Privacy Policy

Effective date: 22 February 2019

Introduction

Meridian Adventure Dive is owned and operated by Meridian AdventureLimited, which is a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, withits registered address at Road Town, Tortola, P.O. Box 3175, British VirginIslands.

The following Privacy Policy describes how we as a data controller collect,use, disclose, and otherwise process personally identifiable informationthat we collect about individuals (“Personal Data”) in connection with theservices available from Meridian Adventure through the website located atwww.meridianadventuredive.com (“Site”).

References to the Site are deemed to include derivatives thereof, includingbut not necessarily limited to mobile websites and applications. You havebeen given the opportunity to review and have expressed your consent to thecollection, use, disclosure and processing of your Personal Data asdescribed in this Privacy Policy. On occasion, Meridian Adventure mayrevise this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in the law, our Personal Datacollection and use practices, the features of our Site, or advances intechnology. If we make revisions that change the way we collect or use yourPersonal Data, those changes will be posted in this Privacy Policy and theeffective date will be noted at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.Therefore, you should review this Privacy Policy periodically so that youare up to date on our most current policies and practices.

Meridian Adventure will also prominently post such material changes priorto implementing the change. If you do not agree with any changes ormodifications to the Privacy Policy, please do not continue using the Site.We will inform you of any material changes to this Privacy Policy or thepurposes for which your Personal Data are held or used, and obtain yourconsent to such changes as may be required by the applicable law. The legalbases for processing Personal Data for the purposes described herein are:necessary for the performance of our services to you, for compliance withlegal obligations to which we are subject and for the purpose of ourlegitimate business interests.

Information We Collect

We collect Personal Data about you that you provide to us directly orautomatically when accessing or using the Site. Personal Data which may becollected include:

1. Your name, address, phone number, uploaded documents such as Passports,e-mail address. This information and other relevant information you mayprovide is collected at the time you submit an application, or make anenquiry. You may choose not to provide us with certain information butif so, we may not be able to handle your enquiry or request fully or atall. This information will be retained for up to 6 months or as may berequired by the applicable law following the completion of yourreservation, enquiry or complaint.
2. Other information such as your IP address, geographic data, yournationality and password, search preferences related to specificsearches, which browser you’re using, and information about yourcomputer’s operating system, application version, language settings andpages that have been shown to you. This information is collectedautomatically when you access / use the Site and helps us enhance youruser experience if you return to the Site and improve the Site and theservices we provide. This information will be retained for up to 6months or as may be required by the applicable law following youraccess / use of the Site.
3. Data that identifies your mobile device, device-specific settings andcharacteristics and latitude/longitude details. This information iscollected when you access / use the Site using a mobile device. You maychange the settings of your mobile device if you do not want us tocollect such information. This information will be retained for up to 6months or as may be required by the applicable law following youraccess / use of the Site.
4. Social Media Information and Content. If you access or log into aService through a social media service or connect a Service to a socialmedia service, the information we collect may also include your user IDand/or user name associated with that social media service, anyinformation or content you have permitted the social media service toshare with us, such as your profile picture, email address or friendslists, and any information you have made public in connection with thatsocial media service. When you access the Services through social mediaservices or when you connect a Service to social media services, youare authorising Meridian Adventure Partners to collect, store, and usesuch information and content in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
5. Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies. Our Services may also usecookies. Cookies are small text files that are stored on a user’scomputer and allow websites to remember information about users. We andour service providers use cookies for a variety of purposes in order toenhance the quality of our sites. We use transient (also called“session ID”) cookies to provide continuity from page to page. Asession ID cookie expires when you close your browser. You have thechoice to set your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies,or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different, socheck the “Help” menu of your browser to learn how to change yourcookie preferences.) It is up to you whether to allow us to send youcookies. Please note that by blocking any or all cookies you may nothave access to certain features, content or personalisation availablethrough the Services.
6. Web beacons and other tracking technologies. The Services may use othertracking tools, including so-called “pixel tags,” “web beacons,” “webbugs,” “clear GIFs,”etc. (collectively “Web Beacons”) to collect useractivity information about your activities on the Services. These aresmall electronic images embedded in web content (including online ads)and email messages and are ordinarily not visible to users. LikeCookies, Web Beacons enable us to track pages and content (includingads) accessed and viewed by users. Also, when we send HTML-formatted(as opposed to plain text) emails to you, Web Beacons may be embeddedin such emails to allow us to monitor readership levels so that we canidentify aggregate trends and individual usage to provide our audienceswith more relevant content or offers. Web Beacons in emails mayrecognise activities such as when an email was opened, how many timesan email was forwarded, which links in the email were clicked on, etc.Web Beacons cannot be declined when delivered via a regular web page.However, Web Beacons can be refused when delivered via email. If you donot wish to receive Web Beacons via email, you will need to disableHTML images or refuse HTML (select Text only) emails via your emailsoftware.

