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Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 16, 2025

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1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy outlines how Seedlings Retreats & Holidays (SR&H) collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data. The terms 'we', ‘us’, and ‘our’ as used in this Policy refer to Seedlings Retreats & Holidays (SR&H), a wellness and accommodation business operating primarily in the UK and Europe, with our registered base in the UK. This Policy applies to any personal data we have collected, or collect, about and/or from you.

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SR&H is fully committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Our commitment means we strive to:

  • Collect and process your personal data fairly, lawfully, and only for specified, legitimate purposes.

  • Provide clear and transparent information about how your data is used, primarily through this Privacy Policy.

  • Implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to safeguard your personal data.

  • Uphold your rights regarding your data, including your rights to access, rectify, erase, and object, as detailed further in this policy.

 

This Policy will be reviewed regularly and may be revised. We will publish updates on our website, indicating the effective date, so please revisit this page periodically to stay informed.

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This detailed Policy explains the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed. Please read it carefully to understand our practices. For any questions regarding this policy or our data protection practices, please contact us at: info@seedlingsretreatsandholidays.com

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2. Our Legal Basis for Processing Your Personal Data

UK data protection law requires us to have a valid legal basis to process your personal data. The main bases relevant to SR&H are:

  • Consent: Where you have freely given us clear permission for a specific purpose (e.g., signing up for our newsletter). You can withdraw this consent at any time.

  • Contract: Where processing is necessary for a contract we have with you (e.g., processing your booking details for a retreat or accommodation).

  • Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. Our legitimate interests include managing our business operations effectively, providing customer service, ensuring the security of our systems, administration, and marketing analysis (where consent is not otherwise required). We conduct balancing tests for processing based on legitimate interests.

  • Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary to comply with the law (e.g., providing data to HMRC).

 

3. When We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data when you:

  • Contact us by phone, email, post, or in person.

  • Sign up for our newsletter or other marketing communications.

  • Fill in a contact or booking form on our website.

  • Voluntarily provide us with your details (e.g., at an event).

  • Book a course, retreat, or accommodation with us.

  • Interact with our website (see Section 9: Cookies).

 

4. How We Manage and Protect Your Personal Data

  • Security: We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. This includes secure storage systems and access controls.

  • Confidentiality: We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties.

  • Sharing: We will not share your personal information with third parties except:

    • Where necessary to fulfil our contract with you (e.g., sharing relevant details with retreat partners like caterers or instructors, as detailed in Section 6).

    • With service providers essential for our operations (e.g., our website host Wix, email marketing platform, payment processors, analytics providers), who are contractually bound to protect your data.

    • Where required by law (e.g., HMRC, law enforcement).

    • If you have explicitly consented to sharing.

  • Marketing: We only process your data for marketing purposes if you have given explicit consent. We will always inform you (before collecting data) if we intend to use it for such purposes.

  • Data Retention: We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law. Specific retention periods are detailed in Section 6. You can request removal at any time (subject to legal or contractual requirements).

  • Children's Data: Our services are not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children without verifiable parental consent. If you are 16 or under, please get your parent/guardian's permission before providing personal information.

 

5. Your Data Protection Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right to Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

  • Right to Rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

  • Right to Erasure ('Right to be Forgotten'): You can request deletion of your personal data where there's no compelling reason for its continued processing.

  • Right to Restrict Processing: You can ask us to suspend processing under certain circumstances.

  • Right to Data Portability: You can request your data in a structured, common, machine-readable format, and ask us to transfer it to another controller where feasible.

  • Right to Object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.

  • Right to Withdraw Consent: You can withdraw your consent at any time where consent is our legal basis for processing.

  • Right to Lodge a Complaint: You can lodge a complaint with the UK's supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) (www.ico.org.uk), if you believe your data protection rights have been breached.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@seedlingsretreatsandholidays.com. We will respond to your request in accordance with legal timelines.

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6. How We Use Your Data - Specific Examples

  • Holiday Accommodation Bookings:

    • Data: Name, address, phone number, email address.

    • Purpose: Manage your booking, provide related services, communicate updates/changes, respond to queries.

    • Basis: Contract.

    • Sharing: Only as required by law or with essential service providers (e.g., payment processors).

    • Retention: Booking details retained for a maximum of 2 years after your stay, unless required longer for legal/financial reasons, then securely destroyed. Contact details for marketing retained only with consent until opt-out.

