Privacy Policy

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will apply from 25th May 2018, creates consistent data protection rules across Europe. It applies to companies that are based in the EU and global companies that process personal data about individuals in the EU.

PRIVACY POLICY

The Grand Hotel, Swansea and our affiliate company Great National Hotel & Resorts Limited’s Privacy Policy sets out what information we collect, how we collect it, and what we do with it. Our Privacy Policy applies to you and is available on our website and through other channels. In all your dealings with us, you must ensure that others you represent are aware of the content of our Privacy Policy and consent to your acting on their behalf. If at any time you have questions about our practices or any of your rights described below, you will reach our Data Protection Officer (“DPO”) by contacting us at info@thegrandhotelswansea.com. This inbox is actively monitored and managed so that we can deliver an experience that you can confidently trust.

INFORMATION ABOUT YOU

Your Information

This refers to a combination of information such as your name, contact details, travel preferences and special needs/disabilities/dietary requirements that you supply us or is supplied to us, including your social preferences, interests and activities and any information about other persons you represent (such as those on your booking). Your information is collected when you request information from us, contact us (and vice versa), make a booking, use our website(s)/apps, link to or from our website(s)/apps, connect with us via social media and any other engagement we or our business partners have with you. We will record phone conversations, excluding debit/credit card details and we will always let you know when we do this. We will update your information whenever we can to keep it current, accurate and complete. Often, much of the data collected is aggregated or statistical data about how individuals use our Services and are not linked to any personal data, but to the extent it is itself personal data or is linked or linkable to personal data, we treat it accordingly.

Our Use of Your Information

For the purpose of providing you with our services, including your holiday, security, incident/accident management or insurance, etc., we will collect and process your information for the purposes set out below and in line with guidance from the Data Protection Commissioner (Ireland) and/or Office of the Information Commissioner (United Kingdom), and disclose the same to our service providers who act as “data processors” on our behalf, or to credit and fraud agencies (some of whom are located outside the IRL/UK/EEA). These purposes include administration, service, quality and improvement-related activities, customer care, product innovation and choice, business management, operation and efficiencies, re organisation/structuring/sale of our business (or group companies), risk assessment/management, security, fraud and crime prevention/detection, monitoring, research and analysis, social media, reviews, advertising and marketing, loyalty programmes, profiling customer purchasing preferences, activities and trends, dispute resolution/litigation, credit checking and debt collection.

Sharing with trusted third-parties

We will share your personal data with affiliated companies within our corporate family, with third-parties with whom we have partnered to allow you to integrate their services into our own Services, and with trusted third-party service providers as necessary for them to perform services on our behalf, such as:

• Processing credit card payments
• Serving advertisements
• Conducting contests or surveys
• Performing analysis of our services and customer demographics
• Communicating with you, such as; by way of email or survey delivery
• Customer relationship management.

We only share your personal data as necessary for any third party to provide the services as requested or as needed on our behalf. These third-parties (and any subcontractors) are subject to strict data processing terms and conditions and are prohibited from utilising, sharing or retaining your personal data for any purpose other than as they have been specifically contracted for (or without your consent). If you do not agree to Our Use of Your Information above, we cannot engage/do business with you or accept your online booking.

How We Keep Your Information Safe

We protect your information with security measures under the laws that apply, and we meet international standards. We keep our computers, files and buildings secure. When you contact us to ask about your information, we will ask you to identify yourself. This is to help protect your information.

How Long We Keep Your Information

To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, we hold your information while you are a customer and for a period of time after that. We do not hold it for longer than necessary. The Grand Hotel, Swansea and our affiliate company Great National Hotel & Resorts Limited hold data for a period of 24 months however personal data may be kept for a longer period for archiving purposes in the public interest or for reasons of scientific or historical research, provided that appropriate technical and organisational measures are put in place (such as anonymisation, encryption, etc.).

Consent

Sometimes we need your consent to use your personal information. With direct marketing for example, we need your consent to make you aware of products and services which may be of interest to you. We may do this by phone, post, email, text or through other digital media. You have control of the marketing content delivered to you. If we ever contact you to get your feedback on ways to improve our hotels, offers and services, in all correspondence from us you will be given a clear and easy way to unsubscribe. More details in section ‘Marketing Material’.

Marketing Material

Using the information you provide, we will from time to time contact you with or make available to you (directly or indirectly) information on offers of goods and services, brochures, new products, forthcoming events or competitions from our hotel divisions and our group companies. We will tailor the information you receive or see; this will enable us to make available to you more personalised and relevant communications. We will use innovative technologies and work with business partners to achieve this.