The Site may contain third-party links that are not under our control. Youacknowledge and agree that we are not responsible for the collection anduse of your information by such third parties. We ask you to review theprivacy policies of each website you visit. For more information aboutthird-party advertising networks and similar entities that use thesetechnologies, see www.aboutads.info/consumers, and to opt-out of such adnetworks’ and services’ advertising practices, go to www.aboutads.info/choices.

Protecting Your Personal Data

We maintain reasonable physical, electronic and organisational proceduresdesigned to protect Personal Data against accidental or unlawfuldestruction or accidental loss, alteration, or unauthorised disclosure oraccess

How We Use the Information We Collect

1. General Use: We use Personal Data and other information collectedthrough the Site to (b) process your application based on theinformation you have submitted for Academy, (c) provide you withinformation about our services on the Site or on other websites and tocommunicate with you to the extent necessary to provide such requestedservices, (d) build features that will make the services available onthe Site easier to use, (e) for an improved user experience, internaltraining and general optimisation purposes, (f) for the detection,prevention and handling of fraud, violation of our terms &conditions and other misuse, illegal or unwanted activities or (g)contact you in case there is any issue with your submission or enquiry.
2. Marketing Activities & Reminders: We also use your information formarketing activities, as permitted by law and with your consent (ifthis is required by the applicable law). For example:

• When you complete or enter details into a form, or provide us with yourcontact details we may use your contact information to send you news ofsimilar products and services. We may also send you other regularnewsletters by email. You can opt out, or unsubscribe, from marketingcommunications at any time using the “Unsubscribe” link in eachnewsletter or communication, or you can administer your subscriptionsthrough your account (if you’ve created one).
• Based on the information you share with us and information we collectabout your visit including the full URL, clickstream to, through andfrom the Site (including date and time), products you viewed orsearched for, page response times, length of visits to certain pages,page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, andmouse-overs) and methods used to browse away from the page,individualised offers may be shown to you on the Site, in mobile appsor on third-party websites, including social media sites. These mightbe offers that you can book directly on the Site, or third-party offersor products we think you might find interesting.
• Please note that the confirmation emails and text messages sent afteryour submission or enquiry, are not marketing messages. These messagesare part of the communication process. Respectively, they containinformation based on your submission to us.

Sharing Your Personal Data

Meridian Adventure may share your Personal Data with suppliers and partnersand other third parties we appoint to perform services on our behalf, suchas third-party loyalty programs, web hosting, data analysis, marketing(also on websites of such third parties), customer care, credit card andpayment services and related services. All such third parties will be underan obligation to maintain the security and confidentiality of the PersonalData, and to process the Personal Data only in accordance with ourinstructions. We do not rent, sell, or share your Personal Data with thirdparties for their direct marketing purposes. Save for disclosures mentionedin this Privacy Policy or as required or permitted by law in any relevantjurisdiction as mentioned below and the disclosure of your Personal Dataand information required for completing your enquiry or submission and thesharing of certain Personal Data with selected partners where relevant(your details will be used for reporting and analysis purposes only), wewill not disclose your Personal Data to third parties without your consent.However, we reserve the right to disclose your Personal Data to ouraffiliated (group) companies (in and outside your home country), includingour affiliated (group) companies’ employees and our trusted agents andrepresentatives who have access to this information with our permission andwho need to know or have access to this information to perform the servicerequested by you (including customer services) and internal(audit/compliance) investigations.

