WHAT IS THIS PRIVACY POLICY FOR?
This privacy policy is for this website {www.martinvaughanphotography.co.uk} and served by [Martin Vaughan Photography] and governs the privacy of its users who choose to use it.
The policy sets out the different areas where user privacy is concerned and outlines the obligations & requirements of the users, the website and website owners. Furthermore, the way this website processes, stores and protects user data and information will also be detailed within this policy.
THE WEBSITE
This website and its owners take a proactive approach to user privacy and ensure the necessary steps are taken to protect the privacy of its users throughout their visiting experience. This website complies to all UK national laws and requirements for user privacy.
Use of Cookies
This website uses cookies to better the users experience while visiting the website. Where applicable this website uses a cookie control system allowing the user on their first visit to the website to allow or disallow the use of cookies on their computer/device. This complies with recent legislation requirements for website’s to obtain explicit consent from users before leaving behind or reading files such as cookies on a user’s computer/device.
Cookies are small files saved to the user’s computers hard drive that track, save and store information about the user’s interactions and usage of the website. This allows the website, through its server to provide the users with a tailored experience within this website.
Users are advised that if they wish to deny the use and saving of cookies from this website on to their computers hard drive they should take necessary steps within their web browsers security settings to block all cookies from this website and it’s external serving vendors.
This website uses tracking software to monitor its visitors to better understand how they use it.
This software is provided by Google Analytics and Facebook which uses cookies to track visitor usage. The software will save a cookie to your computers hard drive in order to track and monitor your engagement and usage of the website, but will not store, save or collect personal information. You can read Google’s privacy policy here for further information [ http://www.google.com/privacy.html ]. You can read Facebooks privacy policy here for further information
Other cookies may be stored on your computers hard drive by external vendors when this website uses referral programs, sponsored links or adverts. Such cookies are used for conversion and referral tracking and typically expire after 30 days, though some may take longer. No personal information is stored, saved or collected.
The Six General Principles
1. Lawfulness, fairness and transparency – Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner;1. Lawfulness, fairness and transparency – Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner;
2. Purpose limitation – Personal data must be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes (with exceptions for public interest, scientific, historical or statistical purposes);
3. Data minimisation – Personal data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is;
4. Accuracy – Personal data must be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Inaccurate personal data should be corrected or deleted;4. Accuracy – Personal data must be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Inaccurate personal data should be corrected or deleted;
5. Retention – Personal data should be kept in an identifiable format for no longer than is necessary (with exceptions for public interest, scientific, historical or statistical purposes); and
6. Integrity and confidentiality – Personal data should be kept secure.
EUROPEAN GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR)
As per Article 30 for the GDPR this website and business are exempt from some the regulations surrounding the handling of private data.
However, this website will strive to ensure that where possible we comply with the stipulations laid out in GDPR.
All private data (email address, IP address, names, telephone etc) are stored on secure computers. No personal data will be given or sold without the express written permission of the user.
You may request to see copies of any personal information held and also request that that information is updated or removed in its entirety. You can do that using the form at the bottom of this page.
How your data is protected
We use a multi-layered approach to security –
“Perimeter Security“ – All of our IT infrastructure is stored in a secure and alarmed location.
“Network Security” – All of the IT is further secured using strong password protection, using a mixture of alphanumeric and symbols. I use DropBox as a cloud storage system for my documents and company files. DropBox IS GDPR compliant. Portable hard drives for use off-site and on location will not usually have personal information stored on them, and where they do they will have password protected encryption at the drive level. I ensure all my servers, routers, laptops, desktops, smartphones etc are kept up to date with the relevant security patches and updates by the manufacturer.
“Privilege Based” – Only those who need to access your information will be able to access it. In 99.9999% of cases that is just two people – Martin and Debbie. I use multiple alphanumeric passwords for access to all of my IT infrastructure. Where access is given to another person (I may be ill, away etc) then an audit is carried out to ensure that only the required information is accessed and the passwords are changed.
Your data is also held securely off-site with further protection provided by DropBox, again using the same three methods outlined above.
CONTACT & COMMUNICATION
Users contacting this website and/or its owners do so at their own discretion and provide any such personal details requested at their own risk. Your personal information is kept private and stored securely until a time it is no longer required or has no use, as detailed in the Data Protection Act 1998. Every effort has been made to ensure a safe and secure form to email submission process but advises users using such form to email processes that they do so at their own risk.
This website and its owners use any information submitted to provide you with further information about the products/services they offer or to assist you in answering any questions or queries you may have submitted. This includes using your details to subscribe you to any email newsletter program the website operates but only if this was made clear to you and your express permission was granted when submitting any form to email process. Or whereby you the consumer have previously purchased from or enquired about purchasing from the company a product or service that the email newsletter relates to. This is by no means an entire list of your user rights in regard to receiving email marketing material. Your details are not passed on to any third parties.
PROCESSING & STORAGE OF DATA
Your personal information and any other data you give will be stored, securely, for a minimum of 12 months. After that time you will be asked if you wish to remain in our database. If you do not you will be removed. If you do not respond you will be removed. Your data will be deleted and/or destroyed.
EXTERNAL LINKS
Although this website only looks to include quality, safe and relevant external links, users are advised adopt a policy of caution before clicking any external web links mentioned throughout this website. (External links are clickable text/banner/image links to other websites.)
The owners of this website cannot guarantee or verify the contents of any externally linked website despite their best efforts. Users should, therefore, note they click on external links at their own risk and this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications caused by visiting any external links mentioned.
ADVERTS AND SPONSORED LINKS
This website may contain sponsored links and adverts. These will typically be served through our advertising partners, to whom may have detailed privacy policies relating directly to the adverts they serve.
Clicking on any such adverts will send you to the advertiser’s website through a referral program which may use cookies and will track the number of referrals sent from this website. This may include the use of cookies which may, in turn, be saved on your computer’s hard drive. Users should, therefore, note they click on sponsored external links at their own risk and this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications caused by visiting any external links mentioned.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Communication, engagement and actions taken through external social media platforms that this website and its owners participate on are customs to the terms and conditions as well as the privacy policies held with each social media platform respectively.
Users are advised to use social media platforms wisely and communicate/engage upon them with due care and caution in regard to their own privacy and personal details. This website nor its owners will ever ask for personal or sensitive information through social media platforms and encourage users wishing to discuss sensitive details to contact them through primary communication channels such as by telephone or email.
This website may use social sharing buttons which help share web content directly from web pages to the social media platform in question. Users are advised before using such social sharing buttons that they do so at their own discretion and note that the social media platform may track and save your request to share a web page respectively through your social media platform account.
SHORTENED LINKS IN SOCIAL MEDIA
This website and its owners through their social media platform accounts may share web links to relevant web pages.
Users are advised to take caution and good judgement before clicking any shortened URLs published on social media platforms by this website and its owners. Despite the best efforts to ensure only genuine URLs are published many social media platforms are prone to spam and hacking and therefore this website and its owners cannot be held liable for any damages or implications caused by visiting any shortened links.