Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the processing of your personal data (hereinafter "Personal Data"), as a hostel guest or visitor of our website (hereinafter "Guest" or "Visitor" or "you"), carried out by RODOS BACKPACKERS (hereinafter "hostel" or "we" or "us").

As a hostel guest or visitor of our website you are entitled to the protection of your Personal Data. The hostel respects your privacy and personal data, and always complies with the Personal Data Protection Legislation. The hostel also undertakes to act in a transparent manner, regarding the collection and use of data in the course of fulfilling its obligations.

The term "Personal Data Protection Legislation" (hereinafter "Legislation") implies all Greek or European laws, regulations, directives, etc., regarding the processing of Personal Data, their privacy and security.

Basic, but not exclusive statutes are the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the ePrivacy Directive for the protection of privacy in electronic communications, and any other Opinion or Guideline issued by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (DPA).

It is important that you read carefully and keep this policy, which explicitly explains how and why we collect your Personal Data, what do we do with them, how long do we maintain them, with whom we are sharing them, how we protect them, and your rights regarding them.

The hostel, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, acts as "Data Controller". This means that the hostel is responsible for deciding on the ways and purposes for which it collects and uses (hereinafter "processes") your personal data.

Our contact details are: Rodos Backpackers, Boutique Hostel & Apartments, Panagioti Rodiou 58, Rhodes Greece, +30 2241 888020.

In the context of complying with the Data Protection Legislation, we make every possible effort to: process your Personal Data in a fair, legal, legitimate, clear, objective and transparent manner; collect your data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes, and assure you they will not be used for any other purpose; collect and maintain the least possible data, appropriate and indispensable for processing purposes; confirm that the data are correct and kept up-to-date; retain your data only as long as we need them; make sure the data are securely stored; and process your data so as to ensure they will not be used unlawfully or against your will.

We process your Personal Data according to at least one of the following legal bases: it is necessary for the execution of our contract; it is based on your consent for one or more specific purposes; it is mandatory for compliance with legislation that obliges the hostel to maintain and process special categories of personal data; it is necessary for protecting your vital interests or those of another natural entity; it is necessary for the legitimate interests sought by the hostel or a third party, unless overridden by your rights and freedoms; or it is necessary for the performance of a duty carried out for the public interest.

Personal Data include any information related to you as a recognizable individual, including: identity data (name, gender, date of birth, marital status, ID or passport number, nationality, country of residence, profession); contact details (address, phone, fax, email); stay-related data (room preferences, arrival and departure dates, IDs of guests staying in the room); consumption of products and services and related charges; financial information such as payment method, credit card information, TIN, and transaction history; special requests and preferences related to your stay; health information, allergies and nutritional preferences; communication preferences; CCTV footage from hostel security systems; health data collected in the event of illness, injury, accident or emergency; complaint or objection records; and feedback on your satisfaction and experience.

When you use our website, we also automatically collect information such as language settings, IP address, location, device settings, device OS, time of use and redirection URL, some of it via cookies (described in our Cookies Policy). We also use Google Analytics to analyze site usage. In case of registration via third-party systems (Social Media Login), we may access specific profile information for internal administrative purposes.

We do not process minors' data without the consent of their parent or guardian.

The General Data Protection Regulation specifies special data categories that require stricter procedures, such as health-related data. We only process such data when you provide it to us directly (e.g. stating your allergies) or when required by applicable law.

Usually you provide your own personal data, but it may also come from: travel agents, business associates and third-party reservation systems; information created when you use our products and services; family members, associates or beneficiaries; our website; and business partners such as financial institutions or insurers involved in providing our services.

We process your data to: execute our contract and fulfill reservation and stay obligations, including payment handling; handle requests and special circumstances related to your stay; protect your vital interests and the public interest; protect the hostel's legitimate interests without compromising yours; handle communication requests; comply with legal and tax obligations, including requests from authorities; handle complaints, incidents, illnesses or emergencies during your stay; contact you or another person in an emergency; provide personalized information and services during your stay; run direct marketing activities such as newsletters and promotions (with your consent), including publishing photos and videos (with your consent); evaluate our promotional campaigns; identify and prevent fraud and other illegal activities; improve visitor experience and our services using your reviews and ratings; and protect your security and prevent unlawful actions against you.

Your personal data will be used solely for the purposes for which it was collected, or compatible purposes. If we need to use it for a new purpose, we will inform you and, where required, request your consent.

We do not make any decisions that may significantly affect you, including profiling, in a fully automated way.

To fulfill our contractual and legal obligations, the hostel may transmit personal data to third parties including credit institutions, tax authorities, accounting service providers, travel agents, suppliers, insurance companies, doctors, lawyers, health bodies, maintenance and other service providers, and any third party necessary to fulfill our regulatory obligations. We require these third parties to process your data confidentially and securely, and never for their own purposes.

Specific data may be forwarded to your relatives with your prior consent or in an emergency. The hostel will not sell your personal data to third parties under any circumstances, and will not allow any third party to sell data we have shared with them.

We cooperate with third parties to offer online reservation services, such as Booking.com, Web Hostelier and Channel Managers. Although we provide the content to these websites and you book directly with us, reservation processing is handled by these third parties, who do not use your data for purposes other than managing reservations.

We will use and disclose personal data where necessary to: comply with law authorities and governmental requirements, including to prevent or prosecute criminal offenses and fraud; comply with applicable law, including outside your country of residence; comply with legal process; respond to public authority or national security requests; and deal with emergencies.

Your personal data may occasionally be transmitted to third countries outside the EU. This only happens where the European Commission has determined an adequate level of protection, or where appropriate safeguards (such as approved standard contractual clauses) and enforceable rights are in place.

We keep your Personal Data for as long as needed to fulfill the purposes in this policy and our contractual and legal obligations, considering: the duration of our relationship with you; unfinished reservations; legal obligations to retain records; tax and legal recommendations; reasonable business needs; potential legal claims; and mandatory regulatory retention periods.

If processing is based on your consent, we may delete the data once consent is revoked. Data is also deleted once it is no longer necessary, to comply with legal obligations, or at your request where no compelling legal reason exists to keep it. Data is destroyed securely when no longer needed, though some financial records may be retained for legitimate accounting purposes.

Under the Personal Data Protection Legislation, you have the right to: transparency about who processes your data and why; access your personal data free of charge; request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data; request deletion under certain conditions; request limitation of processing; request portability of your data to another controller where feasible; and object to processing of your personal data, including automated processing.

If we process your data based on legitimate or public interest, you may object at any time. If processing is based on consent, you may revoke it at any time without consequence beyond our inability to continue that specific processing.

You may exercise your rights by emailing privacy@backpackers.gr or using the Data Subject Request Form. We aim to respond within thirty (30) days. If unsatisfied with our response, you may complain to the Hellenic Data Protection Authority.

Data is stored across physical files, our website, our Property Management System and other IT systems, without compromising its content. We apply technical and organizational security measures to prevent unauthorized access, loss, alteration or disclosure. Access is limited to those who need it professionally, and any third-party processor must agree to equivalent security measures. In the event of a data breach, we will notify you and the relevant regulatory bodies as legally required.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to file a complaint about how your data is processed, please contact us using the details in the Data Controller section above.

Our website may link to other websites or social networks. We have no control over those sites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please review the privacy policy of any third-party site you visit.

Third-party businesses operating within the hostel premises are not governed by this Privacy Policy. Please review their own privacy practices directly.

The hostel reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time to reflect regulatory, business or operational changes. Updates are posted on our website with a publication date, so you always know when the policy was last updated. We encourage you to check this page periodically.