Privacy

Sustainacity believes in protecting your data, and being transparent about how we use it. We’re complying with GDPR regulations, but we’d also like you to know that…

If you have any questions, you’re welcome to drop us an email to [email protected]

As is required by GDPR legislation, we also have all the serious legal notices below if you want more detail about how we use and safeguard data below…

1. Introduction

1.1 We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors and service users.

1.2 This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our website visitors and service users; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.

1.3 By using our website and agreeing to this policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.

1.4 In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Sustainacity. For more information about us, see Section 13.

2. Credit

2.1 This document was created using a template from SEQ Legal (https://seqlegal.com).

3. How we use your personal data

3.1 In this Section 3 we have set out:

(a) the general categories of personal data that we may process;

(b) the purposes for which we may process personal data; and

3.2 We may process data about your use of our website and services (“usage data“). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is our analytics tracking system. This usage data may be processed for the purposes of analysing the use of the website and services. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services.

3.3 We may process information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (“notification data“). The notification data may be processed for the purposes of sending you the relevant notifications and/or newsletters. The legal basis for this processing is consent, via a double-opt in subscription confirmation.

3.4 We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us (“correspondence data“). The correspondence data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our website will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the website contact forms. The correspondence data may be processed for the purposes of communicating with you and record-keeping. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website and business and communications with users.

3.5 We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.

3.6 In addition to the specific purposes for which we may process your personal data set out in this Section 3, we may also process any of your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

3.7 Please do not supply any other person’s personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.

4. Providing your personal data to others

We do not share your personal data with any third-parties beyond that which may legally be required of us.

4.1 We may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.

5. International transfers of your personal data

5.1 There are currently no circumstances in which your personal data may be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

5.2 The hosting facilities for our website are situated in the United Kingdom.

5.3 You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.

6. Retaining and deleting personal data

6.1 This Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal data.

6.2 Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

6.3 We will retain your personal data as follows:

(a) Usage data, correspondence data and notification data will be retained for a minimum period of 2 years following the date of provision, and for a maximum period of 5 years following date of provision.

6.4 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

7. Amendments

7.1 We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.

7.2 You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.

8. Your rights

8.1 You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you; provision of such information will be subject to:

(a) the payment of a fee (currently fixed at GBP 10); and

(b) the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity (for this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address).

8.2 We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.

8.3 You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.

8.4 In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes.

9. About cookies

9.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

9.2 Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

9.3 Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

10. Cookies that we use

10.1 We use cookies for the following purposes:

(a) authentication – we use cookies to identify you when you visit our website and as you navigate our website. Cookies used for this purpose are: “CraftSessionId” (essential for browsing the website and relates to the content management system in use. It is used to store any session specific settings that need to be remembered between one page and the next.)

(b) analysis – we use cookies to help us to analyse the use and performance of our website and services. Ccookies used for this purpose are:

_ga.” (used to distinguish users), “_gid.” (used to distinguish users), “_gat.”(used to distinguish users));

11. Cookies used by our service providers

11.1 Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.

11.2 We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google’s privacy policy is available at: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/. The relevant cookies are: “_ga.” (used to distinguish users), “_gid.” (used to distinguish users),”_gat.” (used to throttle request rate).

12. Managing cookies

12.1 Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via these links:

(a) https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647?hl=en (Chrome);

(b) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-and-disable-cookies-website-preferences (Firefox);

(d) https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies (Internet Explorer);

(e) https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21411 (Safari); and

(f) https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10-microsoft-edge-and-privacy (Edge).

12.2 Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

12.3 If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.