purposes.

How We Use Your Data

• Newsletter and updates. If you sign up, we may email you about new destination blogs, new PDF guides, new YouTube content, new services, and destinations we've personally visited and want to share.
• Personalised recommendations. If you use our bespoke itinerary service, we use the details you give us to build a trip plan suited to you.
• Site improvement. Analytics help us understand which content is useful and where the site needs work.
• Customer support. If you contact us or download a guide, we use your details to reply, provide support, and prevent fraud.

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy and in accordance with applicable data protection law. We will never sell your personal data to a third party.

Who We Share Data With

We use a small number of trusted service providers to run the business. Each only receives what it needs to do its job, and we have appropriate contracts in place with our providers where the law requires it.

• Website hosting and email: Squarespace, which hosts Travellingpandas.com. We don't currently use a separate email marketing platform, so any marketing emails are also sent through Squarespace for now.
• Analytics: Google Analytics and Squarespace Analytics, which give us data on site visits, such as page views, traffic sources, unique visitors, referrers, approximate geography, and device type. We also use YouTube Analytics for our channel, which gives us aggregate data on video views, watch time, and audience trends rather than personal data about individual viewers. Embedded YouTube videos on our site may set their own cookies when played.
• Payments: currently processed via Squarespace. We don't yet have a dedicated payment provider set up. Fuller detail will be added here once that's live.
• Affiliate partners: when you click an affiliate link on our site, the third-party partner may receive your IP address, browser information, and referral information so they can attribute the referral to us.

Some providers process data outside the UK. Where that happens, we rely on recognised UK safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or UK adequacy regulations, depending on the provider.

Cookies And Tracking

Our site uses cookies to make it work properly and to understand how visitors use it:

• Essential cookies: needed for basic site functionality.
• Analytics cookies: from Google Analytics and Squarespace Analytics, showing which pages are visited and for how long.
• Affiliate tracking cookies: set by third-party affiliate networks when you click a product or booking link, so that partner can attribute a sale to us.
• Video cookies: set by embedded YouTube videos when played.

Non-essential cookies, including analytics and affiliate tracking cookies, are only placed once you've given consent through our cookie banner. You can change your preference at any time, and you can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Turning off non-essential cookies won't stop you using the site, but it may affect how affiliate purchases are attributed.

Affiliate Links Disclosure

Some links on Travellingpandas.com are affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase or booking, we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products, hotels, tours, and services we've personally used and rate highly.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party sites you land on after clicking an affiliate link. We'd encourage you to check their own privacy policy before sharing any personal data with them.

Data Retention

We keep personal data for up to 6 years, in line with UK record-keeping requirements, across the categories below:

• Newsletter and marketing data: until you unsubscribe, and for our records for up to 6 years afterwards.
• Contact form and itinerary enquiries: up to 6 years.
• Purchase and download records: up to 6 years, for tax purposes.
• Analytics data: up to 6 years.

If you'd like your data deleted sooner, see Your Rights below.

Keeping Your Data Safe

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your personal data, including SSL encryption on our site, password-protected access to our systems, and limiting access to personal data to those who need it to run the business. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so while we work hard to protect your data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Automated Decision-Making

We do not use your personal data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

Your Rights

If you're in the UK or EU, under UK GDPR / EU GDPR you have the right to:

• Be informed about how we use your data.
• Access the personal data we hold on you.
• Correct inaccurate data.
• Delete your data, where applicable.
• Restrict how we process your data.
• Object to processing, including marketing, at any time.
• Data portability, to receive your data in a usable format.
• Withdraw consent, for example by unsubscribing from the newsletter at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, get in touch with us. We'll respond within one month, as required by law.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk. We'd really appreciate the chance to resolve any concerns directly first, so please get in touch with us before escalating if you can.

Children's Data

Travelling Pandas is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us data, get in touch with us and we'll delete it.

Third-Party Links

Beyond affiliate links, our destination blogs may link to other websites, tourism boards, or businesses we mention. We're not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those external sites.

Changes To This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we introduce payment processing. We will update the dates at the top of this page whenever we make a change, and encourage you to check back periodically.