Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 2026

1. Introduction

Travel Assistant ("we", "us", "our") operates the travel-assistant.online website and the Travel Assistant WhatsApp bot service. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website or use our service.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Irish Data Protection Act 2018, the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011 (SI 336/2011), and other applicable data protection laws. For users in the United Kingdom, UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) also apply.

2. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is:

Timur Kharenkov
Travel Assistant
20 North Parade, Gorey, Wexford, Ireland
Email: info@travel-assistant.online
Phone: +353 87 751 4541

Lead Supervisory Authority (Ireland):
Data Protection Commission (DPC)
21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, Ireland
www.dataprotection.ie

For UK residents: You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
ico.org.uk

3. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

For Travel Agencies (our clients):

Agency name and contact information
Contact person name and email address
Billing information

For Tourists (end users):

Phone number (provided by the travel agency with tourist consent)
First name (provided by the travel agency)
Trip dates (start and end date)
Search queries sent to the WhatsApp bot
Language preference (auto-detected)

Website visitors:

Analytics data (via Google Analytics 4 — see Cookies section below)
Standard web server logs (IP address, browser type, pages visited)

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the collected data for the following purposes:

To provide and maintain the Travel Assistant service
To process location search queries via Google Maps API
To manage access control (activating and deactivating tourist accounts based on trip dates)
To provide analytics and usage reports to travel agencies
To communicate with travel agencies about their account
To improve our service quality

5. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

We process personal data based on the following legal grounds:

Contract performance: Processing is necessary to fulfill our service agreement with travel agencies (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR)
Legitimate interest: Processing tourist data to provide the service as arranged by the travel agency (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR)
Consent: Tourist consent is obtained by the travel agency before sharing their data with us (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR)

6. Google Maps API

Our service uses Google Maps Platform APIs to provide location search results. When a tourist sends a search query, we forward it to the Google Maps API, which returns location data including business names, addresses, ratings, and coordinates. This data is displayed to the tourist and is not permanently stored by us.

Google's Privacy Policy applies to the data processed by Google: https://policies.google.com/privacy

7. WhatsApp Communication

All communication between tourists and Travel Assistant occurs through WhatsApp, which provides end-to-end encryption for messages. We use the WhatsApp Business API to send and receive messages. Meta's Privacy Policy applies to data processed by WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/privacy-policy

8. Data Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent personal data to third parties. We may share data with:

Google Maps Platform: Search queries are processed by Google to return location results
WhatsApp (Meta): Messages are transmitted through WhatsApp's infrastructure
Travel agencies: Usage analytics and reports for tourists they have registered
Service providers: Infrastructure providers necessary for operating the service (hosting, automation platforms)

9. Data Retention

We retain personal data for the following periods:

Tourist data: Deleted within 30 days after the trip end date
Search query logs: Anonymized after 90 days
Agency account data: Retained for the duration of the business relationship plus 12 months
Billing records: Retained as required by applicable tax laws

10. Your Rights (GDPR)

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights:

Right of access (Art. 15): You can request a copy of your personal data
Right to rectification (Art. 16): You can request correction of inaccurate data
Right to erasure (Art. 17): You can request deletion of your personal data
Right to restriction (Art. 18): You can request limitation of processing
Right to data portability (Art. 20): You can request your data in a machine-readable format
Right to object (Art. 21): You can object to processing based on legitimate interest
Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3)): You can withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@travel-assistant.online.

11. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data, including:

WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption for all tourist communications
Secure access controls for agency dashboards
Regular security reviews of our infrastructure
Minimal data collection principle — we only collect what is necessary

12. Cookies

Strictly necessary cookies: Essential for the website to function. No consent required.

Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4): We use Google Analytics 4 (Measurement ID: G-7L5XJZYR20) to understand how visitors use our website. These cookies collect aggregated, anonymised data about pages visited and session duration. Under SI 336/2011 (Ireland) and UK PECR, these cookies require your prior consent.

Cookies set: _ga, _ga_* (retention: up to 13 months).

Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

You can opt out at any time using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

13. Your Rights (US State Privacy Laws)

If you are a resident of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, or another US state with consumer privacy legislation, you may have additional rights regarding your personal data.

California (CCPA/CPRA)

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, California residents have the right to:

Right to know: Request the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you
Right to delete: Request deletion of your personal information
Right to correct: Request correction of inaccurate personal information
Right to opt out of sale/sharing: We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising
Right to non-discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights

We collected the following categories of personal information in the past 12 months:

Identifiers: phone number, name (if provided via WhatsApp)
Internet activity: website analytics data (Google Analytics 4)
Geolocation: approximate location shared via WhatsApp for place recommendations

We collect this information for the business purposes described in Section 4. We do not sell personal information and have not done so in the preceding 12 months.

Other US States

Residents of Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), and other states with similar privacy laws may exercise comparable rights including access, deletion, correction, and opt-out. Please contact us using the details below.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@travel-assistant.online. We will respond within 45 days as required by law. You may also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify our clients of any material changes via email. The "Last updated" date at the top indicates the latest revision.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us:

Email: info@travel-assistant.online
Website: travel-assistant.online