Last updated 26 April 2023 – see also our terms of use

BookBetterDirect (BBD – the operator) is a worldwide community dedicated to raise awareness of the advantages of booking accommodations, lodgings and hosts direct. We are decicated to make the direct booking process as easy and streamlined as posible for hosts and guests. BBD services may be offered through website of the operator, our online forum and community platform, applications, mobile applications, APIs, emails and text messages, social media acccounts and browser extension (BBD Services). All the above involve the collection and analysis of data necessary for the suply of the BBD Services.
By using these BBD Services, you agree to the terms and conditions set forth in these terms.

See something that is wrong?

We greatly value your users and your privacy rights, and we encourage all of you users to read and become familiar with this Privacy Policy so that you may understand those rights and how to protect them. We do our utmost to take care of your privacy rights however if you see something that is wrong with these policies or our data colletion, let us know ASAP! We are a start-up with many people working on our Idea and do not always know what is happening right away and what is going wrong. We appreciate it very much that you contact us first, instead of start making fun of us – or worse – start suing us out of the blue!

So please repport anything what looks fishy ASAP to hello@bookbetterdirect.com and we will make it right. Thank you!

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

When you register with our services or make use of a service – such as making an inquiry or – we collect and store the data that you yourself disclose, such as your name, telephone number, address, e-mail address, interests, reviews, and more.
Sometimes information is automatically collected and analyzed without your intervention. These include getting started with services, the IP address of your computer, as well as information about your Internet access, the operating system and the browser you are using. We also collect data about your visit to the website. This includes, for example, the time of your visit to our website and the pages as well as the content and services that you have clicked on or the content and services that you have searched for. If you’re using a mobile device, we can also collect data that identifies your device, settings, and whereabouts.

Use of the BBD Services is also subject to the BBD Terms of Use, available at https://bookbetterdirect.com/terms (“Terms of Use“ ) and other legal policies which you can find either on our website, mobile apps or as part of the extension (#links to follow).

IF YOU OBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS OR USE THE BBD PRODUCTS OR BBD SERVICES.

What we use your personal information for

We collect Personal Information and that you provide to us in a variety of ways on our BBD Services. These include the following:
To process your enquiry and bookings and, if necessary, save your travel plans.
To show you more relevant ads and recommendations or to suppress ads and content that you may not find relevant.
Email Newsletters. We may offer email newsletters from time to time on our Services. If you sign up to receive a newsletter from us, we may ask you to provide Personal Information, such as your email address.
To contact you in the following cases:
For the receipt of booking confirmations or inquiry reply;
To send alerts and notifications you have subscribed to, including to your mobile device;
To ask you for the delivery of assessments;
To give you updates on ratings, comments, tips on saved travel plans;
To contact you if you contact our customer service;
To send you information regarding our services or administrative matters;
To send you marketing e-mails concerning our services or those of our partners, if you have consented to the sending of e-mails or have transacted with us and if this is permitted by law.

But also to improve the service we offer you on our platforms, to better understand the users of our platforms and services, to protect our property and prevent harm. If we use your information to improve our customer service and software, these are used only pseudonymously. This ensures that no conclusions can be drawn when using your data.

Google Analytics

This website and the extension uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (Google) Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies”, text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of your use of the website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website (including your IP address) is transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity for website operators and to provide other services related to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if required by law or as far as third parties process this data on behalf of Google. Google will in no case associate your IP address with other Google data. You can prevent the installation of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly; however, please note that in this case you may not be able to use all features of this website to the fullest extent. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Facebook Plugin

Our website also contains programs (plug-ins) from the social network Facebook. These are operated exclusively by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (Facebook). The plug-ins are identified as part of our website by the Facebook logo or the addition “Like”. When you visit a website on our website that contains such a plug-in, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of Facebook, which in turn transmits the content of the plug-in to your browser and integrates it into the website shown. This will forward the information that you have visited our website to Facebook. If you are logged in to Facebook during your visit to our website via your personal user account, Facebook may assign the website visit to this account. Through interaction with plug-ins, e.g. By clicking on the “Like” button or leaving a comment, this information is transmitted directly to Facebook and stored there. If you want to prevent such data transmission, you must log out of your Facebook account before visiting our website. The purpose and scope of the data collection by Facebook as well as the further processing and use of your data as well as your respective rights and settings options for the protection of your privacy can be found in the privacy policy of Facebook.

