Explorer Via Privacy Policy

Effective Date: September 27, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how the company Explorer Via (hereinafter referred to as "we", "our", "us") collects, uses, processes, and protects your personal data when you use our website explorervia.com and our Istanbul tourist circuit services.

We are committed to respecting the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation, hereinafter "GDPR"), as well as French Law No. 78-17 of 6 January 1978 on information technology, data files, and civil liberties, as amended.

1. Identity of the Data Controller

The data controller for personal data collected on the website explorervia.com is:

  • Explorer Via
  • Represented by Deniz Ozkan
  • Email Address: contact@explorervia.com
  • Phone Number: 06 52 29 78 12
  • Registered Office Address: [Registered office address - This address is mandatory and will be the officially declared address for your micro-enterprise.]

2. Categories of Personal Data Collected

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

  • Identification and Contact Data: Last name, first name, title, email address, phone number, postal address, nationality, date of birth of circuit participants.
  • Service-Related Data: Information concerning booked tours (dates, destinations, chosen options, number of people), booking history, communications with our customer service.
  • Financial Data: Information relating to payment transactions (only for order tracking; full credit card data is not stored by Explorer Via but processed by secure payment providers).
  • Connection and Navigation Data (via cookies and similar technologies): IP address, unique identifiers, browser type, operating system, pages visited, time spent on the site, language preferences, traffic source, aggregated demographic or interest data (via Google Analytics).
  • Communication Data: Content of messages sent via our contact forms or by email.

3. Methods of Data Collection

Your personal data is collected primarily when:

  • You browse our website explorervia.com.
  • You use our contact forms or email addresses to communicate with us.
  • You make an inquiry, request a quote, or make a firm booking for one of our tours.
  • You subscribe to our newsletter or other marketing communications.
  • You interact with our site via audience analytics tools such as Google Analytics.

4. Purposes and Legal Bases for Processing

We process your personal data for the following explicit purposes, based on the legal grounds provided by the GDPR:

  • Performance of a Contract (Art. 6.1.b of the GDPR):
    • Management and execution of your tour bookings (confirmation, sending travel documents, organization of services).
    • Processing payments and managing financial transactions related to your orders.
    • Essential communication regarding your order or our contractual services.
  • Legitimate Interest (Art. 6.1.f of the GDPR):
    • Continuous improvement of our website and services, notably through statistical analysis of audience and user behavior ( via Google Analytics). This legitimate interest consists of optimizing our offer and your experience.
    • Responding to your information requests, quotes, or customer support.
    • Fraud prevention, maintaining the security of our website and information systems.
    • Management and defense of our rights in case of dispute.
  • Consent (Art. 6.1.a of the GDPR):
    • Sending our newsletter and personalized promotional offers, subject to your explicit consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
    • Placing certain non-essential cookies (see section 8).
  • Legal Obligation (Art. 6.1.c of the GDPR):
    • Compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations, particularly fiscal and accounting.

5. Recipients of Personal Data

In the context of the aforementioned purposes, your data may be shared, only when strictly necessary, with the following categories of recipients:

  • Our Service Providers: Local partners (hotels, transport companies, guides, activity organizers), technical providers (web host, messaging services, audience analysis tools like Google Analytics), secure payment providers.
  • Administrative and Judicial Authorities: To the extent required by law or judicial decision.
  • Professional Advisors: Lawyers, accountants, auditors, etc.

We commit not to sell, rent, or exchange your personal data to third parties for direct marketing purposes without your express consent.

6. Data Transfer Outside the European Union

Your data may be processed in countries located outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), notably Turkey for the execution of tourist services, or by some of our technical service providers. In such cases, we commit to taking all appropriate measures to ensure an adequate level of protection for your data, by requiring our partners to comply with the GDPR or to apply standard contractual clauses validated by the European Commission.

7. Data Retention Period

Your personal data is retained for strictly necessary periods to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements:

  • Booking and Contractual Data: For the duration of the contractual relationship, then archived for the legal prescription period (generally 5 years after the end of the contract) for evidentiary purposes.
  • Commercial Prospection Data (newsletter): Retained until you withdraw your consent or unsubscribe from our communication services, with inactive data purged after 3 years.
  • Connection and Navigation Data (cookies): Retained in accordance with the policies of analysis tools (generally 13 months for Google Analytics cookies).
  • Contact Data via Forms: The time necessary to process your request.

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website explorervia.com uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience and analyze site usage.

  • What is a cookie? A cookie is a small text file placed on your device (computer, tablet, smartphone) when you visit a website. It allows the server to recognize your device and collect information about your browsing.
  • Types of cookies used:
    • Strictly necessary cookies: Essential for the proper functioning of the site (e.g., session management). They do not require your consent.
    • Audience measurement cookies (analytical): We use Google Analytics to collect information about how visitors use our site (pages visited, time spent, traffic source). This data is anonymized as much as possible. The placement of these cookies is subject to your consent.
    • Functional cookies: Allow us to improve your user experience by remembering your preferences (e.g., language). Their placement is subject to your consent.
    • Advertising cookies (third-party): May be used by third parties to display targeted advertisements based on your interests. Their placement is subject to your consent.
  • Managing your preferences: You can manage your cookie preferences directly via your browser settings (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc.) to refuse all or part of the cookies. Please note that blocking certain cookies may affect the proper functioning of the site. You can also configure your browser to be notified when cookies are sent.

9. Your Data Protection Rights

In accordance with the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right of Access (Art. 15 GDPR): Obtain confirmation as to whether or not your data is being processed, and, where that is the case, access to the personal data.
  • Right to Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): Request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete data concerning you.
  • Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten", Art. 17 GDPR): Request the deletion of your data under certain conditions (e.g., if it is no longer necessary, if you withdraw your consent).
  • Right to Restriction of Processing (Art. 18 GDPR): Request the suspension of the processing of your data under certain conditions (e.g., dispute over data accuracy, unlawful processing).
  • Right to Object (Art. 21 GDPR): Object to the processing of your data on legitimate grounds, including for direct marketing.
  • Right to Data Portability (Art. 20 GDPR): Receive the data you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and transmit it to another controller.
  • Right to Withdraw Consent (Art. 7 GDPR): Withdraw your consent at any time for processing based on it, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before such withdrawal.

To exercise these rights, please contact us by email at: contact@explorervia.com or by post at our company address indicated above. We may ask for proof of identity to ensure the security and confidentiality of your data.

In the event of non-compliance with your rights, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) in France:
Website: www.cnil.fr
Postal Address: 3 Place de Fontenoy - TSA 80715 - 75334 PARIS CEDEX 07, France

10. Security Measures

We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against alteration, destruction, loss, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access, whether accidental or unlawful. This includes encryption, firewalls, physical and logical access controls.

11. Changes to the Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time to adapt it to legal or regulatory developments or to our practices. Any modification will be effective upon its publication on our website. We encourage you to consult this page regularly to be aware of any updates.