Privacy Policy

BY USING THIS WEB SITE, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR AGREEMENT TO Holiday Homes (Yorkshire) LIMITED’S (HHYS) PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS WEB SITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF HHY'S WEB SITES FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY WILL MEAN THAT YOU ACCEPT THOSE CHANGES.

The family of companies at Holiday Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd,, www.house-parties.co.uk &www.holidayhomesgroup.co.uk. (collectively "HHY" or "we", "us", or "our") recognise the importance of protecting the privacy of certain general information ("data") and specific personal information ("Personal Data") collected about our customers (referred to as "Customers", "you", or "your") and consequently respect your privacy. This privacy statement discloses what information we gather, how we use it, and how to correct or change it. At HHY, it is our intention to give you an understanding about how we collect your information and the use we make of it in the course of our business.

HHY has reviewed its policies, processes, procedures and practices to ensure that they meet legislation introduced within the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes the European Union (EU), in line with the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) and the EU Telecommunications Data Protection Directive (97/66EC) ("the Directives"), and in accordance with UK implementing legislation such as the Data Protection Act 1998, the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) (Direct Marketing) Regulations 1998, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, and we will continue to ensure that our policies, processes, procedures and practices comply in all respects with any future laws and regulations in relation to your privacy.

The purpose of this document is to inform you of the policies that have been put in place to protect your interests in this respect.

1. Fair and lawful information-handling
We will process all data that we collect and hold on you fairly and in accordance with applicable law. As further explained in this privacy policy, we will ensure the quality and security of your data (even if the data are transferred to other companies in the UK, Europe or elsewhere); and we will fully respect your rights, interests and fundamental freedoms with regard to your data.

2. Legitimate purposes
We will only collect, record, process and store data which are needed to fulfil our contractual obligations towards our Customers and Property Owners.

3. Data quality
We will employ effective procedures and safeguards to ensure that data we hold on you are adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were obtained, as well as accurate and up-to-date. Where we become aware of any inaccuracies in data we hold, we will correct and, where appropriate, delete incorrect data.

Retention periods are in place to ensure that data are only stored whilst they are required for the purposes in question or to meet legal and regulatory requirements. Where data are no longer required, we will ensure that they are disposed off in a secure manner.

4. Information to you

When we collect data from you, we will identify ourselves and inform you of the purpose(s) for which we are collecting data.

5. Special restrictions on the use of sensitive data
We will not normally seek data on your racial or ethnic origins, political opinions, religious or other beliefs, trade-union membership, physical or mental health, sex life or criminal convictions. When we do collect such data, it will be limited to data which are:
required to be kept by law;

• needed for legal proceedings or to establish, exercise or defend legal rights (including protection against fraud);

• clearly and strictly necessary to fulfil a contract between you and us (or between you and a company we represent); or

• needed to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another person (for instance, if medical data are urgently required after an accident and you cannot give your consent).

  6. Your rights
  You have the right to require us to cease the communication of advertising or marketing materials to you, and we will ensure that your request is complied with. This includes the right to withdraw your consent to third-party direct-marketing use of your data at any time.

  You have the right to see all data that we hold on you. Should you wish to have access to all or a particular part of your data, please contact us at P.O.Box 722, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Hg1 9NQ. Such access will be granted in accordance with the requirements of applicable national legislation and subject to any discretionary allowance for HHY to make a charge payable by you to cover HHY's administration costs incurred in providing you with such data. Such payment is to be made on application for access to your data and is to be no more than the maximum stipulated by applicable national legislation. The information will be forwarded to you within an appropriate period of time in accordance with applicable national legislation, but in any event no more than 40 days from the date of such request for access.

  Where any discrepancies are discovered following your enquiry, we will take immediate steps to validate and, where appropriate, correct our records. We will confirm the actions taken in writing to you within an appropriate period of time in accordance with applicable national legislation, but in any event no more than 40 days after receiving your request to amend our records.

  7. Security of information

  We will only provide access to data on you to those of our employees who need such access in order to carry out any necessary processing. We have taken appropriate steps to ensure the security of data, whether it is stored in computer systems, paper files or other storage media. We expect the same high standards of security and confidentiality of our affiliated or related entities, associates or partners, agents or subcontractors, or any company or companies within the Wyndham Worldwide Group of Companies we engage to process data for us.

