Privacy Policy

Bench Africa is committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of both existing and prospective clients.

We share the concerns of our clients over the protection of their personal information. It is for this reason that Bench Africa adheres to the National Privacy Principles (NPPs) in accordance with the private sector provisions of the Privacy Act 1988, and the Spam Act 2003.

Your personal information

Bench Africa will only gather personal information that is reasonable and fair for the operation of the organisation in order to deliver a service to you.  The types of personal information that Bench Africa collects will depend on the circumstances of collection, and on the type of service you request from us. These purposes include registering to receive e-newsletters, brochure requests brochures and further information about our trips, making a booking or asking a question about Bench Africa’s products. When you request us to make your travel arrangements, we may collect necessary personal information from you such as your name, address, passport details, flight and other travel details, credit card number and expiry date, billing address, telephone numbers (including emergency contact details), dietary requirements (if any), insurance details and medical conditions relevant to your travel arrangements.

There may be occasions when Bench Africa collects information about you from a third party, for example, from people booking travel on your behalf (e.g. your travel agent).  To the extent that Bench Africa needs to collect information about you of a sensitive nature (for instance, in relation to your medical conditions), Bench Africa will obtain your consent first as required by law and provide reasons why Bench Africa needs to collect the information.

Accuracy of information collected

When collecting, using and disclosing personal information, Bench Africa will take all reasonable measures to ensure the information is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Anonymity

You have the option of dealing anonymously with Bench Africa wherever it is reasonable to do so. However, please note there will be circumstances where anonymity will not be possible, such as where you purchase products and services. In those instances, the information you supply will always be treated in accordance with this Policy.

Security of information

Bench Africa will take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information supplied. This includes taking appropriate measures against unauthorised access, modifications, misuse and disclosure. Bench Africa will also take reasonable steps to destroy personal information if it is no longer required. This destruction of personal information will be by secure means, for example shredding. Personally identifiable information is stored on servers that are not publicly available and is only accessed by Bench Africa’s employees on a 'need-to-know' basis. Credit card details are NOT stored on Bench Africa’s servers when you book.

Disclosure to third parties

Bench Africa will not sell, rent or trade your personal information to any other third party. The only organisations that will have access to your personal information collected by Bench Africa are third parties that require your personal information with respect to any booking that you make, such as your travel agent, hotels, airlines, and other product and service providers.

To the extent that Bench Africa needs to disclose your personal information to third parties, Bench Africa will use its best endeavours to ensure that the relevant parties are reputable companies and are bound by similar privacy policies.

Information collected via cookies

Anonymous information is collected from every visitor to the Bench Africa website. We use this information to ensure our website remains relevant and appropriate for the majority of users. Bench Africa does not make any association between this information and any visitor's personal details. A cookie is a simple text file that is stored by the browser (e.g. Internet Explorer) on your computer or mobile device. They allow a website to ‘remember’ you.

We use cookies to ensure we are showing you the correct currency and content for your country, and to improve your user experience by letting you navigate between pages efficiently, and generally improve your experience of a website. Analytics cookies allow us to measure marketing activity and monitor website usage. A cookie triggers a ‘memory’ for the website, enabling it to recognise a user and respond appropriately. These cookies make the interaction between you and the website faster and easier, and cannot harm your computer.

For more information see: http://www.allaboutcookies.org

Direct marketing

Bench Africa conducts direct marketing efforts in order to provide the best service and product to its customers. Bench Africa may at times send you information and offers that Bench Africa considers may be of interest to you. Any email direct marketing will contain a link that will enable you to unsubscribe at any time as well as Bench Africa’s contact details should you no longer wish to receive any direct marketing material from Bench Africa.

Bench Africa complies with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). If you receive information from the Bench Africa, it is because you have asked to hear from Bench Africa, you have entered a competition, joined our Bucket List and agreed to join Bench Africa’s mailing list, or a friend / colleague has requested it on your behalf and you have confirmed this to Bench Africa.

If you no longer wish to receive any direct marketing material please contact info@benchafrica.com.au at any time.

Surveys

Bench Africa values opinions and comments from its customers, and you may have the opportunity to give Bench Africa your feedback through Bench Africa’s website. We may ask for your personal information so that Bench Africa can appropriately identify you. Survey and personal information collected will be aggregated and used to improve Bench Africa’s products and services. Participation in these surveys is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose the required information in order to participate.

Access to your personal information

All personal information about you held by Bench Africa will be made available to you upon request. If upon this disclosure it is established that the information is not accurate, complete and up-to-date Bench Africa will take correct the information as soon as reasonably practicable.

Any request for information may be made to the Bench Africa at GPO Box 3435, Sydney NSW 2001 or via telephone on +61 2 9290 2877, or email: info@benchafrica.com.au

Links

Bench Africa’s website may contain links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another website. Bench Africa encourage you to read the privacy statements of these linked sites as their privacy policy may differ from ours.

Other websites linked to/from the Bench Africa website may not be affiliated or associated with, or controlled by, Bench Africa. Bench Africa is not responsible for any content contained on those websites, or any loss you may suffer in relation to the use of those websites. If you visit those websites, you will visit them entirely at your own risk and release Bench Africa (including its employees and agents) resulting from or in connection with the inclusion of links to other websites or your use of those websites.

Bench Africa does not endorse or represent the companies, products or content linked to this website and Bench Africa reserves the right to terminate any link or linking program at any time.

Complaints about a breach of privacy

All staff members of the Bench Africa endeavour to take every reasonable measure to ensure that your personal information is protected. Any complaint of breach of privacy may be made to the Bench Africa at GPO Box 3435, Sydney NSW 2001 or via telephone on +61 2 9290 2877, email: info@benchafrica.com.au or fax +61 2 9290 2665.

All complaints will be investigated as soon as lodged and all reasonable efforts will be made to resolve the complaint as soon as possible.