This Privacy Policy explains how Paddy Staff's Cottage ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you visit our website (paddystaffscottage.com), enquire about the property, or make a booking. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Paddy Staff's Cottage is a self-catering holiday cottage located at Teach Mor East, Inverin, Co. Galway, Ireland, H91 RYT2. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller responsible for your personal data.

Contact for privacy matters:

• ● Email: [insert your contact email]
• ● Phone: 087 68006608
• ● Postal address: Teach Mor East, Inverin, Co. Galway, H91 RYT2, Ireland

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Information you provide directly

• ● Contact form enquiries: your name, email address, phone number, and any details you include in your message (such as travel dates or group size).
• ● Bookings: your name, email address, phone number, postal address, number and (where relevant) names of guests, arrival and departure dates, and any special requests or accessibility requirements you share with us.
• ● Payment details: card and billing information needed to process your booking. This is collected and processed by our booking and payment provider — we do not store your full card details ourselves (see Section 5).
• ● Newsletter / marketing: your name and email address, if you choose to sign up to receive updates and offers.

Information collected automatically

• ● When you visit our website, we and our service providers may collect technical data such as your IP address, browser type and version, device information, pages visited, and the date and time of your visit, via cookies and similar technologies (see Section 7).

3. How and Why We Use Your Information

We use your personal data for the following purposes, each with a lawful basis under GDPR:

• ● To respond to enquiries you send via our contact form or by email — based on our legitimate interest in answering prospective guests, or on steps taken at your request prior to a booking.
• ● To process and manage bookings, including confirming reservations, arranging check-in, and providing guest information — based on the performance of a contract with you.
• ● To take payment for your stay — based on the performance of a contract with you.
• ● To send marketing communications (such as offers and seasonal updates), where you have given your consent — based on your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
• ● To operate, maintain and improve our website and understand how visitors use it — based on our legitimate interests and, for non-essential cookies, on your consent.
• ● To comply with legal obligations, such as tax and accounting requirements — based on compliance with a legal obligation.

4. Booking Platforms

You may also book the cottage through third-party platforms such as Booking.com. When you book through one of these platforms, they collect your personal data under their own privacy policies and share the information necessary to fulfil your booking with us. We use that information only to manage your stay. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any platform you book through.

5. Payment Processing

Our website and direct bookings are operated through our booking platform, Lodgify, which also facilitates secure online payments. Card payments are processed by Lodgify and its payment partners using industry-standard encryption. We do not store or have access to your full card number. These providers act as processors and/or independent controllers of your payment data under their own privacy terms.

6. Who We Share Your Information With

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where necessary, with:

• ● Our booking and website platform (Lodgify) and its payment partners, to operate the site and process bookings and payments.
• ● Third-party booking platforms (such as Booking.com) where you made your reservation through them.
• ● Analytics providers (such as Google Analytics) that help us understand website usage.
• ● Professional advisers, such as our accountant, and relevant authorities (such as Revenue), where required for legal, tax or accounting purposes.
• ● Service providers who help us run the cottage, only to the extent needed to deliver your stay.

Some of these providers may process data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Where that happens, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as European Commission adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses.

7. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help the site function and allow us to understand how it is used.

• ● Essential cookies are necessary for the website and booking process to work.
• ● Analytics cookies (such as Google Analytics) help us measure and improve site performance.

Non-essential cookies are only set with your consent, which you can give or withdraw through the cookie banner on our website. You can also manage or delete cookies through your browser settings, though disabling some cookies may affect how the site works.

8. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described above:

• ● Enquiries that do not lead to a booking: typically retained for up to 12 months.
• ● Booking and payment records: retained for the period required by Irish tax and accounting law (generally six years).
• ● Marketing data: retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw your consent.

9. Your Rights

Under GDPR, you have the right to:

• ● Access the personal data we hold about you.
• ● Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• ● Request erasure of your data in certain circumstances.
• ● Restrict or object to our processing of your data.
• ● Data portability — receive your data in a portable format.
• ● Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent (this does not affect processing carried out before withdrawal).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 1. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish supervisory authority, the Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie), if you believe your data has not been handled properly.

10. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. While no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, we work with reputable providers who apply industry-standard safeguards.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review it periodically.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us:

• ● Email: [insert your contact email]
• ● Phone: 087 68006608
• ● Address: Teach Mor East, Inverin, Co. Galway, H91 RYT2, Ireland