We will contact you directly or through a third-party service provider regarding products or services you have signed up or purchased from us, such as necessary to deliver transactional or service-related communications. We will also contact you with offers for additional services we think you’ll find valuable if you give us consent, or where allowed based upon legitimate interests. You don’t need to provide consent as a condition to purchase our goods or services. These contacts may include:

• Email
• Text (SMS) messages
• Telephone calls
• Automated phone calls or text messages.

You may also update your subscription preferences with respect to receiving communications from us and/or our partners by unsubscribing or by contacting us directly. If we collect information from you in connection with a co-branded offer, it will be clear at the point of collection who is collecting the information and whose privacy policy applies. In addition, it will describe any choice options you have in regards to the use and/or sharing of your personal data with a co-branded partner, as well as how to exercise those options. With direct marketing for example, we need your consent to make you aware of hotels, offers and services which may be of interest to you. We will do this by phone, post, email, text or through other digital media. If we ever contact you to get your feedback on ways to improve our hotels and services, you have the choice to opt-out.

Your Rights

Updating and correcting your personal details.

Removing consent: You can change your mind wherever you give us your consent, such as for direct marketing, or using your sensitive information.

Restricting and objecting: You have the right to restrict or object to us using your personal information or using automated decision making.

Deleting your information (your right to be forgotten). You can ask us to delete your personal information.

Moving your information (your right to Portability). Where possible we can share a digital copy of your information directly with you or another organisation. When you contact us to ask about your information, we will ask you to identify yourself. This is to help protect your information. We generally do not charge you when you contact us to ask about your information

Data Subject Access Request
On completing our Data Subject Access Request form, you are entitled to a copy of the information we hold about you and to correct any inaccuracies. You have the right to ask in writing not to receive direct marketing material from us. If available, you can amend your previous preference on our website(s), use our “unsubscribe email”, opt-out of personalised emails or refer to our literature containing instructions. Once properly notified by you, we will take steps to stop using your information in this way.

For a list of relevant brands, please send us your request. Please write for the attention of Data Protection Officer, Great National Hotels & Resorts, Suite 15, Information Age Park, Gort Road, Ennis, Co. Clare, V95 YP48. Outside the European Economic Area (EEA), data protection controls will not be as strong as the legal requirements in this country.

USE OF TOOLS/”COOKIES” AND LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

If our contact and dealing with you is via our website(s) or other e-platforms where our advertising is displayed, cookies may be used. To find out more about the types of cookies on our website(s), how we use cookies, to disable them or to change your preference and more, please refer to the information provided on our website(s). Other e-platforms will have different options and instructions. By using our website(s), you consent to our use of cookies. Our website(s) will contain links to third-party websites or micro-sites not controlled or owned by us. For example, reference sites or ancillary products and services sites or websites owned by our sister companies. It is your responsibility to check the status of these sites before using them. Please read their applicable terms and conditions, etc. carefully.

What is a cookie?
Cookies are small files that are sent to your browser, for example, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Firefox. They are stored on your computer’s hard disk and only identify your computer, and not you personally.

The default location for these files is:
Windows: c:\Documents and Settings\{your_username}\Cookies
Mac: Users\{your_username}\Library\Cookies

There are two main purposes of cookies. The first is to add functionality like shopping carts, logging in as a particular user, remembering preferences and sharing links via social media. Secondly, cookies are used by website owners to collect usage data and provide personalised suggestions and information.

How do we use cookies?
Cookies help to speed up the booking process so that you do not need to re-type the same information again and again. If you are making a purchase we will also use cookies to keep track of the transaction from one page to the next. We do not store any personal information in the cookie. We also collect information relating to customer use and patterns. We use cookies and software tools to capture, measure and analyse site usage and related information. When you are on our website, we use cookies to provide you with a more personal experience. In other words, we use it to do things like remember what you’ve searched for (rather than typing it again when a new page loads) and to remember saved/recently searched accommodation. If you come back to the site at a later date then you’ll be able to see any properties you have been researching recently. When you are online but not using our website, to help us deliver advertising effectively and avoid repeating adverts, we work with carefully selected third parties who we allow to employ cookies on our site, on our behalf. These cookies allow us to provide advertising on other websites that are more relevant to a user’s interests. The information that we collect and share is anonymous and not personally identifiable. It does not contain a user’s name, address, telephone number or email address. If you receive our emails, we tailor the information we send you based on the data our cookies have collected from your recent visits to our website. You can opt-out of this in any marketing email we send.

Changes in our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes to this Privacy Policy and any other places we deem appropriate, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you here or by means of a notice on our home page.