Our Commitment to Your Privacy

EF Educational Tours ("EF") is committed to protecting the privacy of our potential and existing customers. The EF privacy policy (the "Privacy Policy") applies to all Personal Data (as defined below) processed by us, including Personal Data collected or submitted through our websites, emails and other electronic messaging platforms, mobile applications or through our official social media pages or through other channels online and offline as further described below (collectively the "EF Products").

f you cannot, or will not, provide us with the personal information we reasonably require, we may be unable to provide you with the information, goods or services you have requested.

Personal Data

"Personal Data" is information or pieces of information that could allow you to be identified.  We may collect, store and use the following information about you:

• Name and contact details (e.g. postal and email address, telephone number)

• Profile information (e.g. username, profile picture or social media account ID)

• Country of residence

• Birth date

• Gender

• Customer number

• Technical information, e.g. screen name, IP address, browser and device data, information collected through cookies, pixel tags and other technologies, server log file data, app usage data and location data

• Preferences (e.g. language and browsing habits, preferred educational courses)

• Company or school name and address, teacher name and email, occupation, academic record, language proficiency

• Credit and debit card number, payment data or bank account details and/or chequing account and routing numbers

• Medical condition (e.g. allergies or illness), dietary needs, smoking habits, immunizations

• Travel details, passport copy and passport details, visa information and/or other ID numbers (e.g. student number)

• Insurance data

• Name and contact details of family members or emergency contacts

• Other information you provide during a phone-or video call or a chat, and recordings and/or transcripts of such calls or chats

• Photos or video recordings of you

How do we collect Personal Data?
We collect Personal Data in a variety of ways:

• Directly from you: Information is collected directly from you, either by you providing the information directly to us or you acting in a manner that provides us with the information, for example:

  • Offline: We collect Personal Data from you offline, for example when you contact customer service, enrol in a product or service or provide information to us in writing or through phone and video interactions: When you contact us by phone or video, calls may be recorded, transcribed, and analyzed—including through automated and AI-assisted tools—for quality assurance, service improvement, and internal analytics.

  • Online: We collect your Personal Data through the EF Products, for example when you sign up for a newsletter or a brochure, use our chatbot, enrol in or use a product or service. We also collect Personal Data:

    • Through cookies.
      Cookies allow a web server to transfer data to a computer or device for recordkeeping and other purposes.

       If you do not want information collected through the use of cookies, there is a simple procedure in most browsers that allows you to decline the use of cookies. For detailed information about the cookies we use, please visit here.

  • Through your use of a mobile application. When you download and use one of our mobile applications, and to the extent allowed by your privacy settings in the application, we track and collect mobile application usage data, such as the date and time the mobile application on your device accessed our servers and what information and files have been downloaded to the mobile application based on your device number.
    

  • Through your device. Provided that you have enabled that function on your device, we collect the physical location of it to provide you with personalized location-based services and content. Read more about such services under "How do we use Personal Data?"
    

  • Through links. We track and collect information about how users interact with links across products and services, including through email and links made available through third party services.
    

  • Through browsing our sites. We may also collect information about your use of our services through your browser to trace activity on our sites, such as your Media Access Control (MAC) address, computer type (Windows or Macintosh), screen resolution, operating system name and version, device manufacturer and model, language, Internet browser type and version, service provider, and the name and version of the EF Product you are using. In addition, an IP Address is identified and logged automatically in our server log files whenever you visit the EF Products, along with the time of the visit and the page(s) that were visited.
    

From our corporate affiliates, business partners, assistance providers or claim handlers. We may receive Personal Data from other parties in conjunction with your program, including:

• Our corporate affiliates, such as the local EF company that promotes the sales of our services and offers customer service in your country of residence and provides us with the Personal Data that is needed to come to an agreement with you on your order, or the provider of services in your travel destination that provides some of the services that you have ordered, or the Swiss principal company that is responsible for the performance of the contract with you for any of EF's offers.
  

