Privacy Policy Statement

Last Revision: July 14, 2023

Introduction

First things first – your privacy is important to us. That might be the kind of thing all these notices say, but we mean it. You place your trust in us by selecting Whitewater Express for your adventure. Our company’s primary responsibility is to minimize the risks faced by the guests participating in any of the various adventures we offer. Our commitment to minimizing risk applies to every aspect of your adventure and includes safeguarding the personal information that we collect about you. We act in the best interest of our guests, and we are transparent about the collection, storage, and processing of your personal data.

This document (‘this Privacy Statement’ or ‘our Privacy Statement’) describes how we collect, use, and process your personal data, provided in a readable and transparent manner. It also tells you what rights you can exercise in relation to your personal data and how you can contact us. Please also read our Cookie Statement, which tells you how Whitewater Express uses cookies and other similar tracking technologies.

If you have used us before, you know that Whitewater Express offers online travel-related services through our own websites and mobile apps, as well as other online platforms such as partners’ websites and social media. We would like to point out that all the information you are about to read applies not to one, not two, but all these platforms.

In fact, this single privacy statement applies to any kind of customer information we collect through all the above platforms or by any other means connected to these platforms (such as when you contact our customer service team by email).

If you are one of our business partners, make sure to also check out our Privacy Statement for Business Partners to understand how personal data is further processed as part of the business relationship.

We might amend this Privacy Statement from time to time, so we recommend you visit this page occasionally to make sure you know where you stand. If we make any updates to this Privacy Statement that will have an impact on you, we will notify you about the changes before any new activities begin.

Terms we use in this Privacy Statement

‘Trip’ means any various travel products and services that can be ordered, acquired, purchased, bought, paid, rented, provided, reserved, combined, or consummated by you from the Trip Provider.

‘Trip Provider’ means the provider of accommodation (e.g. hotel, motel, short-term rental, camping, bunkhouse), attractions (e.g. rafting passes, lift tickets, equipment rentals), transportation provider (e.g. car rentals, cruises, rail, airport rides, coach tours, transfers), tour operators, travel insurances and any other travel or related product or service as from time to time available for Trip Reservation on the platform.

‘Trip Service’ means the online purchase, order, (facilitated) payment or reservation service offered or enabled by Whitewater Express in respect of various products and services as made available by Trip Providers on the platform.

‘Trip Reservation’ means the order, purchase, payment, booking or reservation of a Trip.

Overview of Topics we discuss in this Privacy Statement

What kind of personal data does Whitewater Express collect?

We cannot help you book the perfect Trip without information, so when you use our services there are certain things we ask for. This is typically routine information – your name, preferred contact details, the names of the people travelling with you and your payment information. You might also decide to submit additional information related to your upcoming Trip (for example, your anticipated arrival time).

In addition to this, we also collect information from the computer, phone, tablet, or other device you use to access our services. This includes the IP address, the browser you are using and your language settings. There are also situations in which we receive information about you from others or when we automatically collect other information.

This is the general overview but if you would like to know more about the information we collect, we go into more detail below.

Why does Whitewater Express collect and use your personal data?

The main reason we ask you for personal details is to help you organize your online Trip Reservations and ensure you get the best service possible.

We also use your personal data to contact you about the latest deals, exclusive offers and other products or services we think you might be interested in. There are other uses, too. If you would like to find out what they are, read on for a more detailed explanation.

How does Whitewater Express share your data with third parties?

There are different parties integrated into Whitewater Express’s services, in numerous ways and for several reasons. The primary reason we share your data is to supply the Trip Provider with the relevant information to complete your Trip Reservation.

We also involve other parties to provide you with Whitewater Express services. This includes, for example, financial institutions, advertisers, subsidiaries of Chattahoochee Rafting Company, Inc. and the other companies that form the Whitewater Express Organization. Or, in some cases, if we are required to by law, we might share your data with governmental or other authorities

Below, we go into more detail about how the information you share with us is used and exchanged with these parties.

How is your personal data shared within the Whitewater Express Organization?

The Whitewater Express Organization is comprised of four operating companies: Chattahoochee Rafting Company, Inc., TN Whitewater, LLC, Ski Celebration Holdings, LLC, and Smoky Mountain Sports, LLC. The four companies have the same ownership and have shared management, sales, and support teams. Read on to find out more about how your data may be shared within the Whitewater Express Organzation.

How does Whitewater Express process communications that you and your Trip Provider may send via Whitewater Express?

Whitewater Express can help you and Trip Providers exchange information or requests about services and existing Trip Reservations, through the Whitewater Express platform. If you want to find out more about how Whitewater Express receives and handles these communications, read on here.

How does Whitewater Express make use of mobile devices?

We offer free apps, through which we also collect and process personal data. This works in much the same way as our website, but they also allow you to benefit from the location services available on your mobile device(s).

How does Whitewater Express make use of social media?

The use of social media may be integrated into Whitewater Express services in numerous ways. These will involve us collecting some of your personal data or the social media provider receiving some of your information. If you would like to learn more about how this information is used and exchanged, read on.

What security and retention procedures does Whitewater Express put in place to safeguard your personal data?

We have implemented a range of procedures to prevent unauthorized access to, and the misuse of, personal data that we process.

How does Whitewater Express treat personal data belonging to children?

Unless indicated otherwise, Whitewater Express is a service you are only allowed to use if you are over 16 years of age. We only process information about children with the consent of their parents or legal guardians, or when the information is shared with us by the parents or legal guardians themselves.

How can you control the personal data you have given to Whitewater Express?

Among other things, you have the right to review the personal data we keep about you at any time and request access to or deletion of your personal data by submitting this form. If you want to find out more about your rights to control your personal data, read on.

Who is responsible for the processing of personal data on the Whitewater Express website and apps?

The four companies listed as part of the Whitewater Express Organization each are located in Decatur, Georgia, United States, control the processing of personal data for the provision of its services. That includes its websites and mobile apps, except for some exceptions that are clarified in this privacy statement.

