Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Málaga Directory ("we," "our," or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website, use our directory, contact us, submit business information, or purchase advertising services in Málaga, Spain.

By using our website, you consent to the data practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Newsletter Subscription: Email address when you subscribe to our newsletter
• Contact Forms: Name, email, and message content when you contact us
• Business Submissions: Information provided when submitting business listings
• Reviews and Comments: Content you submit when reviewing businesses
• Advertising Enquiries and Orders: Contact name, email address, business name, website, chosen plan, target category, campaign brief, language, creative material and communications about the campaign
• Payment and Billing Information: Stripe customer, Checkout Session and payment identifiers, payment status, amount, currency, billing address and tax ID information that Stripe makes available to us. We do not receive or store your full card number or card security code.

2.2 Information Automatically Collected

• Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent, search queries, and browsing patterns
• Device Information: Browser type, operating system, IP address, and device identifiers
• Location Data: General location information to provide relevant local business recommendations
• Cookies: A session cookie (for signed-in account holders) and a language-preference cookie. We set no tracking or advertising cookies of our own. Some pages include booking widgets from third-party travel partners that may set their own cookies — see Section 5.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following purposes:

• Provide and maintain our directory services
• Send newsletters and promotional content (with your consent)
• Respond to your inquiries and provide customer support
• Improve our website functionality and user experience
• Analyze usage patterns and website performance
• Prevent fraud and ensure website security
• Comply with legal obligations
• Provide personalized business recommendations
• Review, schedule, deliver and report on paid advertising campaigns
• Process payments, cancellations, refunds and related customer support

4. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

• Service Providers: With trusted third-party service providers who assist in operating our website, hosting data, delivering email or processing payments, including Stripe
• Legal Requirements: When required by law or to protect our rights and safety
• Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets
• Consent: With your explicit consent for specific purposes

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The cookies we set are limited to the minimum needed to operate the website. We do not set our own analytics, advertising, or cross-site tracking cookies, and we do not sell or share your data with advertising networks.

• Essential Cookies: A session cookie used to keep account holders (administrators and registered business owners) signed in. Required for those areas to function.
• Preference Cookies: A cookie that remembers your chosen language so the site displays correctly on your next visit.

The cookies we set ourselves are strictly necessary or preference-based, so no consent is required for them. You can delete or block cookies through your browser settings, though signing in and language preferences may not work correctly if you do.

5.1 Third-Party Affiliate and Booking Widgets

Some pages (for example travel guides, area pages, attraction listings and accommodation listings) include booking widgets, maps and links supplied by our affiliate travel partners — including GetYourGuide, Viator and Stay22. This content is loaded from those partners and may set its own cookies or process limited technical data (such as your IP address and interactions with the widget) in order to display availability and to attribute any resulting bookings to us. This activity is governed by the respective partner's own privacy and cookie policies, not ours, and we do not receive your personal booking details.

If you would prefer not to load this third-party content, you can block third-party cookies or scripts in your browser; the rest of the directory will continue to work normally. See also Section 10 (Third-Party Links) and our Terms and Conditions for our affiliate disclosure.

6. Advertising Payments and Stripe

Advertising payments are completed on a Stripe-hosted Checkout page. Stripe processes payment and billing data under its own privacy terms and acts as our payment service provider. Stripe may process data in countries outside the European Economic Area using the safeguards described in its privacy documentation. You can review Stripe's Privacy Policy.

We use the payment information returned by Stripe to match a payment to an advertising order, confirm whether it succeeded, prevent duplicate fulfilment, create transaction records, provide customer support and process any approved refund. We do not use payment data for unrelated marketing.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal information:

• SSL encryption for data transmission
• Secure servers and databases
• Regular security audits and updates
• Access controls and authentication measures
• Employee training on data protection

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet legal, accounting, fraud-prevention and dispute-resolution requirements.

• Advertising enquiry, order, approval and campaign-delivery records are kept while the order or campaign is active and for a reasonable period afterwards so we can provide support, evidence delivery and resolve disputes.
• Payment identifiers and transaction records are retained for the period required by applicable accounting, tax and legal obligations.
• Creative files and campaign reporting data are deleted or anonymised when they are no longer needed for delivery, support, legitimate record-keeping or legal claims.
• Unsuccessful or abandoned enquiries are periodically deleted or anonymised when there is no continuing business or legal need to retain them.

9. Your Rights and Choices

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: Request access to your personal data
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data
• Portability: Request transfer of your data
• Opt-out: Unsubscribe from newsletters and marketing communications
• Object: Object to certain processing activities

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the information provided below.

10. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including business websites, social media platforms, and partner services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

11. Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete such information.

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal information in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

14. Contact Information