Protecting your Privacy
Accelerated Learning Systems Ltd
updated 24th May 2018
1. Introduction
This Privacy Notice explains in detail the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data, and keep it safe.
We hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not, please do get in touch with us.
It’s likely that we’ll need to update this Privacy Notice from time to time. We’ll notify you of any significant changes, but you’re welcome to come back and check it whenever you wish.
2. Who are we?
Accelerated Learning Systems Ltd (ALS) is a registered UK private company, owned by individuals residing in the UK. We develop and market books and learning courses direct to the public, using a number of related websites including acceleratedlearning.com, online-language.org, earlychamps.com, babychamps.com and learntolearn.org.
We process and despatch goods from our UK office and warehouse based in Aylesbury. Our telephone contact centre is located on the same site.
Throughout this notice, ‘we’ and ‘us’ means ALS and its brands. This Privacy Notice applies to everyone we deal with, whether resident in the UK or elsewhere.
3. The legal bases we rely on for holding your personal data
The law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons for which a company may collect and process your personal data, including:
Contractual obligations
When you place orders with us, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligations to deliver the items to you, and to obtain payment for the items.
When collecting your personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.
Legitimate interest
In specific situations, we can use your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests.
For example, we may use your purchase history to send you personalised offers, or to tell you about products and services that we think might interest you. This information may be sent by email or post.
Consent
In specific situations, we can collect and process your data with your consent, for example when you tick a box to request email or mailed information and newsletters.
Legal compliance
If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data and pass it on to law enforcement agencies, for example, details of people involved in fraud or other criminal activity.
4. When we collect your personal data
- When you visit any of our websites, and buy products online.
- When you create an account with us.
- When you purchase a product by phone or by writing to us.
- When you engage with us on social media.
- When you contact us by any means with queries, complaints etc.
- When you ask us to email or post you information about a product or service.
- When you choose to complete any surveys we may send you.
- When you comment on or review our products and services.
- When you’ve given a third party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.
5. The types of personal data we collect
- If you have a web account with us: your name, billing and delivery address, orders and receipts, email and telephone number. For your security, we’ll also keep an encrypted record of your login password.
- Details of your interactions with us online or by phone or post. For example, we collect notes from our conversations with you, details of any complaints or comments you make, details of purchases you made, items viewed or added to your basket, voucher redemptions, brands you show interest in, web pages you visit and how and when you contact us.
- Details of your visits to our websites or apps, and which site you came from to ours.
- Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser.
- Payment card information (for orders placed by phone and post). Our online sites do not capture payment card information, as you are transferred to Paypal’s secure site to pay for your online orders.
- Your comments and product reviews.
- To deliver the best possible web experience, we collect technical information about your internet connection and browser as well as the country and telephone code where your computer is located, the web pages viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on, and any search terms you entered.
- Your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments, questions or feedback.
6. How and why we use your personal data
We want to give you the best possible customer experience. One way to achieve that is to get the richest picture we can of who you are by combining the data we have about you.
We then use this to offer you promotions, products and services that are most likely to interest you.
The data privacy law allows this as part of our legitimate interest in understanding our customers and providing the highest levels of service.
Of course, if you wish to change how we use your data, you’ll find details in the ‘Your rights’ section below.
If you choose not to share your personal data with us, or refuse certain contact permissions, we might not be able to provide some services you’ve asked for.
We’ll use your personal data:
- To process any orders that you make by using our websites, calling or writing to us.
WHY If we don’t collect your personal data during checkout, we won’t be able to process your order and comply with our legal obligations.
- To respond to your queries, refund requests and complaints. Handling the information you send enables us to respond. We may also keep a record of these to inform any future communication you have with us and to demonstrate how we communicated with you throughout.
WHY We do this on the basis of our contractual obligations to you, our legal obligations and our legitimate interest in providing you with the best service and understanding how we can improve our service based on your experience.
- To protect our business and your account from fraud and other illegal activities. This includes using your personal data to maintain, update and safeguard your account. We’ll also monitor your browsing activity with us to quickly identify and resolve any problems and protect the integrity of our websites.
WHY We do this as part of our legitimate interest.
- To process payments and to prevent fraudulent transactions.
WHY We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interest. This also helps to protect our customers from fraud.
- If we discover any criminal activity or alleged criminal activity through our use of fraud monitoring and suspicious transaction monitoring, we will process this data to protect the individuals we interact with from criminal activities.
WHY For the purposes of preventing or detecting unlawful acts, to comply with our legal obligations.
- 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 Notice, product recall notices, and legally required information relating to your orders. These service messages will not include any promotional content; they do not require prior consent, and you are not able to opt out of them.
WHY If we could not use your personal data for these purposes, we would be unable to comply with our legal obligations.
- We will use your personal data, preferences and details of your transactions to keep you informed by email, web and mail about relevant products and services including tailored special offers, discounts and so on.
WHY We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interest. You are free to opt out of hearing from us with these types of promotional messages by any of these channels at any time.
- To display the most interesting content to you on our websites, we’ll use data we hold about your favourite brands or products and so on.