Country-specific provisions

Depending on the law that applies to you, we may be required to provide some additional information. If applicable, you will find additional information for your country or region below.

What kind of personal data does Whitewater Express collect?

OK, so you are looking for some more in-depth information. Here is a closer look at what we collect.

Personal data you give to us.

Whitewater Express collects and uses information you provide to us. When you make a Trip Reservation, you are (at a minimum) asked for your name and email address.

Depending on the Trip Reservation, we may also ask for your home address, telephone number, payment information, date of birth, current location (in the case of on-demand services), the names of the people travelling with you and any preferences you might have for your Trip (such as dietary or accessibility requirements). In some cases, you may also be able to check-in online with the Trip Provider, for which we will ask you to share passport information or a driving license and signatures.

If you need to contact our customer service team, contact your Trip Provider through us, or reach out to us in a separate way (such as social media or via a chatbot) we will collect information from you there, too. This applies whether you are contacting us with feedback or asking for help using our services.

You might also be invited to write reviews to help inform others about the experiences you had on your Trip. When you write a review on the Whitewater Express platform, we will collect any information you have included, along with your display name and avatar (if you choose one).

There are other instances where you will provide us with information, as well. For example, if you are browsing with your mobile device, you can decide to allow Whitewater Express to see your current location or grant us access to some contact details. This helps us to give you the best possible service and experience by, for example, showing you a program guide, suggesting the nearest adventures or accommodation to your location, or making other recommendations.

If you create a user account, we will also store your personal settings, uploaded photos, and reviews of previous bookings there. This saved data can be used to help you plan and manage future Trip Reservations or benefit from other features only available to account holders (such as incentives or other benefits).

You can also choose to add details from your identification documents to your user accounts, so that you do not have to submit this information for each individual Trip Reservation.

We may offer you referral programs or sweepstakes, and participating in these will mean providing us with relevant personal data.

Personal data you give us about others.

In some cases, you might use Whitewater Express to share information with others. This can take the form of sharing a wish list, taking part in a travel community, or participating in a referral program, as described when you use the relevant feature.

At this point, we must make it clear that it is your responsibility to ensure that the person or people you have provided personal data about are aware that you have done so, and that they have understood and accepted how Whitewater Express uses their information (as described in this Privacy Statement).

Personal data we collect automatically.

Whether or not you end up making a Trip Reservation, when you visit our websites or apps, we automatically collect certain information. This includes your IP address, the date and time you accessed our services, and information about your computer’s hardware and software (such as the operating system, the internet browser used, software/application version data and your language settings). We also collect information about clicks and which pages have been shown to you.

If you are using a mobile device, we collect data that identifies the device, as well as data about your device-specific settings and characteristics, app crashes and other system activity. When you make a Trip Reservation using this kind of device, our system registers how you made your reservation (on which website), and/or which site you came from when you entered the Whitewater Express website or app.

Personal data we receive from other sources.

It is not just the things you tell us, though – we may also receive information about you from other sources. These include business partners, such as affiliate partners, subsidiaries of the Whitewater Express Organization, and other independent third parties.

Anything we receive from these partners may be combined with information provided by you. For example, Whitewater Express Trip Reservation services are not only made available via Whitewater Express and the Whitewater Express apps but are also integrated into services of affiliate partners you can find online. When you use any of these services, you provide the reservation details to our business partners who then forward your details to us.

We also integrate with third party service providers to facilitate payments between you and Trip Providers. These service providers share payment information so we can administer and handle your Trip Reservation, making sure everything goes as smoothly as possible for you.

Also, we collect information in the regrettable case that we receive a complaint about you from a Trip Provider, for example, misconduct.

Another way we might receive data about you is through the communication services integrated into our platforms. These communication services offer you a way to contact the Trip Provider you have booked with to discuss your stay. In some cases, we receive metadata about these communication activities (such as who you are, where you called from, and the date and length of the call).

We may also receive information about you to show you more relevant ads, such as the additional cookie data Whitewater Express social media partners make available to us. Please read the section Why does Whitewater Express collect and use your personal data? for more information.

When you link your Whitewater Express user account to your social media account, you might trigger exchanges of data between Whitewater Express and that social media provider. You can always choose not to share that data.

Trip Providers may share information about you with Whitewater Express, too. This could happen if you have support questions about a pending Trip Reservation, or if disputes or other issues arise about a Trip Reservation.

Why does Whitewater Express collect and use your personal data?

We use the information collected about you for a variety of purposes. Your personal data may be used in the following ways:

A. Trip Reservations

First, we use your personal data to complete and administer your online Trip Reservation – which is essential for us to provide this service for you. This includes sending you communications that relate to your Trip Reservation, such as confirmations (including, where applicable, providing you with proof of purchase and/or payment), modifications and reminders. In some cases, this may also include processing your personal data to enable online check-in with the Trip Provider or processing personal data in relation to damaged deposits.

B. Customer service

We provide telephone-based and in-person guest service support from our locations in two languages, and we are available to help from 9:00 AM through 6:00 PM Eastern Time, 7 days a week. In addition to telephone and in-person support, our website offers automated guest services support that can handle most routine questions 24 hours per day, seven days a week. We share relevant details, such as reservation information or information about your user account with our guest services staff, which allows us to respond when you need us. This includes helping you to contact the right Trip Provider and responding to any questions you might have about your Trip Reservation (or any other queries, for that matter).

C. Account facilities

Whitewater Express users can create an account on our website or apps. We use the information you give us to administer this account, allowing you to do several useful things. You can manage your Trip Reservations, take advantage of unique offers, make future Trip Reservations easily and manage your personal settings.

Managing personal settings gives you the ability to keep and share lists, share photos, easily see Trip Services you have searched for and check travel-related information you have provided. You can also see any reviews you have written.

