This Privacy Policy explains how BookInChina collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you browse our website, create a customer account, tell us about a trip, receive a proposal or communicate with our team.
1. Who is responsible
BookInChina operates this website and customer portal and is responsible for deciding how personal information submitted through them is used. You can reach us about privacy through our Contact page.
2. Information we collect
Depending on how you use the service, we may collect:
- Account information: email address, email-verification status, password hash, account status and customer-session information. We do not store your password in readable form.
- Profile and trip information: name, preferred name, nationality, phone or WhatsApp contact, desired destinations, planned travel dates and duration, budget, and the number of adults and children travelling.
- Proposal and communication information: tailored itineraries, proposals shown to you, acceptance or change requests, messages with advisors and related service records.
- Technical and security information: IP address, browser or device description, request and audit records, timestamps, security-derived identifiers and essential cookie information used to authenticate and protect accounts.
- Information you choose to provide: details included in enquiries, messages or other communications with us.
Please avoid sending passport numbers, payment-card information, medical records or other sensitive information through general website messages unless BookInChina specifically requests it through an appropriate channel for a necessary travel service.
3. How we use information
We use personal information to:
- verify email addresses, create accounts, authenticate sessions and reset passwords;
- understand travel preferences and prepare, publish and discuss tailored proposals;
- maintain customer profiles and connect a verified account with the correct customer record;
- respond to enquiries and provide requested travel-planning or booking support;
- prevent abuse, enforce rate limits, investigate security events and keep audit records;
- operate, troubleshoot, back up and improve the reliability of the service; and
- comply with legal obligations and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Where applicable law requires a legal basis, processing may be necessary to provide a service or take steps you request, based on your consent, required by law, or carried out for legitimate interests such as account security and reliable customer support, balanced against your rights.
4. Account matching and human review
When you register with a verified email address, the system may compare that address with existing BookInChina customer records. A single eligible match may be linked automatically so you can access your existing profile and proposals. Ambiguous matches are not automatically merged and may be reviewed by authorized staff. BookInChina does not use this process to make decisions about credit, employment or eligibility for essential services.
5. Cookies
The customer portal uses an essential, secure session cookie to keep you signed in and protect account requests. The cookie has a fixed maximum lifetime and may stop working sooner when you log out, reset your password, sign in on another device, or an administrator disables the account. The current portal does not require advertising cookies and registration does not subscribe you to marketing by default.
6. When information is shared
We may share information only as reasonably necessary with:
- authorized BookInChina staff and advisors who support your trip;
- technology providers that host, secure, back up or deliver the service, including the provider used to send verification emails;
- travel suppliers when necessary to obtain availability or arrange a service you request;
- professional advisers, insurers, auditors or authorities when reasonably necessary or legally required; and
- a successor organization in a lawful business reorganization, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection requirements.
BookInChina does not sell personal information. We do not disclose private proposals or customer-portal content publicly.
7. International processing
Travel services and technology providers may operate in different countries, so personal information may be processed outside the country where you live. Where cross-border processing is subject to legal restrictions, BookInChina will use the notice, consent, contractual, security or other transfer measures required by applicable law.
8. Retention
We keep information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described above. Relevant factors include whether your account or customer relationship remains active, whether a trip or proposal is ongoing, security and backup needs, applicable limitation periods, accounting and legal duties, and the need to resolve disputes. Expired authentication data is no longer accepted for access. Some records may be retained in restricted form when deletion is not permitted or would undermine required security, audit or legal records.
9. Security
We use access controls, password hashing, keyed digests for verification and rate limiting, secure cookies, encryption in transit, backups, audit logging and other administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to the service. No online system can guarantee absolute security. Contact us promptly if you believe your account or personal information has been compromised.
10. Your choices and rights
You can review and update supported profile fields in your customer account. Depending on applicable law, you may also have rights to ask for access, correction, a copy, deletion, restriction, withdrawal of consent, or an explanation of how your information is handled. Some requests may be limited where retention or processing is required by law, needed to protect others, or necessary to complete a service you requested.
Submit a privacy request through our Contact page. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. You may also contact the privacy or consumer authority available in your jurisdiction.
11. Children
Customer accounts are intended for adults. An adult planning family travel may provide limited information such as the number of children travelling, but should not submit unnecessary identifying or sensitive information about a child through the portal. If you believe a child created an account or provided personal information without required parental or guardian authorization, contact us.
12. The policy that applies
The Privacy Policy published on this page is the policy that applies to the website and customer portal. If our practices change, the updated policy will be published at this same address. Where applicable law requires additional notice or consent for a material change, we will provide it.