Scope and legal framework

This privacy policy explains how Discover La Guajira collects, uses, stores and protects the personal data of users of the site. We are committed to protecting your privacy and the proper treatment of your personal data, in compliance with current Colombian laws on the subject, in particular the Statutory Law 1581 of 2012 and its regulations, which establish the principles and general provisions for the protection of personal data in Colombia.  

This law (known as Personal Data Protection Law or Habeas Data Law) recognizes the fundamental right of all persons to know, update and rectify the information that has been collected about them in public or private databases. Discover La Guajira, in its capacity as data controller, handles personal information in accordance with these legal principles, ensuring respect for privacy, confidentiality and security of data provided by users.

Responsible for the treatment

The responsible for the database and the processing of personal data collected through the website is Discover La Guajira, an official initiative of the Governorate of La Guajira. 

Personal data collected

The only personal data we collect is that which the user voluntarily provides when interacting with the Site, specifically through our online forms:

• User registration form: name, e-mail and organization or entity to which the user belongs are requested (optional in case of individual visitors). This registration could be used, for example, to subscribe to newsletters, receive updates on tourism events or gain access to personalized content.
• Suggestions or recommendations form: name, e-mail address, and e-mail address are requested. and the suggestion/recommendation field, where users can leave their comments, opinions or ideas to improve our tourism services.

In addition, the site may automatically collect certain technical information that is not directly identifiable to an individual, such as the IP address of the device, browser type, language, access times and pages visited. This information, which in principle does not contain sensitive personal data, could be considered personal data to the extent that it is or could be associated with a specific user. In any case, it will be processed in accordance with this Policy and for legitimate purposes. We also use cookies and similar technologies that collect users’ browsing data.

Discover La Guajira does not collect sensitive personal data from users (such as information on racial or ethnic origin, health, political or religious orientation, biometric data, etc.), or data from minors without the corresponding authorization (see special section on minors). The data requested in our forms are limited to basic contact information and comments, necessary for the purposes described below.

Purpose of treatment

The personal data provided by the user will be used exclusively for the authorized and legitimate purposes set forth below:

• Respond to your requests and communications: if you complete the feedback form, we will use your contact information to read, manage and respond to your suggestions, recommendations or questions. Your opinion is valuable to improve our content and services, so we may contact you via email to follow up on your comment or request additional related information.
• Registration and access to contents: in case a user registration is enabled, the data provided (name, email, organization) will be used to create a basic profile to facilitate the user’s access to certain personalized resources of the site, receive newsletters or notifications of new content, and generally improve their browsing experience by offering content according to their interests.
• Newsletters and promotional communication: with the prior consent of the owner, the email address provided may be used to send newsletters, news, invitations to events, tourism or promotional campaigns related to La Guajira. These communications will have the purpose of keeping the user informed about news of the destination, tourist plans, cultural festivals and other relevant content. No We will not send unsolicited commercial e-mails without your permission. At any time you may revoke your consent and opt out of receiving further communications (see below on how to exercise your rights). We will comply with Colombian regulations on advertising messages: for example, the recent Law 2300 of 2023 requires obtaining express consent for sending marketing communications and offers the holder the right to choose the channels through which they wish to be contacted. Accordingly, we will provide clear mechanisms for the user to choose whether to receive communications by email and to easily unsubscribe from our distribution lists at any time.
• Statistical and service improvement purposes: Discover La Guajira may use the information collected (including aggregate navigation data and metrics of the forms received) to develop statistics, studies and reports that allow us to understand the interest of users in different sections of the Site, evaluate the impact of our tourism campaigns and improve the quality of our content and services.

As far as possible, for these analyses we will use dissociated or anonymized data, in such a way that it is not possible to personally identify the owners. It should be noted that, in accordance with Law 1581 of 2012, prior authorization from the holder is not required to process data for strictly historical, statistical or scientific purposes provided that measures are taken for the suppression of the identity of the holders. However, we guarantee that any statistical processing will respect the principles of privacy and will only be done with necessary data.

• Compliance with legal obligations and security: in certain cases, we may process personal data to comply with legal obligations or requirements of competent authorities. For example, to comply with requests from law enforcement agencies, to comply with court orders, or to respond to requests in the exercise of the right to petition. We may also use and retain certain information in our records if necessary to prevent fraud, abuse or security incidents, or to protect the rights of Discover La Guajira, our users or the public. Any release of data to authorities will be done in accordance with applicable law.

In no case will we use your personal data for purposes other than those described herein without obtaining your prior consent. If in the future Discover La Guajira requires to treat your data for a different purpose (for example, sharing it with another government entity for joint tourism programs), you will be duly informed and, if necessary, you will be asked for a new authorization.

Confidentiality, Security and Information Sharing

The personal information you entrust to us will be treated with strict confidentiality. We have implemented reasonable administrative, technical and legal measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse or alteration. This includes the use of secure servers, encryption protocols where applicable, restricted access controls to information, among other safeguards in accordance with industry standards and the requirements of Law 1581 of 2012 (principle of information security). Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is important to remember that no data transmission over the Internet or electronic storage method is completely secure. Therefore, while we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security; you understand that you provide information at your own risk.

We will not share or disclose your personal data to third parties without your authorization, except in the exceptions provided by law. Discover La Guajira does not sell, rent or lease its personal databases to any private entity. Only authorized employees and contractors who need to process personal information for the aforementioned purposes (for example, the team in charge of responding to suggestions or sending newsletters, who are subject to confidentiality obligations) may access personal information. If it is necessary to involve an external service provider (e.g., a mass mailing platform), it will act as Data Processor following our instructions and the security measures imposed by law to protect your data.

