Your Privacy with Belvilla

In this privacy policy, you can read about which personal data we collect from you as a customer or user of our websites, how we handle this data, what your rights are and with which parties we collaborate. It is a major priority for us to ensure that our service is trustworthy and transparent. We handle your personal data with care and discretion, making sure that we adhere to all applicable legislation and regulations.
 

1. Controller
This is the privacy policy of Belvilla AG, the controller for the processing of your personal data for for the brands Belvilla, AanZee, VillaXL, TopicTravel and Ardennes Relais via their respective websites, via the Belvilla app and whenever you contact us. Belvilla AG will be referred to as 'Belvilla' in this privacy policy. The main processor of your personal data for Belvilla is Belvilla Services B.V., a Dutch based sister company of Belvilla. Belvilla Services B.V. performs services such as marketing and customer support on behalf of Belvilla AG. Both Belvilla AG and Belvilla Services B.V. are part of OYO Vacation Homes.
 

2. How does Belvilla use your personal data?
In this section, your will find information about the various purposes for which Belvilla processes your personal data, which personal data are involved, what the legal basis is for the use of your data, and how long the data are stored.
 

2.1 Creating a Belvilla account on our website or in our app
This account consists of at least your login name (email address) and password. You can manage your information via your account. You can also delete your account yourself. Your account and information about your bookings and billing are stored by Belvilla for up to 7 years after your most recent booking.
 

2.2 Handling your requests and bookings

In order to make or request a booking, you must create an account and enter personal data.

We process the information you have entered or otherwise provided, such as your name, address, email address, structure of your travel company, information about the accommodation, the period of your stay, any special amenities, payment information. We also use your location data whenever you have granted us access to it via the app. The mandatory data we require for your booking are as follows: your name, your address, your email address, your telephone number, composition of your travel party, information about the accommodation, the duration of stay, any special requirements and payment details. In addition, optional information may need to be added such as details about the composition of your group and, if you hire a holiday home in Spain, your type of identification and identification number in order to comply with the Spanish legislation. We will then submit this information to the Spanish authorities and shall not use this information for any other purpose. We process the information you have entered or provided in another manner.

By submitting a request or making a booking, you will automatically be recorded in our address database. We use your information to communicate the status of your reservation and payment, to make the booking for you, to send you the necessary information about your stay and to send you service notifications. We also use the booking information and information about requests (on an aggregated level) to perform analyses and create reports for the purposes of our strategic and operational business management.

Should you prefer not to provide your email address when submitted a request or making a booking, you can book over the phone via our Service Centre. However, the additional personal data will still be required.

Belvilla processes the aforementioned personal data to carry out your booking, so these data are necessary for the execution of the agreement between yourself and Belvilla. The personal data that we process in connection with your request or booking are stored in general for 7 years in compliance with legal data storage time limits.
 

2.3 Sending our newsletter
Whenever you sign up for our newsletter via our website, we use the email address you have provided to send the newsletter to you by email. You are then automatically recorded in our address database. Also, when you have made a booking, you will receive our newsletter, unless you indicate that you do not wish to receive it. Through the newsletter, we keep you informed of interesting offers related to our products and services.

The newsletter is sent either to comply with your registration (i.e. necessary for the execution of the agreement that exists between you and Belvilla) or because it is in Belvilla's legitimate interest to be able to inform you about its services. Unless your email address has been collected or is being used for one of the other purposes mentioned in this privacy policy, we anonymise your email address immediately after you have opted out of the newsletter. If we are storing your email address your other purposes, then of course we will ensure that you no longer receive the newsletter.

2.4 Responding to your questions or complaints and service emails
You can send us any questions related to your booking, request or other comments or complaints by email, via WhatsApp or by phoning our Customer Service. In that case, we use your personal data to handle your questions, to be able to get back in contact with you and to be able to undertake other necessary actions in response to your complaint or request. We maintain a record of which times and via which channels we have been in contact with you, the reasons for your contact and the relevant content of what was discussed or the emails that have been exchanged. If you are not recorded in our address database, then, with your consent, the Customer Service can make a record of your question and contact information so that it can provide you with better service and so that any future questions or bookings can be handled more efficiently. In case you have not completed an online booking, we can contact you to remind you of the non-completed booking, to ask whether something has gone wrong or to refer you to other possible accommodations that may interest you instead.

This information is necessary to execute the agreement with you or is in Belvilla's legitimate interest to be able to provide you with better service.

The information that the Customer Service collects from you is stored for 7 years.