  9. Direct marketing

  We may market to you directly through any media to keep you informed of further offers which may be of interest to you (unless you write to us asking us to exclude you from such offers or alternatively telephone, fax or e-mail us to that effect or you have done so previously and such exclusion is still operative) and for our own administration, market analyses and operational reviews. (If you use more than one e-mail address to communicate with us, please notify us of each e-mail account you use.)

  We may make contact with you by post, e-mail or telephone, for the purposes set out herein (unless you notify us either in writing or by telephone or e-mail that you object to being contacted in a particular stated way). (If you use more than one e-mail address to communicate with us, please notify us of each e-mail account you use.)

  We will always act according to your wishes and preferences. Whenever we directly market to you by telephone or fax, we will comply beforehand with the requirements of applicable national legislation under and by which you have recorded your desire not to be contacted by telephone and/or fax, as the case may be, for the purposes of direct marketing by any organisation. If you have notified such desire according to the laws of your country of domicile, then we will not call or fax you unless you subsequently notify us directly (either in writing, or by telephone, fax or e-mail) that this no longer applies.

  10. Internet

  HHY is the sole controller in the EEA/EU Member States of all data held in relation to your use of our Web sites and all processing of data relating to your requirements and requests is therefore subject to and in accordance with the EU Directives and subject additionally to the data protection laws and regulations of your country of domicile. If no such laws and regulations exist in your country of domicile, then all processing of data relating to your requirements and requests is subject to United Kingdom data protection laws and regulations only. Where any local country's laws and regulations relating to data protection and privacy conflict with or are inconsistent with the EU Directives, then the EU Directives shall prevail.

  HHY gathers two types of information about Customers: data that Customers provide through optional, voluntary registration on our Web sites; and data HHY gathers through aggregated tracking, mainly by tallying page views throughout our Web sites. Such information enables us to tailor our content to fit Customers' needs better and to help market our services and to understand our audience.

  How does HHY collect information?
  Optional registration
  We collect data by specifically requesting it from you. Generally, this occurs when you register at one of our Web sites or request information or a service. For example, we may need to know your name, e-mail address, mailing address and contact telephone number, facsimile number and other related information. This allows us to process and fulfil your requirements and requests. Usually, the HHY Web sites use your data to operate the Web sites and to deliver services.

  We will maintain records relating to your use of our Web sites (including information about you provided by yourself ). We shall be entitled to process those data for the purpose of providing your requirements and requests, for HHY's own administration, market analyses and operational reviews, and to keep you informed of further aspects of HHY and its operation which may be of interest (unless you write to us asking us to exclude you from such further contact or alternatively telephone, fax or e-mail us to that effect or you have done so previously and such exclusion is still operative). (If you use more than one e-mail address to communicate with us, please notify us of each e-mail account you use.)

  Usage tracking

  Use of Internet Protocol ("IP") Addresses
  An IP address is a unique number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the World Wide Web (otherwise known as the "Internet"), so that your computer can be identified by the main computers, known as "Web servers", that "serve up" Web pages.

  HH collect IP addresses for the purposes of system administration, to report aggregated information to Providers, or to other third parties authorised by us, and to audit the use of our Web sites. When Customers request pages from those Web sites of HHY our Web servers log the Customers' IP addresses. We do not normally link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable, which means that a Customer's session will be logged, but the Customer will remain anonymous to us. We can and will use IP addresses to identify a Customer when we feel it is necessary to enforce compliance with our Web sites' terms of use or terms of service, or to protect our service andour Web sites.

  Use of Cookies

  What are cookies? Cookies are small pieces of information that a Web site sends to your computer for record-keeping purposes, which information is stored in a file on your computer. Cookies make Web-surfing easier for you by saving your preferences so that, for example, we can use the saved information to facilitate your use of our Web sites when you return to them. Cookies do not tell us your individual identity unless you have chosen to provide it to us. We never save passwords or credit card information in cookies. The use of cookies is an industry standard and, as such, you will find that most major Web sites use them.

  By showing how and when Customers use the HHy Web sites, cookies help us to determine which areas are popular and which are not. Many improvements and updates to our Web sites are based on such data as total numbers of visitors and pages viewed. This information is most easily tracked with cookies. We use the information from cookies to provide services better tailored to our Customers' needs.

  Most cookies expire after a defined period of time, or you can delete your cookie file at any time. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can re-set you browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, note that some parts of our Web sites will not function properly or may be considerably slower if you refuse cookies. For example, without cookies you will not be able to set personalised preferences, and/or may have difficulty completing on-line transactions.

