Privacy Policy
This is independent Travel Agency.
We Take Your Privacy Seriously — and We Mean That
At Break Holiday, we handle a lot of personal information as part of what we do. Names, passport details, payment information, travel preferences — when you book a holiday with us, you’re trusting us with data that genuinely matters. We don’t take that lightly.
This Privacy Policy explains exactly what information we collect, why we collect it, what we do with it, and what rights you have over it. We’ve written it in plain English because we believe you deserve to actually understand what you’re agreeing to — not wade through a document designed to confuse.
If you have any questions after reading this, please just ask. We’re always happy to talk.
1. Who We Are
Break Holiday is a UK-based independent travel agency. We are the data controller for the personal information we collect about you — which means we are responsible for deciding how and why your data is used, and for keeping it safe.
Our contact details:
📞 Phone: +44 2038 662900
📧 Email: info@breakholiday.co.uk
🌐 Website: https://breakholiday.co.uk
📍 Based in: 13 Station Road London, SE25 5AH United Kingdom
This policy applies to all personal information collected through our website at breakholiday.co.uk, by telephone, by email, or through any other means of communication with us.
2. The Law That Governs This Policy
This Privacy Policy is written in accordance with:
UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) — the primary data protection law that applies to us as a UK-based business following the UK’s departure from the European Union.
The Data Protection Act 2018 — the UK legislation that sits alongside and supplements the UK GDPR.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) — which governs how we use cookies, send electronic marketing, and handle communications data.
We are committed to complying fully with all of the above. If you’d like to know more about UK data protection law, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website at ico.org.uk is a useful resource.
3. What Personal Information We Collect
The type of information we collect depends on how you interact with us. Here’s a breakdown of what we might hold about you:
Information you give us directly:
When you make an enquiry, submit a contact form, or call us, we may collect your name, email address, phone number, and the details of your enquiry.
When you make a booking, we collect more detailed information including the full names of all passengers, dates of birth, passport details and expiry dates, nationality, contact details, and any special requirements such as dietary needs, mobility assistance, or medical conditions that are relevant to your travel.
When you make a payment, we collect payment card details or bank transfer information. Please note that we do not store full card details — payments are processed securely through our payment providers.
Information we collect automatically:
When you visit our website, we may collect technical data about your device and browsing behaviour, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, pages visited, time spent on pages, and how you arrived at our site. This is collected through cookies and similar technologies — please see our Cookie Policy for full details.
Information from third parties:
Occasionally we may receive information about you from third parties — for example, if someone else makes a booking that includes you as a passenger. In those cases, we will use your information only for the purposes of that booking.
4. Special Category Data
Some of the information we may collect falls into what the law calls “special category data” — meaning it requires extra care and a higher level of protection.
This includes health or medical information — for example, if you let us know about a disability, medical condition, or dietary requirement for religious or health reasons. We only collect this type of information where it is strictly necessary for your booking, and we handle it with the utmost care.
By providing special category information to us, you are giving your explicit consent for us to use it for the purposes of arranging your travel. You can withdraw that consent at any time, though please be aware that doing so may affect our ability to accommodate your needs.
5. Why We Collect Your Information — and Our Legal Basis
Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful reason for collecting and using your personal data. We rely on the following legal bases depending on what we’re doing with your information:
Contractual necessity:
When you make a booking, we need your personal information to fulfil our contract with you — to book flights, hotels, transfers, and other services on your behalf. Without it, we simply cannot do the job.
Legal obligation:
Some data must be retained to comply with legal and regulatory requirements — for example, financial records, tax obligations, or requirements under the Package Travel Regulations 2018.
Legitimate interests:
We may use your data where we have a legitimate business interest in doing so, provided that interest does not override your own rights. For example, we may use your contact details to follow up on an incomplete enquiry, or to manage a complaint you’ve raised with us.
Consent:
Where we rely on your consent — for example, to send you marketing emails or use non-essential cookies — we will always ask for it clearly and separately. You can withdraw consent at any time and it will not affect anything you’ve already agreed to.
In summary, we collect and use your personal information to:
Process and manage your travel bookings. Communicate with you about your booking before, during, and after travel. Process payments and handle refunds. Meet our legal and regulatory obligations. Respond to enquiries, complaints, and requests. Send you marketing communications (only where you’ve given consent). Improve our website and services.
6. Who We Share Your Information With
We do not sell your personal data to anyone. We do not share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.
We do, however, need to share your information with certain parties in order to deliver your holiday. These include:
Airlines: Passenger details including names, dates of birth, and passport information are required by airlines to issue tickets and comply with border control requirements.
Hotels and accommodation providers: Names, contact details, and special requirements are passed to hotels to fulfil your reservation.
Transfer and ground operators: Names and booking details are shared with transfer companies, tour operators, and other ground service providers as relevant to your booking.
Payment processors: We use secure, third-party payment processing services to handle card transactions. These providers are compliant with PCI-DSS standards.
IT and technology providers: We use software and cloud-based systems to run our business — some of which may store or process data on our behalf. We only work with providers who meet appropriate data protection standards.
Government and regulatory bodies: Where required by law — for example, by HMRC, the ICO, or as part of a legal proceeding — we may be required to disclose personal data.
