1. Who We Are

Girls in Tourism Association - Africa (GITA-Africa) is a girl-driven, Pan-African youth tourism association committed to advancing tourism by creating borderless opportunities for young people to learn, connect, develop skills, innovate, lead, and participate meaningfully in the tourism industry. Our registered contact address is available upon request at info@gitaafrica.org.

2. Data We Collect

• Name, email address, phone number, and country of residence (for membership & contact forms)
• Organization or employer information (optional, for corporate membership)
• Payment references (processed securely by third-party gateways — we never store card numbers)
• Event attendance records (RSVP data)
• Newsletter subscription opt-in status

3. How We Use Your Data

• To process and manage your membership registration and accreditation
• To send you official Girls in Tourism Association - Africa (GITA-Africa) communications, newsletters, and event notices
• To process donations and membership payments
• To respond to your inquiries submitted via the contact form
• To improve our website and services through aggregate analytics

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases:

• Contractual necessity — to fulfil your membership or donation request
• Legitimate interest — for internal administrative and communications purposes
• Consent — for newsletter subscriptions and marketing communications

5. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third party. Data may be shared only with:

• Payment processors (Paystack, PesaLink) — for transaction fulfilment only
• Email service providers — for newsletter delivery
• Law enforcement — only when legally required

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your membership is active, plus up to 3 years thereafter for legal and administrative records. Newsletter subscription data is retained until you unsubscribe.

7. Your Rights

Under GDPR and applicable data protection laws, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
• Erasure — request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Restriction — request that we limit processing of your data
• Portability — request your data in a portable format
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interest

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@gitaafrica.org.

8. Security

All data is transmitted over HTTPS with 256-bit SSL encryption. Access to personal data is restricted to authorized Girls in Tourism Association - Africa (GITA-Africa) staff only. Payment data is handled entirely by PCI-DSS compliant third-party processors.

9. Cookies

We use session cookies essential to website functionality (login sessions, CSRF protection). We do not use tracking or advertising cookies.

10. Contact

For any privacy-related questions or requests, contact our Data Protection Officer at: