Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 November 2026

Who we are

Ascot Private is a trading name of Ascot Tours (Pty) Ltd (registration number 2003/011892/07, VAT number 435 0194 900), of 20 Old Cape Road, Simola Golf Estate, Knysna 6571, South Africa. We are the responsible party for the personal information described here.

Our Information Officer is Scott Edkins, who can be reached at scott@ascotprivate.com or 20 Old Cape Road, Simola Golf Estate, Knysna 6571, South Africa.

What we collect, and why

We collect only what you choose to give us, and use it only for the reason you gave it.

• Journey enquiries (Begin your journey): the kind of journey, approximate dates, the size of your party, your name, email address and phone number, the countries you are interested in, anything else you tell us, and how you heard of us. We use this to reply to you, to plan and price a journey at your request, and, if you travel with us, to book and run it.
• The Journal by post: your name, email address and postal address, to post the Journal to you.
• Email, phone and WhatsApp: whatever you send us when you contact us directly, used to answer you.
• When you travel with us: the details a journey needs, which can include passport details, dates of birth, dietary and medical requirements, and details of children in your party. We ask for these only when they are needed, and we handle health information and children's information with your consent, or that of a parent or guardian, as POPIA requires.
• Server logs: like any website, our web host records the requests made to this site (your IP address, browser and the page requested) to keep the site running and secure. These logs are kept for 90 days.

We process this information because you asked us to (to take the steps you request before a journey, and to carry out the journey itself), with your consent, or where we have a legitimate interest such as keeping the site secure. We do not sell personal information, and we send marketing only to people who have asked for it or who have travelled with us, always with a way to opt out.

How your enquiry reaches us

Until our enquiry system is connected, the form on this site opens an email in your own email app, with your answers filled in, addressed to scott@ascotprivate.com and info@ascotprivate.com. Nothing is sent until you press send there. When the form sends your answers to us directly, they go to our enquiry system, run for us by Tourhub (The Tour Hub (Pty) Ltd, South Africa).

If you message us on WhatsApp, WhatsApp's own privacy policy also applies to that conversation.

Who we share it with

A journey is made by several people, so we share the details each one needs, and only those:

• the lodges, camps and hotels where you stay;
• the air operators and pilots who fly you;
• ground partners: guides, golf clubs, transfer companies and activity providers;
• our service providers (operators under POPIA), such as email, hosting and our enquiry system: Google Workspace (email and documents), Google Analytics (visit statistics), Antikythera (website hosting, South Africa), Tourhub (enquiries and quotations) and WhatsApp (messaging). They may use your information only on our instructions and must keep it secure.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it.

Information sent outside South Africa

Our journeys cross borders, so the lodges, operators and partners above are often in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia or Zimbabwe, and some service providers store data in other countries. Under section 72 of POPIA we send personal information across a border only where the transfer is needed to arrange and carry out the journey you asked for, where you have consented, or where the recipient is bound by law, a binding agreement or binding corporate rules that give protection substantially similar to POPIA.

How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the reason it was collected, or as long as the law requires:

• enquiries that do not lead to a journey: 24 months from our last contact with you;
• booking, travel and payment records: five years after the journey, as the Tax Administration Act and the Companies Act require;
• the Journal mailing list: until you ask us to stop.

After that we delete or destroy it, or keep it only in a form that no longer identifies you.

How we protect it

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to keep your information safe from loss, misuse and unauthorised access: this site is served over an encrypted connection, access to enquiries is limited to the people who need them, and our service providers must protect it to the same standard. Enquiries and bookings are held in password-protected accounts with two-step verification, and paper records are kept at our registered office. If we believe your information has been accessed by someone without authority, we will tell you and the Information Regulator, as POPIA requires.

Cookies and analytics

This site uses Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are read, so we can improve the site. Google sets cookies (named _ga and _ga_ followed by an identifier) that tell returning visits apart for up to two years; they hold a random number, not your name, and we do not link them to any enquiry. The information (the pages you visit, your rough location from your IP address, your browser and device) goes to Google LLC in the United States under Google's standard data protection terms. You can keep Google from measuring your visit with its opt-out browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout, or by blocking cookies in your browser; the site works the same either way. Apart from Google Analytics, the site sets no cookies, stores nothing in your browser's local or session storage, and loads no scripts from other companies. If that changes, we will update this policy first.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and for a copy of it;
• ask us to correct, update or delete it;
• object to our processing it, and withdraw your consent at any time;
• ask us to stop sending you marketing;
• complain to the Information Regulator.

To use any of these rights, write to our Information Officer at scott@ascotprivate.com. We may need to confirm who you are first, and we will answer within a reasonable time. Our POPIA and PAIA manual is available from the Information Officer on request.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You may also complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa): inforegulator.org.za, POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it last changed.