Privacy Policy

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE PRIVACY POLICY for SustainableTrip.org

Last Revised: May 16, 2013

Our Commitment To Privacy

SustainableTrip.org (the “Site”) is a website managed by the Rainforest Alliance (“Rainforest Alliance”, “we” or “us”) that provides information and resources to travelers, tour operators and travel agents concerning sustainable hotels, tour operators and other businesses in Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Site content is accessible to the general public. Visitors may subscribe to receive the SustainableTrip.org Monthly Update email newsletter, which features links to all new content posted on the Site during the previous month (and thereby become “Subscribers”).

Tourism businesses that are verified by the Rainforest Alliance or are certified by members of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas are eligible to be listed on SustainableTrip.org. Other tourism businesses, that are located in countries where the Rainforest Alliance is not working or where a certification program is not available, which are recommended by a reputable organization may also apply to be listed. Guidelines for participation are posted on the Site.

To participate on the Site, businesses (“Members”) must complete an online questionnaire available at sustainabletrip.org/add/.

Members must agree to abide by the Rainforest Alliance’s terms and conditions of use and this privacy policy. Members’ use of and participation on the Site indicates acceptance of this privacy policy and of the terms and conditions of use of the Site.

The Rainforest Alliance understands the desire of Subscribers and Members to have their personal information remain private and secure, and is committed to taking all reasonable and appropriate measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information. This privacy policy explains the Rainforest Alliance’s online information practices on SustainableTrip.org, and describes what information we collect from Subscribers and Members, how we collect it, how we use it, and what we do to keep information private and secure.

What Information We Collect

Subscribers: Subscribers must provide an email address in order to receive the SustainableTrip.org Monthly Update email newsletter. Subscribers also are asked to provide first name, last name, and organization. These latter items are optional.

Members: Prospective Members can submit information about their business requested on the Site’s “Add a Tourism Business” form, where they are asked to enter public contact information to be displayed on the Site profile (“Member Profile”), and private contact information for the Rainforest Alliance’s internal use. Members also are asked to provide the geographic coordinates of their business so that the business can be included on the Site’s Google Maps application. Members can manage and update the information contained in their profiles at any time by contacting Site staff. Members enter information about their tourism businesses to be posted on the Member Profile. For accommodations, such information may include but is not limited to: type of destination, type of accommodation, description, rates, number of rooms, amenities, activities, efforts made to conserve natural resources and improve livelihoods in the local community, information on how to reach the business, awards or recognitions, sustainable tourism certifications and/or verifications, additional resources and links to other websites and promotional videos, photos of the business, and the date the information was provided. For tour operators, such information may also include type of business and target market.

By submitting photos via the “Add A Tourism Business” form or by sending them to Site staff, Members are giving the Rainforest Alliance permission to reproduce their photos on the Site, social media accounts, and other promotional materials produced by the Rainforest Alliance. All photos featured on Member Profiles are stored on the Site’s account on FlickR.com and are available to the public. Each photo is accompanied by the caption that reads “Photo courtesy of (MEMBER), for sustainabletrip.org”. The Rainforest Alliance will not give outside parties permission to use these photos, and will ask that the Member be contacted directly for photo permission.

How We Collect Information

Subscribers and both prospective and approved Members enter data directly on the Site. Members may upload photos and send additional documents that will be posted on the Member Profile.

How We Use Information

The Rainforest Alliance does not share information collected from Subscribers with, or sell Subscriber information to, any third parties.

On the “Add A Tourism Business” form, Members are informed as to which information is private information that is kept by the Rainforest Alliance for its internal use (such as secondary contact information), and which information will be publicly posted on the Member Profile. Information designated as private is not shared with, or sold to, any third parties. The Member Profile is accessible to any member of the general public who visits SustainableTrip.org. The Rainforest Alliance respectfully reserves the right to share links to Member Profiles and public contact information with other websites and companies that have a demonstrated commitment to promoting sustainable tourism businesses and can provide additional, high-quality, low-cost or free marketing and promotional opportunities and benefits for Members. The Rainforest Alliance very carefully vets which companies will receive access to this information.

Each month, SustainableTrip.org editors carefully select tourism businesses that are making outstanding efforts to conserve natural resources and improve livelihoods in local communities, and feature them in a “Making a Difference” section of the Site, with links to the Member Profiles of those businesses.

At any given time, no more than four Rainforest Alliance administrators have access to and the ability to review information collected from or submitted by Members for their Member Profiles. Rainforest Alliance administrators with access to the information collected in the Site are prohibited from sharing Member information with outside parties, except in accordance with this privacy policy. Rainforest Alliance administrators receive notification when a new Member Profile has been added or an existing Member Profile has been revised or updated. The Rainforest Alliance reserves the right to delete all or portions of a Member Profile that does not comply with the Site’s terms and conditions of use or are contrary to the purposes of the Site.

The Rainforest Alliance reserves the right to reproduce all or portions of Member Profiles within communications materials such as email newsletters or presentations about the Site. Each month, the Rainforest Alliance distributes the SustainableTrip.org Monthly Update email newsletter to Subscribers, which features links to all new content posted on the Site during the previous month. The Rainforest Alliance also features and links to the Member Profiles of select businesses on social media accounts that are managed by Site administrators.

Legal Requirement

The Rainforest Alliance may disclose Member information if we are required to do so by law or we in good faith believe that we are required to do so in order (1) to comply with legal requirements or legal process; (2) to protect and defend our or our Members’ rights or property; or (3) to protect the health and safety of our Members or the general public. The Rainforest Alliance further reserves the right to disclose Member information to the appropriate governmental authorities if we reasonably believe that a Member is participating in fraudulent or illegal activity.

Our Commitment to Data Security

All Member Profile information is housed within a Cold Fusion database that is password protected and only accessible to the Rainforest Alliance’s Site administrators. The Web and database servers involved in the Site are administered off-site by a third-party company. Rainforest Alliance administrators have access to this information via a custom-designed content management system that is password protected. This ensures that only authorized administrators to have access to the content management systems through which Member’s Profile information can be obtained and/or edited.

Through the procedures and systems described above, which the Rainforest Alliance has put into place for the Site, the Rainforest Alliance has appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information it collects on-line against unauthorized access. However, because data transmission over the Internet can never be 100% secure, the Rainforest Alliance cannot completely guarantee the security of the Member information, photos or other documents uploaded, posted or transmitted through the Site.

Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for adults. The Rainforest Alliance does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If the Rainforest Alliance obtains knowledge that it has personally identifiable information about a child under 13 in retrievable form in its files, the Rainforest Alliance will delete that information from our existing files.

Links to Other Websites

Other websites, including those linked as “additional resources” from a Member Profile, may have their own privacy policies or no policy at all. Other websites might use personal information differently than our policy permits. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other websites. We strongly encourage Members to review the privacy policies of any site before including links to them on their Member profile.

How Members Can Access or Update Their Information

Members may obtain access to the information submitted during the registration process by contacting Site staff, who will send Members a unique link that gives Members access to their Member Profile in the SustainableTrip.org database. The database is designed so that Members can access only their own Member Profiles; other Members will not be able to access each other’s profiles. Members may change, at any time, information previously provided to the Rainforest Alliance.

To update information, Members may also contact the Rainforest Alliance directly by sending an e-mail to .

How To Contact Us

Should Members have any questions or concerns about these privacy policies, please send us an email at .

This privacy policy may be changed from time to time without prior notification. Please review the privacy policy periodically for changes, because continued use of this Site indicates acceptance of any changes. The date on which this privacy policy was last revised shall be posted at the top.