Privacy policy

This privacy policy was last updated in March 2009. It explains what information we can collect from you and how it will be used.

Business Link Yorkshire takes its obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 seriously. This document sets out our policy in relation to information we hold about individuals and how we and our partners intend to use that information.

What information do we collect?  How do we use it?

Business Link Yorkshire and its partners (a full list of our partners is available here) may gather and use information about you in the following ways:

• When you register to use our website we may ask for information such as your name, date of birth, email address and contact details.  This is necessary for us to recognise you as a registered site user.  We may keep a record of your preferences so that we can tailor our services to you. 

• We will use your personal details and information we obtain from other sources to set up and administer your relationship with us, to provide you with advice, for customer services, for marketing, to analyse your preferences and to ensure that the content, services and advertising we offer are tailored to your needs and interests.  We and our partners may also use this information for record keeping, statistical, research and evaluation purposes.   
   
• We may keep your information for a reasonable period for these purposes. We may need to share your information with our service providers and agents for these purposes.  We may disclose personal data in order to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
   
• We intend to continue improving the content and function of our website.  For this reason, we may monitor customer traffic patterns and site usage to help us improve the design and layout of our site and provide content of interest to you. 
   
• Your information will continue to be used as described here by other partners even if we cease to use it or cease to exist.

How do we use your information for marketing?

We and our partners will use your information for record-keeping, statistical, research, evaluation and marketing purposes.  We may share your information with selected third parties for marketing purposes or we may send you information about other organisations' services. We or they may contact you by mail, telephone, fax, email or other electronic messaging service with offers of services, promotions or information that may be of interest to you.  By providing us with your contact details you consent to being contacted by these methods for these purposes.  If you do not wish to receive marketing information from us, our partners or third parties please indicate this where requested on the registration form, or contact us using the details below. 

Your consent to our processing of your information

By providing us with your personal information you confirm that you have read the above and consent to our processing your personal data (including any sensitive personal data) for the above purposes.

How do we protect your information?

We take appropriate measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used.

Use of cookies

We may use information obtained about you from cookies (files which are sent by us to your computer or other access device) which we can access when you visit our site in future. We do this to allow us to identify users and personalise the site whenever possible. The cookies store small pieces of information about visitors, such as names and email addresses. This means that on future visits to our site, we can identify past visitors and welcome them back.

If you want to delete any cookies that are already on your computer, please refer to the instructions for your file management software to locate the file or directory that stores cookies.  If you want to stop cookies being stored on your computer in future, please refer to your browser manufacturer’s instructions by clicking “Help” in your browser menu.  Further information on deleting or controlling cookies is available at www.AboutCookies.org.  Please note that by deleting our cookies or disabling future cookies you may not be able to access certain areas or features of our site.

[We also include web beacons (also known as clear GIFs or web bugs) in our emails to track the success of our marketing campaigns. This means that if you open an email from us we can see which pages of our site you visit. Our web beacons do not store additional information on your computer but, by communicating with our cookies on your computer, they can tell us when you have opened our email. If you object to web beacons, we recommend you follow the instructions for deleting existing cookies and disabling future cookies above. We will still know how many of our emails are opened and we will automatically receive your IP address, a unique identifier for your computer or other access device. ]

Disclaimer

We link to a wide variety of external websites and are not responsible for the content or privacy policies of these sites, nor for the way in which information about their users is treated.  In particular, unless expressly stated, we are not agents for these sites nor are we authorised to make representations on their behalf.

Other Information

You should note that if our business (or any part of it) is sold or transferred at any time, the information we hold may form part of the assets transferred although will still only be used in accordance with this policy.

You are entitled to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you (for which we may charge a small fee) and to have any inaccuracies in your information corrected.

For quality control and training purposes, we may monitor or record your communications with us.

When and how to contact us

If your personal details change, or if you change your mind about any of your marketing preferences or if you have any queries about how we use your information, please let us know by contacting us at: 08456 048 048 or info@businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk.
 
This privacy policy may change and therefore you should review it regularly.  We will of course notify you of any changes where we are required to do so.