Privacy and Cookies Policy

Welcome to Step Inside Portugal’s website (the “Site”). We are committed to protecting the privacy of our website visitors and service users.

 

This policy applies where we act as a data controller concerning the personal data of our website visitors and service users; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of processing that personal data.

 

Our website incorporates privacy controls that affect how we will process your personal data. By using the privacy controls, you can specify whether you would like to receive direct marketing communications and limit the publication of your information.

 

 

How We Use Your Personal Data

 

In this section, we have set out:

 

  • The general categories of personal data that we may process;

 

  • The purposes for which we may process personal data; and

 

  • The legal bases of the processing.

 

 

Personal Data Collection

 

We may process data about your use of our website and services (“usage data”). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views, and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency, and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is our analytics tracking system. This usage data may be processed to analyze the use of the website and services. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services.

 

We may process your account data (“account data”). The account data may include your name and email address. The source of the account data is you. The account data may be processed for operating our website, providing our services, ensuring the security of our website and services, maintaining backups of our databases, and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.

 

We may process information contained in any enquiry you submit to us regarding goods and/or services (“enquiry data”). The enquiry data may be processed for the purposes of offering, marketing, and selling relevant goods and/or services to you. The legal basis for this processing is consent.

 

We may process information relating to our customer relationships, including customer contact information (“customer relationship data”). The customer relationship data may include your name, your employer, your job title or role, your contact details, and information contained in communications between us and you or your employer. The source of the customer relationship data is you. The customer relationship data may be processed for managing our relationships with customers, communicating with customers, keeping records of those communications, and promoting our products and services to customers. The legal basis for this processing is legitimate interests, namely the proper management of our customer relationships.

 

 

Providing Your Personal Data to Others

 

We may disclose your personal data to our insurers and/or professional advisers to the extent reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice, or the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.

 

We may disclose your personal data to our suppliers or subcontractors to the extent reasonably necessary for the purposes of providing our services to you.

 

Financial transactions relating to our website and services may be handled by our payment services providers, Stripe. We will share transaction data with our payment services providers only to the extent necessary for processing your payments, refunding such payments, and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds.

 

In addition to the specific disclosures of personal data set out in this section, we may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or an administrative or out-of-court procedure.

 

 

Retaining and Deleting Personal Data

 

This section sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations concerning the retention and deletion of personal data.

 

Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes will not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

 

We will retain your personal data as follows:

 

  • Usage data will be retained for a maximum period of 10 years following the date of collection.

 

  • Enquiry data will be retained for up to 10 years after the date of the enquiry.

 

  • Customer relationship data will be retained while the relationship is active and for up to 10 years after the relationship ends.

 

Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

 

 

Your Rights

 

In this section, we have summarized the rights that you have under data protection law. Some of the rights are complex, and not all of the details have been included in our summaries. Accordingly, you should read the relevant laws and guidance from the regulatory authorities for a full explanation of these rights.

 

Your principal rights under data protection law are:

 

  • The right to access;

 

  • The right to rectification;

 

  • The right to erasure;

 

  • The right to restrict processing;

 

  • The right to object to processing;

 

  • The right to data portability;

 

  • The right to complain to a supervisory authority; and

 

  • The right to withdraw consent.

 

You have the right to confirmation as to whether or not we process your personal data and, where we do, access to the personal data, together with certain additional information. That additional information includes details of the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned, and the recipients of the personal data. We will supply you with a copy of your personal data, provided the rights and freedoms of others are not affected. The first copy will be provided free of charge, but additional copies may be subject to a reasonable fee.

 

You have the right to have any inaccurate personal data about you rectified and, considering the purposes of the processing, to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.

 

In some circumstances, you have the right to the erasure of your personal data without undue delay. Those circumstances include: the personal data is no longer necessary concerning the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure. The general exclusions include where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

 

In some circumstances, you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Those circumstances are: you contest the accuracy of the personal data; processing is unlawful, but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for processing, but you require personal data for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims; and you have objected to processing, pending the verification of that objection. Where processing has been restricted on this basis, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only otherwise process it: with your consent; for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims; for protecting the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.

 

You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only to the extent that the legal basis for the processing is that the processing is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. If you make such an objection, we will cease to process the personal information unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

 

You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes (including profiling for direct marketing purposes). If you make such an objection, we will cease to process your personal data for this purpose.

 

You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes on grounds relating to your particular situation unless the processing is necessary for performing a task carried out for reasons of public interest.

 

To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal data is:

 

  • Consent; or

 

  • That the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract,

 

and such processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format. However, this right does not apply where it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

 

If you believe that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have a legal right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do so in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work, or the place of the alleged infringement.

 

To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your personal information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.

 

You may exercise any of your rights concerning your personal data by written notice to us, in addition to the other methods specified in this section.

 

Third-Party Links and Services

 

Step Inside Portugal’s website may contain links to third-party websites, services, or content that are not operated or controlled by us. These third-party sites and services are governed by their own privacy policies, which may differ from ours.

While we strive to ensure that the links provided on our website lead to trusted and reputable sources, we do not have control over the privacy practices or content of third-party websites. Therefore, Step Inside Portugal is not responsible for the privacy practices or the accuracy of the information provided on any third-party site that you may access through links on our website.

We encourage you to read the privacy policy and terms of service of any third-party websites or services you visit to understand how they collect, use, and protect your data.

By accessing third-party links from our website, you acknowledge that you do so at your own risk and agree that Step Inside Portugal will not be held liable for any damages or issues that arise from interacting with these external sites or services.

 

 

Cookies

 

Our website uses cookies. A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) sent by a web server to a web browser and stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and remain valid until its set expiry date unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session when the web browser is closed. Cookies generally do not contain any information that personally identifies a user, but we may link personal information stored about you to the information stored and obtained from cookies.

 

The names of the cookies that we use on our website and the purposes for which they are used are set out below:

 

  • We use Google Analytics and Adwords on our website to recognize a computer when a user visits the website; track users as they navigate the website; enable the use of a shopping cart on the website; improve the website’s usability; analyze the use of the website; administer the website; prevent fraud and improve the website’s security; personalize the website for each user; and target advertisements that may be of particular interest to specific users.

 

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser and from version to version. You can obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:

 

  • Google Chrome

 

 

 

 

 

Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact on the usability of many websites. If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.

 

 

Amendments

 

We may update this privacy policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you understand any changes to this policy. We may notify you of significant changes to this policy by email or through the private messaging system on our website.

 

 

Our Details

 

This website is owned and operated by Inside Portugal, Unipessoal Lda.. We are registered in Portugal under registration number 516292374.

 

You can contact us:

 

  • Using our website contact form;

 

 

 

This privacy policy was last updated in January 2025.