Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

The Sports Guru ("The Sports Guru", "TSG", "we", "us" or "our") is a boutique adventure travel company. We operate the website https://www.thesportsguru.me and provide trekking, hiking and other adventure travel services.

Data controller: The Sports Guru for travel and trade, trading as The Sports Guru
Registered address: Doha, Qatar
Email: admin@thesportsguru.me
Telephone/WhatsApp: +974 6609 1811 / +961 3 591 809

The data controller is responsible for deciding how and why your personal data is used. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise a privacy right, please contact us using the details above.

2. Scope of this policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store and protect personal data when you:

• browse or use our website;
• create or use an Adventure Hub account;
• contact us by form, email, telephone, WhatsApp or social media;
• enquire about, register for, pay for or participate in one of our trips;
• complete a medical, fitness, emergency contact or traveller information form;
• submit a review, photograph or other content; or
• interact with our marketing, analytics, videos or social media features.

This policy applies to information collected online and to information collected directly from you in connection with our trips.

3. Personal data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Identity and contact information

Your first and last name, email address, telephone number, WhatsApp number, country of residence, preferred method of communication, postal address and emergency contact details.

Account information

Your username, encrypted password, profile information, account preferences and records of your activity within our Adventure Hub.

Booking and trip information

The adventure and departure you select, optional activities, room preferences or single-room supplement, payment currency and method, booking status, traveller requests, dietary requirements, equipment information, travel history and communications relating to your trip.

Where required to organize a trip, we may also collect your date of birth, nationality, gender as shown on a travel document, passport or identity-document details, visa information, flight details and travel-insurance information.

Payment and transaction information

Amounts due and paid, payment schedule, selected payment method, transaction references, invoices, refunds and related accounting records. Banks, card processors or other payment providers may collect and process payment credentials under their own privacy policies.

Health, medical and fitness information

Because our trips may involve strenuous activity, altitude, remote locations or other risks, we may ask for information about your fitness level, ability to complete the planned activity, medical conditions, allergies, dietary restrictions, medication, recent operations, injuries and other information relevant to your safety and participation.

Health information is sensitive personal data. We collect and use it only when necessary and with an appropriate legal basis, which may include your explicit consent, protection of your vital interests in an emergency, or compliance with applicable legal obligations. Please provide only information that is relevant and accurate.

If you give us health or emergency information about another person, you confirm that you are authorized to provide it and that the person understands how it may be used.

Enquiries and communications

Messages, emails, form submissions, telephone or WhatsApp communications, support requests, survey responses and other correspondence with us.

Reviews, photographs and other content

If you submit a review, we may collect your name, email address, trip, departure date, rating, review text, photograph and your choices about publication. If approved for publication, the information identified to you on the review form may appear publicly on our website.

We may also collect photographs or videos taken during a trip. We will use identifiable images for promotional purposes only where we have an appropriate legal basis and, where required, your consent. You may contact us if you have concerns about an image in which you appear.

Before uploading an image, please remove any embedded location data (EXIF GPS) that you do not want to disclose. Visitors may be able to download public images and extract embedded data.

Technical and usage information

Your IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, language, time zone, approximate location, referring page, pages viewed, links clicked, session information, cookie identifiers, error logs and other diagnostic or security information.

Information from third parties

We may receive personal data from travel companions or group organizers, payment providers, local trip partners, guides, accommodation or transport providers, social media platforms, analytics and advertising providers, and publicly available sources where lawful.

4. How we use personal data and our legal bases

We use personal data only when we have a lawful reason. Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, our reasons may include performance of a contract or steps requested before a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, our legitimate interests, your consent or explicit consent, and protection of a person's vital interests.

We may use your data to:

• answer enquiries and help you choose a suitable adventure;
• create and administer your account;
• process registrations, bookings, optional activities, room supplements, payments, refunds and invoices;
• communicate trip information, schedules, equipment requirements, payment reminders, changes and emergency notices;
• assess trip suitability and help protect the health and safety of travellers, guides and staff;
• coordinate visas, accommodation, transport, guides, local operators, permits, insurance support and emergency assistance;
• provide customer service and manage complaints, cancellations, claims and disputes;
• verify and publish reviews, ratings and approved photographs;
• operate, secure, troubleshoot and improve our website and services;
• prevent fraud, spam, abuse, unauthorized access and other unlawful activity;
• maintain business, tax, accounting and legal records;
• measure website performance and understand how visitors use our services; and
• send news, offers or trip updates where you have consented or where otherwise permitted by law.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests may include operating and improving our travel business, protecting our website and customers, responding to enquiries, preventing fraud and understanding the effectiveness of our services. We consider whether those interests are outweighed by your privacy rights.

We do not use health information for advertising. We do not use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

5. Marketing communications

We may send marketing by email, WhatsApp, SMS or another channel only where permitted by law. Booking confirmations, safety notices, payment reminders and trip updates are service messages and are not marketing.

You can stop marketing at any time by using an unsubscribe link, replying STOP where available, changing your preferences or contacting admin@thesportsguru.me. Withdrawing from marketing will not affect essential communications about an active enquiry or booking.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies, pixels, tags, local storage and similar technologies. These may include:

• Strictly necessary technologies, used for security, forms, login, shopping or booking functions, load balancing and remembering privacy choices;
• Functional technologies, used to remember preferences and enable features such as embedded maps, videos, social tools or chat;
• Analytics and performance technologies, including Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager where enabled, used to understand traffic, performance and visitor interactions; and
• Advertising technologies, including Meta technologies where enabled, used to measure campaigns and, with the required consent, support relevant advertising.