2.5 Data about visiting and using the Belvilla website
Whenever you visit our website, various data about you are automatically registered on our server, such as which web pages you visit, your IP address (a unique number that is automatically assigned to your computer by your internet service provider when you go online), the name of your computer's operating system and the type of web browser you are using. We also keep track of your use of the newsletter, such as which pages you view and which components you read, so we can further adjust the content of the newsletter to match your interests.

Information about your click and search behaviour, as well as your past requests and bookings enables us to formulate segments and categorise you into one of these segments. Segments are groups of website visitors or customers on an aggregated level who have various characteristics in common, such as their age group, gender or region. Belvilla uses these to adjust the website and, for example, to make the layout more convenient for you, to change the order of search results, to change the visibility of specific offers and to design certain pages differently. Segments are also used to display advertisements that we think are relevant to you on our website, on the websites of third parties and for campaigns on our website or in our app. For example, if you have booked multiple stays at a holiday home in France with a private swimming pool, then we will specifically show you information that is possibly interesting to you, such as new homes available for rent via Belvilla that are also located in France and have a private swimming pool.

Data that are important for us in connection with the functionality of the website, such as your favourites, login status and feedback, are stored for up to 11 years from the time of your most recent visit to our website or the most recent time you used your account. Data about your click and search behaviour and other data registered in connection with your visit to the website are stored for 2 years.

2.6 Marketing
Your data about your bookings, search behaviour, your settings on our website or in the app, your favourites and our communication with you can be combined by Belvilla. All these data enable Belvilla to perform various forms of marketing, such as via email (newsletter), (un)addressed post, and banners and advertisements on websites, and to make the information we send or display to you as relevant and interesting as possible for you. We measure the effectiveness of all our campaigns. You always have the option of opting out of the newsletter and/or indicating that do not wish to receive post from us. You can also object at any time to the use of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (see the section 'Contacting Belvilla' below to find out how to do this).

The use of all these data is necessary for Belvilla within the scope of its legitimate interest to inform website visitors and customers about new products and services, in order to acquire more customers, to be able to retain existing customers and to increase the number of bookings. These data are stored for a period of 2 years.

Whenever you use the app, your location data are recorded, if you have granted access for this.

We enhance our database with external data from smartagent. Based on postal code and house number, we can assign each customer to a lifestyle segment, so we can provide them with better service. Furthermore, we use data from the land registry to clean our data on postal codes and addresses.
 

2.7 Participation in sweepstakes or other promotional activities
We also use personal data whenever you participate in sweepstakes or other promotional activities we organise. For this, we process your name and email address to enable us to evaluate your submission and communicate with you in case you have won a prize. Additional rules regarding to use of your personal data may apply to some sweepstakes.

It is necessary for us to process your personal data for this purpose within the scope of executing our agreement with you.

2.8 Maintenance and optimisation of our website and app
Your personal data are also used to analyse and maintain the use of our website, app and related technologies, to resolve any outages, to improve availability and to protect against fraud (for example, whenever multiple attempts are made to complete a booking, or if a booking is made in violation of our general terms and conditions).

2.9 Online guestbook
After staying in a holiday accommodation rented via Belvilla, you can leave a review on our website. This review is visible to all website visitors. You are asked to provide your full name (preferably), or, in any case, your first name and place of residence along with your review because this information greatly increases the trustworthiness of the review. We recommend that you do not state any further personal information in your review. Posting a review takes place on the basis of your consent. Belvilla also reserves the right to reject reviews at its own discretion, without stating a reason. You can also request at any time via the contact page for us to remove your review. Reviews can also be used in other forms of marketing by Belvilla. We are entitled to share the review with other Belvilla brands and with partners who also let the holiday home in question. As a result your review may also feature on other websites.

3. Social media
You can choose to share information from our website via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google and YouTube. This means that the shared information, with name and interests, can be visible to the visitors of your personal pages. Via Facebook Insights we collect statistics to gain more insight into our customers and the performance of our Facebook posts. The privacy policy can be found here. In addition, we sometimes organise giveaways on Facebook, where we request information from participants. Finally, we also use Facebook for retargeting (see section 6). Belvilla recommends that you carefully read the privacy policies of the social media parties in question. These policies apply to the ways in which these parties process your personal data.

4. Cookies
Cookies are small text files that your device or browser saves whenever you visit our website. Belvilla uses techniques such as cookies and tracking pixels to enhance your visit. If you return to our website, your device or browser will be recognised. This is necessary, for example, to remember your favourites and save your account details so you do not have to input them every time you visit the website, but also to enable us to measure and analyse your use of our website. Cookies are also used by us and by third parties to enable us to display personalised advertisements to you. Whenever necessary, you will always be asked for consent to let us place these cookies. In our cookies policy, you can read more about the use of cookies by Belvilla, including specifically which cookies are placed, the purpose of the cookies and the period for which they are stored.
 

