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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

General information

Your privacy and the protection of your personal data is our top priority, which is why we take the security of the data we hold very seriously. We take the utmost care to ensure that your personal data is processed in accordance with applicable Polish and European Union law, including the Polish Data Protection Act of 10 May 2018 and the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (GDPR).

We use technical and organizational measures to ensure the highest security of the personal data processed, appropriate to the possible threats and the category of data protected. In particular, we ensure that we have taken all measures prescribed by law to safeguard the data provided to us, including, in particular:

  • we use appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the protection of the personal data processed to a degree which corresponds to the risk of violation of the rights and freedoms of data subjects;
  • we process data respecting the principle of data protection by design;
  • we process data in accordance with the principle of data protection by default;
  • we safeguard data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure or unauthorized access to personal information;
  • we maintain legally required documentation, including appropriate data protection policies;
  • only authorized persons are allowed to process data;
  • we keep a record of persons authorized to process personal data;
  • we ensure that we have control over what personal information is provided to us, when it is provided to us and by whom it is provided.

This document is intended to inform you about how we collect and use your personal data, the legal basis for the processing of your data and your rights in relation to the processing of your personal data.

Who is the Controller of your personal data?

The Controller of your personal data, i.e. the entity that decides how your personal data will be processed, is Polska Żegluga Bałtycka S.A. with its registered seat in Kołobrzeg (78-100) at ul. Portowa 41 (hereafter: “Polska Żegluga Bałtycka”, „we”).

How to contact us to obtain information regarding the processing of your personal data?

You can contact us:

  • in writing to the address: Polska Żegluga Bałtycka S.A. ul. Portowa 41, 78-100 Kołobrzeg, marked „Dane osobowe” (Eng. Personal data),
  • by e-mail: info@polferries.pl,
  • by phone at 94 355 21 02

or by writing to the Data Protection Officer at iod@polferries.pl, on any matter related to the processing of your personal data and the exercise of your rights.

The data protection officer at Polska Żegluga Bałtycka is Karolina Krużewska-Ossowska.

How did we obtain your personal data?

We receive your personal information directly from you through various communication channels – when you make a reservation or purchase travel, accommodation or tour through our website www.polferries.pl, by telephone contact or by visiting our points of sale.

We obtain your personal information from the booking or purchasing agent with whom you or the company where you are employed has entered into a contract. 

We collect your personal data from travel agencies (agents) with whom we have an agreement under which they book and sell travel. The information is held in the country where the travel agency stores the personal information.

What is the purpose and legal basis of the processing of your personal data?

We process your personal data:

  1. to register your account on our website www.polferries.pl – this is necessary in order to fulfill our contractual obligations towards you;
  2. in order to purchase a ferry ticket:
    • for the purpose of providing the transportation service and complying with legal requirements in this regard – this is necessary for the performance of the contract concluded with you and to comply with legal obligations incumbent upon us,
    • to receive confirmation of your reservation to your email address – if you agree by entering your email address in the form,
    • for the purposes of handling claims, investigating claims or defending against claims – we have our legitimate interest in the due process and handling of your claims and the ability to defend against or assert claims;
  3. in order to purchase an organized tour:
    • for the purpose of providing the transportation service and complying with legal requirements in this regard – this is necessary for the performance of the contract concluded with you and to comply with legal obligations incumbent upon us,
    • for the purpose of purchasing insurance policies – this is necessary to comply with our legal obligations as a tour operator,
    • for the purpose of handling claims, investigating claims or defending against claims – we have our legitimate interest in the proper handling and processing of your claims and the ability to defend against or assert claims,
  4. for marketing purposes – based on your consent,
  5. to comply with legal obligations incumbent on us, such as tax and archiving obligations – this is required by law,
  6. in order to ensure the security of the services provided electronically, including the prevention of irregularities – this is our legal obligation,
  7. for the purpose of creating analyses or statistics for reporting purposes, marketing research, developing offers for optimization and personalization – this is our legitimate interest,
  8. we use video surveillance on board the ferry to ensure passenger safety and to protect property and maintain the confidentiality of information, the disclosure of which could expose us to damage – we process information about your image and the registration number of your vehicle that has been recorded which has been captured by the video surveillance we use as part of our legitimate interest,
  9. for the purpose of sending newsletters and information about the services we provide, joint offers from Polska Żegluga Bałtycka and our partners, and for profiling purposes in order to tailor our offers. We send the above-mentioned information via snail mail, SMS, email and other forms of electronic communication – you have given us your consent or it is our legitimate interest,
  10. for the purpose of customer satisfaction surveys, to determine the quality of service and the level of customer satisfaction in order to improve the level of service we provide. We conduct these surveys based on customer satisfaction surveys via email, phone call or anonymous questionnaire left in the cabin on the ferry - this is our legitimate interest,
  11. to provide assistance to passengers with disabilities:
    • Your personal data provided to us in order to provide you with the necessary assistance during your travel in accordance with the Regulation (EU) No. 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 concerning the rights of passengers when traveling by sea and inland waterway – this is our legal obligation,
  12. to prevent abuse of the Services:
    • Your name and surname, your address and your IP address (as applicable) may be used by us to the extent necessary to prevent fraud and credit card theft – the processing of your above-mentioned personal data is based on our legitimate interests,
  13. to improve the quality of our service and to provide an accurate record of our telephone conversations with you, which may be used in the event of a dispute over the content of the arrangement or to confirm what was agreed during the conversation – this is our legitimate interest.
  14. for security purposes, including cybersecurity – detecting and preventing threats to our website and our IT systems, including detecting attempted attacks, fraud and abuse – this is our legitimate interest, which includes ensuring the safe use of the website and securing servers and IT resources.