Use of Whatsapp

You also have the option (with your mobile service) to contact somebody on the website via Whatsapp (a service of Facebook). If you use this function, the sender will send you a Whatsapp message with your chosen content to a recipient of your choice. Only data will be sent to WhatsApp if you actively use this function. For details on WhatsApp privacy, visit: http://www.whatsapp.com/legal/

Twitter plugin

Functions of the Twitter service are integrated on our sites. These features are provided by Twitter Inc., 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. By using Twitter and the “Re-Tweet” function, the websites you visit are linked to your Twitter account and shared with other users. This data is also transmitted to Twitter. We point out that we as the provider of the pages are not aware of the content of the transmitted data and their use by Twitter. For more information, see the privacy policy of Twitter at twitter.com/privacy. You can change your privacy settings on Twitter in the account settings at http://twitter.com/account/settings
Integration of services and contents of third parties
It may happen that content from third parties, such as videos from YouTube, maps from Google Maps, RSS feeds or graphics from other websites are included in this online offer. This always presupposes that the providers of this content (hereinafter referred to as “third party provider”) perceive the IP address of the users. Because without the IP address, they could not send the content to the browser of each user. The IP address is therefore required for the presentation of this content. The operator has no influence on it, if the third party providers the IP address z. B. for statistical purposes.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Unsubscribe – your decisions

Every marketing email has a possibility that allows you to unsubscribe from these notifications at any time, without incurring any costs other than the delivery charges based on the basic rates of your access provider.Customer service e-mails and administrative notifications that are part of the use of your account can only be unsubscribed by deleting your account.

Data transfer

If you make a search or booking or request, your data will be forwarded to the selected service provider (hotel, guesthouse, apartment house, etc.) to process your reservation / request. Otherwise, the operator does not make your personal data available to third parties, unless you expressly consent to a disclosure or this data is pseudonymized, so we make sure that no inferences are possible for you when using your data. The operator may be required by law or, if required by law to comply with legal obligations or to defend against legal claims against the operator, to disclose your personal information.

How we protect your information? Data Security

All data that you provide to us during search, request etc. is encrypted and transmitted using the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) process. It handles all the details of security management using the public key cryptography, which encrypts all communication between your browser and our system.

What rights do you have to your data?

If you have an account on this website or have written comments or made an enquiry, you may request that we export your personal information, including any data you have provided to us. In addition, you may request the deletion of any personal information we have stored about you. This does not include the data we need to retain for administrative, legal or security purposes.

How long we retain your data?

If you make a request or leave a comment etc., these and its metadata are retained indefinitely. For users that register on our website or app, we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information. Cookies (which are stored in your browser) you can delete anytime via your browser. See bellow.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.

Cookies

Cookies are small files that make it easier for you to use our online offer and make it even faster and easier to use our offer. They are stored on your computer’s hard drive by your browser, but they do not contain any personal information, so your privacy is always protected. However, cookies provide you with convenience features by automatically displaying frequently used data when you visit the site repeatedly. Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can change your browser settings to prevent this. In this case, however, you may not be able to perceive some functions as comfortable or not so comfortable.

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Children’s Privacy

Children’s safety is important to us, and we encourage parents and guardians to take an active interest in the online activities of their children. Our Services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13 without obtaining parental consent. If we learn that we have collected Personal Information from a child under the age of 13 on our Services, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we may have collected any such Personal Information on our Services, please notify us at hello@bookbetterdirect.com

hello@bookbetterdirect.com