• Business partners, such as local sales agents that promote the sales of our services in your country of residence.
  

• Claims handlers who receive information about your insurance claims in case of an insurance situation.
  

• From other sources. We may receive your Personal Data from other sources, such as social media platforms, including but not limited to; Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, YouTube and messenger services such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger; from people with whom you are friends or otherwise connected with on social media platforms, as well as from other third parties. For example, if you elect to connect your social media account to your EF Products account, such personal data that you have registered in your profile, such as your email address, phone number, postal address, date of birth, name and username will be shared with us. Furthermore, we use cookies to track members of social media networks as further explained above in the section "How do we collect Personal Data?".

How Do We Use Personal Data?

Your Personal Data will be processed by EF for the purposes of completing your booking, providing you with the products and services that you have ordered (including travel insurance coverage), for customer service, administrative services or as otherwise necessary to perform the contract between you and us or as further described in this policy.
     
 This may include:

• For statistical purposes, system maintenance, backup, calculating usage levels, and helping diagnose server problems with the EF Products, for business development as well as to ensure that the EF Products function properly.
  

• To allow you to contact and be contacted by other users through the EF Products, as permitted by the applicable product.
  

• To provide customer service or send service-related information, via various channels such as SMS, messenger services like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, chat bots or email.
  

• To allow you to participate on message boards, chat, profile pages and blogs and use other services enabling you to post information and materials. We will protect your privacy to the best of our ability by monitoring the sessions but always keep in mind that when you are in a public forum, you control the information you disclose and should be careful when distributing your Personal Data in this manner.
  

• To analyze and improve our services using automated and AI-assisted tools: We may use automated tools and AI-powered features—including those built into the third-party platforms and services we use—to analyze call transcripts, tour evaluations, and other qualitative feedback. Purposes include service quality assessment, staff development, and the development of aggregate insights to improve our programs and communications. Individuals are not subject to solely automated decisions that produce legal or significant effects. To provide you with personalized location-based services and content using your device's physical location. For example, you will be redirected to the local EF website in your language if your device indicates that you are browsing from that country, or you may be suggested the nearest EF office to your location for visits or information.
  

• To market our products and services, including special promotions based on your interests, for example through email marketing solutions such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s management software which maintains mailing lists and schedules and modifies email messages based on what recipients read, click-on or forward, or through other channels such as SMS, other instant messenger services or chat bots, telephone calls with operator (so-called telemarketing) or traditional mail. All such communication will include a clear unsubscribe link or offer another opt-out function.
  

• If someone refers you to us through our "Refer a Friend" program, we may receive your name, email address, phone number, or other contact details from that person. We use this information to send the referral communication, identify the person who made the referral, administer and measure the effectiveness of the referral program, and respond to any inquiries you may make. We do not use your information for our own marketing purposes or add you to our marketing lists solely because you were referred to us. If you would like to receive marketing communications from us, we will ask for your consent where required by applicable law. If you do not wish to be contacted through the referral program, you may opt out or contact us using the details provided in this Privacy Notice. We do not retain this information longer than necessary to administer the referral program.
  

• Finally, we never use or share the personally identifying information provided to us online in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses.

How Do We Share Personal Data?

We share your Personal Data with our corporate affiliates, business partners and service providers both within and outside the U.S. and Canada as described below and in this Privacy Policy, and as permitted by applicable law:

Corporate affiliates

Our corporate affiliates include, for example, a local EF company that promotes the sales of our services and offers customer service in your country of residence or in your destination country that provides some of the services that you have ordered, or EF companies that provide internal service functions such as IT, legal or other shared services.