If you use our website for informational purposes only, i.e., if you do not make a reservation on our website or otherwise provide us with personal information, we may collect personal information that your browser sends to our server based on our legitimate interest in ensuring the smooth operation of the website. We also use tracking technology for web analytics and online marketing purposes to the extent described below in cookies.

How long do we process your personal data?

Depending on the purpose and legal basis, we will retain your personal information for the period indicated below:

  • for registering an account on our website www.polferries.pl – until you delete your account,
  • for ferry ticketing and financial reporting purposes – for a period of 5 years after the end of the fiscal year,
  • for the purpose of purchasing an organized tour and financial reporting – for a period of 5 years after the end of the fiscal year,
  • for marketing purposes – until you withdraw your consent,
  • in order to comply with legal obligations, throughout the voyage, until the ship reaches its destination and for 24 hours thereafter in accordance with the Ship Security Regulations and/or the laws and regulations of the local market in question and Council Directive 1998/41/EC on the registration of persons sailing on board passenger ships operating to or from ports of the Member States of the Community,
  • for the purpose of dealing with complaints, securing potential claims – for as long as your personal data is reasonably required for us to deal with your complaints or to respond to legal claims and/or their submission (generally this will be the length of the limitation period), 
  • for the use of video surveillance – we process your data for a period of 3 months from the date of recording. This period may be extended if the recordings constitute evidence in a proceeding under the law. In this case, we will process them until the legal conclusion of the proceedings,
  • in order to subscribe to our newsletter and receive commercial information sent to the provided e-mail – for the entire period of newsletter subscription, 
  • to provide assistance to passengers with disabilities for 1 month after the completion of the trip in order to guarantee our ability to provide you with the required assistance in relation to your booked tours, accommodation and any other orders/purchases in accordance with our contractual obligations to you and the Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 concerning the rights of passengers when traveling by sea and inland waterway,
  • for the purpose of customer satisfaction surveys - we process your data for the period necessary to conduct a customer satisfaction survey and to compile the survey results, but no longer than for 6 months after the survey,
  • to improve the quality and recording of telephone calls – we process your data for a period of 6 months from the date of recording. This period may be extended if the recordings constitute evidence in a proceeding under the law. In this case, we will process it until the legal conclusion of the proceedings.

Who do we share your personal data with?

We share your personal information with:

  • companies from the capital group of Polska Żegluga Bałtycka: Sea Tropid Company Limited and Polferries AB,
  • entities that process personal data on our behalf in connection with its advertising and marketing services pursuant to executed data entrustment agreements,
  • third party payment service providers,
  • to other ferry operating companies, bus operators, tour leaders, accommodation providers and other contractors (where necessary to carry out the tour booked by you),
  • Police, Customs House, Prosecutor's Office, Border Guard and other state authorities,
  • Port State Administration (e.g., Maritime Authority in Poland and Sweden),
  • insurance companies,
  • service providers that we have engaged to provide services to you, such as website hosting companies, email solution vendors, analytics solution vendors, IT related solution vendors, event service providers, etc.
  • companies that provide newsletter distribution services,
  • entities providing us with legal, tax, ICT and marketing services.

Do we transfer your data to countries outside the European Economic Area?

Your data is not transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

Cookies ("cookies")

Our website uses cookies. Cookies, or "cookies," are small text files that are stored via your web browser on your end device (computer, laptop, smartphone, etc.). When you continue visiting the website, the browser sends such a file back to the website and thus can be recognized each time. Some cookies are necessary to enable you to navigate the website and use its resources. In addition, cookies, by collecting information about how you and other users use a website, ensure that the website functions properly and makes it more efficient by allowing you to find the information you need more quickly. Some cookies are also used to obtain information for analytical and statistical purposes and for marketing.

