Privacy Policy

This website is owned and operated by Wilderness Travel.

Wilderness Travel
1102 Ninth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30am – 5:00pm, Pacific Time
Toll free: 1-800-368-2794 • Local: 1-510-558-2488 • Fax: 1-510-558-2489
Email: data@wildernesstravel.com

Introduction

At Wilderness Travel, we are committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of both our travelers as well as casual visitors to our website. To ensure that this information remains confidential, we promise to never sell your information to anyone and will adhere to the Privacy Policy described below. Please note that this Policy applies only to the Wilderness Travel site and not to any separate website to which we may link. Those sites may have different privacy provisions and we encourage you to check their privacy statements before disclosing any personal information to them.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. We recommend that you print a copy of this Privacy Policy and any future versions for your records. The data controller with respect to our website is Wilderness Travel of 1102 Ninth Street, Berkeley, California 94710 U.S.A. You can contact the data controller by sending an email to data@wildernesstravel.com.

How We Collect or Obtain Information About You

Cookies

This website uses a minimal number of “cookies” to collect information about your visit. A cookie is a small data file that websites write to your browser when you visit them. The usage of these cookies is not linked to any personally identifiable information. Cookies allow us to measure various activities on our website, including providing us with information such as the number, frequency and duration of visits to each web page which we use to improve the content and navigation features of our website.

Once you have registered on our website, the use of cookies will remember your computer so that the next time you visit our site from that computer, you can continue to request information or download Detailed Itineraries without having to re-enter your login information. If your computer is not set up to accept cookies, you are browsing from a different computer and you want to do any of these functions, or enough time has passed since the last time you visited the site, you will be asked to re-enter your login information.

Most web browsers allow you to modify your settings to notify you when you receive a cookie or to reject cookies entirely. If you decide not to accept cookies from our website, you may not be able to take advantage of all of its features.

We use third-party advertising tools, including Meta Pixel (Meta Platforms, Inc.) and Google Ads (Google LLC), which may place cookies on your browser to collect information about your visits to our website and other websites. This information is used to show you advertisements about Wilderness Travel on other platforms. This constitutes “sharing” of personal information under California law. California residents have the right to opt out of this sharing by adjusting your browser or device privacy settings. You may also opt out directly through Meta’s privacy settings (https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policies/cookies) and Google’s ad settings (https://adssettings.google.com).

Personal Information You Disclose to Us

We only collect personal information about you when you provide it to us through completing an online form or by contacting us directly. This includes requesting our annual Catalog of Adventures, subscribing to our eNewsletter, downloading a Detailed Itinerary, requesting a reservation, or contacting us with questions by email, phone, or in writing.

The type of information we collect about you after completing a form may include:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your address
• Your phone number
• Information about your computer (e.g., your IP address and browser type)
• Information about how you use our website (e.g., which pages you have viewed)

If you request a reservation for a trip with us, we’ll ask you to complete a Trip Application form which asks for information such as:

• Birth date
• Emergency contact information
• Passport information
• Health conditions.
• Dietary restrictions
• Arrival and departure information
• A signed Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk Agreement

Information Automatically Collected

We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use or navigate our website. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information) but may include device and usage language, such as your IP address, browser and device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, device name, country, geographic location, information about how and when you use our website, and other technical information. This information is primarily needed to maintain the security and operation of our website, and for our internal analytics and reporting purposes.

Information Collected from Other Sources

We may also obtain personal information about you from certain publicly accessible sources, including (but not limited to) online customer databases, business directories, media publications, social media, websites and other publicly accessible sources.

Information we obtain from these publicly accessible sources will generally be your name and contact details but may also include any additional information they provide to us, including (but not limited to) any of the types of information set out in the list above.

