Privacy and cookies

We are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of users of this website, and do all that we can to protect information about participants.

Data protection

The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration carries out the day-to-day running of the British Indian Ocean Territory. In doing so we process personal data including passport and insurance information.

Your data will be stored securely by the British Indian Ocean Territory Administration.

There may be circumstances in which we may lawfully share your data with third parties where, for example, we are required to do so by law, by court order, or to prevent fraud or other crimes. Where we share data, however, we shall do so in accordance with best data protection practice.

For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Information we collect from visitors

We collect information from visitors relating to:

  • feedback submitted to us
  • comments submitted to this website
  • email alert services when follow-up comments are posted
  • website visitor traffic

1. Feedback

If you provide feedback about the website through a contact form or email address we will only use this information to develop and improve the site. From time to time we may seek feedback, which they will use to answer questions, resolve problems or improve their published information.

2. Comments submitted

If you choose to submit a public comment on this website, you will be asked to give your name and email address, and optionally a personal website address along with your comment. These details are stored by the website along with you comment. Your email address is never displayed publicly and is never passed on to a third party by the owners or publishers of this website, but may be used to contact you if there is a problem with your comment.

3. Email alerts services

If you sign up to receive email notifications when follow-up comments are posted, we will use the information you give us to provide the service(s) you have requested only. If you inform us that you wish to cancel your details will be deleted from our records.

4. Site usage information

i) Cookies
Cookies are pieces of data created when you visit a site, and contain a unique, anonymous number. They are stored on the device you used to visit the site, and do not expire at the end of your session. Cookies do not contain any personal information about you and cannot be used to identify an individual user. Most web browsers will let you specify that you be prompted before a site puts a cookie on your device, so that you can decide whether to allow or disallow the cookie. Alternatively, you can set your device not to accept any cookie. If you choose not to accept the cookie, this will not affect your access to the majority of facilities available on our web site.

This website uses cookies to:

  • remember your preference settings for some of our online services
  • improve our understanding of how people use our website, through web analytics

The specific cookies set are:

Cookie Name Expiration Time Description
_ga 2 years Used to distinguish users.
_gid 24 hours Used to distinguish users.
_gat 1 minute Used to throttle request rate.

ii) Log files
Log files allow us to record visitors’ use of the site. These logs are automatically generated from all our visitors, which we use to make improvements to the layout of the site and to the information in it, based on the way that visitors move around it. Log files do not contain any personal information about you.

Queries about privacy or personal data

You can submit any requests relating to your personal data held by us by contacting us via email.