Privacy Policy

The following Policy defines Worldaway Learning Tours approach to privacy and data protection. It is intended to explain the types of information we collect about user of our website and services, and what we do with that information. It also summarizes the steps we take to safeguard personal information and outlines what users can do to change their preferences.

We understand our responsibilities to treat personal information with respect, and acknowledge it is important to make users aware of how we collect, store, and disclose information they have shared with us. Our aim is to assist website users to make an informed decision about sharing personal information with Worldaway Learning Tours.

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time, so we recommend that users regularly review this policy so that they are aware of their rights and any changes.

When this policy refers to “Worldaway Learning Tours”, “Worldaway”, “us”, “we” or “our” it refers to Worldaway Learning Tours Limited, which is responsible as the Data Controller for the security and management of all personal user information.

Information we collect

Worldaway Learning Tours collects personal information about users through a number of sources, depending on the circumstances of their engagement with us. Personal information collected and held by Worldaway may include:

• Your name, email address, contact details, gender, date of birth, dietary requirements, relevant medical background, nationality, school, emergency contacts details, travel insurance details and criminal background; and
• Details of other Tours they have either participated in or inquired about, including past travel details, Tour feedback and testimonials.

Personal data is either supplied by the user directly to Worldaway or provided to us by someone representing the user. Information not collected on our application form is additionally sourced via email and other direct client communications, including social media. We may also collect personal information if users choose to enter a scholarship or other promotion, subscribe to our newsletter, or request a brochure or other document.

Additional non-personal information is collected from visitors to our website and users of our mobile applications and some of this information is collected using cookies (please see the ‘How we use cookies’ section below for further details). This information is collected for the purpose of improving user experience and the relevance of information presented, and may include details of web pages visited, user IP address, and the time and date and origin of visit. This information cannot be attributed to the user individually.

Online payments are processed through a secure third-party site, and Worldaway does not receive or have access to personal information such as bank or credit card details.

What we do with information

We collect, hold, use and selectively disclose personal information about users in order to provide the most suitable customer service, or to promoting client safety. In the performance of our normal business activities we may use user information in the following ways:

• To review a participant’s suitability for a selected Tour via an automated or manual method.
• To enable our local Tour Suppliers to make arrangements necessary for a client’s Tour booking.
• To contact users through a range of mediums to discuss any engagement they may have had with us, including a confirmed tour booking, any feedback they may have provided, or any other service they have requested us to perform.
• To allow a listed emergency contact or insurance provider to be updated about any details regarding a client booking, including sensitive personal information in circumstances involving emergencies or concerns about client safety where it is appropriate for them or Worldaway to act on the client’s behalf.
• To meet the requirements of an institutional relationship or insurance policy.
• To make improvements to our services, our website, applications and marketing, and to provide insights that help us to meet client needs better.
• To promote our Tours. Feedback and testimonials provided, along with client name and images shared by Worldaway clients may be used for marketing and promotion purposes.
• To produce research and analysis for the purposes of measuring and communicating the impact of Educational Tours on clients. The outputs of these activities will be presented at an aggregate level only and will not be attributable to any particular individual.
• Data relating to criminal offences is not shared with any national law enforcement bodies.

In summary, we process user’s personal information for certain legitimate business purposes, which include:

• Presenting to website users’ information that we believe will be of interest and relevance, through a range of marketing and communication channels.
• Identifying and recommending Tours or associated services that we think may be of interest to each user.
• Enhancing, modifying, personalizing or otherwise improving the customer experience of our website, marketing or communications.
• To better understand the effectiveness of our website, marketing and communications with each user. We may choose to market and promote this information to users via a wide range of mediums based on personal information held.

Whenever we process user data for this purpose, we will keep all personal information rights in high regard and take steps to safeguard personal information. All users of our website and/or extended services can opt-out of receiving marketing information or allowing us to process information for these purposes at any time by using ‘unsubscribe’ links, or by contacting us directly.

We process this personal information on a number of legal grounds, including with users consent, for the purposes of providing services to users under an existing or potential contract, to comply with legal obligations imposed on us, to protect clients vital interests (for example, in the case of medical emergencies) and/or for our legitimate interests where these are not overridden by the rights of our website users and/or clients.

Who we share information with

We will only use a client’s personal information within Worldaway for the purposes for which it was obtained. We do not provide personal information to other third-parties without a lawful ground for that disclosure. We will not, under any circumstances, share or sell personal information with any third party for their own marketing purposes, and users of our website will not receive marketing from any other companies, charities or other organizations as a result of giving personal details to us. Where personal information is transferred to a third party in a non-approved country, we ensure that suitable safeguards are put in place to ensure personal information and rights are protected.

We may share website user and client’s personal information with:

Internal stakeholders: In order to undertake the processing as set out above, our normal business and to provide high quality of service and support, we may disclose personal information to our employees, directors, contractors or approved third-party service providers located either in New Zealand or overseas.