Third party service providers

We share Personal Data with third parties in connection with the delivery of services to you and the operation of our business.  For example, we may share Personal Data to providers of IT systems in order to manage customer relations, process credit cards or other payment solutions, schedule classes or store learning results; or to providers of software and services for digital marketing automation and analytics; to advertising platforms in order to serve you with advertising tailored to your interests; to other third parties to provide customer service, business analytics, fraud prevention and compliance services and to visa processing agencies. If you have not paid your bills to us in time, we may transfer some of your data to a debt collection provider.

Personal Data collected under a photo release form may be shared with the photographer/production company.

Where we offer the use of a chatbot on the EF Products through the latest AI technology, the questions that you ask the chatbot will be transferred to and temporarily stored by the AI technology provider but will not be used to train or improve their AI models. No personal data will be transferred, unless you include personal data in your questions. The chat conversation and the personal data submitted in the designated fields of the chat will be stored by EF in our customer relations management system for the purpose of marketing or customer service purposes.

Personal information may be processed and stored outside Canada, including in jurisdictions that may have different privacy laws than Canada. When we transfer personal information to service providers in other countries, we use contractual and other measures designed to provide appropriate protection for the information.

Travel suppliers

We share Personal Data with travel related suppliers, including hotels, airlines, bus or train service providers, as well as tour directors in connection with the management of our programs; or a travel insurance company that prepares the travel insurance for you. Please note that travel suppliers may contact you to obtain additional information if and as required to facilitate your booking or to otherwise provide the travel or associated services

Business partners

We may share your Personal Data with business partners.  This may happen, for example, when we promote a program or offer a service or product in conjunction with a third-party business partner. In most cases, the program or offer will include the name of the third-party business partner, either alone or with ours, or you will be redirected to the website of that business with notice.

Other third parties

If you log in to an EF product/service by using a single sign-on through a third-party app or social media platform, you will share certain information with that app or social media platform, such as the fact that you have visited or interacted with us.

Corporate transactions

In the event that our business is directly or indirectly sold or combined with another business, your Personal Data may be disclosed to our advisers, a prospective purchaser and any prospective purchaser’s advisers and may be transferred to the new owners of the business.

Legal rights and obligations

We also share Personal Data as we believe to be necessary: (a) under applicable law; (b) to comply with legal process; (c) to respond to requests from public and government authorities including public and government authorities outside your country of residence; (d) to enforce our terms and conditions or a contract; (e) to protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates; (f) to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you or others; and (g) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.

EF Text Message Terms and Conditions

By enrolling on an EF Educational Tour, you consent to receive SMS or MMS text messages from EF Institute for Cultural Exchange, Ltd. O/A EF Educational Tours, and you represent that you are the owner, subscriber or customary user of the phone number you provided to EF Educational Tours. You (or your parent or legal guardian if you are a minor under any other applicable law) expressly consent to the following terms and conditions.

• Consent to Receive Text Messages. You consent to receive approximately 2 SMS or MMS text messages per month from EF Educational Tours or its affiliates to the phone number that you provided to EF Educational Tours. You acknowledge and understand that these text messages may or may not contain marketing content and may be sent or generated using an automatic telephone dialing system (a/k/a an "auto-dialer") or other technology. Message and data rates may apply. You understand that your consent to receive text messages is not required to make any purchase from EF Educational Tours.
  

• Opt-Out. You may opt-out and withdraw your consent at any time by replying STOP to any EF Educational Tours text message or by contacting EF Educational Tours by the phone or email address provided below. In the event that you are no longer the subscriber to or otherwise stop using the provided phone number, you agree to either (i) opt-out by replying "STOP" to an EF Educational Tours text message; or (ii) notify EF Educational Tours through an email containing your former phone number so that EF can identify it and remove it from its list of text message subscribers.
  

• Supported Carriers. Supported carriers may change from time to time, but currently include Rogers, TELUS Mobility, Bell, Virgin Mobile Canada, Fido, Freedom Mobile, Videotron, Koodo, Aliant Mobility, Mobilicity, MTS Mobility, Primus, Shaw Mobile Terms of Use & Privacy Policy. You accept and agree to be bound by EF Educational Tours Privacy Policy.

