Tern Privacy Policy

Last Updated: Jan 23, 2024

Tern Software Inc. (“Tern”, “we,” “us,” and “our”) owns and operates a travel platform via its website located at tern.travel (the “Website”) and the Tern travel mobile application (the “Tern App”) (the Website and Tern App are collectively referred to herein as the “Tern Platform”) that connects travel advisors, travel suppliers, and travelers (“user’, “you” or “your”). Travel agents use the Tern Platform to manage their travel business and provide services to their traveler clients (“Travel Advisors”). Travelers use the Tern Platform to connect with their Travel Advisor, access relevant travel information, and authorize their Travel Advisor to book travel offerings with Travel Suppliers on their behalf (“Travelers”). Travel suppliers (e.g., airlines, hotels, resorts, and other lodging accommodations, car rental companies, cruise lines, destination management companies, tour operators, and travel insurance companies) use the Tern Platform to connect with Travel Advisors, sharing information and resources on their travel related offerings (“Travel Suppliers”).

We respect the privacy of your personal information. We are committed to complying with this privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”), which describes what personal information we collect about you and others, including how we collect it, how we use it, with whom we may share it, and certain rights you have regarding your personal information that we collect or hold about you. By using the term “personal information” in this Privacy Policy, we mean information from or about you that can be used to uniquely contact, identify, or locate you.

Additional terms may apply to you based upon the state or country in which you reside. Please see the region or state specific sections that may be included below to learn more about such additional terms and rights.

Privacy Policy Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to your use of the Tern Platform, the services, features, functionality, and tools we provide through the Tern Platform (together with the Tern Platform, collectively the “Tern Services” or the “Services”), as well as when you contact us, use our social media pages or marketing activities, or otherwise interact with us and the Tern Services.

Tern determines the purposes and means of the processing of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy and therefore acts as a ‘data controller’ (or equivalent/similar terms under applicable data privacy laws) of such information. We may share your personal information with our affiliates and conduct processing activities as controllers or joint controllers for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

In certain circumstances, there may be more than one data controller processing your personal information. For example, a Travel Advisor may also act as a data controller. In these situations, we act as an independent data controller over our processing activities. This means we determine how your personal information will be processed independently from the other data controllers. The other data controllers have their own obligations under applicable data privacy laws. Tern is not responsible for other data controllers’ processing activities, and you should contact them directly for questions about how they process your personal information and about how to exercise your privacy rights in relation to such processing.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to certain processing activities where we are not the controller. For example, where Tern processes personal information as a processor or service provider on behalf of our users who are Travel Advisors and Travel Suppliers. When we act as a processor or service provider, the privacy policy of the Travel Advisor or Travel Supplier who uses our Services applies, instead of this Privacy Policy. If you have concerns about personal information that we process on behalf of a Travel Advisor or Travel Supplier, or wish to exercise your privacy rights regarding such personal information, please contact the Travel Advisor or Travel Supplier directly.

If you have any questions about how Tern processes your personal information, please see the below “Contact Us” section.

Tern uses Google APIs to offer services like email and calendar integration. Data accessed via these APIs are subject to Google's API Service User Data Policy including access limitations. You can learn more about these policies here.

Information We Collect

Tern collects information (including personal information) from and about users of the Tern Services directly when a user provides it to us, from third party sources, and automatically when a user accesses the Tern Platform and/or uses the Tern Services. Tern has three primary users: Travel Advisors, Travelers, and Travel Suppliers,. The type of personal information that Tern collects varies by user as specified below.

Information You Provide Us

Travel Advisors

‍Travel Advisors use the Tern Services to manage their travel agency business. We collect information that Travel Advisors provide to us including:

Personal information: name, email, phone number, address, account user credentials, passwords, geolocation, and other personal information.
Business information: business name, address, phone number, email address, company website, social media accounts, calendars, emails, and other business and travel related information such as familiarization trip data.
Financial information: details on commissions and professional fees, payment schedules, trip costs, expenses, payment method for Subscriptions (e.g., valid credit card number, credit card details, banking information, etc.), and other personal and business related financial information.
Traveler Client information: client’s, and their family members’ and other travel companions’, name, email, phone number, address, date of birth, passport information, driver’s license, insurance policy, loyalty program information, payment information, travel booking information (e.g., Travel Suppliers, flight numbers, confirmation numbers), travel preferences, and other Traveler client related information input by Travel Advisor into the Tern Platform.