Local tour suppliers: These organisations are independent from Worldaway and access the personal information of clients via our secure database for the purpose of arranging and providing in-country tour services. We have safeguards in place to ensure that these local suppliers protect personal information and only use this as authorized by Worldaway.

Clients emergency contact or insurer: In some circumstances, such as in emergencies or when client safety is a concern, it is appropriate for Worldaway to share personal information with a client’s listed emergency contact or insurance provider.

Our flights partners: Where a client notifies Worldaway that they wish to receive quotations for flights or other travel services, we may share personal information such as name, email address, travel dates, destination and home city with our flights partners. This information is provided solely for the purpose of providing a quotation that is relevant to the clients proposed travel.

Clients university or school: Where a client applies using a school or university email address or indicates that they are a student of an educational institution, we may share their name, contact details and the Educational Tour details with this institution.

We do not allow these external organisations to use client data for their own purposes or disclose it to other third parties without our consent and we will take all reasonable care to ensure that they keep personal information secure.

We will also comply with legal requests where disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example to government bodies for tax purposes or law enforcement agencies for the prevention and detection of crime).

User rights

We respect our clients right to know details about the information we hold about them, and to correct any inaccuracies in our records. If clients require any details to be updated and or changed, they can contact us directly and complete a Data Subject Access Request form. All requests for personal information will be acknowledged and provided within 30 business days.

Should a client wish to opt-out of receiving communications from Worldaway at any stage they can notify us by using ‘unsubscribe’ links or other opt-out tools provided in email communications or in forms used to apply for Tours. Similarly, users can request that we permanently remove all personal information that we currently hold about them by contacting us. Once we are suitably notified, we will action the request within a reasonable time frame.

Users of our website also have the right to withdraw consent to our processing of their personal information at any time, the right to request that personal information we hold about them is rectified, that any of our processing is restricted and the right to data portability. Users can also choose not to provide us with some of the personal information we request, however this may result in us being unable to provide them with all of our services. Please contact us for further details about any of these rights.

How long we’ll keep information

We are only permitted to store personal information for as long as necessary having regard to the purposes for which it was collected or a related or ancillary purpose.

Therefore, we may delete personal information after a reasonable period of time and, if a user has not used our services for some time, they may have to re-enter or re-supply personal information to us. At times, we may need to retain information for a longer period where we need the information to comply with regulatory or legal requirements or where we may need it for our legitimate purposes. If we don’t need to retain information for this period of time, we may destroy, delete or anonymize it more promptly.

Cookies and Website Terms of Use

Although we try our best, Worldaway does not guarantee that website visitors will have uninterrupted or error-free access to and use of our website. We also can’t guarantee that any files that are able to be downloaded are error-free and free from viruses or other defects. All website users need to rely on their own judgement in relation to the accuracy, completeness and suitability of all content on the Worldaway Learning Tours website.

How we use cookies

We use cookies on our website to improve user experiences. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual’s browser and while they visit a website, a cookie may be used to track the browser’s activities while also facilitating the users ongoing access to, and usage of the website.

We use both first-party cookies and third-party cookies on our website. By using our website, the user agrees to us using both types of cookies in the ways described below.

First-party cookies allow us to track usage patterns and to compile data and analytics that help us to improve the content, structure and user experience of our website, but we can’t use them to identify each user personally. We use cookies to store information about behavior on our website, so we can understand what visitors most are interested in and what information is of most use to them. This helps us to identify ways that we can make the content of our website more relevant to them and enables us to present them with offers and specific tour or service information that our data shows might be of use or interest to them specifically, depending on their current level of engagement with us. These cookies also help to make our marketing and direct communications with users more relevant and facilitate our ability to advertise on other websites.

Third-party cookies, including those provided by Google and Google Analytics are used on certain pages on our website. The information collected by these cookies is used for the purpose of compiling analytical reports that enable Worldaway to measure and record the number of visits to various sections of our website, the average time spent on the site and the pages viewed. They do not allow Google to collect any personal information from any users of our website, but they do enable Google to show our advertisements to internet users based on their previous use of our website.

Neither Worldaway Learning Tours, or any third-party, store any personal information in cookie data. Users who do not want cookie information to be collected or shared with third-parties can disable the cookie feature within their browser.

Contacting us

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or how we use or safeguard your personal information, please get in touch using the following details:

Email us: info@worldawaytours.com

Call us: +1 (415) 871 0508

We will aim to ensure each query is responded to and resolved in a timely and manner.

If website users would like to make a complaint or learn more about their rights in relation to collection and storage of personal information, please contact a the UK Information Commissioner (www.ico.org.uk), the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner (www.privacy.org.nz) or any other supervisory authority.