Privacy Policy | Vietnam Backstreet Tours

1. Who we are

This website is run by VBT (VIETNAM BACKSTREET TOURS) TRAVEL JOINT STOCK COMPANY (“Vietnam Backstreet Tours”, “we”, “us”), a licensed international tour operator in Vietnam (State License No. 01-1861/2022/TCDL-GP LHQT). Our office is at Suite 101, ATS Hotel, Pham Ngu Lao Street, Cua Nam Ward, Hanoi, Vietnam.

We decide how and why your personal data is used, which makes us the “controller” of it. For anything about your data, write to [email protected] TBC: add a dedicated privacy email address if you want one.

2. What we collect

When you send a booking request, a Tailor-Made request or a message

Your name, email address, phone or WhatsApp number and nationality.
The tour you chose, your date and time, an alternative date, and the number of adults, children (2–11) and infants (under 2).
Your pickup place (usually a hotel) and anything you tell us about your trip, including food allergies, dietary needs, health or mobility needs. You choose what to share; we use it only to run your tour safely.

When you pay

After we confirm your tour we send a payment link. Payments are handled by our payment providers (PayPal and card payment services) TBC: confirm the providers in use, e.g. PayPal, Stripe, OnePay. We receive confirmation that you paid and your billing details, but we do not see or store your full card number.

When you contact us or sign up

Messages you send by email, WhatsApp or Zalo, and the phone number you write from.
Your email address (and name, if you give it) when you subscribe to our newsletter.
Photos, videos and captions you send us if you join our UGC program.

Automatically, when you use the website

Our servers record technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device and the pages you open, to keep the site secure and working. TBC: list any analytics or advertising tools that will be active (for example Google Analytics, Meta Pixel); the website currently uses none.

3. How we use your data, and why

What we do	Why we are allowed to
Answer your questions, confirm availability and price, take payment and run your tour	To prepare and carry out our contract with you
Keep you safe on the tour, deal with accidents or insurance claims	Our legitimate interest in running safe tours, and to protect your vital interests
Issue invoices (including VAT invoices) and keep accounting records	To meet our legal obligations
Send you the newsletter and offers	Your consent — you can withdraw it at any time with the unsubscribe link
Keep the website secure, prevent spam and improve it	Our legitimate interest in a safe and useful website
Respond to legal requests and protect our rights	To meet our legal obligations and our legitimate interests

We do not use your data for automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

Your driver and guide: your first name or full name, pickup place, group size, phone or WhatsApp number, and any allergy or safety information you gave us.
Payment providers: to take your payment and refund you if needed.
Insurers: our local insurer (Bao Viet) if an incident happens, and PTI Thang Long Insurance if you ask us to arrange optional travel insurance.
Service providers: companies that host our website, send our emails and protect the site from spam TBC: name the hosting, email and newsletter providers.
Authorities and advisers: where the law requires it, or to protect our rights, for example lawyers, accountants and public authorities.

We do not sell your personal data. We ask every provider to protect it and to use it only for the service they give us.

5. Where your data goes

We are based in Vietnam, so your data is processed in Vietnam. Some of our providers may store or process it in other countries TBC: hosting location. When data leaves your country we take reasonable steps, such as contractual protections, so that it stays protected to the standard the law requires.

6. How long we keep it

Booking and payment records: TBC: retention period, for example 5 years for accounting and tax records.
Enquiries that did not become a booking: TBC: retention period.
Newsletter details: until you unsubscribe, then we delete them or keep only what we need to remember that you opted out.
UGC program submissions: for as long as the program terms allow us to use your content, or until you ask us to stop where the law gives you that right.

When we no longer need your data we delete it or make it anonymous.

7. Cookies and similar technologies

We keep tracking to a minimum. Today the website uses:

Your saved tours: if you tap the heart on a tour, your list is saved in your own browser (local storage). It stays on your device and is never sent to us.
Fonts and images are served from our own website, not from Google Fonts or an ad network.
Google Maps on the Contact page. When the map loads, Google may set cookies and collect data under its own privacy policy.
Links to other services (WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Tripadvisor, YouTube) take you to their sites, which have their own policies.

TBC: if analytics, advertising pixels or a cookie banner are added on the live site, list them here and add the consent choice. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the website still works, but saved tours may not be remembered.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live, including under the EU and UK GDPR and Vietnamese personal data protection law, you may have the right to:

know what data we hold about you and get a copy;
have wrong data corrected and ask us to delete your data;
ask us to limit how we use it, or object to a particular use;
receive your data in a portable format;
withdraw your consent at any time, for example by unsubscribing from our newsletter;
complain to your local data protection authority.

To use any of these rights, email [email protected]. We may ask you to confirm who you are, and we will answer within the time the law requires. Some data we must keep, such as invoices, and we will tell you if that applies.

9. How we protect your data

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, and we limit who can see it. No website or online service is completely secure, so please do not send sensitive details you do not need to share.

10. Children

This website is not meant for children. Tours for guests under 12 are booked by a parent or guardian, and we collect a child’s details only as far as needed to plan the tour (for example the number of children and ages) and to keep them safe.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy, for example when we add a new service or tool. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change affects how we use your data in a significant way, we will tell you before it applies.

12. Contact us

Questions or requests about your data: [email protected], WhatsApp or Zalo +84 976 788 488, or the contact form. By post: Vietnam Backstreet Tours, Suite 101, ATS Hotel, Pham Ngu Lao Street, Cua Nam Ward, Hanoi, Vietnam.