  • Wellness Retreat Bookings:

    • Data: Name, address, phone number, email address. Also, potentially sensitive data regarding allergies or health conditions you choose to provide for tailoring the experience.

    • Purpose: Manage your booking, provide related services, communicate updates/changes, tailor the retreat experience (dietary needs, suitability of activities), respond to queries.

    • Basis: Contract (for booking details); Explicit Consent (for sensitive health/allergy data).

    • Sharing: Relevant details (e.g., name, dietary needs, relevant health notes if provided) shared with specific retreat partners (e.g., caterers, instructors, therapists) solely for delivering the booked services. These partners are bound by confidentiality.

    • Retention: Booking details retained for a maximum of 2 years after the retreat, unless required longer for legal/financial reasons, then securely destroyed. Sensitive data is typically destroyed sooner after the retreat concludes unless explicit consent is given for longer retention. Contact details for marketing retained only with consent until opt-out.

  • Newsletters & Email Marketing:

    • Data: Name, email address.

    • Purpose: To send you newsletters, updates about our services, special offers, and other information you have consented to receive.

    • Basis: Consent.

    • Platform: We primarily use Wix Email Marketing to manage our mailing lists and send campaigns. By subscribing, you acknowledge your data will be processed by Wix in accordance with their policies. We may occasionally use, or have previously used, other platforms like Mailchimp; if so, we will ensure transparency and compliance with their terms: Intuit/Mailchimp Privacy Policy.

    • Opt-out: You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the 'unsubscribe' link in any email or by contacting us directly. Unsubscribing removes you from the active marketing list.

 

7. Website Hosting

Our website is hosted on the Wix.com platform. Wix.com provides us with the online platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. Your data may be stored through Wix.com’s data storage, databases and the general Wix.com applications. They store your data on secure servers behind a firewall. We encourage you to read Wix's Privacy Policy.

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8. International Data Transfers

As we use third-party services (like Wix, Google Analytics, potentially Facebook, payment processors, or email marketing platforms) which may operate globally, your personal data might be transferred and stored outside the UK or European Economic Area (EEA). When this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, relying on mechanisms such as the UK's Adequacy Regulations or Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the relevant authorities, as implemented by these third-party providers.

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9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website www.seedlingsretreatsandholidays.com uses cookies and similar technologies (like pixels).

  • What are Cookies? Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. They help the site work efficiently and provide information to us.

  • How We Use Cookies: We use cookies to:

    • Essential: Ensure the website functions correctly (e.g., navigation, security). These are typically set by the Wix platform.

    • Performance: Help us understand how visitors use the site, allowing us to improve performance (e.g., load times). Often integrated by Wix.

    • Analytics: Allow us to recognise and count visitors, see how they move around the site, and understand which content is popular (e.g., using Google Analytics). This helps us improve the website.

    • Marketing: Help us deliver relevant information or advertising, measure campaign effectiveness, and track interactions (e.g., using Facebook Pixel).

  • Specific Tools: We use tools like Google Analytics; Google Privacy Policy, and Facebook Pixel: Facebook Data Policy. Wix also places cookies essential for platform functionality. Other integrated Wix features (like Google Maps or social media buttons, if used) may also set cookies governed by Wix and the respective third party's policies.

  • Your Consent: When you first visit our site, a banner asks for your consent to use non-essential cookies (Performance, Analytics, Marketing). Essential cookies do not require consent but are necessary for site function. You can manage your preferences via the banner or your browser settings.

  • Managing Cookies: Most browsers allow you to control cookies through settings. You can find out more, including how to disable or delete cookies, at www.aboutcookies.org. Blocking all cookies may affect website functionality. Google provides an opt-out browser add-on for Google Analytics: Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on.

  • Scope Limitation (Important): Our cookie banner and this policy cover cookies placed directly by SR&H, the Wix platform, and standard integrated Wix elements. They may not automatically cover cookies or tracking technologies deployed by third-party apps installed from the Wix App Market (not made by Wix) or custom code snippets we might add. We strive to ensure any such elements are integrated with consent mechanisms where possible, but transparency regarding these specific elements may require separate disclosure or configuration.

 

10. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to external sites not operated by us. If you click a third-party link, you will be directed to their site. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services. We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

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11. Email Security

Email transmitted normally over the internet is not 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data once we receive it, we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted to us via email; you do so at your own risk.

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12. Contact Us

For any questions, comments, or requests regarding this privacy policy or your data, please contact us: Email: info@seedlingsretreatsandholidays.com

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