5. Storage period
We store your data for as long as necessary for the aforementioned purposes or to comply with legal (data storage) obligations. This privacy policy lists the various storage periods adhered to by Belvilla. After expiration of the storage period, we will delete or anonymise your personal data. After that, you will no longer receive information from Belvilla regarding new accommodations or other interesting mailers from us.

6. Third parties
We will only share your personal data with third parties whenever necessary:

• within the context of services which we require in order to carry out your request or booking and which are provided by a third party such as an IT service provider, product supplier or service partner;

• in order to carry out your request or booking, we provide your personal data to the home owner in question. Home owners are also obligated to comply with applicable privacy law when using your personal data. Additionally, they are contractually obligated towards Belvilla to store and use your personal information with care;

• for completing your payment for the rented accommodation and additional costs. Belvilla uses Ideal, Ingenico and Worldline/Atos as payment service providers. We recommend that you review the privacy policies of these providers, because they are responsible themselves for processing your data in connection with the payment;

• for employing third parties such as Google to analyse the data about your use of the Belvilla website and app and to personalise the website and communication,

• to employ third parties to display relevant offers and advertisements. These are RTB House (retargeting), Criteo (retargeting), Facebook, Google and Mediahuizen (Ster/RTL/Branddeli). Most of these third parties are processors and use your personal data only for Belvilla's purposes.

The parties are primarily located in the Netherlands or within the EU. Various IT providers are located outside the European Union or have access to personal data from outside the European Union. Belvilla only provides personal data to parties that guarantee that they have taken the required measures to adequately protect the data. With each processor, a processing contract is agreed to in which these third parties agree to non-disclosure and protection of your personal data, among other things. Insofar as parties (with access from) outside the EU are concerned and the country in which the party is located does not offer an adequate level of protection, Belvilla provides these parties with data only on the condition that they agree to a contract containing model provisions approved by the European Commission, or Belvilla ensures other appropriate measures are taken.

Belvilla only provides personal data to supervisory authorities, investigative services and fiscal authorities to the extent required by law. Please note that some of these services may have far-reaching authorities with which they can require such disclosure of information. Belvilla is not liable for the implications of such transfer of personal data and related information that is required.

7. Security
Proper protection of your personal data is a major priority for Belvilla. Therefore, Belvilla has taken appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or otherwise unwanted access. This is visible to you in various ways, including the small padlock symbol that appears in your browser when you are making a booking. Employees of Belvilla or third parties commissioned by Belvilla only have access to your personal data to the extent necessary to perform their tasks. We also recommend that you choose as secure a password as possible when creating a 'My Belvilla' account, that you do not disclose it to anyone else and that you change it regularly. We store your password in an encrypted form. We regularly perform automated security scans on our website and app and take adequate measures to protect our systems against unauthorised access.
 

8. Your rights with regard to your personal data
You have the right to view all your data as registered with Belvilla and to adjust it (or request for it be adjusted) if it is incorrect or incomplete. You must also adjust your information as saved in your account yourself if this information changes. Furthermore, you have the right to delete or restrict processing of your personal data by Belvilla under certain circumstances and the right to ask Belvilla to process your personal data to yourself or to a third party. If you have already made a booking with Belvilla, you can view and change your information in My Belvilla. If you wish, Belvilla can send you a written statement of your information.

If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter or direct email, simply opt out of these. If you also do not wish to receive post, you can send a written request via email or post to Belvilla Services B.V. (Postbus 2051, 5600 CB, Eindhoven, the Netherlands) Once you have consented to let us place cookies that are used, among other things, for marketing purposes such as displaying personalised advertising, you can retract your consent via your browser settings (find out more information in our cookies policy). You can delete cookies that have already been placed. Please note that various functionalities of the website will no longer work as well after that. Furthermore, you can object to our processing of your personal data on grounds related to your specific situation, specifically whenever these data are processed in the legitimate interest of Belvilla (as indicated in this privacy policy).

9. Contacting Belvilla
To exercise your rights with regard to your personal data, you can contact Belvilla AG, Dufourstrasse 49, 8008 Zürich (privacy@belvilla.com). You may be asked to submit a copy of your personal identification. For other questions about our use of your personal data, this privacy policy or other matters related to our services or this website, you can also contact us with no obligation. Your question or comment will be handled confidentially and as quickly as possible by our qualified staff. In case you would like to make a complaint about Belvilla's handling of your personal data, you can always contact the the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner in Switzerland.

This privacy policy can be updated by Belvilla at any time. The updated privacy policy can be found on our website with a clear indication that it is a new version. Insofar as we have access to your email address, we will inform you by email in case of any important changes.

Last update: May 2019