Legal
Privacy policy
How Souto Escapes collects, uses and protects your personal data.
Last updated:
Who we are
Souto Escapes is the controller of the personal data collected through this site. You can reach us at hello@soutoescapes.com or at Funchal, Funchal, Madeira, PT.
What we collect
When you book: first name, last name, email address, phone number, country, stay dates, number of guests, and any message you send us. We also store the last four digits and brand of the card used, for reconciliation, never the full number.
When you write to us: your name, email, phone (if given) and the content of your message.
When you visit: a minimal technical record of the request. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
Why we process it
- Performing a contract: preparing and providing the accommodation you booked.
- Legal obligation: invoicing, accounting, and reporting guests to the authorities as required by Portuguese short-term rental law.
- Legitimate interest: answering enquiries and preventing abuse of the contact form.
- Consent: for the newsletter only, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.
Who we share it with
| Recipient | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Payment processing | EU / US |
| Google (Workspace / Gmail) | Sending and receiving email | EU / US |
The application runs on our own server, which we manage ourselves — we do not use a service like Vercel to host the site or Cloudflare to store photographs. Photographs and every other kind of data stay only on our own server.
Transfers outside the European Economic Area (Stripe and Google) rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
We do not sell personal data and we do not share it for advertising.
How long we keep it
- Booking and invoicing records: 10 years, as required by Portuguese tax law.
- Contact form messages: 24 months.
- Newsletter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe.
- Technical logs: 30 days.
Your rights
You have the right to access, correct, erase, restrict, port and object to the processing of your data. Write to hello@soutoescapes.com and we will respond within 30 days. If you believe your data has been handled improperly, you may complain to the Portuguese data protection authority (CNPD).
Cookies
We use essential cookies only: one to keep you signed in to the customer area, and one to remember your language. Neither is used for advertising or behavioural analytics, which is why you are not shown a consent banner.
Security
All traffic is encrypted in transit. Card details are handled exclusively by Stripe and never reach our servers. Access to the admin area is restricted and logged.