Meridian Adventure may, in compliance with applicable law, disclosePersonal Data to protect ourselves against liability, to respond tosubpoenas, judicial processes, legitimate requests, warrants or equivalentby law enforcement officials or authorities, to investigate fraud or otherwrongdoing or as otherwise required or necessary in order to comply withapplicable law, protect our legitimate interests or to the purchasers inconnection with any sale, assignment, or other transfer of all or a part ofour business or company. We may also, in compliance with applicable law,disclose Personal Data to enforce or apply the terms and conditionsapplicable to our services or to protect the rights, property or safety ofMeridian Adventure, our users or others.

In the situations described above, the recipient of the Personal Data maybe located in a jurisdiction that may have different standards of dataprotection compared to the laws in your home jurisdiction. We shall onlytransfer Personal Data to recipients offering an adequate protection (e.g.,by means of contractual clauses to safeguard the transfer of PersonalData). If you have questions in relation to the transfer of Personal Dataand the means by which adequate protection is provided, please contact us.

Our Policy Concerning Cookies and Page Tags

Subject to your consent to our cookies and tags (if this is required by theapplicable law), our Site will use session and persistent cookies as wellas page tags to collect and store certain information about you. A cookieis a small piece of data that is sent to your computer from the Site andstored on your computer’s hard drive. A page tag is a piece of code whichreads and writes cookie data. Cookies or page tags may be from MeridianAdventure and/or third-party vendors we have chosen to work with. Sessioncookies disappear from your computer when you close the browser. Persistentcookies remain on your computer after the browser has been closed, but canbe deleted at any time through your browser settings. The use of thesecookies and page tags may vary, and are described in the appropriatesections below.

Meridian Adventure Cookies

Meridian Adventure uses a session cookie to keep you logged in throughoutyour visit to the Site. Meridian Adventure uses persistent cookies to“personalise” the Site for each user by remembering information about theuser’s visit to and activities on the Site, e.g., the language youselected, your log-in details so that you do not need to re-enter them atyour next visit to the Site. Meridian Adventure also uses persistentcookies or page tags to analyse you’re surfing behaviour and your visit tothe Site enabling us to improve the Site and our services and to tailor ouradvertising (via email, on our Site, and on other websites) according tothe interests of our users. Such cookies and page tags gather informationabout the pages you visited on the Site and the searches you performed

Opting Out

If you want to prevent your browser from accepting cookies, if you want tobe informed whenever a cookie is stored on your computer or if you want todelete cookies from your computer, please make the necessary changes inyour Internet browser settings, typically under the sections “Help” or“Internet Options”. If you disable or delete cookies in your Internetbrowser settings, you might not be able to access or use importantfunctions or features of this Site, and you will be required to re-enteryour log-in details. Please also note that opting out of a third-partycookie (see below) does not mean that you will no longer receive or besubject to online behavioural advertising or marketing analysis. It meansthat the network from which you opted out will no longer deliver adstailored to your web preferences and usage patterns. Please also note thatif you clear all cookies on your browser, or use a different browser orcomputer, you will need to complete the opt-out procedure again. We do notcurrently respond to web browser “do not track” signals or other mechanismsthat provide a method to opt out of the collection of information acrossnetworks of websites and online services.

Website analytics

Third party companies may use persistent cookies to analyse you’re surfingbehaviour on and your visit to this Site as well as other web sitesenabling us to improve the Site and our services. Website analyticsplatforms may be used to collect unidentifiable information for reportssuch as impression reporting, demographic reporting and interest reporting.To opt out of collection of information by third parties for analyticpurposes, please click on one or more of the third-party links in the above“Opt Out Tools” section.