By using cookies, we can provide you with more user-friendly services that cannot or can only be provided to a limited extent without cookies. Cookies allow us to recognize you and other users of our website again. The purpose of this recognition is to improve the functionality of the website and to make it easier for users to use our online offerings. These cookies are used on the basis of Article 173 (1) and (2) of the Polish Telecommunications Act in conjunction with Article 6 (1) sentence 1 (f) of the GDPR, i.e. our legitimate interest in providing and optimizing a functional and convenient online offering.

You can change the cookie settings in your browser at any time and thus permanently object to the use of certain cookies. In addition, cookies that have already been set can be deleted using your web browser or other software. Please note, however, that deleting cookies in your browser may prevent you from using certain features of our services and other online services.

Cookies have an expiration period, after which they become inactive. The period for which cookies are stored on your device may vary. Their expiry time is calculated with reference to the date of your last visit to our website. Upon expiration, cookies are automatically deleted.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Session cookies – are temporary files that are stored in the memory of the browser until the end of the browser session, i.e. until it is closed. These cookies are necessary for certain functionalities of our website to work properly.
  • Persistent cookies – these are files that make using our website easier (e.g. remember selected resolution, content layout). They may be used for various purposes, including remembering your preferences and choices when using the website. These cookies remain in your browser's memory for an extended period of time.

The cookies used by our website can be divided into the following categories:

  • Necessary cookies – these cookies are essential for the operation of our website, allowing you to navigate the site and access secure areas of the site. They cannot be disabled, as without these files our website cannot function properly. These files do not store any personal information. The legal basis for such data collection and processing is our legitimate interest to the extent necessary for the provision and proper and secure operation of our website.
  • Functional cookies – these cookies allow you to provide greater functionality and personalization by remembering information that changes the look or feel of the site, such as the language you choose or the region you are in. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly. The legal basis for this data collection and processing is our legitimate interest. You may object to such processing.
  • Analytical cookies – these cookies help us determine the number of visits to our website and collect information about traffic sources so we can improve the performance of our website. These cookies also allow us to learn which pages of our site are most popular, how you navigate the site and what content you are particularly interested in. We use this information to compile statistics in order to better adapt the content of our website to your needs and to optimize our offerings. All information collected by these cookies is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site. The legal basis for this data collection and processing is our legitimate interest. You may object to such processing.
  • Marketing cookies – these cookies are created and used by our advertising partners to create a profile based on your visit to our site. We may later display advertisements to you tailored to your needs and interests on other websites you visit. These cookies do not store personal information directly, but rely on the unique identification of your browser and Internet equipment. If you do not allow these cookies, you will receive less targeted advertising. The legal basis for this collection and processing is your consent.

Individual cookies may be our own cookies, placed directly by us (so-called 1st party cookies) or external cookies, placed and used through this website by our partners (so-called 3rd party cookies). External cookies enable tools and features on our website that are provided to us by third parties, e.g., providers of online marketing services, social media, providers of data analytics solutions or related to the administration of our website. Through these cookies, third party vendors may obtain information about your use of our website and other websites with which these vendors partner.

We use third-party vendor services and tools on our website, which include, but are not limited to, tools for analytics and advertising activities (interest-based advertising, remarketing, performance measurement of advertising activities), including social media. To do this, we use tools that help us understand your needs as a user of our website:

  1. Google Analytics – a tool that is used to count visits to the website, their length and to determine which functionalities of the website or which parts of it are most frequently used or visited and how they are used by individual users. The information we collect this way allows us to analyze the performance of our website and to determine the direction of new features and services. 
  2. Google AdWords – Google's advertising system, which enables the display of text, image and video ads, as well as sponsored links in the search results of the Google search engine. This tool allows us to measure the effectiveness of ads that are published within Google and thus better match our offer to your expectations. If you click on our ads displayed by Google AdWords, this information will be included in the statistics for the specific ad.
  3. Google Tag Manager – our website uses Google Tag Manager. This service allows managing page tags through an interface. Google Tag Manager only implements tags. This means that no cookies are used and no personal information is collected. Google Tag Manager activates other tags, which in turn collect data as needed. However, Google Tag Manager does not access this data. If deactivation was done at the domain or cookie level, it remains valid for all tracking tags if they are implemented in Google Tag Manager.

Details about Google's services and privacy protection can be found at https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?gl=PL&hl=pl and https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=pl&gl=pl 

  1. Hotjar – a tool that uses cookies to collect data about:
    • our users' behavior on the website, e.g., time spent on specific pages, most frequently used links, difficulties encountered – this allows us to create and maintain the website in accordance with the users' preferences;
    • our users' devices (specifically, the IP address of the device (captured and stored only in anonymized form), the screen size of the device, the device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), preferred language used to view our website).