In addition, where we obtain personal information about you from a source other than yourself, we are not required to provide you with certain information contained in this Privacy Policy if:

• You already have the information
• Providing you with the information would prove impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort
• We are under an EU or EU member state law obligation to obtain or disclose the information which provides appropriate measures to protect your legitimate interests
• We are obliged to keep the information confidential as a result of an obligation of professional secrecy regulated by EU or EU member state law

How We Use This Information

For our travelers who sign up for trips, this information is shared with our service providers so that they can provide services to you during your tour. For users of our website, this information is used to support and enhance your use of our website and its features, including pre-filling certain forms for you and keeping track of trips you have added to your wish list. Your information is never sold or traded to third parties.

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc., to analyze how users (in aggregate) use our website and to improve upon its features. This data is anonymous, but may include the source address that a page request is coming from, your IP address or domain name, the date and time of the page request, the pages visited, and the referring website (if any). You can view Google’s uses of information here: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Wilderness Travel does contract with a number of other companies to provide necessary services for the running of our business, including “mail houses” which provide name and correct address verification, determine necessary postage and provide shipping services; “email distributers” who coordinate our eNewsletter mailings and process all the “unsubscribe” requests; airlines to book any internal flights required; and credit card processors. We provide these companies only the information they need to perform their service and choose to only work with respected providers. With the exception of airlines, these companies are prohibited from using this information for their own purposes or from sharing it with anyone other than Wilderness Travel.

If you elect to receive our eNewsletter, Wilderness Travel will send an email periodically announcing new trips, special offers, and information we think will be of interest to you. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email or by contacting us directly at info@wildernesstravel.com. We will immediately remove you from our mailing list upon request. You also have the option to change your email preferences to limit the number of marketing email you receive from Wilderness Travel to no more than one per month.

We only send print mailings that we believe will be of interest to you. If you prefer, you can opt out of print mailings altogether by contacting us directly at info@wildernesstravel.com. We are not responsible for any personal information you choose to submit for posting on our blog or any other publicly accessible area of the website, including if you choose to initiate a Social Feature, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, enabling you to “like” or “share” content to other sites or services.

We reserve the right to release information to the appropriate authorities if we believe that such release is reasonably necessary to comply with the law or to protect the property or safety of Wilderness Travel, or any of its agents, employees, or users, or to protect the integrity of our website and data. We may also share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our organization by another company, as well as in the unlikely event of insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership, in which case personal data would be transferred as one of the business assets of the company.

Medical & Health Information

Because Wilderness Travel operates trips in remote, high-altitude, and wilderness environments where access to emergency medical care may be limited, we collect certain health and medical information from participants who book a trip with us. This information is essential for participant safety and responsible trip operations.

What We Collect

Medical and health information we collect may include, but is not limited to:

• Existing medical conditions, diagnoses, or chronic illnesses
• Physical limitations or disabilities that may affect participation
• Current prescription medications
• Allergies (food, environmental, or medication)
• Recent surgeries, hospitalizations, or medical procedures
• Mental health considerations relevant to remote travel
• Any other health information you provide on our Trip Application or Medical Form

Why We Collect It

We collect this information solely for legitimate safety and operational purposes, including:

• Evaluating whether a specific trip is appropriate for your health and fitness level
• Planning emergency response procedures and evacuation logistics
• Ensuring trip leaders and staff can respond appropriately in a medical emergency
• Communicating relevant safety information to qualified on-trip medical personnel
• Complying with insurance requirements for high-risk or expedition-style travel

We do not use medical information for marketing, profiling, or any commercial purpose.

This Information Is Required for Participation

Completion of a Medical Form is required as a condition of participation. A failure to disclose accurate and complete medical information may result in cancellation of your booking (subject to our standard cancellation policy) and may increase the risk of harm to you or other participants.

Who We Share It With

Medical information is shared strictly on a need-to-know basis and only for safety and operational purposes. Depending on the nature of your trip, we may share relevant health information with:

• Wilderness Travel trip leaders and operational staff
• Local guides and in-country ground operators, where necessary for your safety
• Licensed medical professionals or other health providers
• Emergency evacuation services and medical facilities in the event of an emergency
• Travel insurance providers, where necessary to facilitate a claim or evacuation

We do not sell medical information. We contractually require third parties who receive this information to use it only for the purposes for which it was shared.

