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Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, store and otherwise process personal data when you visit this website, subscribe to my newsletter, download a free resource, purchase a product or service, submit a form, book a guided hiking tour, purchase personalized itinerary planning or otherwise communicate with me.

1. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for the processing of your personal data is:

Elisabeth Ilka Kolb
NIF: 328444855
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Email: contact@your-madeira.com
Telephone: +351 960 292 573

I operate as an individual self-employed professional registered in Portugal.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how I process your personal data, you can contact me using the details above.

2. Personal Data I May Collect

The personal data I process depends on how you interact with my website and services.

It may include:

  • your name;
  • email address;
  • telephone number;
  • billing information;
  • order and transaction information;
  • IP address and technical information relating to your device or browser;
  • newsletter subscription information;
  • contact-form messages;
  • website comments and your chosen name or username;
  • travel dates;
  • group and participant information;
  • accommodation and transport information;
  • hiking experience and fitness information;
  • relevant health, injury or physical information voluntarily provided in connection with a hiking activity;
  • travel and itinerary preferences;
  • appointment information;
  • communications with me; and
  • other information you voluntarily provide.

I aim to collect only information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

3. Why I Process Personal Data

3.1 Providing products and services

I process personal data where necessary to:

  • process and deliver digital-guide purchases;
  • administer personalized itinerary-planning services;
  • administer Madeira itinerary review services;
  • arrange planning and walkthrough calls;
  • prepare personalized travel recommendations;
  • process hiking-tour inquiries and bookings;
  • assess the suitability of requested hiking activities;
  • communicate with customers about purchases, bookings and services; and
  • provide customer support.

The primary legal basis for this processing is generally the performance of a contract or taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.

3.2 Legal obligations

I may process and retain transaction, invoicing, order and other information where necessary to comply with applicable tax, accounting, consumer-protection, insurance or other legal obligations.

The legal basis is compliance with a legal obligation.

3.3 Legitimate interests

In some circumstances, I may process information where necessary for legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

This may include website security, preventing abuse, maintaining business records, responding to communications and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

3.4 Consent

Where processing requires your consent, such as certain marketing communications, cookies, analytics or the processing of particular information, I will rely on consent where appropriate.

You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

4. Free Mini-Guide and Newsletter

You can provide your name and email address to receive my free Madeira mini-guide.

The signup form informs you that requesting the guide also subscribes you to my regular email newsletter.

I use MailerLite to manage newsletter subscriptions, deliver the mini-guide and send email campaigns.

MailerLite may process information such as your:

  • name;
  • email address;
  • subscription status;
  • email delivery information; and
  • interactions with emails, such as opens or link clicks, where these features are enabled.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in every marketing email.

I may retain limited information necessary to ensure that an unsubscribe request continues to be respected.

5. Contact Forms

If you contact me through a form on the website, I process the information you provide in order to read, manage and respond to your inquiry.

Depending on the form, this may include your name, email address and the contents of your message.

I will not use information submitted through a general contact form for unrelated marketing purposes unless you have separately agreed to receive marketing communications.

6. WooCommerce and Online Orders

I use WooCommerce to manage online purchases.

When you place an order, information processed may include:

  • your name;
  • email address;
  • billing information;
  • product purchased;
  • order date;
  • payment status;
  • transaction information; and
  • other information required to administer the order.

Order and transaction records may be retained for the period required by applicable Portuguese tax, accounting and other legal obligations.

7. Payment Processing

Payments may be processed through Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay or other payment methods made available during checkout.

Payment providers may process information necessary to authorize and administer your transaction.

I do not need to receive or store your complete payment-card details where payment information is collected directly by the payment provider.

Payment providers process information in accordance with their own privacy policies and applicable legal obligations.

8. Jotform

I use Jotform for certain forms relating to guided hiking tours and personalized itinerary planning.

Depending on the service, information submitted through Jotform may include:

  • your name and contact information;
  • travel dates;
  • group information;
  • hiking experience;
  • fitness information;
  • relevant injuries, health considerations or physical limitations;
  • appointment preferences;
  • accommodation and transport information; and
  • other information you voluntarily provide.

I use this information to administer your request, communicate with you, provide the requested service and, where relevant, assess the suitability and safety of a hiking activity.

