Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to The Sands B&B. We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This privacy policy describes how we collect, use, and process your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

By booking a room or using our website, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. The Sands B&B is located at 4 Victoria Square, Rostrevor, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, BT34 3EU, and is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you to facilitate your reservation and stay, including:

• Identity Data: First name, last name, title, and passport/ID details (for overseas guests as required by UK law).
• Contact Data: Billing address, physical address, email address, and telephone numbers.
• Booking Data: Check-in and check-out dates, room type selected, number of guests, and special requests (such as dietary or accessibility requirements).
• Financial & Transaction Data: Payment card details (processed securely via our encrypted booking partners; we do not store full raw card numbers in our own systems) and payment status details.
• Technical Data: IP address, browser type, time zone setting, and operating system when you visit our website.

3. How We Use Your Information

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we use your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Performance of a Contract: To manage, confirm, and process your booking and payment, and to provide the accommodation and breakfast services you request.
• Legal Obligation: To maintain a register of overnight guests as required by local regulations, and to complete necessary financial accounting and tax records.
• Legitimate Interests: To communicate with you regarding your stay, respond to your inquiries, and seek feedback to improve our B&B services.

4. Data Sharing & Security

We value your trust and do not sell or lease your personal information to third-party marketers. We share your data only with specific service providers who help us run our operations:

• Booking & Payment Providers: Third-party booking engines, channel managers, and payment card gateways to securely hold and charge cards.
• Professional Advisors & Regulators: Tax consultants, legal advisors, or law enforcement bodies when we are under a legal duty to disclose.

Security: We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those staff and booking partners who have a business need to know.

5. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

By UK law, we must keep basic transaction and financial information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they cease being customers for tax and audit purposes.

6. Your Legal Rights

Under UK GDPR and European data protection laws, you have specific rights in relation to your personal data:

• Request Access: Obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Request Correction: Correct any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you.
• Request Erasure: Ask us to delete personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it (subject to legal retention requirements).
• Object to Processing: Object to processing of your data based on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on consent to process your data (e.g., dietary preferences).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at thesandsbnb@gmail.com.

7. Cookies & Tracking

Our website uses cookies to enhance user experience, analyze site usage, and ensure the website functions correctly. Cookies are small text files stored on your device.

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.