Please be aware that some trips operate in countries that may not provide the same level of data protection as your home state or country. By booking a trip with us, you consent to the transfer and use of your medical information as described above, including in international jurisdictions where applicable.

Sensitive Personal Information Under California Law

Under California’s Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), health and medical information constitutes ‘Sensitive Personal Information’ (SPI). Wilderness Travel collects and uses your medical information only to the extent reasonably necessary to provide safe trip operations. We do not use or disclose your Sensitive Personal Information for purposes beyond those described above without your explicit consent.

California residents have the right to request that we limit our use and disclosure of your Sensitive Personal Information to purposes that are necessary for providing the services you requested. To exercise this right, please contact us at data@wildernesstravel.com.

Retention of Medical Information

We retain medical information for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes described above, including for the duration of your trip relationship with us and for a reasonable period thereafter to address any follow-up safety, insurance, or legal matters. Medical information is securely deleted or anonymized when retention is no longer necessary, consistent with applicable legal requirements.

Safeguarding Your Information/Data Retention

At Wilderness Travel, we understand the importance of privacy and we are committed to taking the necessary reasonable measures to protect all information our travelers have entrusted to us. To ensure the correct use of information and prevent unauthorized access, we maintain reasonable and appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard the data stored on our system. However, it must be understood the internet will never be a 100% secure environment and we cannot guarantee or warrant the absolute security of any information you transmit to us. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information.

We retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, or for a longer retention period if required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). When we have no ongoing, legitimate need to process your personal information, or if you ask that your personal information be deleted, we will either delete or anonymize it or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.

We retain different categories of personal information for different periods, depending on the purpose for which it was collected and applicable legal requirements. In general:

• Contact and marketing information (name, email, mailing address) is retained while you maintain an active relationship with us and for a reasonable period thereafter.
• Trip booking and transaction records are retained for a minimum of seven (7) years for legal, tax, and insurance purposes.
• Medical and health information is retained for the duration of your trip relationship with us and for a reasonable period thereafter, as described in the Medical & Health Information Section above.
• Website usage data (cookies, analytics, etc.) is retained in accordance with our cookies policy, generally no longer than 26 months.

We use reasonable precautions to ensure that customer account information is kept private. We use reasonable measures to protect customer information that is stored within our database, and we restrict access to customer information to those employees who need access to perform their job functions, such as our customer service personnel and technical staff. Please note we cannot guarantee the security of customer account information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors may compromise the security of member information at any time.

Although we do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our website or over the telephone is at your own risk. You should only access our services within a secure environment, including a secure network environment.

Reviewing and Updating Your Personal Information

If you wish to review your information, we will make good-faith efforts to provide you with access to your personal information and either correct this data if it is inaccurate or to delete such data at your request, if it is not otherwise required to be retained by law or for legitimate business purposes. We may require certain personal information for the purposes of verifying the identity of the individual seeking access to their personal information records. To make such a request please email our team at data@wildernesstravel.com.

California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)

Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents who provide personal information in obtaining products or services are entitled to request and obtain information about what other companies we might have shared your personal information with for their own direct marketing uses. As stated previously, Wilderness Travel does not have co-marketing agreements of this sort with any other companies, but we do share names and addresses with a very few charities, principally the American Himalayan Foundation. Nonetheless, to make this request simply email us at data@wildernesstravel.com.

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (together, “CCPA/CPRA”), California residents have the following rights in addition to those set forth above, subject to your submission of an appropriately verified request:

• Right to Know – For the 12 month period preceding your request, you may ask for: the specific pieces and categories of personal information that we have collected about you, the categories of sources for that information, the business or commercial purposes for collecting the information, and the categories of third parties with which the information was shared.
• Right to Delete – You have the right to request that we delete certain personal information that we hold about you, subject to exceptions under applicable law (including information we are required to retain for legal, safety, or business purposes).
• Right to Correct – You may request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing – You may direct us to stop selling or sharing personal information to third parties for commercial purposes. As noted above, we do not sell any of your personal information
• Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information – You have the right to request that we limit our use and disclosure of your Sensitive Personal Information (including health and medical information) to purposes that are necessary to provide the services you requested.
• Right to Non-Discrimination – You have the right to not receive discriminatory treatment as a result of your exercise of rights given by the CCPA/CPRA.