WHY We do so on the basis of your consent for our websites to place cookies or similar technology on your device. You are free to withdraw this type of consent at any time while browsing our sites.
- To send you survey and feedback requests to help improve our services. These messages will not include any promotional content and do not require prior consent when sent by email or text message.
WHY We have a legitimate interest to do so as this helps make our products or services more relevant to you. You are free to opt out of receiving these requests from us at any time by updating your preferences.
7. How we protect your personal data
Data security matters to everyone. We will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.
We secure access to all transactional areas of our websites and apps using ‘https’ and other technology.
Access to your personal data on our business servers is password-protected, and key data (such as payment card information) is secured by SSL encryption. Essential paper copies of data are kept securely in locked cabinets.
No payment card data is requested or kept on our websites. For payment processing online, you are transferred away from our sites on to Paypal’s secure servers.
We regularly monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and we carry out penetration testing to identify ways to further strengthen security.
8. How long 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 either be deleted completely or anonymised, for example by aggregation with other data so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning.
For example, we will keep the personal data you give us when you place an order for five years so we can comply with our legal and contractual obligations
If you have not used your account for more than five years, it will be flagged as inactive and we’ll contact you to ask whether you want to keep it open. Unless you reply to say ‘yes’, we’ll close the account and delete or anonymise the personal data associated with it.
9. Data sharing
We only share your personal data with a very limited number of trusted third parties –
- Delivery couriers (if your order is being sent by a tracked service)
- Law enforcement, government or regulatory agencies (for fraud or legal compliance management)
We never have and never will share your personal data with any other organisation outside our ownership and control for the purposes of their own marketing, advertising or promotion.
However, if we at any time expand, reduce or sell the business, involving the transfer of divisions or the whole business to new owners, your personal data will, where relevant, be transferred to the new owner or controlling party, under the terms of this Privacy Notice.
For further information please contact our Data Protection Officer.
10. Where your personal data may be processed
Sometimes we will need to share your personal data with third parties and suppliers outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
International orders
If you are based outside the UK and place an order with us, your personal data will be collected and stored with the rest of our data in the UK.
Protecting your data outside the EEA
The EEA includes all EU Member countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
We may transfer personal data that we collect from you to third-party data processors in countries that are outside the EEA such as Australia or the USA. For example, this might be required in order to fulfil your order, process your payment details or provide support services.
If we do this, we have procedures in place to ensure your data receives the same protection as if it were being processed inside the EEA.
Any transfer of your personal data will follow applicable laws and we will treat the information under the guiding principles of this Privacy Notice.
11. Your rights over your personal data
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 (either through specific channels, or all channels).
- That we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw that consent.
You can contact us to request to exercise these rights at any time as follows:
Access
To ask for details of the personal information we hold, please contact The Data Protection Officer, Uni-Vite Healthcare Ltd, 12 The Vale, Southern Road, Aylesbury, Bucks HP19 9EW or email info@uni-vite.com.
Correction or deletion
To ask for your information to be amended or deleted, please contact our customer services team at info@uni-vite.com, or update your online account.
If we have valid reasons not to action your request, we will explain them to you.
Your right to withdraw consent
Whenever you have given us your consent to use your personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and withdraw that consent.
Where we rely on our legitimate interest
In cases where we are processing your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your individual situation.
We must then do so unless we believe we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.
Direct marketing
You have the right to stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing activity through all channels, or selected channels. We must always comply with your request.
Checking your identity when you make requests in respect of personal information
To protect the confidentiality of your information, we will ask you to verify your identity before proceeding with any request you make under this Privacy Notice.
If you have authorised a third party to submit a request on your behalf, we will ask them to prove they have your permission to act.
12. How to stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing
There are several ways you can stop direct marketing communications from us:
- Click the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any email communication that we send you. We will then stop any further emails.
- If you have an account, log in into your account, visit the ‘My Account’ area and change your preferences.
- Write to ALS Ltd, 12 The Vale, Southern Road, Aylesbury, Bucks HP19 9EW
- Call free on 0800 279 7740 or +44 (0)1296 631177
Please note that you may continue to receive communications for a short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated.
13. Contacting the Regulator
If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113. Or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns (opens in a new window).
If you are based outside the UK, you have the right to lodge your complaint with the relevant data protection regulator in your country of residence. Details can be found in Section 14.
14. If you live outside the UK
This Privacy Notice will be available in English only.
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 almost always 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.
We’ll ensure that any third parties process your personal data only in accordance with their legitimate interests. These third parties may be subject to different laws from those which apply in your country of residence. Please note that we do not take active steps to ensure that any overseas recipient of your personal data complies with the laws which apply in your country.
15. Further information or questions
We hope this Privacy Notice has been helpful in setting out the way we handle your personal data and your rights to control it.
For any clarification or further information, please contact our Data Protection Officer:
- Email us at info@acceleratedlearning.com
- Write to ALS Ltd, 12 The Vale, Southern Road, Aylesbury, Bucks HP19 9EW