OUR Privacy Policy

 Our Privacy Policy

This policy details how we use and store your personal information here at Benchwood House, along with why that information is stored and how we protect your privacy when doing so.

We pledge to handle any personal information under our control with a great deal of care, and to keep that information safe while respecting your privacy and rights.

It’s our aim to be 100% clear when collecting your information, and how we are going to use it.

Any reference in this statement to information or personal information is to “personal data” as defined under the General Data Protection Regulation.

Benchwood House is a self-catering accommodation owned by husband and wife, Christopher Bowman and Karen La Borde Bowman. Our use of personal information allows us to manage your booking efficiently and to ensure that you have the best possible stay.

This policy is effective March 2024.

1. Who we are

In terms of this privacy policy, ‘Benchwood House’, ‘we’ or ‘our’ means:

Christopher Bowman and Karen La Borde Bowman.

Our registered address is Upper Benchwood The Thorne Guestling Hastings TN354LU.

2. Data Controller

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or personal information that we hold about you, including any requests to exercise your rights, please get in touch with us using our contact details.

Name: Christopher Bowman

Address: Upper Benchwood The Thorne Guestling Hastings TN354LU

Email: privacypolicy@benchwoodhouse.com 

Telephone Number: 07808058095

If you wish to let us know of a change in your contact details, you can get in touch with us by the phone number or email address above. We will update our records accordingly and we appreciate your informing us of any changes.

3. How we collect and store information about you

We collect and store information about you in different ways listed below.

4. Information you provide to us directly

You may get in touch with us either over the phone or online from our website, to make an enquiry, to book with us, to review your stay, to subscribe to our newsletter.

The types of information we collect from you may include your name, date of birth, email address, phone number and postal address.

We may ask for information such as the names and ages of guests in your party, some of whom may be under 18. 

You will have to confirm that you are the parent or guardian of anyone under the age of 18 and agree that we can handle their personal data.

5. Information created when you use our website

When you are using our website, we also collect personal information using cookies (see Section 11 below) and other methods of tracking.

This means we will receive information regarding the type of device you are using to access our website, and the settings your device may provide us, additional details about the type of device you’re using, the specific model and operating system you’re using, your device settings, and why a crash has occurred (if applicable). This is in accordance with common website practice.

For more details on the information available to us through your device, please check with your device manufacturer or operating systems provider.

6. Information from other sources

When you are using our website, we also collect personal information from online booking management partner BnBSelect.com Ltd (Bookalet). Please see their privacy policy: https://www.bookalet.co.uk/privacy/

7. How we use your personal data

We will use your personal information in the following ways to:

Manage your booking for your stay as a guest;

Keep a record of your relationship with us;

Contact you regarding your booking;

Respond to any complaints or queries you tell us about;

Better understand how to improve the services we provide by analysing data and conducting market research;

Send correspondence to you;

Display content that is suitable for the device you are viewing our website on (such as a smartphone, tablet or PC);

Protect our staff;

Practice due diligence;

Conduct quality control through our systems;

Audit and administer our accounts;

Meet legal obligations, such as fulfilling a contract with you, or our obligations to regulators, government and/or bodies of law enforcement;

Establish, enforce or defend legal claims;

With your consent if we notify you and you provide your specific consent for this purpose.

8. How we protect your information

We do not sell your data and we ensure that the appropriate technical and organisation safeguards are in place to protect your personal data against unlawful use and/or accidental loss. This includes using a secure network.

The information that you submit through online payments is protected using a payment gateway, a technology platform that acts as an intermediary in electronic financial transactions. It enables in-person and online businesses to accept, process, and manage various payment methods, such as credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets in a secure and efficient manner. 

A payment gateway will usually also incorporate various security measures like encryption, tokenisation and fraud management solutions and must adhere to a set of procedures in accordance with the PCI DSS compliance standard.

9. Length of time your data is kept

We have specific guidelines in place to determine how long we keep hold of your personal data. These are determined by both legal and operational considerations. We are required, for example, to keep some of your information for a period of 7 years to fulfil our legal obligations to retain records for tax authorities.

10. Your rights

According to UK data protection law, you have rights over any personal information that is held about you and we have listed these rights below.

The right to access your personal information

It is your right to request access to any personal data we hold about you. It is also your right to request a copy of that information from us, which we will provide to you unless legal exceptions dictate otherwise.

If you wish to access your information, you may send a written request to Christopher Bowman Upper Benchwood The Thorne Guestling Hastings TN354LU.

The right to have incorrect personal information corrected

It is your right to get any inaccurate or incomplete information we hold about you amended. If you believe that the information we may hold about you may be inaccurate or incomplete, please provide us with the correct information (using the details mentioned above) and we will investigate and correct any inaccurate information.

The right to restrict use of your personal information

It is your right to ask us to restrict the processing of some or all of your personal information if:

Some information we hold about you is incorrect;

We are not legally allowed to use it;

You require us to retain your information to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim;

You believe your right to privacy outweighs our interests to use your information for a specific purpose and you object to this.

The right to be forgotten

It is your right to request that we delete some or all of your personal information from our system. We will carry out this request as long as there are no legal exceptions preventing us from doing so.

The right for your personal information to be portable

If we are processing your personal information by automated means (either to carry out a contract with you or having received your consent to do so) it is your right to request that we provide you or another service provider with that information in a digital or machine-readable format.

The right to object to the use of your personal information

If we process your personal information based on our own interests or for research or statistics, you have the right to object to your information being used in this way.

If we process your information for the purposes of direct marketing, and you decide to object, we will stop processing your information as soon as possible.

You can exercise any of the above rights at any time. To do so, please contact Christopher Bowman Upper Benchwood The Thorne Guestling Hastings TN354LU.

Alternatively, you can email Christopher at privacypolicy@benchwoodhouse.com 

We may need to request further information and/or proof of your identity. All requests, however, will be responded to within one month, unless we contact you to state otherwise.

Please bear in mind that exceptions will apply to several of the above rights, and not all rights will be applicable in all circumstances. 

For more details, it is recommended that you check the guidance outlined on the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

11. How we use cookies

Cookies are basically little text files placed on your computer by the websites you visit, and are essential to ensure a website is functioning optimally. Often they contain a unique number which can recognise your computer when you return to a website you have been to before.

They also collect statistics to ensure maximum website functionality, and monitor how well our ads are performing.

You have control over what cookies to accept by changing the settings on your browser to either accept or reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. 

Further information can be found at: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/

Third party cookies set by Benchwood House

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to measure how people are using our website through cookies. This information helps us improve our website for visitors. 

If you have explicitly opted into Google’s data privacy policy, Google will also be able to identify you across multiple devices by associating your IP address with other data they hold, so you can be identified across multiple devices. To refuse the use of cookies, please read section 11 above.

There is also a Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on which is available to install from this website link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Installing this add-on will stop the transmission of information to Google generated by cookies regarding your use of any website and of your IP address.

This is the link to Google Analytics privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Other cookies

Please bear in mind that we may use additional cookies from third-party or analytics partners from time-to-time over the short-term to improve the effectiveness of our website performance and efficiency.

12. Changes to this policy

There may be future changes to this privacy policy. If any significant changes occur regarding the way your personal information is handled, we will make this clear where necessary by updating our website or by contacting you by the email you provided when booking.

Contact us

If you would like to get in touch with us for any reason (to ask a question, leave a comment, suggest a change or make a complaint) please contact us at the details below.

Christopher Bowman

Upper Benchwood The Thorne Guestling Hastings TN354LU

Email: privacypolicy@benchwoodhouse.com 

Telephone Number: 07808058095