Lonely Planet Privacy Policy

So who are we?
Lonely Planet operates through different companies around the world that are all part of the Lonely Planet family. Individual Lonely Planet companies sometimes need to share personal information with other companies in the group to let us provide the quality products and standard of service you've come to expect of us.

What do we collect and why do we collect it?
When using our M-Site, we may collect information about you, such as your name, address, e-mail address, and phone number. We generally collect personal information for the following types of purposes:
> obtaining and responding to feedback from travellers;
> providing technical support;
> sending our print and digital newsletters to travellers who ask for them;
> offering on-the-road communications services; and
> contacting customers with exciting travel news and great Lonely Planet offers (but only if they have asked us to).

But it isn't about me!
We welcome your contributions (please don't stop!). But remember, what's "gossip" to you may deserve "privacy" in someone else's eyes. We think everyone in the Lonely Planet community (or even outside it) has the right to some privacy. So please respect the privacy of others. If you want to include information about yourself we assume you understand how our services work and are happy for that information to be shared. If you are unhappy that personal information about you has been included in one of our publications or on one of our bulletin boards, please let us know. Where reasonable and possible we will remove that information at the next practical opportunity - where it has been included in one of our publications that may be the next reprint or next edition.

What about "cookies"?
A "cookie" is a small message given to your mobile phone's browser by our web server (if your phone accepts cookies). The browser stores the message in a text file, and the message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. We make limited use of cookies on our M-Site for the purposes of tailoring our pages to your needs (this may include recording what region of the world you are from so we can send you information relevant to your current location). We do not match cookies to your registration details (that is, if you are registered with us) and we do not use cookies to track your movements after leaving our M-Site. Most browsers allow you to turn off cookies, but note that switching off cookies may restrict your use of our M-Site.

You tell who?
We may share personal information amongst companies in the Lonely Planet family. We may also disclose that information to our travel writers and other contractors who help us put together the Lonely Planet products and services you know and love and, where relevant, to our business partners who assist us in providing these products and services, or to successors in title to our business. This may involve transferring your data from one country to another. By giving us personal information through the Lonely Planet M-site or communicating with us, you acknowledge and agree to our use of your data on a global basis, but if you have any concerns about this please let us know.

We will generally provide you with more details about who we tell and why we tell them when we ask you to give us your personal details. There are some limited exceptions to this (for instance, information sharing between related companies in the Lonely Planet family). If legal or health and safety issues arise we may also have to make disclosures to relevant organisations to deal with these matters.

Complaints, comments or corrections?
To access correct or update your other personal information, or if you have any questions about personal information, please contact us by here or by writing to us at Locked Bag 1, Footscray, Victoria 3011, Australia.

A world without lawyers...
...it's a nice thought. However, for the time being the information handling activities of Lonely Planet are governed by privacy laws throughout the world. For instance, in Australia that means being guided by the Australian National Privacy Principles. In Europe the regulations are based on EC Directive 95/46/EC.