To submit a verifiable consumer request, please contact us at data@wildernesstravel.com. We will respond within forty-five (45) days of receipt of a verifiable request, consistent with applicable law.

Information pertaining to Wilderness Travel’s data retention policies is set forth in the Safeguarding Your Information/Data Retention section set forth above.

International Privacy Laws

If you are visiting our website from outside the United States, please be aware that you are sending information (including personal data) to the United States where our servers are located. That information may then be transferred within the United States or back out of the United States to other countries outside of your country of residence (including countries where your trip operates), depending on the type of information and how it is stored by us. These countries (including the United States) may not necessarily have data protection laws as comprehensive or protective as those in your country of residence; however, our collection, storage and use of your personal data will at all times be governed by this Privacy Policy.

European Privacy Rights (“GDPR”)

The following additional provisions apply to residents of the European Economic Area (EEA) under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (and to residents of the United Kingdom through the UK GDPR):

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information on the following legal basis:

• Performance of a contract — Processing necessary to fulfill your booking and provide the travel services you have requested, including sharing information with trip leaders, local operators, and service providers.
• Legitimate interests — Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our services, communicating with you about your trip, and maintaining safety standards, where such interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation — Processing necessary to comply with applicable legal requirements, such as maintaining financial records or cooperating with regulatory authorities.
• Consent — Where we rely on your consent for processing (for example, for direct marketing communications), you have the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing prior to withdrawal.
• Vital interests — In emergency situations, we may process health information to protect your vital interests or those of another person

Your Rights Under GDPR

Subject to applicable law, EEA and UK residents have the following rights:

• Right to Access – You may request us to provide you with information about our processing of your personal information and give you access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Correct – You may request us to correct or update inaccuracies in your personal information.
• Right to Delete – You may request us to delete your personal information.
• Right to Transfer/Data Portability – You may request us to transfer a copy of your personal information to you or another data controller and that we provide your personal information in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Restrict – You may request us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Right to Object – You may object to our reliance on our legitimate interests as the basis of our processing of your personal information that impacts your rights.
• Right to Opt-Out of Direct Marketing – You may request us to stop sending you direct marketing communications which you have previously consented to receive.
  

International Data Transfers

Wilderness Travel is based in the United States. As discussed above, in order to provide you with travel services, your personal information — including health and medical information — will be transferred to and processed in the United States and in the countries where your trip operates, some of which may not offer the same level of data protection as the EEA.

Where required by applicable law, we will ensure that such transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards, such as, when and as applicable, Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission. By booking a trip with us, you acknowledge and consent to this transfer as necessary to provide the services you have requested.

Contact/Complaint

To exercise your rights or submit a complaint, please contact us at data@wildernesstravel.com. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Children’s Privacy

This site is not directed at children under 18 years of age, and the site does not knowingly solicit personal information from or market to children under the age of 16. Parents should be aware that there are parental control tools available online that can be used to prevent children from submitting information online without parental permission. If we learn that we have inadvertently gathered personal information from children under the age of 16, we will promptly remove such information from our records.

We collect information about children under 18 years of age, including name and contact data, demographic data, passport data, and medical/dietary data, from the minor’s parent or legal guardian in the event the minor is traveling with their parent or legal guardian on a Wilderness Travel trip. We use such information only to facilitate the minor’s trip with us.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

From time to time it may be necessary for Wilderness Travel to revise this Privacy Policy. If we make a change to the Policy, the revised version will be posted on our website. Please refer to this Privacy Policy page for the latest information about our personal information practices.
If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact us at data@wildernesstravel.com or call (800) 368-2794.

Last Updated: March 17, 2026