Personal information will only be disclosed to outside third parties in these circumstances: (a) when the holder has given us express consent to share it; (b) when a competent judicial or administrative authority requires it by legal order; (c) when it is necessary to protect the security, property or other rights of Discover La Guajira or other users (for example, exchange of information with law enforcement authorities to prevent fraud or computer crimes); or (d) in the other situations permitted by Article 13 of Law 1581 of 2012 (such as delivery to public entities in the exercise of their functions, or to third parties authorized by law).  

Other than in these cases, we will keep your information confidential. Simply put: we will not share or disclose your confidential information with third parties, except with your permission or as required by law or court order, or to protect intellectual property or other legal rights.

Procedure for the exercise of rights

To exercise any of your rights of habeas data, the holder or his legal representative may contact us through the following channels of attention:

• E-mail: send a clear request to discoverlaguajira@gmail.com with the subject line “Personal Data Protection”. You must provide us with your full name, description of the request or right you wish to exercise (e.g., access your data, update it, revoke consent, etc.), the data you believe should be corrected or deleted (if applicable), and provide a copy of your identification document (optional, if required to validate ownership).
• Written communication: if you prefer, you may send a signed letter to the data controller (Discover La Guajira, Gobernación de La Guajira) at the physical address of our main offices. Currently, for greater agility, we recommend the electronic media.
• Contact web form: alternatively, you can use the contact form available on the Site, indicating in the body of the message that it is a query or claim of personal data, and detailing your request.

In general terms, queries about your data will be answered within 10 working days of receipt. If it is not possible to respond within this period, we will inform you of the reasons for the delay and respond within 5 working days at the latest. Complaints (e.g., for correction or deletion of data) will be processed within 15 working days from the day after we receive the complaint in full. If the complaint is incomplete, we will ask you to correct the missing information within 5 days. If you do not respond to the correction within 2 months, we will understand that you have withdrawn the claim. If we need more time to resolve your request, we will inform you and we may extend the deadline for another 8 working days according to the law.

In any case, you will receive a formal response to your request, either granting the request, making the changes in our systems, delivering the requested information, or informing you of the reasons if for any circumstance we could not meet all or part of your request (for example, due to a higher legal requirement). Remember that before processing a request to exercise your rights, for security reasons we may validate your identity or authority (in case of representatives) to prevent unauthorized access to the data.

Minors

Protecting the privacy of children and adolescents is especially important. Discover La Guajira does not target its services or content specifically to children under the age of 18. However, we understand that minors may have an interest in our tourism content. Accordingly, if you are under the age of 18, please do not submit personal information (such as name, email or other information) to us through forms on the Site without the consent and supervision of your parent, guardian or legal custodian. We recommend that parents and guardians instruct minors under their care not to provide personal data on websites without their permission.

If we discover that we have inadvertently received personal information from a minor without the necessary parental consent, we will securely delete such information as soon as possible, unless we are legally required to retain it. Parents or guardians of a minor who has provided their information may contact us to request review or deletion of that information.

Some sections of the Site that involve interaction (e.g., registration or suggestions) may require additional age verification. Discover La Guajira reserves the right to refuse registration or remove information from users who are under the age of 18 if they do not have proper authorization. By using the Site and any of its interactive features, you represent that you are 18 years of age or older or, if you are a minor, that you have parental or guardian consent to share information, as applicable. Responsibility for the supervision of minors in their use of the Internet rests with the adults in charge; we encourage families to promote safe and responsible use of online resources.

Data retention

The personal data collected will be kept only for the time necessary to fulfill the purposes for which they were obtained, or for the periods required by law for administrative, accounting, tax or other legal reasons. In general terms:

• The data provided in the suggestion form (name, email, comment) will be kept for as long as necessary to process and respond to the suggestion, and may be stored internally for statistical and management improvement purposes. If there is no further interaction, this data may be deleted or anonymized after a reasonable period of time.
• The data from the registration form (name, email, organization), if used for the continuous sending of newsletters or communications, will be kept valid until the user requests their deletion or revokes their consent for such purposes. If a user decides to unsubscribe from the newsletter, their contact information will be removed or blocked from our marketing recipient base, and will only be retained in a restricted form if necessary to verify that their right has been respected (e.g., to avoid inadvertently contacting them again).
• As for technical navigation data collected through cookies or other technologies, they will be kept according to the expiration terms of such cookies (see Cookies Policy) or may be deleted periodically once their analytical purpose has been fulfilled.
• Where there is a legal obligation to retain certain personal information for a specific period of time (e.g., retention of data in connection with the fulfillment of rights of request, or archiving obligations of public bodies), we will comply with such legal terms. After that time, we will securely delete the data.

We take measures to ensure that, when data is no longer required for the authorized purposes, it is deleted from our systems or archived in a secure and inaccessible manner. In any case, personal data will be processed for the time strictly necessary and will not be retained for longer than permitted, unless it is anonymized for statistical or historical purposes only, in which case it may be retained without time limit as it is no longer identifiable personal data.

Validity and updates of the policy

This privacy policy is effective as of the date of publication on the website and will remain in effect until modified or replaced by a new version. Discover La Guajira reserves the right to update or modify this Policy at any time for legal, technical or operational reasons, or in response to changes in our data processing practices. If we make material changes in the way we collect or use your personal data, we will notify you through the usual means (e.g., a prominent notice on the site or an informational email), before the new policy becomes applicable. We encourage you to periodically review this section to be aware of our practices and any changes.

Your continued use of the website following the posting of changes will signify your acceptance of the new privacy policy terms. However, if a change requires your explicit consent (for example, if in the future we need to process your data for an additional purpose not originally contemplated), we will request your consent in an appropriate manner.

In case of doubt about the interpretation of this policy or for any questions related to the privacy of your data in Discover La Guajira, you can contact us through the channels mentioned in the contact section. We will always be attentive to listen to your concerns and protect your rights regarding personal data.