Privacy policy
1. Introduction
This privacy statement applies to all the personal information about you that we collect, use and retain when you use our website (under the Option Way brand or as part of a partnership, together with the words “powered by Option Way”), when you create an account, when you book a flight ticket or another product or service, or when you contact us.
Option Way is responsible for the collection and use of your personal data as described below in this privacy statement. If you have any questions, comments or complaints regarding Option Way's use of your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer by email: dpo@optionway.com.
Option Way is a French travel agency and is subject to French regulations for its online flight ticket sales activities. Option Way is registered with Atout France as a travel agency, is a member of the Association Professionnelle de Solidarité du Tourisme (APST), the French travel industry guarantee association, and is accredited by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Option Way is a société par actions simplifiée (S.A.S., a French simplified joint-stock company) with a share capital of €233,187, registered with the Registre du Commerce de Cannes (Cannes trade and companies register) under RCS Cannes No. 752 774 521, whose registered office is at Parc Haute Technologie, avenue Maurice Donat, Sophia-Antipolis, 06250 Mougins.
2. Data collected
2.1. Data provided by the user
Option Way collects information relating to the user's identity (gender, first names, surnames, date of birth, email, telephone number, account password…) when you provide it on subscribing to our offers, when you create an account, and when you attempt to make or complete a flight booking.
When you attempt to make or complete a flight booking, Option Way collects information relating to the identity of the passengers (gender, first names, surnames, date of birth, passports or identity cards, email, telephone number, frequent flyer programmes…).
The data collected also covers all the information relating to flight searches and bookings (search criteria, details of the itineraries searched for and/or booked, price details…), as well as to the other flight-related products such as travel insurance.
2.2. Data collected when you use the website or our services
When you use the website or our services, including our Customer Service, Option Way collects information about the use of the website and about user behaviour.
When you contact our customer service team by email or telephone, we record these contacts in our systems so that we can track the action taken on customer requests and on the bookings made.
When you browse our website, we record in particular your IP address, your browser type and your browsing behaviour. We also collect information through cookies, scripts, pixel tags or other similar technologies. If you receive a newsletter from us, we record when you open that newsletter and whether you click on a link.
3. Processing and use of data
Option Way processes and uses the data collected in order to achieve a number of objectives.
a) To make flight bookings and to provide after-sales service to users.
The purpose of most of the data collected is to enable the proper performance of the bookings requested and made by users, and to carry out all after-sales operations, in particular by contacting users.
b) To communicate with users.
Some of the data collected is used to communicate with users who have agreed to be informed about our offers and our services. This mainly involves sending emails and newsletters. Users who have agreed to be contacted may change that choice at any time.
c) To improve the website and our service.
Some of the data collected is used to improve the website and our services. This use of the data consists in analysing user behaviour on the website (audience, where users come from, analysis of the customer journey, types of searches and bookings…).
d) To fulfil our legal, contractual, tax and accounting obligations.
Some of the data collected is used to fulfil our legal obligations (in the event of customer disputes or fraud, for example), our contractual obligations (with the airlines, for example) and our tax and accounting obligations (in the event of an audit of booking files, for example).
4. Cookie management
These cookies are essential for the website to function and cannot be disabled:
ow-user-session-id, ow-visitor-id, partner, persist:hs-beacon-message-#-#, persist:hs-beacon-#-#-#-#-#, persist:hs-beacon-session-#-#-#-#-#, airports_fr, airportsResultsStructured_fr, ember_simple_auth-session, SCROLL_TO_LOWESTFARES, currentInputLocked, referentiel/currency:all, referentiel/airline:all, referentiel/airport:all, referentiel/aircraft:all, referentiel/city:all, referentiel/document-type:all, referentiel/country:all, referentiel/nationality:all, referentiel/phone-code:all, referentiel/frequent-flyer-program:all, token, topNoteReaded, displayWidget, maintenance, pendingRequests, previousPageWasShopping, limit, JSESSIONID, ak_bmsc, CookieConsent, bestoffer:all.