Travelers

‍Tern provides a traveler interface on the Tern Platform that allows Travelers to collaborate with their Travel Advisor when they create an account with Tern. Travelers can use the Tern Services to share information with Travel Advisors, access trip details, authorize the payment of travel bookings with Travel Suppliers, and complete other actions related to working with their Travel Advisor. We collect information that Travelers provide to us including:

Personal information: name, email, phone number, address, account user credentials, date of birth, passport information, driver’s license, insurance policy, geolocation, loyalty program information, and other personal information regarding Traveler and its family members and/or companions traveling with Traveler.
Financial information: payment method (e.g., valid credit card number, credit card details, banking information, etc.) to authorize bookings with Travel Suppliers.
Travel information: travel preferences, schedules, budget details, and other travel related information.

Travel Suppliers

‍Travel Suppliers use the Tern Services to share information on their offerings with Travel Advisors. We collect information that Traveler Suppliers provide to us including:

Personal information: name, email, phone number, account user credentials, geolocation, and other personal information of the authorized Travel Supplier representative.
Business information: business name, address, phone number, company website, social medial accounts, Travel Offerings, and other business and travel related information.
Travel Offerings: information, images, photographs, videos, and other materials and content regarding Travel Supplier’s travel-related offerings, services, and products (e.g., flights, hotels, resorts and other lodging accommodations, car rentals, cruises, packages, tours, and travel insurance), including special offers and events.

Third-Party Provision of Information

The Tern Platform is designed to connect Travel Advisors, Travelers, and Travel Suppliers. As a result of those connections, others may be able to input personal information about you, including other users of the Tern Platform. For example, a Travel Advisor can input personal information regarding Travelers in order to use and benefit from the Tern Platform. Travel Advisors and Travelers may also input or process personal information about family members and other travel companions in connection with Travel Offerings and for Travel Bookings. If you input information about others into the Tern Platform, you must only do so if you have first provided sufficient notice and received any required permissions, and have an appropriate legal basis if required by applicable law.

We also receive personal information about you from other third parties where you have provided consent or as permitted by applicable law. We protect and process personal information obtained from third parties as described in this Privacy Policy, consistent with any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the information. Our third-party sources may vary over time and depend upon how you use the Tern Platform. For example, we receive information from:

Linked third-party services. If you choose to sync a non-Tern account/service (e.g., bank account, email, or calendar) with your Tern account, we will receive information from that account/service according to your settings with that account/service.
Supplemental information and identity verification providers. We may work with certain third parties to help us verify your identity, the specifics of your business, and/or supplement the personal information you have provided and ensure the accuracy of your personal information.
Customer support providers. We receive personal information about you or your interaction with the Tern Platform from certain third parties for troubleshooting purposes. For example, we may obtain information about your interaction(s) with support, including e-mails, recordings, call monitoring records, voicemails, photographs, and chat records.
Content providers. We may receive personal information from companies that make user-generated content from their service available to others, such as travel reviews or public social media posts.
Public information. We collect individual and household demographic information and preference information from publicly available sources, such as open government databases, social media platforms, and others.

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Automatic Collection of Information

Tern and our service providers automatically collect information, including personal information, from users when they interact with the Tern Services, including:

Device information. Information about your device(s) such as IP addresses, log information, error messages, device type, and unique device identifiers. For example, we may collect IP addresses from you as part of our sign in and security features.
Usage information. Information about your use of the Tern Platform, such as the pages you viewed, the Services and features you used or interacted with, your browser type, and details about any links or communications with which you interacted.
Location information. Certain features in the Tern Platform may collect your precise location information, device motion information, or both.
Information stored locally. Some of our web-enabled desktop services and offerings synchronize with the information on your computer. In doing so, we may collect information such as device information, product usage, and error reports. We may also store personal information locally on your device.
Communication interaction data. Information from email providers, communication providers and social networks, such as your interactions with our email or other communications (e.g., whether you open and/or forward emails) – we may do this through use of pixel tags (which are also known as clear GIFs), which may be embedded invisibly in our emails.
Session recordings. Tern may record and store sessions of users interacting with our Services.
Online behavioral data. Information about your use and interactions with Tern’s and our Travel Advisors’ and Travel Suppliers’ websites, social media pages, and marketing campaigns, including device information (such as your IP address and unique device IDs), page view information, search results, and links.