If you want to, you can share certain information as part of your user account, by creating a public profile under your own first name or a screen name you choose.

D. Marketing activities

We will use your information for marketing activities. These activities include:

Using your contact information to send you regular news about travel-related products and services. You can unsubscribe from email marketing communications quickly, easily and at any time. All you need to do is click on the ‘Unsubscribe’ link included in each newsletter or other communication or manage your preferences via your account settings.
Based on your information, individualized offers might be shown to you on the Whitewater Express website, in mobile apps or on third-party websites/apps (including social media sites) and the content of the site displayed to you might be personalized. There could be offers that you can book directly on the Whitewater Express website, on co-branded sites, or other third-party offers or products we think you might find interesting.
When you participate in other promotional activities (such as sweepstakes, referral programs or competitions), only relevant information will be used to administer these promotions.
Individuals and Organizations that provide us with Personal Information, or whose Personal Information we obtain from Third Parties, may receive periodic emails, newsletters, mailings, or phone calls from us with information on Whitewater Express or our business partners’ products and services or upcoming special offers/events we believe may be of interest. These communications can be declined by following the opt-out link in the communication (if it is electronic), sending a fax to +1 (404) 325-3918, contacting our guest services staff at +1 (800) 676-7238 during regular business hours (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time Daily), sending an email to dataprotection@whitewater.express or by mail at the following address: Whitewater Express, Attn: Data Protection, 1549 Clairmont Road, Suite 201, Decatur, GA 30033, United States. Your request must include your name, a list of the specific information your request covers, and be signed by the person making the request. Requests should include a copy of the front of a government-issued identification document of the person making the request. If the request is for someone under the age of 18, it must include the signature of a parent or guardian. Lastly, if the request is on behalf of an organization the request should be on the organization’s letterhead or include proof of the authority of the person making the request.

E. Communicating with you

There might be other times when we get in touch, including by email, by chatbot, by post, by phone or by texting you. Which method we choose depends on the contact information you’ve previously shared.

We process the communications you send to us. There could be several reasons for this, including:

Responding to and handling any requests you or your booked Trip Provider have made. Whitewater Express also offers customers and Trip Providers several ways to exchange information, requests, and comments about Trip Providers and existing Trip Reservations via Whitewater Express. For more information, read the section titled ‘How does Whitewater Express process communications that you and your Trip Provider send through Whitewater Express?’
If you have started but not finished a Trip Reservation online, we might contact you to invite you to continue with your reservation. We believe that this additional service benefits you as it allows you to pick up the process where you left off without having to search for a Trip Provider or fill in your reservation details again.
When you use our services, we might send you a questionnaire or invite you to provide a review of your experience with Whitewater Express or the Trip Provider.
We also send you other material related to your Trip Reservations, such as how to contact Whitewater Express if you need assistance while you are away, and information that we feel might be useful to you in planning or getting the best out of your Trip. We might also send you material related to upcoming Trip Reservations or a summary of previous Trip Reservations you made through Whitewater Express.
Even if you do not have an upcoming Trip Reservation, we may still need to send you other administrative messages, which could include security alerts.
In case of misconduct, we may send you a notice and/or warning.

F. Market research

We sometimes invite our customers to take part in market research. Please see the information that accompanies this kind of invitation to understand what personal data will be collected and how that data is used.

G. Improving our services

We also use personal data for analytical purposes and product improvement. This is part of our commitment to making our services better and enhancing the user experience.

In this case, we use data for testing and troubleshooting purposes and to generate statistics about our business. The main goal here is to get insights into how our services perform, how they are used, and to optimize and customize our website and apps, making them easier and more meaningful to use. As much as possible, we strive to use anonymized and de-identified personal data for this analytical work.

H. Customer reviews and other destination-related information:

During and after your Trip, we might invite you to submit a review. We can also make it possible for the people you are travelling with or whom you have booked a reservation for to do this instead. This invitation asks for information about the Trip Provider or the destination.

If you have a Whitewater Express account, you can choose to display a screen name next to your review, instead of your real name. If you would like to set a screen name, you can do that in your account settings. Adding an avatar is also possible.

By completing a review, you’re agreeing that it can be displayed (as described in detail in our Terms and Conditions) on, for example, the relevant Trip Provider information page on our websites, on our mobile apps, on our social media accounts and social media apps, or on the online platform of the relevant Trip Provider or business partner’s website. This is to inform other travelers about the quality of the Trip Service you used, the destination you have chosen or any other experiences you choose to share.

I. Call monitoring

When you make calls to our customer service team, Whitewater Express uses an automated telephone number detection system to match your telephone number to your existing reservations. This can help save time for both you and our customer service staff. However, our customer service staff may still ask for authentication, which helps to keep your reservation details confidential.

During calls with our customer service team, live listening might be carried out or calls might be recorded for quality control and training purposes. This includes using the recordings for handling complaints, legal claims, and fraud detection.

We do not record all the calls. In the case that a call is recorded, each recording is kept for a limited amount of time before being automatically deleted. This is unless we have determined that it is necessary to keep the recording for fraud investigation or legal purposes. You can read more about this below.

J. Promotion of a safe and trustworthy service

To create a trustworthy environment for you, the people you bring with you on your Trip, Whitewater Express’s business partners and our Trip Providers, we continuously analyze and use certain personal data to detect and prevent fraud and other illegal or unwanted activities.

Similarly, we use personal data for risk assessment and security purposes, including when you report a safety concern, or for the authentication of users and reservations. When we do this, we may have to stop or put certain Trip Reservations on hold until we have finished our assessment.

K. Legal purposes

In certain cases, we may need to use your information to handle and resolve legal claims and disputes, for regulatory investigations and compliance, to enforce the Whitewater Express online reservation service terms of use or to comply with lawful requests from law enforcement.