Third Party Cookies and Page Tags

Our third-party advertising companies may place cookies or page tags onsome of the pages you visit on the Site. These cookies or page tags aredesigned to collect non-personally identifiable information in order toanalyse your interests and searches when visiting our Site and to serve youadvertisements specifically tailored to your interests and searches whenyou are visiting our Site or other websites or when using mobileapplications. The non-personally identifiable information collected throughcookies and page tags may be shared with other third parties for purpose ofmanaging and targeting advertisements and for market research analysis. Inaddition, we may share one-way hashed (undecipherable) data with thirdparty vendors using advertisement targeting products. Such third-partyvendors typically use hashed device identifiers to serve custom ads basedon a user’s prior visits to the Site. As a consequence, third party vendorsmay show our ads on other websites or mobile apps.

Advertising

Meridian Adventure may use a combination of the above cookies and page tagsto tailor your experience with our Site, our mobile application and our adsto your preferences. We use display and search remarketing to tailor adcontent for a better experience. Where other advertising may not requirethe use of cookies or page tags, third party data is used to determine whena Meridian Adventure ad will be shown. Meridian Adventure takes reasonableefforts to not collect, and to prevent the use of, personally identifiableinformation in third party advertising solutions, unless you haveauthorized this. To opt out of collection of information by third partiesfor advertising purposes, please review the above “Opt Out” section.

Advertising and content on other websites

Meridian Adventure uses 3rd party tools to distribute ads on a variety ofwebsites. Meridian Adventure neither supports nor endorses the goals,causes or statements of the websites which display our advertisements.

User email campaign

We automatically place single pixel gifs, also known as web beacons, inevery email sent. These are tiny graphic files that contain uniqueidentifiers that enable us to recognise when subscribers have opened anemail or clicked certain links. These technologies record each subscriber’semail address, IP address, date, and time associated with each open andclick for a campaign. We use this data to create reports about how an emailcampaign performed and what actions subscribers took.

Google remarketing ads

Our Google remarketing ads (also known as web retargeting ads) allows us tocreate and manage advertisements on the Google Display Network. MeridianAdventure installs a Google tracking pixel on the Site through the Snippet.The Snippet also allows the Site to set a cookie that will recognise Sitevisitors via ads placed with the Google remarketing ads feature. Thesetechnologies facilitate the placement of advertising campaigns on theGoogle Display Network. To refuse these cookies, please follow theinstructions below under the heading “How can I control cookies?”Alternatively, please click on the relevant opt-out link here:https://www.google.com/settings/ads/plugin

Facebook ads

Meridian Adventure installs a Facebook tracking pixel on the websitethrough a Snippet. These tracking technologies facilitate the placement ofadvertising campaigns on the Facebook platform. Facebook does not providean opt-out link for its cookies. For more information about Facebookcookies, please click here:https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies/To refuse these cookies, please follow the instructions below under theheading “How can I control cookies?”

How can I control cookies?

You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Website Cookie Preference Tool: You can exercise yourWebsite cookie preferences by visiting the TRUSTe preference centre byclicking this link:http://preferences-mgr.truste.com/. Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browsercontrols to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, youmay still use our Websites though your access to some functionality andareas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you canrefuse cookies through your web browser controls vary frombrowser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for moreinformation. Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising:Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest BasedAdvertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visithttp://www.aboutads.info/choices/orhttp://www.youronlinechoices.com. Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having yourmobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest BasedAdvertising, including those performed by us, by accessing the settings inyour Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent publishedinstructions. If you opt out, we will remove all data about you and nofurther data collection or tracking will occur. The random ID we (or ourthird-party partners) had previously assigned to you will also be removed.This means that if at a later stage, you decide to opt-in, we will not beable to continue and track you using the same ID as before, and you willfor all practical purposes be a new user to our system.

Do Not Track:Some Internet browsers – like Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari –include the ability to transmit “Do Not Track” or “DNT” signals. Sinceuniform standards for “DNT” signals have not been adopted, our Websites donot currently process or respond to “DNT” signals. Meridian Adventure takesprivacy and meaningful choice seriously and will make efforts to continueto monitor developments around DNT browser technology and theimplementation of a standard.