9. Health and Other Special-Category Information

For guided hiking activities, I may ask you to provide information concerning injuries, health considerations or physical limitations that could reasonably affect your ability to participate safely.

Health information can constitute special-category personal data under the GDPR.

I only request information that is relevant to assessing or safely providing the requested activity.

Where required, I process this information on the basis of your explicit consent or another applicable condition permitted under data-protection law.

Please do not provide medical information that is unrelated to your participation in the requested activity.

10. Use of OpenAI / ChatGPT for Administrative Assistance

I use OpenAI’s ChatGPT as an administrative support tool in connection with certain form submissions.

An automated workflow may periodically check for new Jotform responses and use information contained in those responses to help prepare a draft response to the customer.

Depending on the form submission, information processed through this workflow may include your name, contact information, travel information, hiking information and other information you voluntarily submitted.

Where a hiking inquiry contains information concerning an injury, health consideration or physical limitation, this information may also form part of the submission being processed.

ChatGPT is used to assist with preparing a draft. I remain responsible for reviewing customer requests and communications and for decisions concerning the services I provide.

I do not intentionally use information from these submissions for unrelated purposes.

11. Personalized Itinerary and Itinerary Review Services

If you purchase an itinerary review, I process the itinerary and other travel information you submit in order to review your plans, prepare for our call and provide personalized recommendations. This may include travel dates, accommodation information, planned hikes and activities, transport arrangements, hiking experience and other information you voluntarily provide.

I currently use Notion to create and deliver personalized travel itineraries.

If you purchase an itinerary service, I may create a private Notion page for your trip and invite you to access it as a guest.

The itinerary may contain limited information necessary to personalize your trip, such as:

  • your first name;
  • travel dates;
  • general accommodation information;
  • planned activities;
  • travel preferences; and
  • other information relevant to your itinerary.

I do not require passport information, complete payment-card information or similar sensitive identification information for your itinerary.

Customer access to the personalized Notion itinerary will normally remain available until 7 days after the scheduled end of the trip.

You may save or download available content for your personal use before access ends.

12. Website Comments

You may submit comments on certain WordPress blog posts.

I manually review comments before publication.

If I approve your comment, the comment and the name or username you supplied will become publicly visible.

WordPress or related website functionality may also process technical information associated with the comment for security, moderation or spam-prevention purposes.

13. Google Analytics

I use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use my website and to improve its content and performance.

Depending on the configuration and your consent choices, Google Analytics may process information about:

  • pages visited;
  • website interactions;
  • device and browser information;
  • approximate location;
  • technical identifiers; and
  • referral information.

Where consent is legally required, Google Analytics should only be activated after you provide the relevant consent through the website’s cookie-consent system.

You can manage your cookie preferences using the cookie settings available on the website.

14. Cookies and Complianz

My website uses cookies and similar technologies.

I use the Complianz WordPress plugin to manage cookie consent and preferences.

Some cookies may be necessary for the website, checkout or other requested functionality and may be used where legally permitted without consent.

Non-essential cookies and similar technologies, including certain analytics and third-party integrations, are subject to applicable consent requirements.

More detailed information about individual cookies, providers, purposes and durations is provided through the website’s Cookie Policy and cookie-preference interface.

15. Google Maps and Google My Maps

My website, blog articles, digital guides and personalized itineraries may contain links to Google Maps.

Purchasers of certain digital products may also receive access to a curated Google My Maps map.

When you follow a Google Maps link or use Google mapping services, Google may process personal and technical information in accordance with its own privacy practices.

16. Instagram Feed

My website may display Instagram content using an embedded Instagram feed.

Loading or interacting with embedded social-media content may result in information being transmitted to Instagram/Meta, depending on the technical implementation, your browser and your cookie-consent choices.

Where required by applicable law, non-essential third-party content should be subject to appropriate consent controls.

17. Affiliate and Commercial Partnerships

I work with certain independent local businesses and may receive commission when customers use specific discount codes or referral mechanisms associated with me.

This currently may include businesses providing services such as rental cars, canyoning or jeep tours.

I may also occasionally receive complimentary or discounted experiences, products or services in connection with collaborations.