L. Human Resource Data

Whitewater Express collects Personal Information from current, prospective, and former Employees, their contact points in case of a medical emergency, and beneficiaries under any insurance policy (“Human Resources Data”). The Human Resources Data we collect may include title, name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, passport number, driver’s license number, Social Security number or other government-issued identification number, financial information related to credit checks, bank details for payroll, information that may be recorded on a CV or application form, language abilities, contact information of third parties in case of an emergency and beneficiaries under any insurance policy. We may also collect Sensitive Human Resources Data such as details of health and disability, including mental health, medical leave, and maternity leave.

We acquire, hold, use and process Human Resources-related Personal Information for a variety of business purposes including:

workflow management, assigning, managing, and administering projects;
human Resources administration and communication;
payroll and the provision of benefits;
compensation, including bonuses and long-term incentive administration, stock plan administration, compensation analysis, including monitoring overtime and compliance with labor laws, and company recognition programs;
job grading activities;
performance and employee development management;
organizational development and succession planning;
benefits and personnel administration;
make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities;
absence management;
helpdesk and IT support services;
regulatory compliance;
internal and/or external or governmental compliance investigations;
internal or external audits;
litigation evaluation, prosecution, and defense;
diversity and inclusion initiatives;
restructuring and relocation;
emergency contacts and services;
workplace safety;
compliance with statutory and contractual requirements;
processing of Employee expenses and travel charges; and
acquisitions, divestitures, and integrations.

Providing your personal data to Whitewater Express is voluntary.

However, we may only be able to provide you with certain services if we can collect some personal data. For instance, we cannot process your Trip Reservation if we do not collect your name and contact details.

If we use automation to process personal data which produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects you, we will always implement the necessary measures to safeguard your rights and freedoms. This includes the right to obtain human intervention.

To process your personal data as described above, we rely on the following legal bases:

As applicable, for purposes A and B, Whitewater Express relies on the legal basis that the processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract, specifically to finalize and administer your Trip Reservation.

If the required personal data is not provided, Whitewater Express cannot finalize the Trip Reservation, nor can we provide customer service. In view of purposes C to J, Whitewater Express relies on its (or third parties’) legitimate interest, to provide and improve services and to prevent fraud and other illegal acts (as set out more specifically under C to J).

When using personal data to serve the legitimate interests of Whitewater Express or a third party, Whitewater Express will always balance your rights and interests in the protection of your personal data against Whitewater Express’s rights and interests or those of the third party. For purposes K to L, Whitewater Express also relies, where applicable, on compliance with legal obligations (such as lawful law enforcement requests).

Finally, where needed under applicable law, Whitewater Express will obtain your consent prior to processing your personal data, including for email marketing purposes, or as otherwise required by law.

If you wish to object to the processing set out under C to J and no opt-out mechanism is available to you directly (for example, in your account settings), please contact us at dataprotection@whitewater.express.

How does Whitewater Express share your data with third parties?

In certain circumstances, we will share your personal data with third parties. These third parties include:

The Trip Provider you booked:

To complete your Trip Reservation, we transfer relevant reservation details to the Trip Provider you have booked. This is one of the most essential things we do for you.

Depending on the Trip Reservation and the Trip Provider, the details we share can include your name, contact and payment details, the names of the people accompanying you and any other information or preferences you specified when you made your Trip Reservation.

In certain cases, we also provide some additional historical information about you to the Trip Provider. This includes whether you have already booked with them in the past, the number of completed bookings you have made with Whitewater Express, a confirmation that no misconduct has been reported about you, the percentage of bookings you have cancelled in the past or whether you have given reviews about past bookings.

If you have a query about your Trip, we may contact the Trip Provider to handle your request. Unless payment is made during the booking process, via the Whitewater Express website, we will forward your credit card details to the booked Trip Provider for further handling (assuming you have provided us with those details).

In cases of Trip Reservation-related claims or disputes, we may provide the Trip Provider with your contact details and other information about the booking process, as needed to resolve the situation. This can include, but might not be limited to, your email address and a copy of your reservation confirmation as proof that a Trip Reservation was made or to confirm reasons for cancellation.

For completeness, Trip Providers will further process your personal data outside of the control of Whitewater Express. Trip Providers may also ask for additional personal data, for instance to provide additional services, or to comply with local restrictions. If available, please read the Privacy Statement of the Trip Provider to understand how they process your personal data.

Connectivity Providers

Please note that certain Trip Providers may need us to share your personal data with a contracted Connectivity Provider to be able to finalize and administer your reservation. Connectivity providers act on behalf of Trip Providers and help them to manage their reservations.

Whitewater Express Locations

To support the use of Whitewater Express services, your details may be shared with subsidiaries of the Whitewater Express Organization, including for customer service. To find out more about the Whitewater Express Organization, visit About Whitewater Express.

Third-party service providers

We use service providers from outside of the Whitewater Express Organization to support us in providing our services. These include:

Customer support
Market research
Fraud detection and prevention (including anti-fraud screening)
Payments, Chargebacks, Billing, and Collections

We use third parties to process payments, handle chargebacks or provide billing collection services. When a chargeback is requested for your Trip Reservation, either by you or by the holder of the credit card used to make your reservation, we need to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution so they can handle the chargeback. This may also include a copy of your reservation confirmation, or the IP address used to make your reservation. We may share information with relevant financial institutions if we consider it strictly necessary for fraud detection and prevention purposes.

When a chargeback is requested for your Trip Reservation, either by you or by the holder of the credit card used to make your reservation, we need to share certain reservation details with the payment service provider and the relevant financial institution so they can handle the chargeback. This may also include a copy of your reservation confirmation, or the IP address used to make your reservation.

We may also share information with relevant financial institutions if we consider it strictly necessary for fraud detection and prevention purposes.

Marketing services

We share personal data with advertising partners, including your email address, IP address and telephone number, as part of marketing Whitewater Express services via third parties (to ensure that relevant advertisements are shown to the right audience). We use techniques such as hashing to enable the matching of your email address, IP address and/or telephone number with an existing customer database, to prevent this data from being used for other purposes. For information on other personalized advertisements and your choices, please read our Cookie Statement.

