Privacy Policy
This policy explains what data macauholiday.com collects, why, and what your rights are. Written in plain language because legal-language privacy policies tend to obscure rather than clarify. The substance is binding either way.
Last updated: 2026-06-01
Who we are
macauholiday.com is an independent travel publication covering Macau, Hong Kong, and the Greater Bay Area. The site publishes destination guides, hotel and food comparisons, transport references, and itinerary content, funded through affiliate commissions on bookings made via partner platforms.
Data controller: macauholiday.com (operator based in Cebu City, Philippines). Contact: via the contact page or hello@macauholiday.com
We are subject to Philippine privacy law — specifically the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) and related rules and circulars issued by the National Privacy Commission (NPC). For readers in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we also apply the relevant General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) principles.
What information we collect
Information you give us directly
When you use the contact form or send us an email, we collect:
- Your name
- Your email address
- The content of your message
That is the complete set. We don’t ask for additional personal data.
Information collected automatically
When you visit any page on macauholiday.com, our systems and analytics provider collect standard technical data:
- Your IP address (used to identify approximate country and region, not your specific location)
- Browser type, version, and language settings
- Device type and operating system
- Pages visited, time on each, and navigation path through the site
- The referring URL (the site or search result that sent you here)
- Anonymised session data (a randomised ID, no personal name attached)
We collect this through Google Analytics 4, configured with IP anonymisation enabled. Aggregated, non-personal data tells us which guides are useful and which need work.
Cookies and tracking technologies
The site uses cookies in four categories:
| Cookie type | What it does | Can you opt out? |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Core site functions — page navigation, theme, language | No — site won’t function without them |
| Analytics | Google Analytics: anonymised session and page-view tracking | Yes — via cookie banner or browser settings |
| Affiliate tracking | Tells partner platforms (Agoda, Booking.com, Klook, GetYourGuide, Viator) that you arrived from macauholiday.com, so they attribute any resulting booking to us | Yes — but you may need to re-click our links to give us credit |
| Social/embed | Set by embedded content (Google Maps, YouTube) when present on a page | Yes — via browser settings; disabling may break embeds |
You can manage cookie preferences via the banner shown to first-time visitors or through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies breaks the site. Disabling affiliate cookies means we don’t receive referral credit on bookings — which affects our ability to keep the site free.
Why we collect this information
| Data | Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Contact form / email | Reply to your message; process corrections and tips | Consent (RA 10173); legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Analytics data | Understand which content is useful; improve guide quality | Consent where required; legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Affiliate tracking cookies | Allow partner platforms to attribute referred bookings | Contractual necessity (affiliate agreements); consent (cookie banner) |
We do not sell your data. We do not trade it. We do not share it with marketing companies, data brokers, or any party beyond the affiliate platforms named below.
Our affiliate relationships
When you click an affiliate link on macauholiday.com and complete a booking:
- The partner platform sets a tracking cookie on your browser to attribute the booking to us.
- You complete the booking directly with the platform. We never see your payment details, your full name in connection with the booking, or your itinerary.
- If your booking goes through, the platform pays us a commission from their margin.
- The price you pay is identical whether you came through macauholiday.com or typed the platform URL directly. Affiliate commission does not increase your cost.
Each partner platform has its own privacy policy:
- Agoda Privacy Policy
- Booking.com Privacy Statement
- Klook Privacy Policy
- GetYourGuide Privacy Policy
- Viator / Tripadvisor Privacy Policy
How long we keep your data
- Contact form submissions and email correspondence: retained for up to three years from last activity, unless an ongoing matter requires longer.
- Google Analytics data: individual session-level data retained for 14 months. Aggregated, non-personal data may be kept longer for multi-year trend analysis.
- Affiliate tracking cookies: expire automatically — typically 30 days for Booking.com and Agoda, 30–60 days for Klook and GetYourGuide, 30 days for Viator.
- Server logs: retained for up to 90 days for security purposes, then deleted.
Your rights
Under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 and, where applicable, the GDPR, you have the right to:
- Be informed — covered on this page.
- Access — ask what personal data we hold about you; we respond within 30 days.
- Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate data.
- Erasure — ask us to delete your data, subject to any overriding legal requirement.
- Restrict processing — ask us to pause certain uses of your data.
- Object — object to processing based on legitimate interest.
- Data portability — request a structured copy of data you have provided to us.
- Withdraw consent — for consent-based processing, withdraw at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.
- Lodge a complaint — with the National Privacy Commission (Philippines) or, for EEA/UK readers, your local supervisory authority.
To exercise any right, email hello@macauholiday.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line. We will respond within 30 days.
Complaints may be filed with:
National Privacy Commission (Philippines) 5th Floor, Philippine International Convention Center Vicente Sotto Avenue, Pasay City 1308 Email: complaints@privacy.gov.ph Website: privacy.gov.ph
Data security
We implement reasonable technical and organisational security measures: TLS encryption in transit, access controls, regular software updates, and minimal data retention. No website can guarantee absolute security.
In the event of a personal data breach:
- We will notify the National Privacy Commission within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, as required by NPC Circular 2023-04.
- We will inform affected individuals directly, without undue delay, when the breach poses real risk to rights and freedoms.
International data transfers
Some service providers (notably Google Analytics) process data outside the Philippines. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on approved safeguards under the GDPR and RA 10173, including standard contractual clauses and adequacy decisions.
Children’s privacy
macauholiday.com is a general-audience travel resource and is not directed at children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe a minor has submitted information to us, contact hello@macauholiday.com and we will delete the data without delay.
Links to third-party sites
This site links extensively to external sites — booking platforms, ferry operators, government tourism pages, official hotel websites. Once you click through, the linked site’s privacy policy applies, not ours.
Updates to this policy
We will update this policy when our practices change or when new legal requirements apply. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page shows the latest revision. Material changes will be flagged via a notice on the site.
Questions
Email hello@macauholiday.com with “Privacy” in the subject line. We respond within 30 days.
The companion document to this policy is the disclaimer, which covers the legal framing for using the site and the affiliate relationship in full.