Non-mandatory cookies may also be placed on your browser, subject to your explicit consent, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
5. Data sharing
Option Way shares some of the data collected with external service providers so that transactions can be carried out and our services provided. Option Way shares the data collected for flight bookings with several airline reservation systems (Galileo France, Amadeus, Travel Fusion), and with each of the airlines concerned by the flight bookings. Option Way also shares the data with the providers of the other products or services taken out in addition to the flights, in particular the insurance broker and the insurance companies for travel insurance.
Furthermore, when a user visits a version of the Option Way website in partnership with another website (an airport website, a travel agency website, an agency matching platform, or any other website), Option Way shares the data collected with the partner that distributes Option Way's flight search and booking website. The partner's name is clearly displayed on the website, together with the words “powered by Option Way”, so that users are informed that a partnership exists between the partner and Option Way. Users are informed of this data sharing in Option Way's General Terms and Conditions. Partners use this data in order to offer their own services and to ensure that those services are properly performed.
Finally, Option Way may be required to share some of the data collected in order to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, in particular where the company's supervisory authorities so request.
6. Payment information
Payments made by users on the website are handled by two companies, Point Transaction Systems (Paybox Verifone) and Sogecommerce (Société Générale and Lyra Networks), which are external service providers specialising in this field and compliant with the PCI DSS security standards. Option Way has no access to users' payment card details, as those details are supplied by users directly on the service providers' interface (redirection). Option Way does, however, receive information from the service providers about the outcome of the payment.
7. Data storage and security
Personal data is stored by Option Way using external service providers that offer remote data storage services (“cloud”). Option Way uses two external service providers (OVH and Amazon Web Services), which store the data within the European Union.
Data transmission on the Option Way website is secured by the https protocol and by a security certificate supplied by the company Digicert. The personal data collected is encrypted by Option Way in order to secure its storage. Access to the databases is also secured by private access rights. The data collected is retained for a maximum period of 10 years in order to meet certain legal obligations.
8. Your rights regarding your personal data
In accordance with European and French regulations, you have a number of rights in respect of the data collected about you by Option Way:
a) Right of access to data
You have a right of access to your personal data: you may ask us what data we hold and obtain a copy of that data. We will provide you with all the data at our disposal, specifying the use made of it and the purpose of the processing.
b) Right to rectification of data
You have a right to have your personal data rectified in the event of an error or where some details are missing. We will amend your data accordingly. The data relating to your account may be amended on the website.
c) Right to erasure of data
You have a right to the erasure of your personal data, in accordance with Article 17 of the GDPR. This concerns personal data that is no longer necessary for the purpose of its storage and processing. In that event, we will delete the data concerned.
d) Right to restriction of processing of data
You have the right to obtain the restriction of the processing of your personal data, which means that we suspend the processing of your data for a certain time. The circumstances that may lead you to exercise this right include situations where the accuracy of your personal data is called into question but where some time is needed to verify whether it is accurate or not. This right does not prevent us from continuing to store your personal data. We will inform you when this restriction is lifted.
e) Right to data portability
You have a right to data portability. This allows you to ask us to provide you with your personal data in a computer format widely used by companies in our sector. On request, and where it is technically possible, we may transmit your personal data to a provider of your choice.
f) Right to object
You have a right to object to the processing of your personal data, by asking us to stop processing it.
To exercise your rights in respect of your personal data, you may contact the Data Protection Officer directly by email dpo@optionway.com.
9. Links to other websites and social networks
The Option Way websites may contain links to the websites of partners or of third parties. Those third-party websites have their own privacy policy and Option Way accepts no responsibility for the information collected by those third parties.
10. Amendments to our privacy policy
Option Way may amend this privacy policy at any time by updating it on the Option Way websites. The date on which the document was updated is shown on the first page of the document.
11. Contact
For any question concerning the protection of personal data, or to exercise your rights, you may contact the Data Protection Officer directly by email dpo@optionway.com or by post:
Option Way
For the attention of the Data Protection Officer
Parc Haute Technologie
Avenue Maurice Donat
Sophia-Antipolis
06250 Mougins