This privacy policy sets out how Out of the Blue of 32 Fore Street, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5RP uses and protects any information that you give Out of the Blue when you use this website.

Out of the Blue is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Out of the Blue may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

In this document, "we", "our", or "us" refer to our business Out of the Blue.

Introduction

  1. This is a notice to inform you of our policy about all information that we record about you. It sets out the conditions under which we may process any information that we collect from you, or that you provide to us. It covers information that could identify you (“personal information”) and information that could not. In the context of the law and this notice, “process” means collect, store, transfer, use or otherwise act on information.
  2. We regret that if there are one or more points below with which you are not happy, your only recourse is to leave our website immediately.
  3. We take seriously the protection of your privacy and confidentiality. We understand that all visitors to our website are entitled to know that their personal data will not be used for any purpose unintended by them, and will not accidentally fall into the hands of a third party.
  4. We undertake to preserve the confidentiality of all information you provide to us, and hope that you reciprocate.
  5. Our policy complies with UK law accordingly implemented, including that required by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  6. The law requires us to tell you about your rights and our obligations to you in regards to the processing and control of your personal data. We do this now, by requesting that you read the information provided at www.knowyourprivacyrights.org.
  7. Except as set out below, we do not share, or sell, or disclose to a third party, any information collected through our website.

The bases on which we process information about you

The law requires us to determine under which of six defined bases we process different categories of your personal information, and to notify you of the basis for each category.

If a basis on which we process your personal information is no longer relevant then we shall immediately stop processing your data.

If the basis changes then if required by law we shall notify you of the change and of any new basis under which we have determined that we can continue to process your information.

There are two bases under which we process your personal information on our website and they are:

1.          Information we process because we have a contractual obligation with you

When you create an account on our website, buy a product or service from us, or otherwise agree to our terms and conditions, a contract is formed between you and us.

In order to carry out our obligations under that contract we must process the information you give us. Some of this information may be personal information.

We may use it in order to:

1.1.        verify your identity for security purposes

1.2.        sell products to you

1.3.        provide you with our services

1.4.        provide you with suggestions and advice on products, services and how to obtain the most from using our website

We process this information on the basis there is a contract between us, or that you have requested we use the information before we enter into a legal contract.

Additionally, we may aggregate this information in a general way and use it to provide class information, for example to monitor our performance with respect to a particular service we provide. If we use it for this purpose, you as an individual will not be personally identifiable.

We shall continue to process this information until the contract between us ends or is terminated by either party under the terms of the contract.

2.          Information we process with your consent

Through certain actions when otherwise there is no contractual relationship between us, such as when you browse our website or ask us to provide you more information about our business, including our products and services, you provide your consent to us to process information that may be personal information.

Wherever possible, we aim to obtain your explicit consent to process this information, for example, by asking you to agree to our use of cookies.

Sometimes you might give your consent implicitly, such as when you send us a message by e-mail to which you would reasonably expect us to reply.

Except where you have consented to our use of your information for a specific purpose, we do not use your information in any way that would identify you personally. We may aggregate it in a general way and use it to provide class information, for example to monitor the performance of a particular page on our website.

If you have given us explicit permission to do so, we may from time to time pass your name and contact information to selected associates whom we consider may provide services or products you would find useful.

We continue to process your information on this basis until you withdraw your consent or it can be reasonably assumed that your consent no longer exists.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by instructing us at [email protected]. However, if you do so, you may not be able to use our website or our services further.

Specific uses of information you provide to us

Information provided on the understanding that it will be shared with a third party

Our website allows you to post information with a view to that information being read, copied, downloaded, or used by other people.

Examples include:

  • posting a message on our blog or customer comments page.
  • clicking on an icon next to another visitor’s message to convey your agreement, disagreement or thanks.

In posting personal information, it is up to you to satisfy yourself about the privacy level of every person who might use it.

We do not specifically use this information except to allow it to be displayed or shared.

We do store it, and we reserve a right to use it in the future in any way we decide.

Once your information enters the public domain, we have no control over what any individual third party may do with it. We accept no responsibility for their actions at any time.

Provided your request is reasonable and there is no legal basis for us to retain it, then at our discretion we may agree to your request to delete personal information that you have posted. You can make a request by contacting us at [email protected].

Complaints regarding content on our website

We attempt to moderate user generated content, but we are not always able to do so as soon as that content is published.

If you complain about any of the content on our website, we shall investigate your complaint.

If we feel it is justified or if we believe the law requires us to do so, we shall remove the content while we investigate.

Free speech is a fundamental right, so we have to make a judgment as to whose right will be obstructed: yours, or that of the person who posted the content that offends you.

If we think your complaint is vexatious or without any basis, we shall not correspond with you about it.

Information relating to your method of payment

Payment information is never taken by us or transferred to us either through our website or otherwise. Our employees and contractors never have access to it.

At the point of payment, you are transferred to a secure page on the website of PayPal or Nochex, which you are able to choose between. That page may be branded to look like a page on our website, but it is not controlled by us.

Job application and employment

If you send us information in connection with a job application, we may keep it for up to 3 years in case we decide to contact you at a later date.

If we employ you, we collect information about you and your work from time to time throughout the period of your employment. This information will be used only for purposes directly relevant to your employment. After your employment has ended, we will keep your file for six years before destroying or deleting it.