All third parties we work with are required to handle your data lawfully and securely. Where we share data with organisations outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place (see Section 8 below).
7. How Long We Keep Your Information
We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes it was collected. Here’s a general guide:
Booking records: We retain full booking records, including passenger details and financial information, for a minimum of six years following the completion of your travel. This is primarily to meet HMRC requirements and to handle any potential disputes or claims.
Enquiry records: If you contacted us but didn’t go on to make a booking, we will generally retain your details for no longer than 12 months, unless you’ve asked us to keep them for future enquiries.
Marketing data: If you’ve opted in to receive marketing from us, we’ll keep your contact details for that purpose until you unsubscribe or ask us to stop.
Website analytics data: Aggregated and anonymised analytics data may be retained indefinitely as it cannot identify you personally. Cookie data is retained in line with our Cookie Policy.
When data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymise it securely.
8. International Data Transfers
The nature of the travel industry means that some of your data will inevitably be shared with organisations outside the UK — for example, a hotel in Spain or an airline based in the United States.
Where we transfer personal data outside of the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it. This may include:
Transfers to countries with an adequacy decision from the UK Government, meaning they are considered to provide an equivalent level of protection to the UK. Standard contractual clauses approved by the ICO. Other legally recognised transfer mechanisms.
If you would like more information about the specific safeguards we use for any particular transfer, please contact us.
9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR
UK data protection law gives you a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These are:
The right to be informed: You have the right to know how your data is being used — which is exactly what this policy is for.
The right of access: You can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you at any time. This is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR). We will respond within one calendar month, free of charge in most cases.
The right to rectification: If any information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to correct it. Please let us know and we’ll sort it promptly.
The right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete your personal data — sometimes called the “right to be forgotten.” This right is not absolute and may not apply where we are required by law to retain certain records.
The right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances — for example, if you contest its accuracy while we verify it.
The right to data portability: Where we process your data by automated means based on your consent or a contract, you can ask us to provide it to you in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
The right to object: You have the right to object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis, or where we are using it for direct marketing purposes. In the case of direct marketing, we will always honour an objection immediately.
Rights related to automated decision-making: We do not currently make any automated decisions about you that have a legal or similarly significant effect. If that changes, we will update this policy.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at:
📞 Phone: +44 2038 662900
📧 Email: info@breakholiday.co.uk
We will respond to all valid requests within one calendar month. In complex cases we may extend this by a further two months, but we’ll let you know if that’s the case.
10. Marketing Communications
From time to time, we’d like to contact you with information about travel deals, destination ideas, and offers that we think might interest you. We will only do this if you’ve given us your explicit consent to do so.
Every marketing email we send includes an easy unsubscribe link. You can also opt out at any time by emailing info@breakholiday.co.uk or calling us on +44 2038 662900.
Opting out of marketing will never affect your ability to book with us or receive communications about an existing booking.
We do not share your details with any third parties for marketing purposes — full stop.
11. Cookies
Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device when you visit — to help the site function properly and to understand how it is being used.
Some cookies are essential for the website to work. Others are used for analytics or to improve your experience. We will always ask for your consent before placing any non-essential cookies on your device.
For full details of the cookies we use, why we use them, and how you can manage your preferences, please read our separate Cookie Policy on our website.
12. Children’s Privacy
Our services are not directed at children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If a booking includes passengers under 16, the data of those passengers is provided by the adult lead passenger and used solely for the purpose of the booking.
If you believe we have inadvertently collected personal data about a child without appropriate parental consent, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
13. Data Security
We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or disclosure. These include:
Secure, encrypted connections (HTTPS) on our website. Restricted access to personal data within our team on a need-to-know basis. Secure storage of financial and booking records. Regular review of our data handling procedures.
No method of data transmission or storage is completely infallible, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. However, we do everything reasonably practicable to protect your information and take any security incident seriously.
If we ever become aware of a data breach that is likely to affect your rights or freedoms, we will notify you and the ICO as required by law.
14. Third-Party Websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites — such as airline booking portals, hotel sites, or destination guides. This Privacy Policy applies only to breakholiday.co.uk.
Once you click through to an external site, you are subject to that website’s own privacy policy and terms. We have no control over third-party sites and are not responsible for how they handle your data. We recommend reading the privacy policy of any external site you visit.
15. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time — for example, if our practices change, we introduce new services, or the law requires us to update it.
When we make changes, we’ll update the date at the bottom of this page. For significant changes, we may also notify you directly by email if we hold your contact details.
We encourage you to check this page occasionally to stay informed, though we won’t be making unnecessary changes.
16. How to Make a Complaint
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your personal data, we’d always like the chance to put things right. Please contact us first — we take privacy concerns seriously and will do our best to resolve any issue quickly.
📞 Phone: +44 2038 662900
📧 Email: info@breakholiday.co.uk
🌐 Website: https://breakholiday.co.uk
📍 Based in: 13 Station Road London, SE25 5AH United Kingdom
If you’re still not satisfied after raising your concern with us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s data protection regulator:
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Website:ico.org.uk
Phone No: 0303 123 1113
The ICO is the independent body responsible for upholding information rights in the UK.
17. Contact Our Data Team
For any questions, requests, or concerns relating to your personal data and how we use it, please contact us directly. We’ll always do our best to respond promptly and helpfully.