Introduction

Inishbofin Island Hostel ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use and safeguard any personal data you provide to us, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018.

Data Controller:
Inishbofin Island Hostel,
Inishbofin, Co. Galway, H91 TW97, Ireland.
Email: info@inishbofin-hostel.ie
Phone: +353 95 45855

What Data We Collect

Booking enquiries: When you contact us by phone or email to make a booking, we may collect your name, email address, phone number, postal address, group size, and any dietary or accessibility requirements you share with us.

Website analytics: We use Google Analytics to collect anonymous data about how visitors use our website. This includes your IP address (anonymised), browser type, device type, pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring website. This data is collected using cookies.

Third-party services: Our website uses the following third-party services which may process limited data:

  • Google Analytics – website usage statistics
  • Google Fonts – typography (your browser sends a request to Google's servers)
  • Google Maps – interactive map on our location page

How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

  • To process and manage your booking enquiry
  • To communicate with you about your stay
  • To improve our website and services
  • To comply with legal obligations

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal grounds:

  • Contract: Processing necessary to fulfil your booking
  • Legitimate interest: Website analytics to improve our services
  • Legal obligation: Where required by law

Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit our website. We use the following cookies:

  • Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat) – these help us understand how visitors use our site. They collect information anonymously and report website trends without identifying individual visitors.

You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies will not affect your ability to use this website.

Data Retention

Booking enquiry data is retained for up to 2 years after your last stay or enquiry. Google Analytics data is retained for 26 months. We review our data retention regularly and delete data that is no longer necessary.

Data Sharing

We do not sell, trade or rent your personal data to third parties. We may share your data only with Google (via Analytics) as described above. Some data may be transferred to servers outside the European Economic Area (EEA) by these third-party services, subject to appropriate safeguards.

Data Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss or misuse. Our website uses HTTPS encryption to secure data transmitted between your browser and our server.

Your Rights Under GDPR

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Request deletion of your data
  • Object to or restrict the processing of your data
  • Data portability (receive your data in a portable format)
  • Withdraw consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@inishbofin-hostel.ie.

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) at www.dataprotection.ie.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page. This policy was last updated in March 2026.