Privacy Policy
Last updated: 3 August 2026
1. Who We Are
1.1 Desert Tracks Bookings and Safaris cc (“Desert Tracks”, “we”, “us”), a close corporation registered in the Republic of Namibia under registration number CC/2013/03975, with its physical address at Am Alten Amtsgericht 15, c/o Tobias Hainyeko & Theo Ben Gurirab Streets, Swakopmund, Namibia, operates the website desert-tracks.com and arranges guided safaris and tailor-made tours in Namibia and southern Africa.
1.2 This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what rights you have over it. It applies to your use of our website and to bookings made with us directly or through a travel agent.
1.3 We are the controller of the personal information described in this policy. Where you booked through a travel agent or tour operator, that agent remains a separate controller of the information it holds about you, and its own privacy policy will apply to that information.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 When you enquire or book: your name, email address, telephone number, country of residence, the dates and nature of the travel you are interested in, and the names and details of the other people in your party.
2.2 To complete your travel arrangements: passport number, expiry date, nationality and date of birth; emergency contact or next of kin details; dietary requirements; and, where you choose to disclose them to us in terms of the health clause of our Terms and Conditions, relevant medical conditions, allergies, medication and mobility requirements.
2.3 Payment information: bank transfer references and proof of payment. We do not collect or store full card numbers on our website or in our systems.
2.4 When you use our website: your IP address, browser type and version, device type, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit and the site you arrived from. This is collected through cookies and analytics as described in Clause 8.
2.5 When you submit an enquiry form: the content of your message together with the details in Clause 2.1, which are stored in the form system on our website.
2.6 Health, dietary and mobility information is treated as a special category of personal information. We collect it only where you choose to provide it, use it only to make your travel arrangements safe and suitable, and share it only with the suppliers who need it for that purpose.
2.7 Photographs and video: images taken during your travel in which you appear, whether taken by us or supplied to us by you. How these may be used, and how to object to their use, is set out in Section 17 of our Terms and Conditions.
3. How We Use It
3.1 To respond to your enquiry and prepare quotations and draft itineraries for you.
3.2 To make and administer your booking with the lodges, camps, guides, airlines, charter operators, car hire companies and activity providers that form part of your itinerary.
3.3 To invoice you, process payment and keep the financial records we are required to keep.
3.4 To contact you before, during and after your travel about matters relating to your booking, including changes to your itinerary and emergencies.
3.5 To meet our legal, tax and immigration obligations.
3.6 To operate, secure and improve our website and to understand how it is used.
3.7 To send you marketing communications, but only where you have asked us to, as set out in Clause 9.
3.8 To promote our tours using photographs and video in which you appear, unless you have objected in terms of Section 17 of our Terms and Conditions. You may object at any time, before, during or after travel, by emailing us.
4. Lawful Basis
4.1 Performance of a contract — where we need your information to answer your enquiry, make your booking and deliver the travel arrangements you have paid for.
4.2 Legal obligation — where we are required to keep financial records or to provide information to tax, immigration or aviation authorities.
4.3 Legitimate interests — to run and improve our business, to keep our website secure, and to correspond with the travel agent who made your booking. We balance these interests against your rights, and you may object as set out in Clause 10.
4.4 Consent — for marketing emails, for non-essential cookies, and for the health and dietary information described in Clause 2.6. Where we rely on consent you may withdraw it at any time, and withdrawing it does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
6. International Transfers
6.1 We are based in Namibia. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, arranging your travel necessarily involves transferring your information outside that area, to us and to the Namibian and regional suppliers on your itinerary. Where that transfer is required to perform the contract with you, it is permitted on that basis.
6.2 Some of the service providers listed in Clause 5.3 store information in other countries. We take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that appropriate safeguards are in place, and we share only what is necessary for the purpose concerned.
7. How Long We Keep It
7.1 Enquiries that do not become bookings: 24 months from your last contact with us, after which they are deleted.
7.2 Booking and financial records: five years from the end of your travel, consistent with the period for which we are required to retain financial records in Namibia.
7.3 Marketing contacts: until you unsubscribe. We then keep a minimal record of your unsubscribe request so that we can honour it.
7.4 Website analytics: for the retention period configured with our analytics provider, after which the data is deleted or retained only in aggregate form that does not identify you.
7.5 Passport, medical and dietary details are removed once they are no longer needed for your travel, and are not retained for the full period in Clause 7.2 unless we are required to keep them.
9. Marketing Emails
9.1 We send marketing emails only to people who have asked to receive them. We do not add you to our mailing list simply because you enquired or travelled with us.
9.2 Where you have subscribed, we may send you occasional newsletters, itinerary ideas and news about Namibia and our tours.
9.3 Every marketing email contains an unsubscribe link, and you may also unsubscribe at any time by emailing bookings@desert-tracks.com. We act on unsubscribe requests promptly.
9.4 Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop the emails we need to send you about a booking you have made.
10. Your Rights
10.1 Subject to the law that applies to you, you have the right to ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you; to have inaccurate information corrected; to ask us to delete information we no longer need; to ask us to restrict how we use it; to receive it in a portable format; to object to processing we carry out on the basis of legitimate interests; and to withdraw any consent you have given.
10.2 To exercise any of these rights, email bookings@desert-tracks.com. We may need to verify your identity before we act, so that we do not disclose your information to someone else.
10.3 We will respond within 30 days. If your request is complex and we need longer, we will tell you within that period and explain why.
10.4 Some rights are limited where we are required to keep information — for example the financial records described in Clause 7.2. If we cannot act on a request, we will tell you why.
10.5 If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom and you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to your national data protection authority. We would appreciate the chance to address your concern first.
11. Security
11.1 We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including restricting access to those who need it, securing our website and accounts, and requiring our service providers to maintain appropriate safeguards.
11.2 No method of transmission over the internet, and no method of electronic storage, is completely secure. While we protect your information using commercially acceptable means, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
11.3 If a breach occurs that is likely to affect your rights, we will notify you and any authority we are required to notify, without undue delay.
12. Children’s Privacy
12.1 Our website is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information directly from anyone under the age of 18.
12.2 Where a booking includes a minor, that minor’s details are provided to us by the parent or legal guardian making the booking, who is responsible for the accuracy of those details and for consenting to their use as described in this policy.
12.3 If you believe a child has provided us with personal information directly, please contact us and we will remove it.
13. Changes To This Policy
13.1 We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised, and the current version always applies.
13.2 Where a change materially affects how we use your information, we will give prominent notice on this website or notify you by email before it takes effect.
14. Contact Us
14.1 For any question about this policy, or to exercise the rights described in Clause 10, contact us at bookings@desert-tracks.com.
14.2 By post: Desert Tracks Bookings and Safaris cc, Am Alten Amtsgericht 15, c/o Tobias Hainyeko & Theo Ben Gurirab Streets, Swakopmund, Namibia.
14.3 This policy should be read together with our Terms and Conditions, which govern bookings made with us.