Privacy Policy / GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. GDPR has given rise to many questions about personal information.

The aim of this policy is to make these points clear to our visitors and customers. We have included every aspect we can identify, however if you have any questions which are not answered by this policy, we are of course available to answer these.

The sections of this policy are:
1. How we gather information
2. What information we gather
3. How we use information gathered
4. Where we store information
5. Who we share information with
6. Accessing and updating your personal information

If you would like to check what personal information we hold for you please contact us. At any time, you have ‘the right to be forgotten’. This means that you can request us to delete any of your information which we hold.
Transparency and choice: People have different privacy concerns. Our responsibility is to be clear about what information we collect and what we do with it. You then have the right to decide what is best for you and advise us accordingly.

THE PRIVACY POLICY

When this Privacy Policy applies
From the moment you interact with us, we gather information about you, be it over the phone, in email exchanges or on the website. This is for our informational purposes so as to optimise your search. The specifics are outlined below. If anything is ever unclear to you though, or you would like further explanation, please do not hesitate to contact us and ask.

1. How we gather information
We collect information through many different avenues. To simplify this, we have broken it into the channels of enquiry and communication with us.

Phone: Upon calling us to make an enquiry, we will ask you for some basic information; contact details and holiday requirements. We will enter the provided contact details (email address and phone numbers) into our reservation system. This so is as to formulate and send our offer to you.

Email: Upon receipt of an email enquiry, we will enter the provided contact details (email address and phone numbers) into our reservation system. This so is as to formulate and send our offer to you.

Website: So we can continuously improve the user experience on our website, we use data analytics tools. These track the pages visited, actions taken (clicks and searches), devices used (mobile, tablet or desktop) and source of the visit (google search, advert etc). Your identity is not recorded at this stage, beyond the town in which you are located. Only upon entering information into the website will we be able to match the user to a recorded website visit. Information can be submitted via several methods.

Social Media: When following us on social media, the social media provider is responsible for the collection, storage and use of your information, which you have shared with them. We have access to analytics tools which they provide (for example demographical data) which we use for informational purposes. We can also view any information which you are sharing via the platforms, however we will not use or store this information without seeking your permission to do so. Please refer to the Privacy Policy of each social media platform.

2. What information we gather
Depending on your level interaction with us, will gather and store various types information. For example, an enquiry will require less information than a booking. In order to book a charter with us we will need to collect far more detailed personal information from you which is required both by us and our suppliers.

Personal information of a minor.
We aim to minimise the collection of information regarding minors. All information we do collect is reasonable and necessary to participate in the end product. It is usually limited to the advanced passenger information required by our suppliers: names, dates of birth and passport details. We do not require contact details.

Parents may review the personal information about their child collected by us as outlined in the rest of this policy. They may at any time ask for its deletion by contacting us. Parents may also agree to the collection and use of their child’s information, but still not allow disclosure to third parties.

3. How we use information gathered
The service we provide to our customers requires the collation of some personal information, principally about your identity (passport details, contact details etc). We are acutely aware of the responsibility this carries, and so wish to offer you reassurance regarding the use of this information.

The two principal uses of your information can be divided into:
– Operational requirements
– Marketing
At this point we would like to make it clear that at no point would we ever sell your personal information or pass it to a third party for the purposes of advertising. Our customer database is one of our most valuable assets, which we therefore protect with extreme care. We may choose to send you content from a third party which we have elected as being pertinent to our customers, however this would be via our agreed channels – via our weekly emailer for example.

Operational requirements
In order to organise your charter holiday, we will have gathered the information outlined in section 2 of this policy. This information will be used to build a customer profile for you, to which we can allocate bookings. In essence then, we are using the information to register a transaction, communicate it with you and facilitate the delivery of the charter with the operator. We may use the information provided by you to contact you about your booking then. We elaborate on the interaction with the operator in section 5 of this policy.

Marketing
By joining our mailing list through this site you are agreeing that we hold the personal contact details submitted on our server in accordance with section 4 of this privacy policy. Registered users will receive emails from us detailing offers and news which we believe will be of interest to you.
So long as you have given us permission to do so, we will also maintain contact with you via any of the means we have collected during the booking of your charter, to inform you about our services; such as letting you know about upcoming changes or improvements.

We use the gathered information to offer you tailored content – like giving you more relevant search results and ads. This is done by segmenting our database, but also by using information collected from cookies and other technologies, to improve your user experience and the overall quality of our service. One of the products we use to do this is Google Analytics. For example, by saving your most viewed destinations, we will be able to have our best and most relevant offers appear to you. Or by tracking user sessions, we can see which content is most searched and should therefore be most prominent. When showing you tailored ads, we will not associate an identifier from cookies or similar technologies with sensitive categories, such as those based on race, religion, sexual orientation or health.

When you contact us, we keep a record of your communication to help solve any issues you might be facing.

We may combine personal information from one service with information, including personal information, from other services – for example, when you make a booking online, we may keep track of the source of your visit and pages viewed, so as to optimise the user journey on the website for future users.

Depending on your preferences, your activity on our site and apps may be shared and therefore associated with your personal information, for example by sharing details of a search or booking via Facebook. This is entirely under your control.

We will ask for your consent before using information for a purpose other than those set out in this Privacy Policy.

4. Where we store information
Depending on your level interaction with us, will gather and store various types information. For example, an enquiry will require less information – and therefore storage – than a booking. In order to book a charter with us we will need to collect far more detailed personal information from you which is required both by us and our suppliers.