Use of social plug-ins

The website uses social plugins such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest(hereafter referred to as “plugins” or “social media”). When a useraccesses a page of our website that contains such a plug-in, his/herbrowser will establish a direct connection to the plugin servers. Thecontent of the plug-in will be transmitted directly to your browser, whichwill integrate it in the web page. Through this embedding, plugins willgain the information that your browser has accessed the respective page ofour website, even if you do not have a social media profile or are notlogged in to a social media site at the time. This information (includingyour IP address) will be transmitted directly to a social media server inthe USA by your browser, and will be stored there. If a user is a Socialmedia member and does not wish the social media plugins to gather dataabout him/her via the provider’s website and link this to the user’s memberdata stored at the relevant social media server locations, the user mustlog out of their social media website or app prior to visiting theprovider’s website.

How You Can Access or Change Your Personal Data

If you wish to update any Personal Data you have previously provided, or toexercise any right of access, correction, rectification, portability,deletion, or opposition to the processing of your Personal Data that youmay have under applicable law, or withdraw consent to the processing ofyour Personal Data, please contact our Data Protection Officer. To protectyour privacy and security, we will verify your identity before grantingaccess or making changes to your Personal Data. Any request to access yourPersonal Data will be answered within a reasonable timeframe (not longerthan 4 weeks). We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee for suchaccess in accordance with applicable laws. You may also unsubscribe from orobject to anytime the processing of your Personal Data for purposes ofprofiling, advertising and market and opinion research. If you wish tocontact our Data Protection Officer or our customer service representativesabout this privacy policy or our privacy practices via email, you may sendan email to:support@meridianadventures.comYou may also contact our Data Protection Officer at the following dedicatednumber: +45 31 131 016 (charges may apply) or any other number that we mayadvise from time to time. Moreover, you may complain with your localsupervisory authority for Personal Data.

Mobile Devices

We have free apps for a variety of mobile devices and use versions of ourregular website that have been optimised for mobile. These apps and mobilewebsites process the personal details you give us in much the same way asour website does – and they also allow you to use location services to findaccommodations nearby. With your consent (if this is required under theapplicable law), we may send you push notifications with information aboutyour reservation.

A Special Note About Minors

Persons under the age of 21 are not eligible to use the Academy submissionsection of our website without parental consent, which will be needed forselection.

Language

This Privacy Policy has originally been drawn up in the English language.Translations in other languages are available for your convenience. In caseof conflict between the English language version and a translated version,the English language version shall prevail.

Terms and Conditions

Please consult the Meridian Adventure Terms and Conditions for more detailson using our Site. This Privacy Policy forms an integral part of our Termsof Use. The GDPR and Additional Information for Individuals in the EuropeanEconomic Area (“EEA”) If you are a resident of the European Economic Area(“EEA”) and the Services are targeted to you, please note: The EU GeneralData Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new comprehensive data protectionlaw that updates existing EU laws to strengthen the protection of “personaldata” (any information relating to an identified or identifiable naturalperson, so called “data subjects”) in light of rapid technologicaldevelopments, the increasingly global nature of business and more complexinternational flows of personal data. The GDPR replaces the currentpatchwork of national data protection laws with a single set of rules,directly enforceable in each EU member state. The GDPR takes effect on May25, 2018.

We may need to collect and process the types of Personal Information listedabove in order to provide the Services to you or because we are legallyrequired to do so. If you do not provide the information that we request,we may not be able to provide you with the Services. We may use thePersonal Information for our legitimate business interests, including thoselisted above. If you would like to receive an electronic copy of yourPersonal Information for purposes of transmitting it to another company,you may contact the Data Protection Officer us form the email providedbelow. You may contact us atsupport@meridianadventures.comwith any questions about this Privacy Policy. If you wish to inquire aboutyour privacy rights in relation to Meridian Adventure please email us atsupport@meridianadventures.com