Third-party content, including YouTube videos, social media features and WhatsApp links or widgets, may allow the relevant provider to receive technical and interaction information. Their use of personal data is governed by their own privacy policies.

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies and similar technologies should not be activated unless you choose to accept them. You can accept, reject or change your choices using the cookie banner or the Cookie Settings link on our website. You can also control cookies through your browser, although blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the site from working.

Cookie names, providers, purposes and durations may change as our website changes. Our cookie banner or cookie settings should provide the current details.

7. Comments, accounts and Gravatar

If comments are enabled and you leave a comment, we collect the information shown in the comment form together with your IP address and browser user-agent information to help detect spam and protect the website.

An anonymized string created from your email address may be provided to the Gravatar service to determine whether you use it. After a comment is approved, your Gravatar profile image may be visible publicly with your comment. Automattic's privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

If you visit a login page, the site may set a temporary cookie to check whether your browser accepts cookies. When you sign in, cookies may remember your login and display preferences. Selecting “Remember Me” may keep you signed in for longer. Logging out removes the login cookie.

8. Embedded content and external websites

Pages on our website may contain embedded videos, images, maps, articles or other content from external providers. Embedded content behaves as if you visited the provider's website directly. The provider may collect data, set cookies and monitor your interaction, particularly if you are signed in to an account with that provider.

Our website may link to sites that we do not control. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, and we encourage you to read their privacy notices.

9. Who we share personal data with

We may share only the data reasonably necessary with:

• our authorized team members and trip leaders;
• local tour operators, guides, accommodation providers, transport providers, activity operators and other suppliers needed to deliver your selected trip;
• airlines, visa or permit services, insurers, emergency contacts, medical providers, rescue services or public authorities when necessary;
• banks, card processors, payment providers, accountants and financial service providers;
• website hosting, cloud storage, email, form, customer-management, analytics, advertising, security, anti-spam, backup and technical-support providers;
• communication and platform providers such as Google, Meta and WhatsApp, depending on the features you use and your cookie choices;
• professional advisers, including lawyers, insurers, auditors and consultants;
• law enforcement, regulators, courts or other authorities when disclosure is legally required or necessary to protect rights, safety or security; and
• a buyer, investor or successor if our business or assets are reorganized, merged or transferred, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal protections.

Some trip suppliers act as independent data controllers and use your data under their own privacy policies. We ask service providers acting on our behalf to protect personal data and use it only for authorized purposes.

We do not sell personal data for money. Analytics and advertising providers may receive online identifiers or activity information when their technologies are active. Where the law treats this as a “sale,” “sharing” or targeted advertising, we will provide the required consent or opt-out mechanism.

10. International data transfers

We organize international travel and work with suppliers in multiple countries. Your personal data may therefore be processed outside the country where you live, including in the destination country for your trip. Data-protection standards may differ between countries.

When required by applicable law, we use appropriate safeguards for international transfers, such as contractual protections, transfer assessments, consent for a specific transfer, or another legally recognized mechanism. In an emergency, information may be transferred when necessary to protect a person's vital interests.

11. How long we keep personal data

We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, safety and dispute-resolution needs. Our usual retention periods are:

We may retain information for longer where required by law, where a complaint or claim is ongoing, or where we reasonably anticipate legal proceedings. We may retain anonymized information that no longer identifies you.

12. How we protect personal data

We use reasonable administrative, technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal data from accidental loss, misuse, unauthorized access, alteration or disclosure. These include access controls, password protection, software updates, backups, secure communications where appropriate and limiting access to people who need the information for their work.

No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure. Please use a unique password for your account, keep it confidential and contact us promptly if you believe your information or account has been compromised.

13. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live and the law that applies, you may have the right to:

• be informed about how your personal data is used;
• request access to and a copy of your personal data;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• request deletion of your data;
• restrict or object to certain processing;
• receive certain data in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing already carried out lawfully;
• object to or opt out of direct marketing;
• opt out of certain analytics, advertising, sale or sharing activities where applicable; and
• complain to a competent data-protection or privacy authority.

These rights are not absolute. We may need to retain or continue using certain information to meet a legal obligation, perform a contract, protect safety, establish or defend legal claims, or exercise another lawful exception.

To make a request, email admin@thesportsguru.me with the subject Privacy Request. Tell us what right you wish to exercise and provide enough information for us to identify the relevant records. We may ask for reasonable proof of identity. We will respond within the period required by applicable law.

If you are in Qatar, you may also have rights under Qatar's Personal Data Privacy Protection Law. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you may complain to the data-protection authority where you live or work. Residents of other jurisdictions may contact their applicable privacy regulator.

14. Children and minors

Our website and services are not intended for children to use independently. Travellers under 18 may be accepted if we receive written confirmation or authorization from their parent or legal guardian, or if they are travelling with a family member who will be responsible for them during the trip. A person under 18 should not independently submit booking, payment, passport or health information.

If a minor participates in a trip, we may collect limited personal and health information from the parent, legal guardian or responsible accompanying family member where necessary for the booking and the minor's safety. The parent or legal guardian is responsible for providing accurate information and any consent or written authorization we require. If you believe a child has provided data without appropriate authorization, please contact us.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes to our services, technology, suppliers or legal obligations. We will publish the updated version on this page and change the “Last updated” date. If a change materially affects how we use personal data, we will provide additional notice where required.

16. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact:

The Sports Guru for travel and trade, trading as The Sports Guru
Address: Doha, Qatar
Email: admin@thesportsguru.me
Telephone/WhatsApp: +974 6609 1811 / +961 3 591 809