Advertising partners

We use advertising partners, such as metasearch providers, to allow you to compare our offers with offers from Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). When you make a reservation on Whitewater Express after using an advertising partner, we will send the details of the reservation that you made on Whitewater Express to that partner.

Other professional third parties: In certain cases (such as disputes or legal claims or as part of auditing activities), we may need to share your personal data with professional advisors. These advisors include parties such as law firms or auditors. We only share your personal data to the extent that is necessary and such third parties process this data in line with their own professional obligations.

Competent authorities

We disclose personal data to law enforcement to the extent that it is required by law or is strictly necessary for the prevention, detection or prosecution of criminal acts and fraud, or if we are otherwise legally obligated to do so. We may need to further disclose personal data to competent authorities to comply with a legal obligation (for instance, under short term rental laws), to protect and defend our rights or properties, or the rights and properties of our business partners.

Business partners

We work with many business partners around the world. These business partners distribute and advertise Whitewater Express services, including the services and products of our Trip Providers.

When you make a reservation on one of our business partners’ websites or apps, certain personal data that you give them, such as your name and email address, your address, payment details and other relevant information, will be forwarded to us to finalize and manage your Trip Reservation.

If customer service is provided by the business partner, Whitewater Express will share relevant reservation details with them (as and when needed) to provide you with appropriate and efficient support.

When you make a reservation through one of our business partners’ websites, the business partners can receive certain parts of your personal data related to the specific reservation and your interactions on these partner websites. This is for their commercial purposes.

When you make a reservation on a business partners’ website, please also take the time to read their privacy notice if you would like to understand how they process your personal data.

For fraud detection and prevention purposes, we may also exchange information about our users with business partners – but only when strictly necessary.

If an insurance claim is made, concerning you and a Trip Provider, we may provide the necessary data (including personal data) to the insurance company for further processing.

Partner Offer

We may present you with a ‘Partner Offer.’ When you book a stay marked ‘Partner Offer,’ your reservation will be facilitated by a Trip Provider who is separate from the accommodation you are booking. As part of the reservation process, we will need to share some relevant personal data with this business partner.

If you book a Partner Offer, please review the information provided in the booking process or check your reservation confirmation for more information about the Trip Provider and how they will further process your personal data.

The Whitewater Express Organization:

Read about how we share your personal data with the Whitewater Express Organization.

Whitewater Express, like every business that offers its products and services for sale online, is a global business. The data that we collect from you, as described in this Privacy Statement, could be made accessible from, transferred to, or stored in countries which may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially provided the information. In such cases, we will protect your data as described in this Privacy Statement.

This may also be applicable if you are in the European Economic Area (EEA). Countries your data may be transferred to may not have laws that provide the same level of protection for your personal data as laws within the EEA. Where this is the case, we will put appropriate safeguards in place to make sure that these transfers comply with European privacy law.

When your data is transferred to third-party service providers, we establish and implement appropriate contractual, organizational, and technical measures with them. This is done by putting in place Standard Contractual Clauses as approved by the European Commission, by examining the countries to which the data may be transferred, and by imposing specific technical and organizational security measures.

In certain specific cases, we transfer your data outside the EEA because it is in your interest or is necessary to conclude or fulfil the contract, we have with you. For instance, when you make a reservation on whitewaterexpress.com or through a business partner, we might need to transfer your data to a Trip Provider or business partner located outside the EEA.

You can ask us to see a copy of our implemented safeguards (where possible) by contacting us at dataprotection@whitewater.express.

How is your personal data shared within the Whitewater Express Organization?

We may receive personal data about you from other companies in the Whitewater Express Organization, or share your personal data with them, for the following purposes:

To provide services (including to make, administer and manage reservations or handle payments).
To provide customer service.
To detect, prevent and investigate fraudulent, other illegal activities and data breaches.
For analytical and product improvement purposes
To provide personalized offers or send you marketing with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law.
For hosting, technical support, overall maintenance and maintaining security of such shared data.
To ensure compliance with applicable laws

As applicable and unless indicated otherwise, for purposes 1 to 6, Whitewater Express relies on its legitimate interests to share and receive personal data. For purpose 7, Whitewater Express relies, where applicable, on compliance with legal obligations (such as lawful law enforcement requests).

All companies within the Whitewater express group of companies may need to exchange personal customer data to ensure all users are protected from fraudulent activities on their online platforms.

How does Whitewater Express process communications that you and your booked Trip Provider may send via Whitewater Express?

Whitewater Express can offer you and Trip Providers several ways to communicate about the Trip Services and existing Trip Reservations, directing the communications via Whitewater Express. This also allows you and your Trip Provider to contact Whitewater Express with questions about your Trip Reservation through the website, our apps, and the other channels that we make available.

Whitewater Express accesses communications and may use automated systems to review, scan, and analyze communications for the following reasons:

Security purposes
Fraud prevention
Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
Investigations of potential misconduct
Product development and improvement
Research
Customer engagement (including to provide you with information and offers that we believe may be of interest to you)
Customer or technical support

We reserve the right to review or block the delivery of communications that we, in our sole discretion, believe might contain malicious content or spam, or pose a risk to you, Trip Providers, Whitewater Express or others.

All communications sent or received using Whitewater Express communication tools will be received and stored by Whitewater Express. Trip Providers and Business partners you have booked a Trip Reservation through might also choose to communicate with you directly by email or through other channels that Whitewater Express does not control.

How does Whitewater Express make use of mobile devices?

We offer free apps for a range of different mobile devices, as well as versions of our regular website that have been optimized for browsing on a mobile and tablet.

These apps and mobile websites process the personal details you give us in much the same way as our website does. They also allow you to use location services to find Trip Services nearby if you want to.

