| Call Graham on 01527 836836
27 May 2012
Privacy Policy & Data Protection
1. Introduction and General Terms
Cognitor is committed to protecting your personal information when you are using our services. We want our services to be safe and enjoyable environments for our clients. This Privacy Policy relates to our use of any personal information you provide to us online, via phone or text, by email, in letters or correspondence.
In order to provide you with the full range of services that are right for you and your business, we sometimes need to collect information about you.
This Privacy Policy explains the following:
- what information Cognitor may collect about you;
- how Cognitor will use information we collect about you;
- when Cognitor may use your details to contact you;
- whether Cognitor will disclose your details to anyone else;
- your choices regarding the personal information you provide to us;
- the use of cookies on the Cognitor website and how you can reject these cookies.
Cognitor is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998 (these laws are referred to collectively in this Privacy Policy as the “data protection laws”).
The Cognitor website may contain hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third parties. These third party websites have their own privacy policies, including cookies, and we urge you to review them. They will govern the use of personal information you submit or is collected by cookies whilst visiting these websites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.
2. What information will Cognitor collect about me?
When you access or sign up to any of our services or online content, we may receive personal information about you. This can consist of information such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone or mobile number or date of birth, depending on the activity.
By submitting your details, you enable Cognitor (and where applicable its contractors) to provide you with the services, activities or online content you select.
Cognitor also uses cookies (see paragraph 9 below for details) and collects IP addresses (an IP address is a number that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the internet) from visitors to our website.
3. How will Cognitor use the information they collect about me?
Cognitor will use your personal information for a number of purposes including the following:
- to provide our services, activities or online content and to deal with your requests and enquiries;
- for “service administration purposes”, which means that the BBC may contact you for reasons related to the service, activity or online content you have signed up for, as set out in paragraph 4 below (e.g. to notify you that a particular service, activity or online content has been suspended for maintenance);
- to provide you with information about our services, activities or online content;
- to use IP addresses to identify the location of users, to establish the number of visits from different countries and to determine whether you are accessing the services from the UK or not.; and
- to analyse and improve the Cognitor website and to provide you with the most user-friendly navigation experience. Cognitor may also use and disclose information in aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes.
Where we propose using your personal information for any other uses we will ensure that we notify you first. You will also be given the opportunity to withhold or withdraw your consent for the use of your personal information for purposes other than those listed above.
4. When will Cognitor contact me?
We may contact you:
- in relation to any service, activity or online content you have signed up for in order to ensure that Cognitor can deliver the services to you;
- where you have opted to receive further correspondence; and
- for marketing purposes where you have specifically agreed to this (see paragraph 5 below)
5. Will I be contacted for marketing purposes?
Cognitor won’t contact you for marketing purposes, or promote new services, activities or online content to you unless you specifically agree to be contacted for these purposes.
6. Will Cognitor share my personal information with anyone else?
We will keep your information confidential except where disclosure is required or permitted by law (for example to government bodies and law enforcement agencies). Generally, we will only use your information within Cognitor. However, sometimes we may use third parties to process your information. Cognitor requires these third parties to comply strictly with its instructions and that they do not use your personal information for their own business purposes, unless you have explicitly consented to the use of your personal information in this way.
7. How long will Cognitor keep my personal information?
We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contractor agreement you hold with Cognitor.
8. Can I find out what personal information Cognitor holds about me?
Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to request a copy of the personal information the BBC holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. (An administration fee may be payable for information requests and require you to prove your identity with 2 pieces of approved identification). We will use reasonable efforts to supply, correct or delete personal information about you on our files.
Please address requests and questions about this or any other question about this Privacy Policy to Cognitor Limited, 3 Birch House, Harris Business Park, Bromsgrove B60 4DJ.
9. Cookies Policy – Information Cognitor collects from you
a. What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes a unique identifier that is sent to your computer or mobile phone (referred to here as a “device”) browser from a website’s computer and is stored on your device’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 website to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other websites. Many websites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows.
On the Cognitor website, users have the opportunity to set their devices to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these means that certain personalised features cannot then be provided to that user and accordingly they may not be able to take full advantage of all of the website’s features. Each browser is different, so check the “Help” menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.
During the course of any visit to the Cognitor website, the pages you see, along with a cookie, are downloaded to your device. Many websites do this, because cookies enable website publishers to do useful things like find out whether the device (and probably its user) has visited the website before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the last visit.
b. How does Cognitor use cookies?
Information supplied by cookies can help us to analyse the profile of our visitors and help us to provide you with a better user experience.
c. How to reject Cognitor cookies
Cognitor will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you. However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by the Cognitor website, you can do this through your browser settings. The Help function within your browser should tell you how.
10. Changes to the Cognitor Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time so you may wish to check it each time you submit personal information to us. If you do not agree to these changes, please do not continue to use the Cognitor website to submit personal information to us.
