This Privacy Statement describes in a clear manner our commitment to protect customer privacy. It outlines how we collect, use, process and disclose any information, including your personal information obtained through the Website.

The purpose of this website Privacy Statement is to outline how we deal with any personal data you provide to us or we collect while visiting the Website.

Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such, and we are not responsible for the content or the privacy statements of any other website.

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Data collected

Personal Data

Personal data collected from you is necessary for the operation of the service contract between you and us. Without this data, we cannot provide you with our services. Below outlines the information processed: 

• User Data: When you join the Website as a User, you provide the following information to create a profile on the Website: first name, last name, nationality, gender, email address, phone number and date of birth.

• Accommodation Data: Further information is required to create a host profile including your address, phone number, profile picture, pictures of your homestay, your location coordinates, your location description, amenities, and homestay rules.

• Messaging Data: To confirm a booking through the Website, users must communicate via our messaging system, the Website will collect all information and correspondence communicated via this messaging system. The messaging system includes a facility to allow hosts and guests to video call. Video calls may be recorded for auditing and performance monitoring purposes.

• Financial Data: Certain financial information (like your credit card details or bank account details) may be required from certain users when transacting a booking on the Website or where we facilitate the processing of deposit payments via a third party payments provider. This information is not collected or stored by our systems. The Website only collects a “tokenized” version that allows us to securely process payments using the third party payment platforms. Your email address and contact information may be provided to the payment providers so they can contact you directly in case of payment related issues. For any query in relation to the collection, storing or processing of this financial information, you will need to contact the payment providers directly.

 

Additional Personal Data

You may choose to provide us with additional personal information to enhance your profile on our Website. This additional information is processed based on your consent to provide information:

• Preferences: Preferred language(s), a personal description, reason for travel, guest preference. This information will form part of your profile page, and will be publicly visible to others.

• Contacts: You may choose to import contacts from your address book or enter your contacts’ information manually to invite your contacts to become users and join the Website.
   

Non Personal Data

Non Personal Data is data the Website automatically gathers, both statistical and other analytical information collected on an aggregate basis of all visitors to our web site. This non-personal data comprises information that cannot be used to identify or contact you, such as demographic information regarding, for example, user IP addresses (where they have been clipped or anonymised), browser types and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of the Website.

We use non-personal data gathered from visitors to the Website in an aggregate form to get a better understanding of where our visitors come from and to help us better design, optimize, promote and operate the Website.

We automatically collect information, including personal information, about the services you use and how you use them. This information is necessary for operational purposes to ensure we fulfil, optimize and improve the functionality of the Website and our contract with you. Below outlines the information processed:

• Geo-location Data: such as your IP address and country / city you are browsing from, to offer you an improved user experience and to verify your profile setup.

• Visitor Data: Visits to any pages or content you view, your homestay searches, bookings you have made, messages you have sent, reviews you have submitted and other actions taken on the Website.

• Device: Device information and log data when you access the Website even if you have not created a user account or logged in. That information includes, if you clicked on links to third party applications, IP address, access dates and times, hardware and software information, device information, device event information, unique identifiers, crash data, cookie data, and the page you’ve viewed or engaged with before using the Website (also known as “referrer”).
   

Purpose of Collection and use of personal information

1. Fulfilment of Service Contract & Billing of Service Fee
   Offering contents for host & guest promotion, Providing contact details and address details of host and guest after booking confirmation, Offering matching information, Sending out invoices and bills, Verifying user identity, Purchasing and paying

2. Member management
   Verifying user identity, Preventing fake members and unauthorized use, Checking intention of joining, Restricting registration and number of registrations, Verifying legal representative identity, Preserving records and documents for dispute settlements, Responding to user requests and

3. Delivering notices
   Development of new service(s) & Application to marketing and promotion. Developing new services, Offering matching services, Promoting based on demographic characters, Checking the effectiveness of services, Providing events and promotion information and offering chances of customer participations, Identifying log-in frequency, and Building statistics for members’ use of services

 

How long do we retain your personal data for?

We will only process your personal data where we have a legal basis to do so and retain your personal data for as long as is necessary for the performance of the contract between us both. Your data will not be retained for longer than necessary to fulfil the purpose it is being processed for.

 

Rights of Users and Legal Representatives

1. Users can always check or change their personal information. Users can also refuse to agree or even withdraw membership if they do not agree on the privacy policy of Besthomestays.com. In that case, please be kindly reminded that users may have difficulty in using some or entire services offered by Besthomestays.com

2. Users click on ‘Modify’ button for searching and changing personal information, or click on ‘Withdraw’ to terminate membership.

3. Or you can also contact the manager in charge of privacy information directly, who will take necessary measures immediately.