With your consent, we may send you push notifications with information about your Trip Reservation. You can also choose to grant us access to your location data or contact details to provide services you have requested. If you upload pictures to our platform, these pictures may include location information (known as metadata) as well. Please read your mobile device’s instructions to understand how to change your settings and control the sharing of this category of data.

When you choose to use our ‘Voice Assistant’ to search our services or manage your bookings, your speech will be anonymously translated into text by a third-party service provider. You will need to give us access to your device’s microphone to use this feature.

To optimize our services and marketing activities, and to make sure we give you consistent user experience, we use something known as ‘cross-device tracking.’ This can be done with or without the use of cookies. For more general information about cookies and other similar technologies, please see our Cookie statement.

With cross-device tracking, Whitewater Express can track user activity across multiple devices. As part of cross-device tracking, we may combine data collected from a particular browser or mobile device with data from another computer or device used by the same customer.

To optimize the content of the Whitewater Express newsletter, we combine searches and reservations made from different computers and devices. You can unsubscribe from the Whitewater Express newsletter at any time.

Personalized ads shown to you on other websites or in apps can be offered based on your activities on linked computers and devices. By changing the cookie settings on your device (see our Cookie statement under ‘What are your choices?’), you can change your cross-device tracking settings for advertisement purposes. You should know that logging out of your Whitewater Express account does not mean that you will no longer receive personalized ads.

How does Whitewater Express make use of social media?

At Whitewater Express, we use social media in many ways. We use it to facilitate the use of online reservation services, but also to promote our Trip Providers’ travel-related products and services and to advertise, improve and facilitate our own services.

Note that the use of social media features can result in the exchange of personal data between Whitewater Express and the social media service provider, as we describe below. You are free not to use any of the social media features available to you.

Sign in with your social media account

We offer you the opportunity to sign into a Whitewater Express user account with one of your social media accounts. We do this to reduce the need for you to remember different usernames and passwords for different online services.

After you have signed in once, you will be able to use your social media account to sign into your Whitewater Express account. You can decouple your Whitewater Express user account from your chosen social media account any time you want to.

Integration of social media plugins

We have also integrated social media plugins into the Whitewater Express website and apps. This means that when you click or tap on one of the buttons (such as Facebook’s ‘Like’ button), certain information is shared with these social media providers.

If you are logged into your social media account when you click or tap one of these buttons, your social media provider may relate this information to your social media account. Depending on your settings, they might also display these actions on your social media profile, to be seen by others in your network.

Other social media services and features

We may integrate other social media services (like social media messaging) for you to interact with Whitewater Express or with your contacts about our services.

We may maintain social media accounts and offer apps on several social media sites. Whenever you connect with Whitewater Express through social media, your social media service provider may allow you to share information with us.

If you choose to share, your social media provider will inform you about which information will be shared. For example, when you sign into a Whitewater Express user account using your social media account, certain information from that account may be shared with Whitewater Express. This includes your email address, your age, and the profile pictures you have saved – depending on what you authorize in your social media account.

When you register with a Whitewater Express social media app or connect to a social media messaging service without a Whitewater Express user account, the information you choose to share with us may include the basic information available in your social media profile (including your email address, status updates and a list of your contacts).

We will use this information to help provide you with the service you requested – for example, to forward a message you want to send to your contacts, or to create a personalized user experience in the app or on our websites. It means that if you want us to, we can tailor our services to suit your needs, connecting you and your friends with the best travel destinations and analyzing and improving our travel-related services.

Your social media provider will be able to tell you more about how they use and process your data when you connect to Whitewater Express through them. This can include combining the personal data they collect when you use Whitewater Express through them with information they collect when you use other online platforms you have also linked to your social media account.

If you decide to connect using your Facebook or Google account, please review the following links for information about how these parties use data they receive: Facebook and Google.

What security and retention procedures does Whitewater Express put in place to safeguard your personal data?

We have procedures in place to prevent unauthorized access to, and the misuse of, personal data.

We use appropriate business systems and procedures to protect and safeguard your personal data. We also use security procedures and technical and physical restrictions for accessing and using personal data on our servers. Only authorized personnel are permitted to access personal data in the course of their work.

We’ll keep your personal data for as long as is necessary to enable you to use our services or to provide our services to you (including maintaining any Whitewater Express user accounts you may have), to comply with applicable laws, resolve any disputes and otherwise to allow us to conduct our business, including to detect and prevent fraud and/or other illegal activities. All personal data we keep about you as a Whitewater Express customer is covered by this Privacy Statement.

For added protection, we strongly recommend that you set up two-factor authentication for your Whitewater Express user account. This adds an extra authentication step, to make sure that anyone who gets hold of your username and password (e.g., through phishing or social engineering) will not be able to get into your account. You can set this up in the Security section of your account settings.

How does Whitewater Express treat personal data belonging to children?

Our services are not intended for children under 16 years old, and we will never collect their data unless it is provided by (and with the consent of) a parent or guardian. The limited circumstances we might need to collect the personal data of children under 16 years old include: as part of a reservation, the purchase of other travel-related services, or in other exceptional circumstances (such as features addressed to families). Again, this will only be used and collected as provided by a parent or guardian and with their consent.

If we become aware that we have processed the information of a child under 16 years old without the valid consent of a parent or guardian, we will delete it.

How can you control the personal data you have given to Whitewater Express?

We want you to be in control of how your personal data is used by us. You can do this in the following ways:

You can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you,
You can inform us of any changes to your personal data, or you can ask us to correct any of the personal data we hold about you. As explained below, you can make some of these changes yourself, online, when you have a user account,
In certain situations, you can ask us to erase, block, or restrict the processing of the personal data we hold about you, or object to ways in which we are using your personal data,
In certain situations, you can also ask us to send the personal data you have given us to a third party,
Where we are using your personal data based on your consent, you are entitled to withdraw that consent at any time subject to applicable law, and
Where we process your personal data based on legitimate interest or the public interest, you have the right to object to that use of your personal data at any time, subject to applicable law.

