This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what you can ask us to do with it. We follow the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988.
What we collect
- When you book: each traveller's name, date of birth and gender, your email address, phone number and country, the tour, date, extras and price, any dietary, medical or accessibility needs you tell us about, an emergency contact, and passport details when a tour requires them.
- When you pay by card: the card details are used only to take the payment. We keep the last four digits of the card and nothing else.
- When you chat with us, send an enquiry or email us: your name, email address and phone number if you give them, your messages, and any photos or voice messages you send.
- When you sign in to My trips: your email address and the bookings linked to it.
- When you browse the site: the pages you view, what you click and search for, how far you scroll, how far you get through the booking form, your device type, browser and screen size, your approximate location (country and city, worked out from your internet address), and the advertisement or website that sent you. We link these visits together with a random number stored in a cookie. We also record short replays of how a page was used. These never include anything you type into a form, which is masked before it leaves your browser.
- When you leave a review: your name, your review and your star rating.
Why we collect it
- To book your tour with the operator who runs it, take payment, and send your confirmation, tickets and reminders.
- To answer your questions, and to follow up an enquiry you have made with us.
- To remind you about a booking you started but did not finish. These reminders stop after a week, and you can unsubscribe from them at any time.
- To ask how your trip went after you travel.
- To understand how people use the site so we can fix what gets in their way, to keep the site secure and to stop spam and fraud.
- To measure which advertising works (see Cookies below).
- To keep the business records that Australian tax law requires.
Booking through an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude and others)
Our tour search can be used from inside AI assistants. The assistant sends us only what it needs to look up tours, and we send back only public tour information. Our tools never ask for, and never receive, your name, email address, phone number, payment details or your conversation with the assistant.
- search_tours receives a few words describing what you are looking for (for example "Uluru camping"), and optionally a starting town, a maximum number of days, a maximum price and how many results to show. It returns matching tours with their name, length, starting point, price per adult, rating and a link to the tour page.
- get_tour receives a tour number. It returns that tour's public details: itinerary, inclusions, options, what to know before you go and reviews from past travellers.
- check_dates receives a tour number, an option if the tour has them, and a range of dates. It returns the departure dates in that range, with the price per adult and the seats left on each.
- start_booking receives a tour number, an option, a departure date and the number of travellers. It returns a link to our booking form with that date already chosen.
For each request we record which tool was used, what it was asked (the words, tour, dates and number of travellers above), how many results it returned, the time, and the assistant's name as its software reports it. We do not record your internet address with it. We use this record only to understand which tours people ask AI assistants about and whether those requests lead to bookings. It contains no personal information, so it is kept as an ongoing record of how the service is used.
Nothing is booked until you open the link and complete our booking form on lostinaustralia.org. From that point, everything else in this policy applies just as it would for any booking on our site. What you say to the AI assistant itself is governed by that assistant's own privacy policy, not this one.
Who we share it with
We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We share it only with:
- The tour operator who runs your tour, and the booking system we use to reserve your seats with them. They receive the traveller details they need to hold your place and run the trip, and the card details when they take the payment themselves.
- Our payment providers, to process card and other payments.
- Government bodies, police or courts when the law requires it, or to prevent fraud.
How long we keep it
- Bookings, and the emails we send about them: at least five years after your tour, as Australian tax law requires.
- Card details: only the last four digits are kept, with the booking.
- Chats and enquiries: kept with your booking or enquiry history, so we can see what was discussed if you get in touch again.
- Your name, email address and phone number on our visitor records: deleted one year after your last visit.
- Page replays: deleted after 30 days.
- Browsing statistics (pages and clicks linked only to a random number): kept so we can compare how the site is used over time. These cannot identify you once your name and email have been removed.
- Unfinished bookings: the reminders stop after a week, and the form details are then kept only as part of the browsing statistics.
Your choices and rights
- See, correct or delete your information: email info@lostinaustralia.org and we will reply within 30 days. We will delete everything we are not required by law to keep.
- Emails: reply to any follow-up, review or reminder email, or email us, and we will stop sending them. Booking reminders also have an unsubscribe link.
- Cookies: you can change your cookie choice at any time (see below).
- Staying anonymous: you can browse, search and ask us questions without giving your name. We need your details to make a booking.
- Complaints: email us first and we will try to put it right. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au. If you live in the United Kingdom or the European Union, you also have the rights given by your own data protection law, and you can complain to your local data protection authority.
Cookies
A cookie is a small file the site stores in your browser. We use them for three things, and you can choose which of them you allow.
Essential. These make the site work — keeping your booking together as you move between pages, remembering your cookie choice, and protecting the forms from spam. They cannot be switched off, because the site would not function without them.
Understanding how the site is used. Google Analytics tells us which pages people read, which tours they look at, and where they give up. It shows us patterns across all visitors rather than what any one person did.
Measuring our advertising. If you arrived from an advertisement, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and Meta record that the visit led to an enquiry or a booking. This is how we know which advertising is worth paying for. It also allows those companies to show you our advertisements on other sites.
Your choice. If you are visiting from the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, we ask before setting anything beyond the essential cookies, and nothing else is set until you answer. Elsewhere they are set by default. Either way you can change your mind whenever you like: change your cookie choice.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser's own settings. If you do, parts of the site — including booking — may stop working properly.
Keeping your information safe
Our website uses encryption for everything you send us. Your information is stored on secure servers that are not open to the public, and only our own staff and contractors can see it. If a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we will tell you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the law requires.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we post the new version on this page with the date it changed.
Last updated: 4 November 2026.
Contact
Lost In Australia, info@lostinaustralia.org, or through our contact page.