  HHY have two primary uses for cookies. First, we use them to specify a Customer's preferences. For example, you can specify keywords across several categories or markets so you do not have to tell us repeatedly about products or services that you are interested in finding out more information about, or in receiving or being provided with. Secondly, we use cookies to track Customers' Web site usage trends and patterns. This helps us to understand our Customers' needs better and improve areas of HHY's that our Customers find valuable. While both of these activities depend on the use of cookies, you have the option of disabling cookies via your browser preferences.

  With whom does HCG share my information?
  As a general rule, HHY will not disclose any Personal Data that you submit to us about you in a manner that connects you with the Personal Data, except when we have your permission or under special circumstances, such as when we believe in good faith that the law requires it or under the circumstances described below. The following describes some of the ways that your Personal Data may be disclosed:

  We may monitor resort traffic patterns and usage of our Web sites to help us develop their design and layout. We may also use Personal Data that we collect to occasionally notify you about important functionality changes to our Web sites, and to notify you of new products or services and special offers that HHY thinks you will find valuable and of interest. Also, we may keep track of what portions of our Web sites Customers are visiting and other Customer statistics, such as aggregate information about holiday cottage rentals, or total and segmented numbers of bookings made, etc. and traffic patterns and usage of the our Web sites.

  Other: We may also disclose account data of Customers in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this data is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be violating HHY's terms of use or terms of service, or may be causing injury to or interference (either intentionally or unintentionally) with any of HHY's rights or property, our other Customers, or anyone else. HHY may disclose or access account data when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative and other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain, service, and improve our products and services to our Customers.

  How can you control the usage of information?
  In the event that you change your mind or some Personal Data changes (such as your e-mail address), we will provide a way to correct, update or remove the Personal Data that you give us. We do not pass on any data to any third parties (with exception of rules applied in above paragraph). If a Customer wishes to update Personal Data or objects to any usage provided herein for any reason, he/she may e-mail the requested change to:

  house-parties@globalnet.co.uk

  You are entitled to receive a copy of any data held by us on you in accordance with the requirements of applicable national legislation. The information will be forwarded to you within an appropriate period of time in accordance with applicable national legislation, but in any event no more than 40 days from the date of such request for access.

  Where any discrepancies are discovered following your enquiry, we will take immediate steps to validate and, where appropriate, correct our records. We will confirm the actions taken in writing to you within an appropriate period of time in accordance with applicable national legislation, but in any event no more than 40 days after receiving your request to amend our records.

  What happens when you link to a third party Web site?

  You should be aware that when you are on HHY 's Web sites you could hyperlink or be directed to other Web sites that are beyond our control and/or outside our service. For example, if you "click" on a banner advertisement or an HHY Web site search result, the "click" may transfer you off the HHY Web site. . These other Web sites may send their own cookies to Customers, and collect or solicit data and Personal Data.

  HHY do not control such third party Web sites and, therefore, are not responsible for their content or the hyperlinks or advertising they choose to place on such Web sites. HHY's inclusion of hyperlinks to these third party Web sites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such Web sites or any association with their operators. HHY's policy does not extend to anything that is inherent in the operation of the Internet, which is beyond HHY's control.

  Please keep in mind that whenever you give out information on-line (for example, via message or bulletin boards or chat rooms) that information can be collected and used by people you do not know. While HHY strive to protect their Customers' data and Personal Data, as well as privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose on-line, and you disclose such information at your own risk.

  We will not send you e-mails that you do not want, but we cannot guarantee that Providers, or other third parties authorised by us, to whom your details are sent will not do so.

  Is my information secure from others using the HHY Web sites?
  The security of all data associated with our Customers is an important concern to us. We exercise a high degree of care, skill and due diligence in providing secure transmission of your data and Personal Data from your computer to our Web servers. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your data and Personal Data, HHY cannot ensure and do not warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or from our on-line products or services, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, HHY uses industry standard efforts to safeguard the confidentiality of your data and Personal Data, such as firewalls and secure servers. Financial details will not be stored after the transaction takes place via virtual terminal.

  If at any time you feel that HHY has not adhered to the principles, processes, procedures and practices contained in this privacy policy, please either notify us in writing or by telephoneor e-mail and we will use all commercially reasonable efforts to determine and correct the problem promptly.

  Date Published: September 24, 2009