We rely on you to make sure that your personal information is complete, accurate and current. Please do let us know about any changes to, or inaccuracies in, your personal information as soon as possible.

If you have a Whitewater Express user account, you can access a lot of your personal data through our website or apps. You will find the option to add, update or remove information we have about you in your account settings.

Users with a Whitewater Express account can also request that we delete your account through the Whitewater Express app. Note that app features can vary between operating systems and their third-party software providers.

If any of the personal data we have about you is not accessible through our website or apps, you can send us a request.

If you want to exercise your right of access or erasure, make any requests relating to this Privacy Statement, to exercise any of your other rights, or if you have a complaint, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@whitewater.express. You can also contact your local data protection authority.

If you would like to object to your personal data being processed based on legitimate interest and there is no way to opt out directly, please contact us at dataprotection@whitewater.express.

If you would like to contact us by mail, please address it to the Data Protection Officer and use the following postal address: Whitewater Express, Attention: Data Protection, 1549 Clairmont Road, Suite 201, Decatur, Georgia 30033, United States of America.

Who is responsible for the processing of personal data via Whitewater Express and how to contact us?

Chattahoochee Rafting Company, Inc. controls the processing of personal data, as described in this Privacy Statement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. Chattahoochee Rafting Company, Inc. is a private Domestic Profit Corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of Alabama and has its principal offices at 1549 Clairmont Road, Suite 201, Decatur, Georgia, United States of America.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, or about our processing of your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@whitewater.express and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

For questions about a reservation, please contact our guest services team through our contact page.

Requests from law enforcement should be submitted in writing to us via mail to our principal office at the address listed above. All requests from law enforcement must include one of the following documents authorizing the release of the information: (1) a certified copy of signed order from a court of with the authority to compel production of the documents; (2) a signed and notarized letter from the primary account holder that was signed no more than 90 days (about 3 months) prior to the date Whitewater Express initially receives the request; (3) Proof of valid statutory authority which allows Whitewater Express to release the information without incurring liability for unauthorized disclosure. Additionally, the exact documents or type of information requested must be specifically referenced in the request. Any request which Whitewater Express, in its sole opinion deems to be overly broad or to be ‘blanket’ in nature will be rejected and no documents or information will be produced until Whitewater Express receives a modified request or an unappealable court order for the release of the information.

Country-specific provisions

Depending on the law that applies to you, we may be required to provide some additional information. If applicable, you will find additional information for your country or region below.

Cookie statement

Whenever you use our online services or apps, we use cookies and other online tracking technologies (which we will also refer to as ‘cookies’ for the purpose of this Cookie Statement).

Cookies can be used in numerous ways, including to make the Whitewater Express website work, to analyze traffic, or for advertising purposes.

Read on below to learn more about what a ‘cookie’ is, how they are used and what your choices are.

What are cookies and online tracking technologies?

A web browser cookie is a small text file that websites place on your computer or mobile device’s web browser.

These cookies store information about the content you view and interact with to remember your preferences and settings or analyze how you use online services.

Cookies are divided into ‘first party’ and ‘third party.’

First–party cookies are those served by the domain’s owner, Whitewater Express. Any cookie we place ourselves is a ‘first party cookie.’

Third party cookies are cookies placed on our domains by trusted partners that we have chosen to allow to do so. These can be social media partners, advertising partners, security providers and more.

And they can be either ‘session cookies’ or ‘permanent cookies’:

Session cookies only exist until you close your browser, ending what is called your ‘session.’ They are then deleted.

Permanent cookies have a range of different lifespans and stay on your device after the browser is closed. On the Whitewater Express platform, we try to only serve permanent cookies (or allow permanent cookies to be served by third parties) that have a limited lifespan. However, for security reasons, or in other exceptional circumstances, we might sometimes need to give a cookie a longer lifespan.

Web browser cookies may store information such as your IP address or another identifier, your browser type, and information about the content you view and interact with on digital services. By storing this information, web browser cookies can remember your preferences and settings for online services and analyze how you use them.

What are other tracking technologies utilized?

Alongside cookies, we also use tracking technologies that are similar. Our website, emails and mobile apps may contain small transparent image files or lines of code that record how you interact with them. These include ‘web beacons,’ ‘scripts,’ ‘tracking URLs,’ or ‘software development kits’ (known as SDKs):

Web beacons have a lot of different names. They might also be known as web bugs, tracking bugs, tags, web tags, page tags, tracking pixels, pixel tags, 1×1 GIFs or clear GIFs.

In short, these beacons are a tiny graphic image of just one pixel that can be delivered to your device as part of a web page request, in an app, an advertisement or an HTML email message.

They can be used to retrieve information from your device, such as your device type or operating system, your IP address, and the time of your visit. They are also used to serve and read cookies in your browser or to trigger the placement of a cookie.

Scripts are small computer programs embedded within our web pages that give those pages a wide variety of extra functionality. Scripts make it possible for the website to function properly. For example, scripts power certain security features and enable basic interactive features on our website.

Scripts can also be used for analytical or advertising purposes. For example, a script can collect information about how you use our website, such as which pages you visit or what you search for.

Tracking URLs are links with a unique identifier in them. These are used to track which website brought you to the Whitewater Express website or app you are using. An example would be if you click through from a social media page, search engine or one of our affiliate partners’ websites.

Software Development Kits (SDKs) are part of our apps’ source code and unlike browser cookies, SDK data is stored in the app storage.

They are used to analyze how the apps are being used or to send personalized push notifications. To do this, they record unique identifiers associated with your device, like device ID and IP address, as well as your in-app activity and your network location.

All these tracking technologies are referred to as ‘cookies’ here in this Cookie Statement.

How are cookies used?

