This policy explains what personal information Uwera Travels collects when you use this website or plan a safari with us, why we collect it, who we share it with and the choices you have. We keep it short and plain on purpose. If anything is unclear, please ask.
Who we are
Uwera Travels designs private, tailor-made safaris across Africa. For this policy, Uwera Travels is the organisation responsible for your personal information (the data controller). You can reach us about anything in this policy through our Start planning page.
What we collect
Information you give us
- Enquiries: your name, email address, phone or WhatsApp number, nationality, travel dates, number of travellers, the countries and experiences you are interested in, your budget range and anything else you choose to tell us in the form.
- Bookings: if you go ahead with a safari we will also need details such as full names as they appear on passports, passport numbers, dates of birth, flight details, dietary needs, and any medical or mobility information you choose to share so we can look after you properly. Park authorities require passport details to issue gorilla and chimpanzee permits.
- Conversations: emails, messages and notes from calls with our specialists.
Information collected automatically
- Technical data: like most websites, our server records basic information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you request, to keep the site secure and working.
- Cookies: small files described in the cookies section below.
How we use your information
- To reply to your enquiry and design a safari around you (this is a step you ask us to take before any contract).
- To book and manage your safari, including lodges, permits, flights, transfers and guides (to perform our contract with you).
- To look after you while you travel and help if plans change (contract and your vital interests in an emergency).
- To keep records we are required to keep by law, such as accounting and tax records (legal obligation).
- To keep the website secure and to improve it (our legitimate interests).
- To send you travel news or offers, only if you have asked us to. You can stop these at any time (consent).
We never sell your personal information.
Who we share it with
We share only what each party needs to deliver your safari or run our business:
- Lodges, camps, hotels and ground partners who host or guide you.
- National park and wildlife authorities that issue permits.
- Airlines and air charter companies.
- Payment providers who process your deposit and balance.
- Service providers who help us run the website and our email, such as our web host.
- Authorities, when the law requires it.
International transfers
We plan safaris across several African countries, so your details may be shared with partners in the countries you visit and with providers in other countries who host our systems. Where we do this we take reasonable steps to make sure your information stays protected.
How long we keep it
We keep enquiry details for up to two years so we can pick up the conversation if you come back to us. Booking and payment records are kept for as long as the law requires, usually up to seven years. After that we delete or anonymise them.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, including under Uganda's Data Protection and Privacy Act, 2019 and, for travellers in the UK and European Union, the GDPR, you can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
- correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- delete your information, where we no longer need it;
- stop or limit how we use it, or object to a use;
- withdraw consent you have given, at any time.
To use any of these rights, contact us through the Start planning page. You can also complain to the data protection authority in your country; in Uganda this is the Personal Data Protection Office.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files a website stores on your device. When you first visit we ask which cookies you are happy with. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings, which is also in the footer of every page.
Cookie
Type
What it does
How long
uw_cookie_consent
Essential
Remembers your cookie choice so we do not ask again.
6 months
aae_visited_posts
Preferences
Remembers safaris, places and stories you have viewed so the site can show them again. Only kept if you choose Accept all.
Session
We use Google Fonts to display our typefaces. When a page loads, your browser requests the fonts from Google, which receives your IP address. Google does not set cookies for this.
If we add analytics or other tools in future, they will only run after you choose Accept all, and we will list them here.
Children
Our website is not aimed at children. We collect information about children only when a parent or guardian gives it to us to book a family safari.
Keeping your information safe
We use secure connections on this website, limit who can see your details to the people who need them, and ask our partners to protect them too. No system is perfectly secure, so please tell us straight away if you think your information has been misused.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as our business or the law changes. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
