1. Who we are
The Little Green Cottage is a holiday accommodation business based in Dorchester, Dorset. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information relating to our website visitors, guests and enquirers.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, The Little Green Cottage is the “data controller” for the personal information we collect directly from you.
The Little Green Cottage
Website: www.littlegreencottage.co.uk
Email: hello@littlegreencottage.co.uk
Phone: 07775617243
2. Information we collect
We may collect and use the following types of personal information:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your telephone number
- Your postal address, if needed for a booking or payment record
- Your booking or enquiry details, including arrival and departure dates
- The number of guests included in your booking
- Messages, notes or special requests you send to us
- Payment and transaction details, where applicable
- Information needed to manage your stay, booking, cancellation or refund
- Technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device type and website usage data
We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal information unless you choose to provide it, for example if you tell us about access needs, allergies, medical requirements, or other information that may be relevant to your stay.
3. How we collect your information
We may collect personal information when you:
- Complete a contact, enquiry or booking form on our website
- Email, phone or message us
- Make a booking directly with us
- Book through a third-party booking platform
- Make a payment through Stripe, PayPal or another payment provider
- Browse or interact with our website
- Subscribe to updates, offers or marketing, if this option is available
4. How we use your information
We use your personal information to:
- Respond to your enquiries
- Check availability and manage booking requests
- Confirm, amend or cancel bookings
- Send booking confirmations, arrival information and guest messages
- Take payments, process refunds and manage transaction records
- Provide customer service before, during and after your stay
- Keep appropriate business, tax and accounting records
- Improve our website, guest experience and services
- Help keep our website secure and prevent fraud or misuse
- Send marketing or updates, where we have permission or another lawful basis to do so
- Comply with legal, regulatory, insurance or accounting obligations
5. Our lawful basis for using your information
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using your personal information. Depending on the situation, we may rely on one or more of the following:
- Contract: where we need to use your information to respond to a booking request, manage your booking, take payment, or provide accommodation services.
- Consent: where you have clearly agreed to something, such as receiving marketing emails or accepting non-essential cookies.
- Legal obligation: where we need to keep records or disclose information to comply with tax, accounting, regulatory or legal requirements.
- Legitimate interests: where it is necessary for the running of The Little Green Cottage, such as responding to enquiries, managing customer service, preventing fraud, improving our website, and keeping appropriate business records.
6. Payments through Stripe and PayPal
If you make a payment to The Little Green Cottage, your payment may be processed securely by third-party payment providers such as Stripe or PayPal.
We do not store your full debit or credit card details on our website. Payment providers may process information such as your name, email address, billing details, payment card details, transaction amount, payment status and fraud-prevention information.
Stripe and PayPal may process your information under their own privacy terms. You can read more here:
7. Third-party booking platforms
The Little Green Cottage may be listed on third-party booking platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, or similar accommodation websites.
If you book through a third-party platform, that platform may collect and process your personal information separately from us. This may include your account details, booking details, payment details, identity verification information, guest messages and platform usage information.
We may receive booking information from those platforms so that we can manage your stay. This may include your name, booking dates, guest numbers, contact details, guest messages and any relevant booking notes.
Please check the privacy policy of the booking platform you use, as their processing of your personal information is controlled by them.
9. Marketing communications
We will only send you marketing emails, newsletters or promotional updates if we have your permission or another lawful basis to do so.
You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the email or by contacting us directly.
We may still send important service messages about an enquiry, booking, payment, cancellation, refund or stay.
11. International transfers
Some of the services we use, such as payment providers, analytics providers, booking platforms, hosting providers or email systems, may process personal information outside the UK.
Where this happens, we expect those providers to use appropriate safeguards to protect your personal information in line with applicable data protection laws.
12. How long we keep your information
We only keep personal information for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected.
- Booking and guest correspondence may be kept for as long as needed to manage the booking and any follow-up queries.
- Financial and transaction records may be kept for up to six years for accounting and tax purposes.
- General enquiries that do not lead to a booking will usually be kept for a shorter period.
- Marketing contact details will be kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove them.
- Analytics information is generally kept in an aggregated or anonymised form where possible.
13. Keeping your information safe
We take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure or alteration.
However, no website, email system or online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If you believe your personal information has been compromised, please contact us as soon as possible.
14. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights over your personal information. These may include the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
- Ask us to delete your information in certain circumstances
- Ask us to restrict how we use your information
- Object to certain uses of your information
- Withdraw consent, where we rely on consent
- Ask for your information to be transferred, where applicable
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in this policy.
15. Complaints
If you have a concern about how we handle your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Website: https://ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
16. Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your personal information, please contact us:
Email: hello@littlegreencottage.co.uk
Phone: 07775617243
17. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date.