Privacy & Cookie Policy

1 Information We Collect

a) Information you give us

When you choose to contact us or use our services — through an enquiry form, booking form, hotel/flight/visa request, product order, review, or when you register as a customer, agent or operator — we collect the details you provide, which may include:

• Name, email address and phone / WhatsApp number
• Travel details (destinations, dates, number of travellers, service type)
• For bookings and visa/travel services: passport and identity details, address, and documents you upload (e.g. Aadhaar, PAN, passport, photo, bank details for agents/operators)
• Reviews, messages and any information you include in a form's notes

b) Information collected automatically

When you visit the site we collect basic, largely anonymous technical data to keep the site working and improve it:

• Approximate location (country / city), derived from your IP address
• Device type, browser and operating system
• How you reached us (referring site or search term)
• Pages viewed, time and date of visit, and general usage patterns
• Cookie and similar identifiers (see Section 3)

We do not knowingly collect more sensitive data than we need, and we never store your full card or payment-account numbers on our own systems (see Section 5).

2 How We Use Your Information

We use the information above to:

• Respond to your enquiries and process your Umrah, Hajj, hotel, flight, visa and store requests
• Create and manage your account and communicate about your bookings and applications
• Verify identity and documents where a service (such as a visa) legally requires it
• Take payments through our payment provider and issue receipts
• Understand how the site is used so we can improve our services and content
• Show and measure advertising, including Google AdSense ads (see Sections 3 & 4)
• Keep the site secure and prevent fraud or abuse
• Meet our legal, tax and regulatory obligations

3 Cookies & Similar Technologies

A cookie is a small text file stored on your device that helps a website work, remember your choices, and understand how it is used. We and our partners use cookies and similar technologies (such as local storage and pixels) in the categories below. When you first visit, our cookie notice lets you know these are in use.

Managing cookies

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time, and you can opt out of personalised advertising cookies as described in Section 4. Blocking essential cookies may stop parts of the site (such as sign-in, cart or booking) from working.

4 Advertising & Google AdSense

We may display third-party advertising on our website, including through Google AdSense. To do this, the following applies:

• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website and/or other websites on the Internet.
• Google's use of advertising cookies (including the DoubleClick cookie) enables Google and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Third-party vendors and ad networks may also use cookies to serve ads on our site and measure their performance.

If you have not opted out of third-party ad serving, the cookies of other third-party vendors or ad networks may also be used to serve ads on our site. Even if you opt out of personalised ads, you may still see ads — they simply will not be tailored to your interests.

5 How & With Whom We Share Data

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with trusted service providers who help us run our business, and only as far as needed for the service they provide:

• Google (Firebase & Google Sheets) — secure storage of your account data, bookings, forms and uploaded documents.
• Google Analytics — anonymised, aggregated site-usage statistics.
• Google AdSense & ad partners — for the advertising described in Section 4.
• Razorpay (payment gateway) — to process payments securely. Your card and bank details are handled by Razorpay under their own PCI-DSS-compliant systems and are not stored on our servers.
• Our authorised agents / operators — only the specific booking they are assigned to help you with.
• Government, immigration or airline authorities — where required to deliver a visa, ticket or travel service you requested, or where the law requires it.

We may also disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, safety and security of our users and our business.

6 Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored on Google's secure cloud infrastructure (Firebase and Google Sheets) — encrypted in transit and at rest, protected by access controls, and accessible only to our core team and, where relevant, the agent or operator assigned to your booking. We use Google App Check and reCAPTCHA to protect against abuse. While no system can be guaranteed 100% secure, we take industry-standard measures to protect your information.

7 How Long We Keep Data

We keep your personal information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected, and to meet legal, tax and accounting obligations:

• Enquiries & unconverted leads — typically up to 24 months.
• Bookings, orders & financial records — for the period required by applicable tax and travel-trade law.
• Account & KYC documents — while your account is active and as required for verification and legal compliance.

You can ask us to delete your data at any time (see Section 8); we will do so unless we are legally required to retain it.

8 Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Delete your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to legal retention rules
• Withdraw consent or object to certain processing, including advertising
• Request a copy of your data in a portable format
• Lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority

To exercise any of these rights, email us at info@bakarandsonstravels.com and we will respond within the timeframe required by law. Signed-in customers, agents and operators can also view and update much of their information directly in their dashboard.

9 Children's Privacy

Our website and services are intended for adults booking travel. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18 except as part of a family travel booking made by a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has provided us data without appropriate consent, please contact us and we will delete it.

10 International Data Transfers

We operate between India and Saudi Arabia, and our service providers (such as Google) operate globally. Your information may therefore be processed in countries other than your own. Where this happens, we rely on providers who apply recognised safeguards and security standards to protect your data.

11 Legal Compliance

We handle personal data in line with applicable data-protection laws, including:

• 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia — Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL), 2023
• 🇮🇳 India — Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023
• 🇪🇺 / 🇬🇧 EU & UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Google Publisher Policies & AdSense Program Policies for the advertising on our site

12 Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology or the law. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Significant changes may also be highlighted through our on-site notice. Please review this page periodically.