Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Live In Singapore ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal data when you visit https://liveinsingapore.pro ("the Site") or write to Marcus Tan about a private neighbourhood walk, a hawker-food outing, or itinerary advice in Singapore. We handle personal data under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) of Singapore and applicable subsidiary legislation.

1. Who we are

Live In Singapore is a personal guide and travel-writing project operated by Marcus Tan, offering neighbourhood walks, itinerary advice, and published guide notes for visitors to Singapore. Our studio address is 5 Yong Siak Street, #02-01, Singapore 168643. General enquiries may be sent to [email protected]. Privacy-specific questions should be directed to [email protected].

We are not a travel agency selling packaged holidays. We provide personalised guide services and editorial content. This policy reflects that narrower scope — we collect only what we need to respond to walk enquiries, deliver booked tours, and maintain this website.

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies to personal data collected through the Site, our contact form, email correspondence, telephone calls, in-person meetings at our studio or walk meeting points, and any follow-up communication relating to prospective or confirmed guide bookings. It does not apply to third-party websites linked from the Site, including Google Maps embedded on our contact page. Those services are governed by their own privacy terms.

If you follow external links from our guide notes — for example to hawker stall websites, museum ticket pages, or transport apps — those destinations process data under their own policies. We recommend reviewing their notices before submitting information.

3. Categories of personal data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

• Identity and contact data: name, email address, telephone number, country of residence, and preferred language of communication.
• Trip-related data: travel dates, group size, mobility considerations, dietary preferences or restrictions, stated interests (history, food, photography), and meeting-point preferences you share when planning a walk.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device type, referring URL, and timestamps collected through server logs when you browse the Site.
• Cookie and preference data: records of cookie consent choices stored locally in your browser, as described in our Cookie Policy.
• Communication records: copies of emails, contact form submissions, and notes from walk briefings where you have contacted us.
• Payment-related data: if you book a paid walk, we may receive confirmation of bank transfer or payment-platform references. We do not store full credit-card numbers on this Site.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal data such as health records unless you voluntarily share mobility or allergy information relevant to planning a safe walk. If you provide such information, we treat it with additional care and limit internal access to what is necessary to adapt the route.

4. How we collect personal data

We collect personal data in several ways:

• Directly from you when you complete the contact form on contact.php, send email to [email protected], call +65 6251 3847, or meet for a scheduled walk.
• Automatically through standard web server logs when you request pages, stylesheets, scripts, or images from the Site.
• Through cookies and similar technologies where you have consented to optional cookies, as set out in our Cookie Policy.

We do not purchase marketing lists or obtain personal data from data brokers for travel-lead generation. Guest testimonials published on the Site use first names or initials only, with permission.

5. Purposes of collection, use, and disclosure

We collect and use personal data for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the context of personal guide services. These include:

• Responding to enquiries about walks, itineraries, and guide notes;
• Confirming bookings, meeting points, and walk timings;
• Delivering private walking tours and related advice during your visit;
• Issuing invoices or receipts where payment is arranged;
• Maintaining records of enquiries and completed walks for quality and accounting purposes;
• Complying with legal and regulatory obligations, including record-keeping and responding to lawful requests from authorities;
• Improving the Site's accessibility, security, and content based on aggregated technical logs;
• Protecting our rights where a dispute arises regarding our services.

We may disclose personal data to:

• Administrative assistants who help schedule walks on a need-to-know basis;
• IT service providers who host the Site or maintain email systems under contractual confidentiality obligations;
• Professional advisers such as accountants where required;
• Law enforcement or regulators when required by law or court order.

We do not sell personal data. We do not share your contact details with hotels, restaurants, or attractions for their marketing unless you explicitly ask us to make an introduction and we confirm with you first.

6. Legal basis and consent

Under the PDPA, we generally rely on your consent for collection and use of personal data submitted through the contact form and during walk planning. You may withdraw consent for optional marketing emails at any time by writing to [email protected], though withdrawal may not affect our ability to retain data where retention is required for legal, accounting, or dispute-resolution purposes.

When you submit the contact form, the submit action constitutes consent for us to use your details to respond to that specific enquiry. Optional cookies are activated only according to your choices in the cookie banner.

7. Contact form processing

When you submit our contact form, the information you provide is transmitted to [email protected] via the Site's mail handler. Fields include your name, email address, optional phone number, selected topic, and free-text message. We use this information solely to reply to your enquiry unless you subsequently book a walk, in which case the data may be retained in our booking notes.

The form is configured to confirm submission on screen regardless of mail-server status, so you receive immediate feedback. If you do not hear back within two business days, please call or email directly in case your message requires follow-up.

Form submissions may be stored in email archives. Please do not include passport numbers or full payment card details in the message field.

8. Google Maps embed

Our contact page embeds Google Maps to show the studio location at 5 Yong Siak Street, #02-01, Singapore 168643. When the map loads, Google may process technical data such as your IP address according to Google's privacy policy. The map serves a practical location function for visitors planning to visit the studio. See our Cookie Policy for additional detail.

9. Retention

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described above:

• General enquiries that do not proceed to a booking: typically up to eighteen months;
• Completed walk records and related correspondence: up to seven years for accounting and dispute-limitation purposes unless a shorter period is agreed;
• Server logs: usually rotated within ninety days unless needed for security investigation;
• Cookie consent records: stored locally in your browser for up to one hundred eighty days.

10. Cross-border transfers

Our Site may be hosted on servers located outside Singapore. Where personal data is transferred overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure recipients provide a standard of protection comparable to the PDPA, including contractual safeguards with hosting providers.

11. Security

We implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the data we hold. These include access controls on email accounts, HTTPS where supported by hosting, and limiting staff access to enquiry inboxes. No method of transmission over the Internet is completely secure; we encourage you to use thoughtful judgment when sharing travel dates and contact details.

We review access permissions periodically and use strong passwords on operational email accounts. If we become aware of a data incident that is likely to result in significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and the Personal Data Protection Commission where required by law.

12. Your rights under the PDPA

Subject to exceptions in the PDPA, you may request access to, correction of, or withdrawal of consent for use of your personal data. You may also ask how your data has been used or disclosed within the past year. Submit requests to [email protected] with sufficient detail for us to identify your records. We respond within thirty days where possible.

13. Children

The Site is intended for adults planning travel. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under thirteen without parental involvement. Family walks may include children as participants; in that case we collect only the parent or guardian's contact details unless the parent provides child-related information needed for the walk.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in law, our services, or Site functionality. The "Last updated" date at the top will change when we publish revisions. Material changes will be highlighted on the Site where practicable.

If you have an active booking when a material change takes effect, the version in force at the time of your enquiry continues to govern how we use data collected for that booking unless we notify you otherwise and you agree.

15. Contact

Privacy enquiries and PDPA requests:
Email: [email protected]
Postal: Live In Singapore, 5 Yong Siak Street, #02-01, Singapore 168643
Phone: +65 6251 3847

We respond to privacy correspondence in English. Allow up to thirty days for formal access requests while we locate and verify records.