Chatbot Privacy Policy

Here's how we protect your data and respect your privacy.

Our role in your privacy

If you are using the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot (built by Hopstay) on Facebook Messenger or using our website chatbot plugin, this policy applies to you. If you are visiting a website linked to the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot, you should check the privacy policy of that business.

Our responsibilities

If you are using the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot or are a visitor to our website, we act as the ‘data controller’ of personal data. This means we determine how and why your data are processed.

Your responsibilities

• Read this Privacy Policy
• If you are a Tourism Northern Ireland Newsletter subscriber, please also check the agreements between us: they may contain further details on how we collect and process your data.
• If you provide us with personal information about other people, or if others give us your information, we will only use that information for the specific reason for which it was provided to us. By submitting the information, you confirm that you have the right to authorise us to process it on your behalf in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

When & how we collect your data

From the first moment you interact with the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot, we are collecting data along with Hopstay as our authorized agent. Sometimes you provide us with data, sometimes data about you is collected automatically.

Here’s when and how we do this:

DATA YOU GIVE (*)

DATA WE COLLECT (#)

#             You browse any page of our website

*             We call you

*#           You use the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot

#             You receive emails from us

*#           You view Tourism Northern Ireland content via the chatbot or website

*#           You chat with us for customer support

#             You opt-in to marketing messages

Types of data we collect

Contact details

Your first & last name, email address.

Data that identifies you

Your first name, last name, your IP address, Facebook ID, geolocation information about where you might be, the time zone you may be in, locale information about what language you might speak.

Data on how you use the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot

Clickstreams (the path you take through the chatbot), URLs clicked via the chatbot, products/services viewed, chatbot response times, chatbot and URL errors, how long you stay on sections of the chatbot, what you do on certain sections of the chatbot, how often you use the chatbot, and other actions.

What about really sensitive data?

We don’t collect any “sensitive data” about you (such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious/philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, health data, data about your sexual life or orientation, and offences or alleged offences) except when we have your specific consent, or when we have to comply with the law.

What about children’s data?

The Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot is a citizen services chatbot directed to and intended for use only by those who are 16 years of age or over. We do not target the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot at those under 16 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect any personal data from any person under 16 years of age.

How & why we use your data

Data protection law means that we can only use your data for certain reasons and where we have a legal basis to do so. Here are the reasons for which we process your data:

Keeping the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot running:

Managing your requests (like viewing relevant content, sharing a content card with a friend), authentication, remembering your settings & preferences, hosting & back-end infrastructure.

Legal basis: legitimate interests

Improving the Tourism Northern Ireland Chatbot:

Testing features, interacting with feedback platforms, heat mapping our site, traffic optimization & data analysis & research, including profiling & the use of machine learning & other techniques over your data & in some cases using third parties to do this.

Legal basis: legitimate interests

Customer support:

Notifying you of any changes to our services, solving issues via messenger chat, phone or email including any bug fixing.

Legal basis: legitimate interests

Marketing purposes (with your consent):

Sending you email & messages about new features, products & services, and content.

Legal basis: consent

Here’s what each of these “legal bases” mean:

Consent

You have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose.

You can change your mind

If you have not previously given consent to our processing your data, you can freely withdraw such consent at any time. You can do this by emailing us at info@tourismni.com.

If you do withdraw your consent, and if we do not have another legal basis for processing your information, then we will stop processing your personal data. If we do have another legal basis for processing your information, then we may continue to do so subject to your legal rights.

Legitimate interests

Processing your data is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, provided those interests are not outweighed by your rights and interests. These legitimate interests are:

• gaining insights from your behaviour on our website or in our chatbot
• delivering, developing and improving the chatbot service
• enabling us to enhance, customise or modify our services and comms
• determining whether marketing campaigns are effective
• enhancing data security

In each case, these legitimate interests are only valid if they are not outweighed by your rights and interests.

Your privacy choices and rights

Your choices

You can choose not to provide us with personal data.

If you choose to do this, you can continue to use the chatbot, but we will not be able to provide meaningful content without personal data.

You can ask us not to use your data for marketing.

We will inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for marketing and if third parties are involved. You can opt out from marketing by emailing us at info@tourismni.com.

Your rights

You can exercise your rights by sending us an email at info@tourismni.com.

You have the right to access information we hold about you

This includes the right to ask us supplementary information about:

• the categories of data we’re processing
• the purposes of data processing
• the categories of third parties to whom the data may be disclosed
• how long the data will be stored (or the criteria used to determine that period)
• your other rights regarding our use of your data

We will provide you with the information within one month of your request, unless doing so would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of other (e.g. another person’s confidentiality or intellectual property rights). We’ll tell you if we can’t meet your request for that reason.

You have the right to make us correct any inaccurate personal data about you

You can object to us using your data for profiling you or making automated decisions about you.

We may use your data to determine whether we should let you know information that might be relevant to you (for example, tailoring emails to you based on your behaviour). Otherwise, the only circumstances in which we will do this is to provide the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot service to you.

You have the right to port your data to another service

We will give you a copy of your data in a format that enables you to provide it to another service. If you ask us and it is technically possible, we will directly transfer the data to the other service for you. We will not do so to the extent that this involves disclosing data about any other individual.

You have the right to be ‘forgotten’ by us

You can do this by asking us to erase any personal data we hold about you, if it is no longer necessary for us to hold the data for purposes of your use of the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot.

You have the right to lodge a complaint regarding our use of your data.

How secure is the data we collect?

We have physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. For more information on our efforts to ensure your data is held in a secure manner, please contact us.

And please remember:

• You provide personal data at your own risk: unfortunately, no data transmission is guaranteed to be 100% secure
• You are responsible for your Facebook username and password: keep them secret and safe!

If you believe your privacy has been breached, please contact us immediately at info@tourismni.com.

Where do we store the data?

The personal data we collect is processed at Hopstay’s (the creator of this chatbot) offices in Paris, France & Adelaide, Australia; the Tourism Northern Ireland’s offices in Belfast, Northern Ireland and any data processing facilities operated by authorized third parties.

By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing by us. If we transfer or store your information outside the EEA in this way, we will take steps to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

How long do we store your data?

We will archive and stop actively using any personal identifiable information about you within 6 months from the last time you used the Tourism Northern Ireland chatbot. We will delete your personal data from our archives no later than 6 years from the last time you used the chatbot.

Third parties who process your data

Technology businesses like Hopstay often use third parties to help them host their application, communicate with customers, power their emails etc. With Hopstay as our authorized agent, we partner with third parties who we believe are the best in their field at what they do.

When we do this, sometimes it is necessary for us to share your data with them in order to get these services to work well. Your data is shared only when strictly necessary and according to the safeguards and good practices detailed in this Privacy Policy.

One last thing…

Please don’t make this the last time you read this Privacy Policy as we will post any changes on this page - significant changes will of course be notified to you by Facebook Messenger or email.