Privacy policy
Last updated: 14 November 2026
This policy explains what personal information Saphara Travel collects, why, and what your rights are. We keep it simple, and we only collect what we need to plan and book your travel.
1. Who we are
Saphara Travel is a trading name of Saphara Travel Group Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 16336079.
We're the controller of your personal information. We're registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration reference ZB974796.
Questions about your data: hello@sapharatravel.co.uk.
2. What we collect
When you visit our website
- Our website doesn't use cookies and doesn't store anything you type into the trip form. The form builds a message on your device, which opens in WhatsApp (or your email app) for you to send.
- We may use privacy-friendly analytics that count visits without cookies and without identifying you.
- Like all websites, our hosting provider processes basic technical data (such as your IP address and browser type) to deliver and protect the site.
- Our headline font is loaded from Adobe Fonts, the only third-party font service we use. Adobe receives your IP address to serve the font.
When you contact us or book
- Names, phone number, email address and messages you send us.
- Trip details: destinations, dates, who's travelling, budget, room and meal preferences.
- Details needed to book: names as on passports, dates of birth, children's ages, and where needed passport details and copies.
- Requests that may reveal sensitive information, such as dietary requirements (including halal food), health or mobility needs, or religious requirements such as Umrah travel.
- Payment records: amounts, dates and payment references. We don't see or store card details. If you pay a supplier directly by card, you enter your card details on the supplier's secure payment page.
- Your feedback, reviews and complaints.
3. Why we use it, and our legal basis
| Why | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Answering enquiries, preparing quotes and booking your trip | Taking steps at your request before a contract, and performing our contract with you |
| Passing your details to hotels, airlines and other suppliers to make and manage your booking | Performing our contract with you |
| Using sensitive information you choose to give us (such as health, dietary or religious requirements) to arrange your booking | Your explicit consent, which you can withdraw at any time (this may limit what we can arrange) |
| Keeping accounts and records, and meeting legal and tax obligations | Legal obligation |
| Looking after you during your trip and dealing with problems or complaints | Performing our contract, and our legitimate interest in helping you |
| Asking for a review or feedback after your trip, and occasionally telling past clients about similar trips | Our legitimate interest. You can opt out at any time |
| Protecting our business, for example against fraud | Our legitimate interest |
We never sell your personal information.
4. Who we share it with
We only share what's needed, with:
- Travel suppliers: hotels, airlines, ATOL-holding travel companies, transfer and excursion providers, and the booking platforms and wholesalers we book through. Many are outside the UK.
- Service providers who help us run the business: WhatsApp (Meta), email and file storage (Google, IONOS), our task and booking tools, our bank and card providers, our website host, and invoicing tools. They act on our instructions.
- Professional advisers, insurers and authorities, where needed (for example HMRC, the ICO, or the Civil Aviation Authority if an ATOL holder fails), or where the law requires it.
5. Transfers outside the UK
Booking travel abroad means sending your details to hotels and suppliers in the country you're visiting, which is necessary to perform your booking. Some of our service providers also store data outside the UK, for example in the United States. Where they do, we rely on safeguards recognised under UK law, such as the UK-US data bridge or the ICO's international data transfer agreement.
6. How long we keep it
- Booking, payment and accounting records: 6 years after the end of the financial year of your trip, as required for tax and accounting.
- Passport copies and similar identity documents: deleted within 3 months of your return, unless we need them for a claim or complaint.
- Enquiries that don't lead to a booking: up to 2 years, so we can help if you come back.
- Messages in WhatsApp and email are kept in line with the above.
7. Your rights
You have the right to:
- access the personal information we hold about you
- ask us to correct it
- ask us to delete it (unless we need to keep it by law)
- object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it
- withdraw consent where we rely on it
- ask us to transfer it to you or another organisation.
To use any of these rights, email hello@sapharatravel.co.uk. We'll reply within one month.
8. Keeping it safe
We use password-protected accounts with two-step verification where available, limit access to the people who need it, and only share what's needed.
9. Complaints
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please contact us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
