Privacy Policy

Effective Date: September 30, 2026

At Samurai History Tours (accessible from samuraihistorytours.com), we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you visit our website, book a tour, or communicate with us, in compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI).

1. Information We Collect and How We Use It

We adhere to strict data minimization principles and only collect personal information that is necessary to fulfill tour bookings, process transactions, or respond to direct inquiries.

• User-Submitted Data: When you make a booking or contact us, we may collect information such as your name, email address, phone number, and payment/billing details. This data is used solely to execute our contract with you (delivering tours and processing payments) or to respond to your direct inquiries.
• Email Marketing: If you sign up for or purchase a tour, we may add your email address to our marketing list to send you updates or news. You can unsubscribe or opt out of these marketing emails at any time by following the link at the bottom of our emails or by contacting us directly.

2. Cookies and Analytics

• No Tracking Cookies or Advertising Pixels: We do not use third-party tracking cookies, persistent identifiers, or cross-site tracking tools on our website.
• Privacy-Friendly Analytics (Plausible): We use Plausible Analytics to track general website traffic, page views, and user clicks. Plausible operates completely cookie-free, does not collect Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and does not store user metadata (such as IP addresses, persistent device IDs, or location histories).
• UTM Parameters: We use standard UTM parameters (URL tags) solely to measure traffic sources (e.g., determining if a visitor found us via social media or a partner link). This data is aggregated, completely anonymous, and cannot be used to identify individual users or track visitors across other websites.

3. Third-Party Service Providers & Data Handling

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal data to third parties. However, to manage bookings efficiently, we work with trusted third-party service providers:

• Bókun (operated by Viator / TripAdvisor Group): We use Bókun to manage tour bookings and availability. When you reserve a tour, your contact and booking information is processed through Bókun. Bókun and Viator may store additional information in accordance with their own privacy policies to verify bookings and manage transactions.

4. Legal Grounds for Processing (GDPR Compliance)

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), our legal bases for processing your personal data are:

• Performance of a Contract: Fulfilling tour bookings, handling payments, and delivering tour services.
• Legitimate Interests: Responding to direct customer service inquiries and optimizing our website service.
• Consent: Sending marketing communications (which can be withdrawn at any time).

5. Your Data Rights (GDPR & Japanese APPI)

Under GDPR and Japan’s APPI, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access & Information: You may request to know what personal data we hold about you and how it is being used.
• Right to Correction & Erasure: You may request that we update, correct, or permanently delete your personal information from our database.
• Right to Opt-Out: You may unsubscribe from marketing lists at any time.

If you would like to be removed from our database or inquire about how your data is being used, please contact us at privacy@samuraihistorytours.com. We will do our best to reply to and address your request within 48 hours.

6. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us at:

Samurai History Tours
Email: privacy@samuraihistorytours.com
Website: samuraihistorytours.com