Hotjar stores the aforementioned information in a pseudonymized user profile. Neither Hotjar nor we will ever use this information to determine the identity of individual users or to match it with further data about an individual user. For more information, please read Hotjar's privacy policy by clicking this link: https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/ 

  1. Facebook – we use Facebook tools (Facebook Pixel) to implement marketing activities on Facebook and measure their effectiveness. We use the information collected through the pixel to publish ads to the appropriate audience, to create audience groups for our ads, and to study the impact of our advertising efforts both on our website and on Facebook. Details about Facebook services and Facebook privacy protection can be found at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/customaudience

We use cookies only with your consent. You can disable or modify the storage of cookies on your terminal device at any time through appropriate settings in your web browser software. By default, the web browsing software allows files to be stored on your terminal device and thus allows us to process the data stored in these files.

Since cookies are also used to remember your cookie preferences, you should be aware of the consequences associated with changing your settings, in particular:

  • if you disable the storage of cookies on your terminal device, you may not be able to log into the website www.polferries.pl and use its functionality;
  • if you use a different end device, profile on your computer or browser, you will need to redefine your cookie preferences.

For more information on how to manage your cookie settings, we recommend that you follow the instructions of the web browser you are using, in particular:

Social media

In order to keep in touch with you and promote us, we are present on the social media indicated below and therefore process your personal data. This is our legitimate legal interest. If you access one of our social media sites, we are jointly responsible with the controller of the relevant social media site for the processing of personal data initiated during this visit. In the case of a request for information and assurance of the data subject's rights, we would also like to point out that these can be most effectively provided by suppliers. Only providers have access to user data and can take effective action and provide information directly. Please note that although we share responsibility with the controllers of the social media sites, we do not have full control over the data processing operations of the social media sites. Our options are generally subject to the corporate policies of the applicable provider. Data that is directly collected by us through your social media presence is deleted from our system as soon as the purpose for which it was saved expires, you request us to delete it, you revoke your consent to save it, or the purpose for which it was saved no longer applies. Cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them. Applicable laws, in particular data retention periods, remain unaffected. We have no control over how long your personal information is retained by social network administrators for their own purposes. Please contact your social media administrators directly for details.

What rights do you have in relation to our processing of your personal data?

You have the following rights in relation to the processing of your personal data:

  • the right of access to personal data – including obtaining information about the data being processed and requesting a copy of the data,
  • right of rectification (correction) – you can update the personal information you have provided to us, 
  • the right to erasure of your personal information – you may request that we erase your personal information in the following situations:
  • the personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise processed,
  • you have withdrawn your consent for processing and there are no longer any other legal grounds for processing,
  • you have raised a legitimate objection to the processing of your personal data,
  • your personal data is processed in an unlawful manner, or
  • your personal information must be deleted due to the need to comply with a legal obligation.
  • the right to request restriction of processing of your personal data – you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data at any time, unless the processing is required by law. In that case, we will limit the processing to storage unless it is necessary for the establishment, investigation or defense of claims, or to protect the rights of another natural or legal person,
  • the right to portability of your personal data – you have the right to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable computer format. You may transfer this data to another controller or request that we transfer your data to another controller, however, we will only do so if such transfer is technically possible,
  • the right to object to the processing – you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where the processing is based on a legitimate interest and the objection is justified by the particular situation in which you find yourself. Where your personal data is processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for such marketing. This includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing.
  • right to object to direct marketing – you have the right to object, at any time, to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes. If you make such an objection, we will no longer be able to process your personal data for those purposes,
  • the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data – where we process your personal data on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Remember, however, that this does not affect the lawfulness of the processing we did prior to your doing so. You can withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data by contacting us.

To exercise the above rights, please contact us or our Data Protection Officer – in person, by post or by email at iod@polferries.pl. Your request will be fulfilled without undue delay and in any case no later than one month after receipt. If, however, the deadline were to be extended, we will inform you of both the extension and the reasons for it.

  • In addition, you have the right to lodge a complaint to the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection, if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates the law.

Is it a legal obligation to provide your personal information?

The provision of personal data by you is not a statutory obligation, it is voluntary, however, necessary for the effective conclusion and execution of the contract. Failure to provide your personal data will result in your inability to enter into a contract or receive information about travel offers. 

Do we process your personal data automatically (including through profiling) in a way that affects your rights?

We perform profiling, which is the automated assessment of certain personal factors about you, based on your personal information. We perform profiling to properly prepare a travel or transportation offer. Based on your profile, we will be able to match our product to your expectations and preferences. We use data for profiling, e.g. the service or event for which you have booked/purchased tickets. In addition, we consider statistical data about the same information when profiling.

We do not make decisions about you that are based solely on the automated processing, including profiling, of information about you and that produce legal effects or similarly significantly affect you.

Changes to this document

We will regularly review and update this document in light of changes in the law and new steps we are taking to improve the security of your data.

This document was last updated on 19/11/2021.

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