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Cookies and Other Technologies

We and our service providers use cookies, pixels, local shared objects, and other technologies (collectively “Cookies”) to collect information about you so we can provide the experiences you request, recognize your visit, track your interactions, and improve your and other users’ experiences.

You have control over some of the information we collect from Cookies and how we use it. Please see the “Your Personal Information Rights and Choices” section below for more information.

Please be advised that certain third parties that are beyond the scope of this Privacy Policy may collect information in connection with our Services. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of such third parties. For example, we use Google Analytics to better understand how you interact with our Services. Google Analytics use cookies to collect certain information, such as how often you visit our Services, how you interact with our Services, and what other websites you used prior to coming to our Services. This information helps us learn things like what pages are most attractive to our users and which of our Services most interest our users, You can opt out of Google Analytics on most browsers through the mechanisms made available by Google here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

We also use session-replay technologies, such as those provided by FullStory, that employ software code to record users’ interactions with the Services in a manner that allows us to watch video replays of those user sessions. The replays include users’ clicks, mobile app touches, mouse movements, scrolls, and keystrokes/key touches during those sessions. These replays help us diagnose usability problems and identify areas for improvement. You can learn more about FullStory at https://www.fullstory.com/legal/privacy-policy and you can opt-out of session recording by FullStory athttps://www.fullstory.com/optout/.

How We Use Your Personal Information

Tern uses your personal information in a number of ways or as otherwise described at the time of collection. This includes, but is not limited to:

Operating and providing the Tern Services;
Creating and managing your accounts;
Personalizing and improving our Services, user experience, and our business;
Communicating with you and for customer service-related purposes;
Security purposes, including monitoring, risk assessment, addressing integrity and security issues related to the Services, and fraud and crime prevention and detection;
Sending information that you request from us, including responding to inquiries or requests for information about or from us as well as sharing updates with you;
Promotional, marketing, and advertising related purposes;

Other business purposes, including, without limitation, market, product, and service research and development, analytics, verifying your identity, investigating complaints, and dispute resolution;

Complying with legal obligations, law enforcement, and legal processes, and to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, and/or that of our affiliates, users, business partners, service providers, or other third parties; and
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automated processing related purposes, such as providing a more personalized and enhanced experience, parsing out confirmation numbers, and associating emails with trips, activities, and contacts automatically.

How We Share Your Personal Information

We may share and disclose your personal information, to:

Affiliates, subsidiaries, business partners (including Travel Advisors and Travel Suppliers), or third-party providers to provide the Tern Services and for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. Such third-party providers perform functions such as payment processing, operating and supporting the Tern Platform and Tern Services, analyzing data, or performing marketing or consulting services.

Professional advisors, such as lawyers, auditors, bankers, and insurers, in the course of the professional services they render to us.

Law enforcement, in response to a subpoena or court order, or for other legal purposes such as to establish or exercise our legal rights, to assert or defend against legal claims, or if we believe such disclosure is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take other action regarding actual or suspected illegal or fraudulent activities or potential threats to the physical safety or well-being of any person.

Advertising networks and other providers to tailor advertising and offers presented to you based on your interactions with the Tern Platform and Tern Services.

Third parties in connection with a merger, asset sale, financing, investment, liquidation, bankruptcy, or dissolution during the course of such transaction. In any such transactions, your personal information is a company asset that may be sold or transferred to third parties.

Your Personal Information Rights and Choices

We provide all users with the following options to manage the privacy of their personal information.

