Introduction
This Privacy Policy is to explain the details of the type of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with the website or the company staff. It also will explain how we will store and handle the data in question and how we will protect it.
This new Privacy Policy is adhered to and only applicable with your consent to it upon using our website.
- When will we collect data?
- When you visit our website.
- When you purchase a product or service.
- When you sign up to our email list.
- When you engage with us on social media.
- When you contact us via any means with queries, complaints or otherwise.
- When you comment or review products and information on our site.
- Any individual may access personal data related to them, including opinions.
Meaning, that if a comment includes information about the company who provided that product or information, may be passed on to them if requested.
- When you have given a third party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.
- When our partners share information with us about the service or product you have purchased.
What sort of data do we collect?
- If you have an account with us: your name, billing/delivery address, orders, payment type, email address and telephone number. For security we also keep your password encrypted.
- Details of your interactions with us through email.
- Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser.
- Your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your interactions.
- Emails for marketing if you opt-in while signing up or through the subscribe section of the website, or again within your account settings.
How and why do we use your personal data?
The data privacy law allows us to combine the data we have about you to offer the best service we can as part of our legitimate interest in understanding our customers and providing our highest level of service.
If you wish to change how we use your data, you’ll find details in the “What are your rights?” section below. Keeping in mind, if you choose not to share your personal data, or refuse certain permissions, we might not be able to provide some services you’ve asked for.
Giving us your phone number to use with your order is entirely up the customer to give us. If you do, we may use it to contact you about your order or if you have a query that you wish us to call you about. You can remove this from our site using your account section when logged in.
Your email address will only be used to contact you automatically about your order, unless you optionally select for us to send you news materials and event notices. You can opt out of these in your account section when logged in.
How we use your data
- To process orders
- To respond to your queries
- To provide a security verification for your account and purchases
- To prevent fraudulent transactions
- With your consent we will use your data to keep you informed via email, web, post or telephone to contact you about relevant products and services including special offers, discount promotions etc. You may opt out of this at any time via email, telephone or post.
- To send you communications required by law or which are necessary to inform you about our changes to the services we provide you. For example, updates to this Privacy Policy, product recall notices, and legally required information relating to your orders. These service messages will not include any promotional content and do not require prior consent when sent by email or text message. If we do not use your personal data for these purposes, we would be unable to comply with our legal obligations:
- To develop, test and improve the systems, services and products we provide to you.
- To comply with our contractual or legal obligations to share data with law enforcement.
How do we protect your personal data?
- We secure access to all transactional areas of our site using “https” technology.
- Access to your personal data is password protected, and sensitive data such as payment card information is secured by a payment gateway.
- All order information is held on an offsite server protected by a dedicated firewall and aligns itself to the most up to date policies and security measures. Some data which is processed via email is held on our cloud based Office 365 account and separate distribution email addresses relating to accounts, customer care etc.
- We receive immediate updates from our hosted site provider for possible vulnerabilities, updates.
How long will we keep your personal data?
Whenever we collect or process your personal data, we’ll only keep it for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.
At the end of that retention period, your data will be deleted or archived anonymously, for example sales data, such as figures will be kept but customer specific and identifiable data will be removed.
When you place an order, we’ll keep the personal data you give us for at least the minimum allowed so we can comply with our legal and contractual obligations.
Who do we share your personal data with?
We utilise certain third parties to provide services which you have asked for. For example email sending hosts, postal delivery services, payment gateways and any third party we use to provide the services we need to give you our best service.
The Privacy Policy that adheres to us also applies to those third parties.
For example, we provide only the information they need to perform their services. They may only use the data for the exact purpose we specify for them, if we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will be rendered anonymous or deleted. Examples of the kind of third parties we work with are:
- IT companies who develop our website and other business systems, operational companies such as delivery couriers.
Do we share data with third parties for their own purposes?
The only third party services that we would allow to use your data would be in the investigation of fraudulent use of our site; including law enforcement bodies.
Where is the data processed?
All our data is held on a dedicated server located in the UK; however the nature of our data protection may require the data to be moved to another server for security, updates or moving service.
All companies using data from the EEA (European Economic Area) are required to adhere to the strict rulings of its procedures, including all EU member countries. Any transfer of your personal data will follow applicable laws and we will treat the information under the guiding principles of this Privacy Notice.
What do you have the right to request?
- Access to the personal data we hold about you, free of charge in most cases.
- The correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete.
- That we stop using your personal data for direct marketing.
- That we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw your consent.
- Review by BioLife Solutions Ltd of any decision made based solely on automatic processing of your data (i.e. where no human has seen or yet reviewed the outcome and criteria for the decision).
- You have the right to request a copy of any information about you that we hold at any time and also to have that information corrected if it is inaccurate.
- The right to withdraw consent
- You have the right to change your mind about the consent given to us at any time.
To ask for your information, please contact BioLife Solutions Ltd, Sarn Meadow, Guilsfield, Powys SY21 9DT or email info@biolifesolutions.co.uk. To ask for your information to be amended, please contact our Customer Care team. If we choose not to action your request we will explain to you the reasons for our refusal.
Checking your identity
To protect confidentiality of your information, on request, we will ask you to verify your identity before processing with any request you make under the Privacy Policy. If you have authorised a third party to submit a request on your behalf, we must ask them to prove they have your permission to act upon.
Regulatory body
If you feel your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge your complaint to the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office.) within the UK. If you live outside the UK you must check which regulatory body to contact.
If you live outside the UK
By using our services or providing your personal data to us, you expressly consent to the processing of your personal data by us or on our behalf. Of course, you still have the right to ask us not to process your data in certain ways, and if you do so, we will respect your wishes.
Sometimes we’ll need to transfer your personal data between countries to enable us to supply the goods or services you’ve requested. In the ordinary course of business, we may transfer your personal data from your country of residence to ourselves and to third parties located in the UK.
By dealing with us, you are giving your consent to this overseas use, transfer and disclosure of your personal data outside your country of residence for our ordinary business purposes.
This may occur because our information technology storage facilities and servers are located outside your country of residence, and would include storage of your personal data on servers in the UK.
We’ll ensure that reasonable steps are taken to prevent third parties outside your country of residence using your personal data in any way that’s not set out in this Privacy Notice. We’ll also make sure we adequately protect the confidentiality and privacy of your personal data.
Questions?
We hope this Privacy Notice has been clear in setting out the new policies of handling personal data and your rights to control it. Any questions, please contact us at info@biolifesolutions.co.uk or by post to: BioLife Solutions Ltd, Sarn Meadow, Guilsfield, Powys SY21 9DT.