| Data protection & privacy policy Issue Date: March 2007 |
|
| 1 | Introductory Terms |
| 1.1 | In the following statements ‘We’ ‘Us’ and ‘Our’ refer to Severn Trent Laboratories Ltd (STL). |
| 1.2 | The content of this website is controlled by Severn Trent Laboratories Ltd, a company registered in England and Wale, registration number 2148934 and having its registered offices at 2297 Coventry Road, Birmingham B26 3PU |
| 1.3 | We are committed to protecting your privacy and we therefore ask that
you read this Policy before providing us with any Personal Information. |
| 2 | Introduction |
| 2.1 | The Data Protection Act 1998 (the “Act”) came into force on 1st March 2000. It contains safeguards to ensure that organisations handle personal information fairly and lawfully, and gives individuals important rights to access data held about themselves, and to have such data amended if found to be inaccurate. |
| 2.2 | In order to operate successfully, we collect and use personal information about groups of people with whom we have had or may have dealings, including employees, suppliers and clients/customers. In addition, we may occasionally be required by law to collect and use certain types of information to comply with the requirements of Government departments. |
| 2.3 | We are required to notify the Information Commissioner of the types of personal data we process, including the purposes for the processing and to whom the data may be disclosed. |
| 2.4 | The lawful and correct treatment of personal information is very important to us in order for us to maintain the confidence of those with whom we deal. |
| 2.5 | Procedures are implemented to ensure that we process personal data fairly
and lawfully, in accordance with the principles and requirements of the
Act. For more information about the Act and the role of the Information
Commissioner, please refer to the Information Commissioner’s web
site at www.dataprotection.gov.uk. |
| 3 | Our Use of Personal Information |
| 3.1 | We and other organisations which assist us in providing services to you will use information about you (‘Personal Information’) to provide and enhance our services to you and for purposes ancillary to this. |
| 3.2 | If you need to provide us with sensitive Personal Information (for example health information), you consent to our processing of this information where necessary, for the purposes described above. |
| 3.3 | We may need to search the files of credit reference agencies who will record the search. We may share information about the way in which you conduct your account with other credit providers and credit reference agencies. |
| 3.4 | We may share the information we hold about you with other reputable organisations. |
| 3.5 | We or they may contact you by mail, telephone, e-mail, fax or other electronic means with offers of goods and services or other information which may be of interest to you. By providing us with details such as a fax number which enable us to contact you in these ways, you consent to being contacted in that manner for these purposes. |
| 3.6 | If you would prefer us not to use your Personal Information for the purposes
set out at paragraphs 3.4 and 3.5 above, please tick the appropriate box
provided when your Personal Information is given to us. Remember that
if you do we will not be able to notify you of special offers and promotions
or provide you with other information which may be of interest to you. |
| 4 | Cookies |
| 4.1 | A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from a website's computer and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites. |
| We may use cookies because they will store and recall data which you have previously provided on the site and will save you from retyping that data every time you enter the site. We might also use the data gathered by cookies to improve the quality of the site and our services to you. For example, we might use cookies to gauge the number of people who make use of the site and usage patterns. | |
| Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies,
to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any
time. The last of these, of course, means that certain personalised services
cannot then be provided to that user and accordingly you may not be able to
take full advantage of all of
www.stl-ltd.com. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of
your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.
If you have set your computer to reject cookies you can still browse the site anonymously until such time as you wish to register for services. For further information on cookies please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org |
|
| 5 | When might We Disclose your Personal Information to Others? |
| 5.1 | We will not disclose your Personal Information to third parties not referred
to above except in circumstances which are permitted by law, such as the
following: (a) Where we are required to do so by courts of law or to comply with other legal obligations including accounting and taxation requirements (b) To detect and/or prevent crime (c) For credit reference purposes |
| 6 | When might We transfer your Personal Information Abroad? |
| 6.1 | For the purposes described above, We may sometimes need to transfer your Personal Information to other countries. Unless you inform us to the contrary by contacting us at the above address, your consent to the use of your Personal Information in terms of this Privacy Policy will also be taken as consent to transfer your Personal Information abroad. |
| 6.2 | If we do perform such transfers we will ensure that the requirements
of the Act in relation to foreign transfers are complied with. |
| 7 | Monitoring |
| 7.1 | Please note that if you communicate with us electronically, including
by e-mail, telephone or fax, this communication may be randomly monitored
or recorded to protect the interests of our business and our customers.
This includes for the purposes of maintaining high quality standards,
crime detection and/or prevention and to ensure that our employees comply
with legal obligations and our policies and procedures (including customer
relations practices). |
| 8 | Hyperlinks |
| 8.1 | We may provide hyperlinks from this web site (“the Site”)
to web sites of other organisations. Please note that different Terms &
Conditions and privacy policies will apply to other web sites. |
| 9 | External Information Sources |
| 9.1 | We may on occasion obtain Personal Information from external sources
such as credit reference agencies and other organisations with which we
are associated or with which we conduct business. |
| 10 | Requests for access to Personal Information |
| 10.1 | We are happy, on request from you, to provide details of your Personal
Information, including Personal Information which we have obtained from
external sources. We may charge a small administration fee in relation
to any requests for access to Personal Information. If you wish to request
access to personal information, please write to the data protection adviser
whose address you will find at the end of this privacy policy. |
| 11 | Information Updates |
| 11.1 | Please help us to keep your Personal Information current and accurate by contacting us at the address given at the end of this privacy policy if you notice that your Personal Information is inaccurate and/or out-of-date. |
| 12 | Security |
| 12.1 | When you enter data on the Site, a Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) is initiated. An SSL is a security device which ensures that any data which you enter is encrypted during transmission over the internet. Encryption of data is where data is encoded so that it is not legible until such time as it is decoded by us. We also have systems in place to ensure that your Personal Information cannot be accessed by unauthorised sources. |
| 12.2 | As you may be aware, no data transmission over the internet can ever
be entirely secure. As a result, while we will use reasonable endeavours
to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee the security
of your Personal Information and the use of the Site (including any e-mail
facilities) is at your own risk. |
| 13 | Changes to this policy |
| 13.1 | We request that you refer to the Site on a regular basis to ensure that you are aware of our most recent policies (including this Privacy Policy) and Terms and Conditions of Use of the Site. |
| 14 | Address for Correspondence |
| 14.1 | If you wish to advise us of any changes to the Personal Information you
have previously provided or notify us that you no longer wish us to use
your Personal Information for the purposes set out at paragraphs 3.4 and
3.5 above, please write to: The Data Protection Adviser, Marketing Manager, STL Business Centre, Torrington Avenue, Coventry CV4 9GU. |
| 14.2 | Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to it-helpdesk@stl-ltd.com |
| APPENDIX – We, Severn Trent Laboratories Ltd, will securely retain any details you may choose to provide to us. Please see our Data Protection and Privacy Policy. The information collected will be used by Severn Trent Laboratories for the following purpose(s): Notification of Sales Promotions, Seminars, Events, Electronic & Postal Direct Marketing. If you do not wish us to share the information we hold about you with other reputable organisations, both inside and outside the EEA, in accordance with our Data Protection and Privacy Policy please tick this box. [ ] Remember that if you tick the box you will not be notified of special offers and promotions, or other information which may be of interest to you. |
|