Update your privacy settings. You may update your privacy settings by visiting your account settings.
Correct your personal information. You can edit and correct certain personal information at any time by changing it in your account profile.
Access your personal information. You may request a copy of the personal information we have about you by contacting us as set forth below in the “Contact Us” section.
Delete your personal information. You may ask us to delete your personal information by contacting us as set forth below in the “Contact Us” section.
Cookies and other tracking technologies. You can manage browser Cookies through your browser settings. The 'Help' feature on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new Cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new Cookie, how to block Cookies, and when Cookies will expire. If you block all Cookies on your browser, neither we nor third parties will transfer Cookies to your browser. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit the Tern Platform and some Services and features may not work. You may also be able to opt-out of interest based advertising by visiting the NAI Opt-Out Page or the Choices Opt-Out Page(or the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada Opt-Out Page, if you are based in Canada).
Manage marketing communications from us. To update your marketing communication preferences, you can go to your account settings or contact us as set forth below in the “Contact Us” section. You may also unsubscribe using the link found at the bottom of all marketing and promotional emails.

Depending on where you live, you may also have certain state- or country-specific rights with respect to your personal information. Please see the region and state-specific terms section that may be included below to learn more about such additional terms and rights.

Security and Retention of Personal Information

We use reasonable safeguards that are designed to protect the security of your personal information. However, despite these controls, we cannot completely ensure or guarantee that unauthorized access, hacking, data loss, or other breach will never occur. In the event of a breach, we will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and, where appropriate, notify affected individuals as required by applicable laws and regulations.

We retain data for as long as it is necessary to provide the Services or in accordance with applicable data retention policies. After six years of account inactivity, we may delete your personal information. Upon your written request we will delete personal information stored by us; however, we may be required to maintain your personal information for as long as necessary to: (i) comply with our legal or regulatory compliance needs (e.g., maintaining records of transactions you have made with us); (ii) exercise, establish, or defend legal claims; and/or (iii) protect against fraudulent or abusive activity on our Services.

This means we may keep different information for different periods.

There may be occasions where we are unable to fully delete, anonymize, or de-identify your personal information due to technical, legal, regulatory compliance, or other operational reasons. Where this is the case, we will take reasonable measures to secure your personal information from any further processing until such time as we are able to delete, anonymize, or de-identify it.

Children

Our Services are not intended for or directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we may have collected personal information from a child under 13, please contact us.

International Data Transfers

We process and store your personal information in the United States and in any other country where Tern or its affiliates, business partners, or service providers operate facilities in accordance with and as permitted by applicable laws and regulations. Some of these countries may have data protection laws that are different from the laws of your country (and, in some cases, may not be as protective).

When we transfer, store, or process personal information outside of your jurisdiction (including to or in the United States, as described above), we take appropriate safeguards to require that your personal information remain protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.

Some of these recipients of your personal information may be located in countries for which the European Commission and/or UK Government (as and where applicable) have issued adequacy decisions, which means that these countries are recognized as providing an adequate level of data protection under applicable UK and/or European data protection laws and the transfer is therefore permitted under Article 45 of the GDPR.

Other recipients of your personal information are located in countries outside the EEA and/or the UK that are not the subject of an adequacy decision. In these cases, we may use the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission or, as may be applicable, the International Data Transfer Agreement approved by the UK Government, to help ensure your personal information is protected. For more information on the transfer safeguards we rely on, please contact us as set forth below in the “Contact Us” section.

Privacy Policy Updates

From time to time, we may change or update our Privacy Policy. We reserve the right to make changes or updates at any time. If we make material changes that meaningfully impact the way we process your personal information, we will notify you by posting a notice on the Tern Platform, by sending you an e-mail, or by other means consistent with applicable law.

You can see when this Privacy Policy was last updated by checking the “last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy. Please review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how Tern protects your privacy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about our privacy practices, or if you wish to exercise any of your choices or rights in connection with your personal information, please contact us at either:

Tern Software Inc

Attn: Privacy Team

1111B S Governors Ave #6194

Dover, DE 19904

Or via email at privacy@tern.travel.

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