Some of our services, notably emails and data storage, are provided by external suppliers. These may process and store personal information on their servers in many countries around the world. They may process and store your personal information on a server located outside the country where you live. We do however select the most trustworthy names with which to work (Google, Dropbox…).

5. Who we share information with
We must share your information with certain parties so as to ensure we can provide the best possible service. We only share your information when and where necessary.

Below are explanations of why we share this information.

Staff

User account: Your user account is managed for you by a domain administrator; an employee of our company. Your domain administrator is there to provide user support to you. You will have access to your account and the information contained within it (including your email and other data). Your domain administrator may be able to:
– change your account password
– suspend or terminate your account access
– access or retain information stored as part of your account
– amend the information if the order is changed.
– receive your account information in order to satisfy applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request

The staff also need access to the booking information so they booking processing can be completed. The Staff will also require access should a complaint be made and a resolution be required.

Service providers
In order for us to get a better understanding of how you use our website and services we use third party companies. This ranges from our IT provider, analytics companies, pay per click (PPC) and E-Newsletters.

Operational suppliers
We require the most personal information in order to prepare the paperwork prior to your arrival. This information is required so you can legally leave port on time. In certain cases, for some suppliers (like transfer transportation), we only share with them the required information. All our suppliers in Europe should also follow GDPR guidelines and they have been made aware of our privacy policy. You do have the right to give the information on arrival however this can significantly delay the provided services.

For legal reasons
On some occasions your information must be shared with local authorities such as the Port Police, Marinas and harbour officials. This can be for a number of reasons and depends on the situation, however would usually be because of additional paperwork required or reported incidents.

How we share it
We work with a mix of online passenger information systems and e-mailable forms. In cases where we are transferring your information to suppliers via email, our accounts are covered by extra security measures. Any information stored by third party booking systems require encrypted log in.

What steps have we taken to ensure your information is safe with third parties
GDPR – acceptance of information storage. We have sent a letter to our suppliers, asking them to abide by GDPR regulations with regards to the storage of your information which we have sent them. They have also been given a link to this privacy policy, so they are aware of our protocols. We are conscious and we are selective with suppliers we use. We therefore operate with a degree of trust, that they will enforce these measures. If you do not wish us to share your information in advance of arrival, you can provide directly required information to the supplier. You would need to confirm with them what their storage process will be. This may cause a significant delay in your departure though, so please ask us for advice.

6. Accessing and updating your personal information
Whenever you use our services, we aim to provide you with access to your personal information. If that information is wrong, we strive to give you ways to update it quickly or to delete it – unless we have to keep that information for legitimate business or legal purposes.
We aim to maintain our services in a manner that protects information from accidental or malicious destruction.

Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes.
If you have agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us.

We will not sell your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission. We will not disclose your information unless we are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please email us.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

By accessing this site, you signify your acceptance of these conditions.

Changes
Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will not reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without your explicit consent. We will post any Privacy Policy changes on this page and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, email notification of Privacy Policy changes). We will also keep prior versions of this Privacy Policy in an archive for your review.

Links
Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyze web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

CV/Job Applications
Where applicable we do keep all job applications and CVs on file. At times applications and CVs can be shared with our suppliers who are also looking for staff. Should you not wish us to send your application or CV to any of our suppliers please make us aware at the time of the application.

Website disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. While we endeavor to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under our control. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, we take no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by writing to [email protected].

What people are saying

“Canvas Yacht Charters and Doug are a pleasure to work with. Doug’s follow-up skills are remarkable and attention to detail are bar none. I very rarely leave reviews, but I can, without a doubt, recommend Canvas and Doug to everyone I know. Thanks again D!”

Danny Marder on Google

“We recently celebrated our 25th anniversary with three other couples, our dearest friends, on a week-long sailing charter. The trip was arranged by Doug Tibbs at Canvas Yacht Charters, and his assistance was invaluable every step of the way. He listened to our dreams for the trip, the things we were really hoping for and things we wanted to avoid, non-negotiates and crazy ideas, and he filtered them all to present us with several charter options, any one of which would have been wonderful, but we ended up on Ghost. Doug’s attention didn’t stop with the booking. He made sure we were kept aware of various important deadlines, including changes related to covid, connected us with the crew and conveyed to them all our preferences, and was available throughout to answer our big and small questions. This was truly the trip of a lifetime for every one of us onboard—the boat, the crew, the sailing, the food, the adventure. So many thanks to Doug for his care to make it everything we dreamed it could be—and we are already hoping to plan a repeat trip for next year!”

“It’s not often that I end up leaving a review for a service I didn’t end up booking, but the super customer service I received from Heather at Starrluxe definitely merits noting. From the first step in the process, she was helpful, professional, and extremely accommodating despite a difficult itinerary and an expedited time frame. She provided excellent options and went out of her way to address our every requirement. I deeply regret that our travel plans changed and we weren’t able to finalize our charter, but I greatly look forward to working with Starrluxe again in the future. Highly recommend!”

Cynthia St. Aubin on Facebook

“Enjoyed working with Doug. He was attentive to our needs/desires. Got us a great boat with a great crew. He even got us a price reduction. I will look forward to working with him again.”

Georgegreendeck on Google

“Doug and his team helped us book a trip in two days for the following week. Great communications and expectation setting, which helped make the trip successful. We will recommend them to family and friends for their trips.
-Cheers, John”

John Fretz on Google