Privacy notice

Draft: needs legal review. This page has not yet been checked by a lawyer and may change before Batoma launches.

Batoma publishes a travel magazine on this website and in the Batoma app. This notice says what we collect, why, and what you can ask of us. It is written to meet Nepal's Individual Privacy Act, 2075 (2018).

On this website

• No cookies and no tracking scripts. There is no advertising network and no outside analytics here.
• Visit counts. When you open a page we record the page, the website that sent you (its name only), and a visit code. The visit code is a one-way scramble of your network address, your browser's name and the half-hour you visited; it changes every half-hour and cannot be turned back into your address. We use these counts to see what people read and to report to partners how often they were shown and clicked.
• Messages to partners. If you send a partner a message, we pass your name, contact and message to that partner by email and keep a copy, so we can check partners answer.
• Messages to us. Contact and advertising enquiries are kept so we can answer them.
• The newsletter. We keep your email address, when you subscribed and confirmed, and where you signed up. Nothing is sent until you confirm by email, and every newsletter has a one-click unsubscribe link.
• Server logs. Our hosting provider keeps short-lived technical logs, which may include network addresses, to keep the service running and safe.

In the Batoma app

• Scanning a bus code records the code, the time and a random code for your device, so we can count readers. The app asks for your location only if you hold the SOS button, and sends it with the alert.
• Accounts. If you sign in, we keep your email address and name. Bus companies, partners and our staff use extra security, including sign-in codes.
• Reviews of a bus. Your rating and comment are shown to the bus company and to other travellers, after a check by our moderators, without your name: the company never sees who wrote them. A private suggestion goes to the company only.
• Stories you write are published with the name you choose.

Who else sees it

Partners see the messages sent to them and counts, never who you are. Bus companies see reviews of their buses. Our hosting, storage and email providers process data for us under contract. We do not sell personal data.

How long we keep it

Visit counts and scan records are kept in full for up to 13 months, then reduced to totals. Messages are kept while they are useful to answer and for our records. You can ask us to delete your account and what is linked to it at any time.

Your rights

You can ask to see what we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it. Write to us through the contact page and we will answer within 30 days.

Changes

If this notice changes, the new version is published here with its date.