Cookies are used to collect information, including:

IP address
Device ID
Viewed pages
Browser type
Browsing information
Operating system
Internet service provider
Timestamp
Whether you have responded to an advertisement
A referring URL
Features used or activities engaged in on the website/apps

They allow you to be recognized as the same user across the pages of a website, across devices, between websites or when you use our apps. When it comes to purpose, they are divided into three categories – functional cookies, analytical cookies, and marketing cookies.

Functional cookies

These cookies are required for our websites and apps to function, and they must be enabled for you to use our services.

Functional cookies are used to create technologically advanced, user-friendly websites and apps that adapt automatically to your needs and preferences, so you can browse and book easily. This also includes enabling essential security and accessibility features.

More specifically, these cookies:

Enable our website and apps to work properly, so you can create an account, sign in, and manage your bookings.

Remember your selected currency and language settings, your past searches, and other preferences to help you use our website and apps efficiently and effectively.

Remember your registration information, so that you do not have to retype your login credentials each time you visit our website or app. (Do not worry, passwords will always be encrypted.)

Analytical cookies

These cookies measure and track how our websites and apps are used. We use this information to improve our website, apps, and services.

More specifically, these cookies:

Help us understand how visitors and customers like you use Whitewater Express and our apps.
Help improve our website, apps, and communications to make sure we are interesting and relevant.
Allow us to find out what works and what does not on our website and apps.
Help us understand the effectiveness of advertisements and communications.
Teach us how users interact with our website or apps after they have been shown an online advertisement, including advertisements on third-party websites.
Enable our business partners to learn whether their customers make use of any accommodation offers integrated into their websites.

The data we gather through these cookies can include which web pages you have viewed, which referring/exit pages you have entered and left from, which platform type you have used, which emails you have opened and acted upon, and date and time stamp information. It also means we can use details about how you have interacted with the site or app, such as the number of clicks you make on a given screen, your mouse movements and scrolling activity, the search words you use and the text you enter various fields.

Marketing cookies

These cookies are used by Whitewater Express and our trusted partners to gather information about you over time, across multiple websites, applications, or other platforms.

Marketing cookies help us to decide which products, services, and interest-based advertisements to show you, both on and off our website and apps.

More specifically, these cookies:

Categorize you into a certain interest profile, for instance, based on the websites you visit and your click behavior. We use these profiles to display personalized content (such as travel ideas or specific accommodations) on Whitewater Express and other websites.

Display personalized and interest-based advertisements both on the Whitewater Express website, our apps, and other websites. This is called ‘retargeting’ and is based on your browsing activities, such as the destinations you have been searching for, the accommodation you have viewed and the prices you have been shown. It can also be based on your shopping habits or other online activities.

Retargeting ads can be shown to you both before and after you leave Whitewater Express, as their purpose is to encourage you to browse or return to our website. You might see these ads on websites, in apps or in emails.

Integrate social media into our website and apps. This allows you to like or share content or products on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, and LinkedIn.

These ‘like’ and ‘share’ buttons work using pieces of code from the individual social media providers, allowing third party cookies to be placed on your device.

These cookies can be purely functional, but they can also be used to keep track of which websites you visit from their network, to build a profile of your online browsing behavior and to show you personalized ads. This profile will be partly built using comparable information the providers receive from your visits to other websites in their network.

To read more about what social media providers do with your personal data, look at their cookie and/or privacy statements: Facebook (includes Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network), Snapchat, Pinterest and Twitter. Be aware these statements may be updated sometimes.

We work with trusted third parties to collect data. We may also sometimes share information with these third parties, such as your email address or phone number. These third parties might link your data to other information they collect to create custom audiences or deliver targeted ads. For information on how these third parties process your data, please look at the following links: How Google uses information, Facebook’s data policy.

Non-cookie techniques – email pixels

We may also use techniques, such as pixels, which we do not mark as cookies because they do not store any information on your device.

We sometimes place pixels in emails, such as newsletters. A ‘pixel’ is an electronic file the size of a single pixel, that is placed in the email and loaded when you open it. By using email pixels, we can see if the message was delivered, when you read the message and what you click on.

We also received this information about the push notifications we sent you. These statistics provide us with feedback about your reading behavior, which we use to optimize our messages and make our communication more relevant to you.

What are your choices?

To learn more about cookies and how to manage or delete them, visit allaboutcookies.org or the help section of your browser.

In the settings for browsers like Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, or Chrome, you can choose which cookies to accept and which to reject. Where you find these settings depends on which browser you use:

If you choose to block certain functional cookies, you may not be able to use some features of our services.

In addition to specific settings that we may offer on the Whitewater Express and apps, you can also opt-out of certain cookies:

Analytics

To prevent Google Analytics from collecting analytical data on certain browser types visit the following link: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on (only available on desktop).

Advertising

We always aim to work with advertising and marketing companies that are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) and/or the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Members of the NAI and IAB adhere to industry standards and codes of conduct and allow you to opt out of behavioral advertising.

Visit www.networkadvertising.org to identify NAI members that may have placed advertising cookies on your computer. To opt out of any NAI member’s behavioral advertising program, just check the box that corresponds to that company.

You may also want to visit www.youronlinechoices.com or www.youradchoices.com to learn how to opt out of customized ads.

It is possible that your mobile device allows you to limit information sharing for retargeting purposes through its settings. If you choose to do so, it is good to be aware that opting out of an online advertising network does not mean you will no longer see or be subject to online advertising or marketing analysis. It just means that the network you have opted out from will stop delivering ads that are tailored to your web preferences and browsing patterns.

Some websites have ‘Do Not Track’ features that allow you to tell a website not to track you. We are currently unable to support ‘Do Not Track’ browser settings.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about this cookie statement, please send an email to dataprotection@whitewater.express.

Our cookie statement may also be updated sometimes. If these updates are substantial, particularly relevant to you or impact your data protection rights, we will contact you about them. However, we recommend that you visit this page regularly to stay up to date with any other (less substantial or relevant) updates.