Security

We use appropriate organizational, technical and administrative measures to keep the Personal Data under our control accurate and up to date, as well as to protect the Personal Data against unauthorized or unlawful processing and the accidental loss, destruction or damage of the Personal Data.

Unsubscribe From Email or Other Electronic Marketing

To respect the privacy of our users, you may choose not to receive commercial emails and/or other electronic messages from us by following the unsubscribe instructions contained in the commercial emails and/or other electronic messages we send you. Please note that even if you unsubscribe from commercial email and/or other electronic messages, we may still send you email and/or other electronic messages regarding your account and your transactions.

Third-Party Sites

Except as specifically addressed above, this Privacy Policy does not address, and we are not responsible for, the privacy, information or other practices of any third parties, including any third party operating any site to which the EF Product contain a link. The inclusion of a link on EF Products does not imply endorsement of the linked site by us or by our affiliates.

Additionally, we may provide you with access to third-party functionality that permits you to share your activities on EF Products to your social media account(s), for example Facebook or LinkedIn. Please note that any information that you provide through the use of this functionality is governed by the applicable third party's privacy policy, and not by this Privacy Policy. We have no control over, and shall not be responsible for, any third party's use of information that you provide through use of this functionality.

If You Are a Minor

If you are a minor, you should review this text together with your parent or guardian to make sure you both understand them.  If we learn that you are a minor and that we have collected information about you without consent from your parent or guardian, we will delete the information as soon as possible and you will not be able to use EF Products.

Sensitive Data

We may need to collect sensitive personal data (such as information about health or diet restrictions, or gender identity) in order to administrate the travel, accommodation placement, insurance coverage and to safeguard your wellbeing throughout the tour.

If you become ill or incapacitated during the tour, we may take any action we deem necessary for your safety and well-being, including securing medical treatment and transporting you home. If that happens, EF may contact your emergency contact(s) with regard to the health issues that have occurred.

We will store and share any sensitive personal data that we collect about you in an encrypted environment and will only provide access to those who have a need to know the information. The data will be kept only for as long as necessary to achieve the purposes it was collected for, or for longer if required to meet local statutory limitation periods for bringing legal claims. We will make sure that we receive your consent to such processing where required under the applicable data protection laws.

Updates To This Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will not significantly reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without informing you. We will post any Privacy Policy changes on this page and, prior to implementing such changes, we will provide a more prominent notice. Where required by law, we will seek your prior consent to any change.

How Long Do We Store Personal Data? 

We will only keep your Personal Data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it has been collected or in accordance with time limits stipulated by law and market practice, unless further retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or unless a specific time period has been communicated.

For example, call recordings may be retained for up to 12 months, call transcripts for up to 24 months, and marketing information until you withdraw your consent or for a limited period after your last interaction with us, unless a longer retention period is required by law or necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Your Rights

We respect your rights to access and control your information and will respond to requests in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection legislation. We may ask you to verify your identity and to provide other details to help us to respond to your request.

Depending on the jurisdiction you are based in, you may have a right to request access to your Personal Data; request that we correct or complete Personal Data that is inaccurate or incomplete; withdraw your consent where processing is based on consent, request that we erase your Personal Data, where required by applicable privacy and data protection legislation, and opt out of certain processing activities, including marketing activities.

These rights may be limited in certain circumstances under applicable privacy and data protection legislation including where we are required or permitted by law to retain, use or disclose Personal Data.

If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact us at this address: [email protected].

We hope that we can address any questions or concerns you may have about how we process your Personal Data. However, if you have unresolved concerns, you may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent privacy, data protection or regulatory authority in your jurisdiction.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at the address EF Education First, 2 Bloor Street East, 16th Floor, Toronto, ON M4W 1A8 or click here.

We are a member of the Better Business Bureau of Mid-Western Ontario, Inc.