Privacy & Cookie Notice

This Privacy & Cookie Notice explains how Luca Italian Experiences Group LLC collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you visit lucaitalianexperiences.com, contact us, subscribe to our emails, or use our trip-planning services.

1. Who is responsible for your information

The controller responsible for the personal information described in this notice is:

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Contact and inquiry information, such as your name, email address, telephone number, travel dates, length of stay, number of travelers, destinations, interests, budget range, and the content of your message.
• Trip-planning information, such as your itinerary, accommodation and transport preferences, restaurant and activity interests, reservation details, and communications about your trip.
• Information about other travelers that you provide as the lead traveler or group organizer. Please provide this information only when you are authorized to do so and make this notice available to those travelers.
• Limited sensitive information, such as dietary, accessibility, health, or religious requirements, only when it is necessary to arrange a requested service and you choose to provide it. Please do not send passport numbers, payment-card details, or sensitive health information through the website inquiry form.
• Newsletter information, including your email address, subscription choice, and unsubscribe status.
• Website and device information, such as IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, referring page, approximate location derived from IP address, timestamps, and cookie preferences.

We receive this information directly from you, from a person organizing travel on your behalf, and automatically through the website.

3. Why we use information and our legal bases

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.

4. When information is required

Fields marked as required are needed so we can respond to your inquiry or provide the requested service. If you do not provide necessary information, we may be unable to prepare a proposal, deliver part of the service, or coordinate a requested booking. Newsletter subscription is always optional.

5. Who receives information

We disclose personal information only as reasonably necessary to operate the website, communicate with you, provide the service, or comply with law. Recipients may include:

• Squarespace, which hosts the website and may provide forms, newsletter functions, analytics, cookie controls, and site-security features.
• Google, whose Gmail service hosts our business email and whose reCAPTCHA service may help protect website forms from spam and abuse.
• WhatsApp/Meta, if you choose to communicate with us through WhatsApp.
• Travel providers, such as hotels, restaurants, transport companies, guides, and experience providers, when you ask or authorize us to coordinate with them. We share only the information reasonably needed for the requested arrangement. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, you book and pay providers directly under their own terms and privacy practices.
• Professional advisers and public authorities, such as accountants, lawyers, insurers, courts, regulators, or law-enforcement authorities, when reasonably necessary or legally required.

These providers may process information under their own privacy notices. You can review the policies of Squarespace, Google, and WhatsApp.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising or targeted advertising.

6. Use of artificial intelligence tools

We may use artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT, to assist with general research, brainstorming, and drafting. We use these tools with de-identified or non-personal information and do not enter client names, contact details, private client documents, or personal accounts of a client's life. We do not use automated decision-making or profiling to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you.

7. International transfers

Luca Italian Experiences Group LLC is established in the United States, and services may also be performed from Italy. Our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. This means that personal information may be transferred outside the country where you live, including outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom.

Where transfer rules apply, we and our providers use an applicable lawful transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or recognized privacy framework, standard contractual clauses, or another safeguard permitted by law. You may contact us for more information about the safeguards relevant to your information.

8. How long we keep information

• Unsuccessful inquiries: up to 24 months after the last contact.
• Active client and trip-planning records: during the engagement and up to 5 years after it ends, unless a longer period is needed for a dispute or legal claim.
• Contracts, invoices, and payment or accounting records: for the period required by applicable tax, accounting, and record-keeping law.
• Newsletter records: until you unsubscribe, plus a minimal suppression record so we can respect your request.
• Cookie choices and analytics information: according to your choices and the retention periods applied by Squarespace and the relevant service provider.

We may delete or anonymize information earlier when it is no longer needed.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

The website uses cookies and similar technologies. Some are necessary for the website, forms, security, and your cookie preferences to work. With your consent where required, Squarespace analytics and performance technologies may help us understand general website traffic and how visitors use the site. Google reCAPTCHA may process technical information to detect spam and abuse.

You can accept, decline, or manage non-essential cookies through the cookie banner and its Manage Cookies option. You can also control cookies through your browser, although blocking necessary cookies may affect site functions. We do not currently use advertising cookies or pixels for targeted advertising.

10. Your privacy rights

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

• request access to personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to delete information;
• ask us to restrict certain processing;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
• withdraw consent at any time; and
• appeal or complain to a data-protection authority.

To exercise a right, email luca@lucaitalianexperiences.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request. We will not discriminate against you for exercising an applicable privacy right.

If the GDPR applies, you may also complain to the supervisory authority where you live or work or where the issue occurred. Because our services are operated in part from Italy, you may contact the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali.

11. Children and family travel

Our website and services are intended for adults and we do not knowingly collect information directly from children. An adult organizing family travel may provide limited information about a child when it is necessary for the requested arrangements. The adult must be the child's parent or guardian, or otherwise be authorized to provide that information. Please do not provide more information about a child than is needed.

12. Security

We use reasonable administrative and technical measures appropriate to the nature of the information we handle. No website, email service, messaging platform, or electronic storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.

13. Third-party websites and services

Our website may link to or help you connect with independent travel providers and third-party websites. Their privacy practices and services are governed by their own notices and terms. We encourage you to review them before providing personal information or making a booking.

14. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice when our practices, service providers, or legal obligations change. The effective date at the top shows when it was last revised. Material changes will be presented on the website as appropriate.

15. Contact us