Privacy policy
This policy applies to personal information we hold about individuals, sole traders and partnerships. It does not apply to information we hold about companies and other organisations.
We believe it is important to protect your privacy, and so we are committed to giving you a personalised service that meets your needs in a way that also protects that privacy. This policy explains how we may collect information about you and then use it to meet your needs. It also explains some of the security measures we take to protect your privacy, and tells you certain things we will not do. You should read this policy in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions.
When we first obtain personal information from you, or when you take a new service or product from us, we will give you the opportunity to tell us if you do or do not want to receive information from us about other services or products. You can normally do this by ticking a box on an application form or contract. You may change your mind at any time by emailing us at the address below.
1 Collecting information
We may collect personal information about you from a number of sources, including the following:
- From you when you agree to take a service or product from us, in which case this may include your contact details, date of birth, how you will pay for the product or service and your bank details.
- From you when you contact us with an enquiry or in response to a communication from us, in which case this may tell us something about how you use our services.
- From documents that are available to the public, such as the electoral register.
Please note that some of the personal information we hold about you may be 'sensitive personal data' within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998 - for example, information about your health or ethnic origin.
2 Using information
2.1 Information you provide or we hold about you (whether or not under our contract (or contracts) with you) may be used by us or our agents (or both) to:
- identify you when you contact us;
- help identify accounts, services and/or products which you could have from us from time to time. This identification process may be carried out by an automatic scoring system, which takes account of the information you have provided, any information we hold about you and information from third party agencies (including credit reference agencies).
- help run, and contact you about improved running of, any accounts, services and products we have provided before, or provide now or in the future;
- carry out marketing analysis and customer profiling (including with transactional information) and create statistical and testing information;
- help to prevent and detect fraud or loss; and
- contact you in any way (including mail, email, phone, visit, text or multimedia messages) about products and services offered by us and selected partners. We will only contact you in this way if you have previously shown your consent.
2.2 We may allow other people and organisations to use information we hold about you:
- to provide the services you have asked for;
- as part of the process of selling one or more of our businesses;
- if we have been asked to provide information for legal or regulatory purposes; or
- as part of current or future legal proceedings.
From time to time, these other people and organisations may be outside the European Economic Area in countries that do not have the same standards of protection for personal data as the UK.
2.3 We may also allow your information to be used by other Opal Group companies for them to carry out any of the above purposes.
2.4 We may monitor and record communications with you (including phone conversations and emails) for quality assurance and compliance.
2.5 We may also allow your information to be used by other Opal Group companies for them to carry out any of the above purposes.
2.6 Where you give us information on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have provided them with the information set out in this document, and that they have not objected to the uses of their personal information described in it. If you give us sensitive data about yourself or others (such as health details or details of any criminal convictions of members of your household), you agree (and confirm that the relevant subject of the information has agreed) to us processing such information in the manner set out in this document
3 Protecting information
We have strict security measures to protect personal information. This includes following certain procedures (for example, checking your identity when you phone us) and encrypting (encoding) data on our websites.
4 The Internet
4.1 If you communicate with us using the internet, we may occasionally email you about our services and products. When you first give us personal information through our website, we will normally give you the opportunity to say whether you would prefer us not to contact you by email. However, you can always send us an email (at the address set out below) at any time if you change your mind.
4.2 Please remember that communications over the Internet, such as emails and webmails (messages sent through a website), are not secure unless they have been encrypted. Your communications may go through a number of countries before they are delivered - this is the nature of the Internet. We cannot accept responsibility for any unauthorised access or loss of personal information that is beyond our control.
4.3 We may use 'cookies' to monitor how people use our site. This helps us to understand how our customers and potential customers use our website so we can develop and improve the design, layout and function of the sites. A cookie is a piece of information that is stored on your computer's hard drive which records how you have used a website. This means that when you go back to that website, it can give you tailored options based on the information it has stored about your last visit. You can normally alter the settings of your browser to prevent it from accepting cookies.
4.4 If you do not want us to use cookies in your browser, you can set your browser to reject cookies or to tell you when a website tries to put a cookie on your computer. However, you may not be able to use some of the products or services on our website without cookies.
5 Turning off cookies in different browers
5.1 Internet explorer 5.0- From your browser menu, select 'Tools'.
- Then select 'Internet Options'. This will bring up the 'Internet Options' Dialogue Box.
- On the top of the dialogue box, select 'Security', then 'Custom Level'. This will bring up the 'Security Settings' box.
- Scroll down using the scroll bar on the right handside of the box, until you come to the section carrying the title 'allow cookies to be stored on your computer'.
- Of the options available, select 'Disable', and then select the 'OK' button on the bottom of the menu box.
- From your browser menu, select 'Tools', and then 'Internet Options'. This will bring up the 'Internet Options' Dialogue Box..
- On the top of the dialogue box, select 'Privacy'. This will bring up the 'Privacy Settings' box..
- On the Privacy tab, move the slider up for a higher level of privacy or down for a lower level of privacy..
- Move the slider to the top to block cookies from all web sites.
Following these instructions will stop your computer from accepting cookies in future. You may reconfigure your computer to accept cookies again by following these instructions, but by selecting 'Enable', and the 'OK' button on the bottom of the menu box (Internet Explorer 5.0); or by selecting on 'Default' button (Internet Explorer 6.0).
5.3 Netscape 4.7- First, on your top menu, select 'Edit', and then 'Preferences'. This will bring up the 'Preferences' menu box.
- From the options on the left-hand side, select 'Advanced' which will bring up another menu.
- Halfway down, you will see a section on cookies, and if you wish to turn cookies off, you should select 'Disable', and then the 'OK' button on the bottom of the menu box.
- You may reconfigure your computer to accept cookies again by following these instructions, but by selecting 'Accept All Cookies', and then selecting the 'OK' button on the bottom of the menu box.
- First, on your top menu, select 'Tasks', and then 'Privacy & Security'.
- From here you have the option to 'block cookies from this site', 'unblock cookies from this site' or view and remove and prevent cookies from being reaccepted from selected sites.
6 Links
This website may contain links to other sites or recommended suppliers. Please remember that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. This privacy policy applies only to information collected on this website.
7 Further information
If you would like any more information or you have any comments about our privacy policy, please either write to us at Opal, 2 Acorn Business Park, Northarbour Road, Cosham PO6 3TH. or by emailing mail@opal-solutions.com. We may amend this policy from time to time, in which case we will publish the amended version on our website, and you can ask us for a copy by writing to our address or by emailing us.