Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

RethymnoGreece.com is a travel and local information website created to help visitors discover Rethymno, Crete through practical guides, local recommendations, business listings, travel resources, digital products, and custom planning support.

In this Privacy Policy, “RethymnoGreece.com,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to the owner and operator of this website. “You” refers to any visitor, customer, subscriber, business owner, or person who interacts with the website.

2. Information we collect

We only collect personal information when it is reasonably needed to operate the website, respond to requests, provide services, process orders, improve the visitor experience, or comply with legal obligations.

Information you provide directly

• Name and contact details when you complete a contact form or request support.
• Email address if you join our newsletter or request updates.
• Travel preferences, dates, group details, budget, interests, and itinerary notes if you request custom travel planning.
• Billing, order, or account information if you purchase a digital guide, product, or service.
• Business details if you submit, claim, or manage a local business listing.
• Messages, attachments, or other information you choose to send to us.

Information collected automatically

• Device and browser information, such as browser type, operating system, screen size, and language settings.
• Website usage information, such as pages viewed, links clicked, time spent on pages, and referring websites.
• Approximate location information, such as country or city, based on technical data like IP address.
• Cookie and similar tracking information, depending on your browser settings and cookie choices.

3. How we use your information

We may use personal information for the following purposes:

• To respond to messages, questions, support requests, and business inquiries.
• To provide custom itinerary planning, travel recommendations, or requested services.
• To process purchases, deliver digital products, and manage customer communication.
• To review, publish, update, or manage local business listings.
• To send newsletters or updates if you have subscribed.
• To improve website content, navigation, performance, and user experience.
• To understand which guides, pages, and resources are most useful to visitors.
• To protect the website from spam, fraud, misuse, security threats, or technical problems.
• To comply with applicable legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory requirements.

Where required, we rely on appropriate legal bases for processing personal information, such as your consent, the need to perform a contract or provide a requested service, compliance with legal obligations, or our legitimate interest in operating and improving the website.

4. Cookies and analytics

RethymnoGreece.com may use cookies and similar technologies to keep the website working, understand visitor behavior, improve content, remember preferences, support checkout features, and measure performance.

Types of cookies we may use

• Essential cookies: Required for basic website functions, security, forms, checkout, or account features.
• Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve pages and guides.
• Preference cookies: Remember choices such as cookie settings or display preferences.
• Marketing or affiliate cookies: May be used when links, booking partners, or third-party services measure referrals.

You can usually control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of the website may not work properly if essential cookies are disabled.

5. Third-party services and links

Our website may use trusted third-party services to help operate the site, process payments, send emails, display forms, provide analytics, prevent spam, manage business listings, or connect visitors with travel and booking resources.

These services may include, depending on how the website is configured:

• Website hosting and security providers.
• WordPress plugins used for forms, checkout, email, search, listings, or performance.
• Payment processors for purchases or paid services.
• Email marketing or newsletter providers.
• Analytics tools such as Google Analytics or similar services.
• Affiliate, booking, accommodation, tour, ferry, transport, or activity partners.
• Social media platforms, embedded content, or external links.

When you click an external link or use a third-party service, that third party may collect information according to its own privacy policy. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites.

6. Payments and digital products

If you purchase a digital travel guide, itinerary service, listing, or other paid product, payment information is typically handled by a secure third-party payment processor. RethymnoGreece.com does not intentionally store full credit card numbers on the website.

We may keep basic order details, customer contact information, invoice records, product delivery information, and related communication for customer service, accounting, legal, and record-keeping purposes.

7. Newsletter and marketing emails

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we may use your email address to send Rethymno travel tips, local updates, guides, offers, or website news. You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us directly.

We do not sell your email address to third parties.

8. Business listings and user-submitted content

If you submit a business listing, event, review, comment, or other content for publication, the information you provide may be displayed publicly on RethymnoGreece.com. This may include business names, descriptions, locations, contact details, website links, images, opening hours, or social media links.

Please only submit information that you are authorized to share and comfortable having published on the website.

9. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose it was collected, including to provide services, respond to inquiries, maintain records, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, and improve the website.

Newsletter information is generally kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it. Order, tax, accounting, and business records may be kept for longer where required by law.

10. How we protect your information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from unauthorized access, misuse, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These steps may include secure website hosting, access controls, software updates, security tools, spam protection, and limiting access to information where possible.

No website or online service can guarantee complete security. If you believe your information has been affected by a security issue, please contact us.

11. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, including if you are located in the European Union, European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or another region with privacy laws, you may have rights over your personal information.

These rights may include the right to:

• Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Ask us to restrict or object to certain processing.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Request a copy of your information in a portable format, where applicable.
• Complain to a relevant data protection authority.

To make a privacy request, please contact us using the details below. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

12. Children’s privacy

RethymnoGreece.com is not intended for children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the website, please contact us so we can review and delete it where appropriate.

13. International visitors

RethymnoGreece.com may be visited by users from Greece, the European Union, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. Your information may be processed in countries where our website tools, hosting providers, payment processors, email providers, or other service providers operate.

Where required, we aim to use appropriate safeguards when personal information is transferred or processed internationally.

14. Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, services, tools, legal requirements, or privacy practices. When we update this page, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of the policy.