Where you book directly with one of these businesses, that business independently processes the personal information you provide to it.

Where information is shared with me for the purpose of tracking a referral or commission, I will process it only as reasonably necessary for that purpose.

18. Service Providers and Recipients

I use third-party service providers where necessary to operate the website and provide my products and services.

Depending on how you interact with me, these may include providers of:

  • website hosting and WordPress services;
  • WooCommerce;
  • payment processing, including Stripe;
  • email marketing, including MailerLite;
  • forms and appointment scheduling, including Jotform;
  • itinerary creation and delivery, including Notion;
  • analytics and mapping services provided by Google;
  • cookie-consent services, including Complianz;
  • social-media integrations, including Instagram/Meta; and
  • AI-assisted administrative services, including OpenAI.

I may also disclose information where required by law or where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

I do not sell your personal data to advertisers.

19. International Data Transfers

Some of the service providers I use may process personal data outside Portugal or the European Economic Area.

Where applicable data-protection law requires safeguards for such transfers, personal data should be transferred using an appropriate legal mechanism, such as:

  • an applicable adequacy decision;
  • the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses;
  • an applicable EU-US data-transfer framework; or
  • another legally recognized safeguard.

The exact transfer mechanism may depend on the provider and processing involved.

20. Data Retention

I retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet applicable legal obligations.

As a general approach:

Contact inquiries: normally retained for up to 2 years after the last relevant communication unless there is a reason to retain them longer.

Newsletter subscribers: retained while you remain subscribed. Limited information may subsequently be retained to ensure an unsubscribe request continues to be respected.

Orders, invoices and transaction records: retained for the period required by applicable Portuguese tax, accounting and other legal obligations.

Hiking inquiries and booking records: retained for as long as reasonably necessary to administer the booking and for an appropriate period afterward where required for insurance, legal or record-keeping purposes.

Health or physical information relating to hiking: retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for the activity and any applicable legal, insurance or claims requirements.

Itinerary questionnaires: normally deleted or anonymized once they are no longer reasonably necessary following completion of the itinerary service and any relevant follow-up period.

Personalized Notion itineraries: customer access normally ends seven days after the scheduled end of the trip.

Website comments: may remain for as long as the relevant content remains published unless removal is requested and there is no overriding reason to retain them.

Analytics information: retained according to my configured analytics settings, applicable consent choices and Google’s applicable retention functionality.

Where information is required for a longer period by law or is reasonably necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, it may be retained for that longer period.

21. Data Security

I take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, loss or destruction.

I use appropriate account-security measures, including strong passwords and multi-factor authentication where available and appropriate.

However, no online service or transmission method can guarantee absolute security.

22. Your Data-Protection Rights

Subject to the conditions and limitations provided by applicable data-protection law, you may have the right to:

  • request confirmation as to whether I process your personal data;
  • access personal data I hold about you;
  • request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • request deletion of your personal data;
  • request restriction of processing;
  • object to certain processing;
  • receive certain personal data in a portable format;
  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
  • lodge a complaint with a competent data-protection supervisory authority.

Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise your rights, contact:

contact@your-madeira.com

I may request reasonable information to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

23. Data-Protection Complaints

If you believe your personal data has been processed in breach of applicable data-protection law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority.

In Portugal, the supervisory authority is the:

Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD)

Depending on your circumstances, you may also have the right to complain to the data-protection authority in another EU or EEA country.

24. Children’s Personal Data

My website and commercial services are primarily intended for adults.

Information relating to minors may be processed where necessary for a family hiking booking or another service requested by a parent, guardian or appropriately responsible adult.

Parents and responsible adults should avoid providing personal information about children that is not reasonably necessary for the requested service.

25. External Links

My website, guides and itineraries contain links to websites and services operated by independent third parties.

I am not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties.

When you provide personal information directly to another provider, you should review that provider’s privacy information.

26. Changes to This Privacy Policy

I may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to my website, services, providers, processing activities or applicable legal requirements.

The latest version will be published on this website together with its most recent update date.

27. Contact

For questions about this Privacy Policy or the processing of your personal data, contact:

Elisabeth Ilka Kolb
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Email: contact@your-madeira.com
Telephone: +351 960 292 573