Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

When you book or contact us

• Your full name, nationality and age
• Email address, phone number and WhatsApp number
• Hotel or pickup address and room number (for tours with pickup)
• Tour, date, time slot and number of people or vehicles
• Notes you give us, such as dietary needs or special requests
• Payment status and transaction reference if you pay online (card details are handled by our payment provider – we never see or store your full card number)

When you visit our website

• Technical information our servers record automatically, such as IP address, browser type and device, used for security and to keep the site working.

2. How we use your information

• To run your booking: confirm availability, arrange pickups, send your booking number and confirmation, and meet safety requirements.
• To keep you informed: booking updates, weather and safety notices, and answers to your questions.
• With your consent only: occasional offers, and requests for feedback or reviews.
• To run our business: improve our tours and website, prevent fraud, and meet UAE legal, tax and accounting obligations.

3. Who we share it with

We share only what is needed to deliver your tour:

• Our guides and licensed transport partners, for your tour and pickup
• Payment providers (Stripe or PayPal) when you pay online
• Emergency services, if ever needed for your safety
• Authorities, when required by UAE law, court order or tourism regulations

We never share your personal information with advertisers, and never share it with anyone who is not authorised to receive it.

4. How we protect your data

• All website traffic is encrypted with SSL (HTTPS).
• Online payments go through PCI DSS-compliant payment gateways; we do not store card numbers.
• Access to booking data is limited to staff who need it, under confidentiality agreements.
• Our systems are kept up to date, monitored and backed up, with procedures in place to respond to any incident.

5. Cookies

• Essential cookies only: our website uses only the cookies it needs to work securely, such as session and security cookies.
• No analytics or advertising cookies: we currently don’t use analytics, retargeting or advertising cookies. If that changes, we will update this policy and ask for your consent where required.
• Embedded maps: some pages show Google Maps, which may set its own cookies under Google’s policy.

6. Your rights

• Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, in a commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Correct information that is wrong or out of date.
• Ask us to delete your data, unless we must keep it by law.
• Restrict or object to how we use your data.
• Unsubscribe from offers at any time, and choose how we contact you (email, phone, SMS or WhatsApp).

To use any of these rights, email info@desertbuggys.com. We’ll reply as soon as possible and within the time required by law.

7. How long we keep data

• We keep booking and customer-support records only as long as needed to provide our services and to meet UAE legal, tax and accounting requirements.
• Marketing preferences are kept until you unsubscribe.
• When data is no longer needed it is securely deleted, including from backups. You can ask for earlier deletion at any time, unless the law requires us to keep it.

8. Third-party services

These services help us run the website and your booking. Each has its own privacy policy:

• WhatsApp – booking chats and confirmations
• Google Maps – maps on our location and tour pages
• Stripe – secure online card payments
• PayPal – online payments

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We’ll show the new date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, let you know by email or in your booking confirmation.