Sending a message to our support team

When you contact us, whether by telephone, through our website or by e-mail, we collect the data you have given to us in order to reply with the information you need.

We record your request and our reply in order to increase the efficiency of our business.

We keep personally identifiable information associated with your message, such as your name and email address so as to be able to track our communications with you to provide a high quality service.

Complaining

When we receive a complaint, we record all the information you have given to us.

We use that information to resolve your complaint.

If your complaint reasonably requires us to contact some other person, we may decide to give to that other person some of the information contained in your complaint. We do this as infrequently as possible, but it is a matter for our sole discretion as to whether we do give information, and if we do, what that information is.

We may also compile statistics showing information obtained from this source to assess the level of service we provide, but not in a way that could identify you or any other person.

Use of information we collect through automated systems when you visit our website

Cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

This website uses the following types of Cookies:

  • Strictly necessary cookies that are required for the operation of our site.  They include the use of a shopping cart
  • Analytical/performance cookies. These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. These cookies don't collect information that identifies a visitor.  All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous.
  • Functionality Cookies that are used to remember you when you return to our website.  This enable us to personalise our content for you.
  • Targeting Cookies that record your visit to our site, the pages you have visited and the links that you have followed.  This enables us to make our site more relevant to your interest and these cookies are also used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests.  They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.  They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator's permission.  They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers.  Quite often targeting or advertising cookies will be linked to site functionality by the other organisation.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

When you first visit our website, we inform you that we use essential cookies to ensure you get the best user experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of these cookies.  You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose not to use cookies or you prevent their use through your browser settings this may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Personal identifiers from your browsing activity

Requests by your web browser to our servers for web pages and other content on our website are recorded.

We record information such as your geographical location, your Internet service provider and your IP address. We also record information about the software you are using to browse our website, such as the type of computer or device and the screen resolution.

We use this information in aggregate to assess the popularity of the webpages on our website and how we perform in providing content to you.

If combined with other information we know about you from previous visits, the data possibly could be used to identify you personally, even if you are not signed in to our website.               

Disclosure and sharing of your information

Credit reference

To assist in combating fraud, we share information with credit reference agencies, so far as it relates to clients or customers who instruct their credit card issuer to cancel payment to us without having first provided an acceptable reason to us and given us the opportunity to refund their money.

Data may be processed outside the European Union

Our websites are hosted within the EU, where our hosting services are based.

Further to this, the data we collect from you may be processed, transferred and stored using various services integral to our website providers business operations.  Sometimes these services may be based in locations outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) and only the essential and necessary data will be provided to them to fulfil their purpose.

Our website provider Create have ensured that all services that are used to transfer, store and/or process data, in or outside the EEA, have been verified to ensure that they are compliant with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and any other respective legal framework that applies to that particular service.

In addition our Website Provider Create will continually monitor these services to ensure compliance is still being achieved at any given time.  They also make sure that data they hold is stored in a safe and satisfactory manner to ensure that adequate measure are in place to protect the data being stored.

Access to your own information

Access to your personal information

  • At any time you may review or update personally identifiable information that we hold about you, by signing in to your account on our website.
  • To obtain a copy of any information that is not provided on our website you may send us a request at [email protected].
  • After receiving the request, we will tell you when we expect to provide you with the information, and whether we require any fee for providing it to you.

Removal of your information

If you wish us to remove personally identifiable information from our website, you may contact us at [email protected].

This may limit the service we can provide to you.

Verification of your information

When we receive any request to access, edit or delete personal identifiable information we shall first take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access or otherwise taking any action. This is important to safeguard your information.

Other matters

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Use of site by children

  • We do not sell products or provide services for purchase by children, nor do we market to children.     
    • If you are under 18, you may use our website only with consent from a parent or guardian.
    • We collect data about all users of and visitors to these areas regardless of age, and we anticipate that some of those users and visitors will be children.

Encryption of data sent between us

We use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates to verify our identity to your browser and to encrypt any data you give us.

Whenever information is transferred between us, you can check that it is done so using SSL by looking for a closed padlock symbol or other trust mark in your browser’s URL bar or toolbar.

How you can complain

  • If you are not happy with our privacy policy or if you have any complaint then you should tell us by email. Our address [email protected].
  • If a dispute is not settled then we hope you will agree to attempt to resolve it by engaging in good faith with us in a process of mediation or arbitration.
  • If you are in any way dissatisfied about how we process your personal information, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office. This can be done at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Retention period for personal data

Except as otherwise mentioned in this privacy notice, we keep your personal information only for as long as required by us:

  • to provide you with the services you have requested;
  • to comply with other law, including for the period demanded by our tax authorities;
  • to support a claim or defence in court.    

Compliance with the law

Our privacy policy has been compiled so as to comply with the law of every country or legal jurisdiction in which we aim to do business. If you think it fails to satisfy the law of your jurisdiction, we should like to hear from you.

However, ultimately it is your choice as to whether you wish to use our website.

Review of this privacy policy

We may update this privacy notice from time to time as necessary. The terms that apply to you are those posted here on our website on the day you use our website. We advise you to print a copy for your records.

If you have any question regarding our privacy policy, please contact us.