Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Hotel Trails Travel Media Inc. ("we", "us") is a company incorporated in Canada and registered under Business Number 812640397. We publish Hotel Trails at hoteltrails.com, an independent editorial resource about casino hotels and resorts in Canada.

Our registered office is 1055 West Georgia Street, Suite 2400, Vancouver, BC V6E 3P3, Canada. We are the party responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

We are subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the federal Canadian privacy law, and to the anti-spam legislation known as CASL where we send commercial email.

2. The ten principles we work to

PIPEDA sets out ten fair information principles. In plain terms, they commit us to the following.

• Accountability. A named person at our company is responsible for privacy and can be reached at [email protected].
• Identifying purposes. We tell you why we are asking for something at the point we ask for it.
• Consent. We collect and use personal information with your knowledge and consent, and you may withdraw it.
• Limiting collection. We ask for the minimum needed for the stated purpose.
• Limiting use, disclosure and retention. We use information only for the purpose given, and we do not keep it indefinitely.
• Accuracy. We keep what we hold correct and current where it matters.
• Safeguards. We protect what we hold with measures appropriate to its sensitivity.
• Openness. This policy is the practical expression of that principle.
• Individual access. You may ask what we hold about you and require a correction.
• Challenging compliance. You may complain to us, and to the federal Privacy Commissioner if we do not resolve it.

3. What we collect

Information you give us

• Contact form — your name, email address, chosen subject and the content of your message. All four are needed to answer you.
• Newsletter — your email address, and the fact and date of your opt-in.
• Correspondence — anything you send us by email or post, and our reply.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs — your IP address, browser type, the pages requested and the time of the request. These are generated by our hosting infrastructure, are used for security and for diagnosing faults, and are deleted on a rolling basis.
• Analytics — aggregate statistics on which pages are read and for how long, only if you have consented to analytics cookies. If you decline, no analytics data is collected about your visit.

What we never collect

We do not ask for or hold payment card details, banking information, government identification numbers, dates of birth, or any information about gambling activity. We do not operate a casino or a gambling platform and therefore have no player records of any kind. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the legal gaming age in their province.

4. Why we use it

• To answer your message. That is the only reason we ask for your name and email on the contact form.
• To send the monthly editorial email, where you have specifically asked for it.
• To keep the website secure, available and working correctly.
• To understand, in aggregate, which reviews and guides readers find useful — where you have consented to analytics.
• To meet a legal obligation where one applies to us.

We do not use your information to profile you, to target advertising at you individually, or for any automated decision-making.

5. Consent, and taking it back

We rely on your consent. You give it by submitting the contact form after reading this policy, by ticking the newsletter box, or by accepting non-essential cookies in the banner.

You may withdraw consent at any time. Use the unsubscribe link in any email, adjust or withdraw your cookie choice at any point, or write to [email protected]. Withdrawal does not affect anything done before you withdrew, and it will not restrict your access to the website — every page here is readable without consenting to anything beyond what is essential.

6. Email and CASL

Our newsletter is strictly opt-in. The box is never pre-ticked, we do not add anyone who has not asked, and we do not buy or rent mailing lists. Every message identifies Hotel Trails Travel Media Inc., gives our postal address, and carries a working unsubscribe link that takes effect immediately.

The newsletter contains editorial content only — new reviews, ranking changes and updates to provincial gaming rules. It contains no promotions, no offers and no gambling content.

7. Who else sees it

We do not sell personal information. We do not trade it, and we do not disclose it to advertisers.

A limited number of service providers process information on our behalf under contract, and only as needed to run the site: our hosting provider, our email delivery provider, and — where you have consented — our analytics provider. Each is bound to use the information only for the service they provide to us.

Some of these providers operate infrastructure outside Canada, which means information may be stored or processed in another country and could in principle be accessible to that country's courts or authorities. We choose providers who offer protection comparable to what PIPEDA requires.

We will disclose information where the law requires it, where a court orders it, or where it is necessary to protect our rights or someone's safety.

8. How long we keep it

• Contact messages — up to 24 months from your last exchange with us, so that we can follow up on corrections and provide continuity.
• Newsletter subscription — until you unsubscribe, then removed within 30 days apart from a minimal suppression record that stops us contacting you again.
• Server logs — a rolling period not exceeding 12 months.
• Analytics — aggregate only, retained for up to 14 months.
• Cookie choice — held in your own browser for 12 months.

9. How we protect it

The site is served over an encrypted connection. Access to submitted messages is limited to the editorial staff who need it, protected by individual accounts and multi-factor authentication. Our hosting environment is patched on a regular schedule. We collect as little as possible, which remains the most effective safeguard available to a publication of our size.

No system is completely secure. If a breach occurred that created a real risk of significant harm, we would notify affected individuals and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as PIPEDA requires.

10. Your rights

You may ask us to tell you what personal information we hold about you and how it has been used, to correct anything inaccurate, to delete what we hold where we have no obligation to keep it, to withdraw consent, and to receive a copy of what you have given us.

Write to [email protected] or use the contact form with the subject "Privacy or data request". We respond within 30 days at no charge. We may need to confirm your identity before releasing information, and we will ask for no more than is necessary to do so.

11. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, tell us first — write to [email protected] and we will investigate and reply in writing.

If our answer does not resolve it, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: priv.gc.ca, or 1-800-282-1376. Residents of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec may also have recourse to their provincial privacy commissioner.

12. Cookies

Cookies are covered separately and in detail in our Cookie Policy, which lists what is set, by whom and for how long.

13. Other websites

We link to casino hotel websites, provincial regulators and support organisations. Once you follow a link you are on someone else's site under someone else's policy, and we have no control over what they collect. We do not run affiliate links to gambling platforms.

14. Children

This website is intended for adults. Content about casino hotels is not directed at anyone under the legal gaming age in their province — 19 in most of Canada, 18 in Alberta, Quebec and Manitoba. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If you believe we have, write to us and we will delete it.

15. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when our practices or the law change. The date at the top of the page shows the current version. Material changes will be flagged on the site. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated policy.

16. Contact

Hotel Trails Travel Media Inc.
1055 West Georgia Street, Suite 2400
Vancouver, BC V6E 3P3, Canada
[email protected] · +1 (604) 428-7315
Business Number 812640397