Our privacy policy, your personal data
At Atkinsons we take the privacy of you and your data very seriously. As an independent and individual department store we strive to give our customers the very best service, whether that be in store or online. The privacy policy and detail below gives more information on how we use your data in your interactions with us. For the purposes of this privacy policy the terms 'us', 'our' and 'we' relate to Atkinson Group Ltd, the terms 'you' and 'your' refer to any person or customer communicating with us either in store, on this website, or via a third party.
What Constitutes 'Personal Data'
Your personal data means any information that describes or relates to you, or that can be used as a means to identify you. For example this includes, but is not limited to, your name, address, date of birth, telephone number, email address, bank account details, and so on.
How Do We Use Your Personal Data
During your dealings with us there are a number of ways in which you may come to provide your data to us. The following are limited examples; in the process of ordering goods or services, by signing up to our email newsletter, by entering a competition on our website, by communicating with us by phone or email, by registering for an account with us, and so on. We may use the data that you provide in a number of ways:
In the fulfilment of a business contract (e.g. taking payment, delivery of goods or services)
In the process of assisting you with an administrative query or other relevant enquiry (e.g. a customer service email)
In the management of any registered account you hold with us (in store or online)
In the process of verifying your identity and/or account (e.g. credit application)
To personalise and improve your experience when browsing our website (see 'cookies' section below)
To send you marketing information with offers, news and promotions that we think may be of interest to you (with your explicit consent)
For market research purposes to better understand your requirements and your experiences (with your explicit consent)
To comply with any law enforcement, legal or regulatory obligation
Yours and Our Legitimate Interests
Certain data is required to complete the process of fulfilling a sale or refund/exchange or offering a service, and by purchasing goods or services you have entered into a contract which includes your agreement to your information being processed as part of the contract. Your name, address and contact details may be used and passed to a third party, solely for the purpose of fulfilling the contract. The personal information may be kept for a period of 6 years after completion of the process.
An example of a legitimate interest (1): you place an order for a piece of made-to-order furniture, that is delivered direct to you by the manufacturer. It is in ours and your legitimate interest to request your personal details, such as name, address, email and telephone number, so that we may contact you about the order or offer you related services. We will also further process your details by sharing them with our supplier/manufacturer - for example, we may share your name, address email and/or telephone number, so that the manufacturer has the information required to deliver the goods to you directly.
An example of a legitimate interest (2): you open up a credit account in respect of a recent order. It is in ours and your legitimate interest to request your personal details, such as name, address, email, telephone number, details of income etc. so that we may run affordability checks, fraud checks, send statements and send offers we feel are relevant/beneficial to you. We will also further process your details by sharing them with credit referencing agencies and, in the case of direct mail, third party distribution companies (e.g. Whistl).
The examples above are not an exhaustive list of how we may use your details for ours and your legitimate interest, however, we hope they provide useful examples of how your data may be used in respect of, and beyond, fulfilling a contract with us.
If you wish to stop receiving marketing specific communications from us you can contact us by email enquiries@atkinsonsofsheffield.co.uk
How We Store Your Data
We may collect and store your data securely in a number of ways. This may be in the use of paper files, our own servers and computer workstations/hard drives, suppliers servers, email storage and website storage.
This data will only be accessed when it is necessary to provide a service to you, whether that be in the process of a business transaction, marketing or other administrative procedure.
Any digital data will be stored securely using SSL technology
Marketing and Communications
If you opt-in' and agree to receive marketing communications, which may be via but is not limited to, email, post, telephone, text message, then we will add you to the mailing list for the explicit method of contact you've requested. You can unsubscribe (opt-out) of receiving any of these communications at any time by emailing enquiries@atkinsonsofsheffield.co.uk. You may opt-out of receiving these marketing communications without detriment to any other services that we are providing you.
Finance and Credit Applications
In order to process your application for our financial services products we will perform credit and identity checks on you with one or more credit referencing agencies (known as "CRAs"). Where you take banking services/credit facilities from us we may also make periodic searches at CRAs to manage your account with us.
To do this, we will supply your personal information to CRAs and they will give us information about you in return. This will include information from your credit application, your financial situation, and your financial history. CRAs will supply us in return both public and shared credit, financial situation and financial history information, and fraud prevention information.
We will use the information to:
Assess your creditworthiness and whether you can afford the product
Verify the accuracy of the data you have provided to us
Prevent criminal activity, fraud and money laundering
Manage your account(s)
Trace and recover debts
Ensure any offers provided to you are appropriate to your circumstances
We will continue to exchange information about you with CRAs while you have a relationship with us. We will also inform CRAs about your settled accounts. If you borrow and do not repay in full and on time, CRAs will record the outstanding debt. This information may be supplied to other organisations by CRAs.
When CRAs receive a search from us they will place a search footprint on your credit file that may be seen by other lenders.
If you are making a joint application, or tell us you have a spouse or financial associate, we will link your records together. You should make sure to discuss with them, and share with them this information, before lodging the application.
CRAs will also link your records together and these links will remain on your and their files until such a time as you or your partner successfully files for disassociation with the CRAs to break that link.
The identities of the CRAs, their role also as fraud prevention agencies, the data they hold, the ways in which they use and share personal information, data retention periods and your data protection rights with regards to CRAs are explained in more detail at http://www.experian.co.uk/crain/index.html. CRAIN is also accessible from each of the three CRA's - clicking on any of these three links will also take you to the same CRAIN document: Callcredit http://www.callcredit.co.uk/crain; Equifax http://www.equifax.co.uk/crain; Experian http://www.experian.co.uk/crain.
Your Data and Third Parties
In order to make certain services available to you, we may need to share your personal data with some of our service partners. These may include IT and marketing service providers, financial service providers, delivery service providers and suppliers of our products.
We only allow service providers to handle your personal data when we have confirmed that they apply appropriate data protection and security controls. Your data will not be used by any of these third parties for any purpose outside of the running of our business, the supply of financial products (where applicable), and in any relevant communications you have with us.
Aside from our service providers we will never share your data with any other third party.
How Long Do We Keep Your Data
We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. If you request for us to remove your data we will do this using a secure method.
Your Rights
You have the right to request a copy of the data we hold on file for you, this can be done by emailing enquiries@atkinsonsofsheffield.co.uk and we will respond accordingly. You may request that we do not use your data for any purpose related to marketing. Additionally, you may ask to correct, or restrict the use of your personal data. You may also request that we send an electronic copy of the data we have stored that relates to your dealings with us. You may withdraw your consent to receive marketing material from us at any time.
How To Unsubscribe
You can unsubscribe from our marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link found in all our marketing related emails or by emailing enquiries@atkinsonsofsheffield.co.uk
Cookies
'Cookies' are small text files stored on your computer/tablet/mobile or any device you're using to connect to the internet, that store information about your browsing experience. The cookies used on our website will track things like location information, IP address and products viewed, in order to give you an improved experience when browsing our website. You can switch off cookies in your browser for a specific website or for all websites, however this may affect the quality of your browsing experience.
How To Get In Touch
If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, or wish to make contact in order to exercise any of your rights, then please contact:
Data Controller, Atkinson Group Limited, 78-82 The Moor, Sheffield, S1 3LT
If you have any concerns or complaints as to how we handle your personal data then please contact us at the address above.
