Privacy

Privacy Policy

 

This notice applies to you if you are a prospective, current or former customer, employee, subcontractor or supplier of SwimExpert Limited (under its brand names SwimExpert, HydroKidz and theSwimmingShop.com), who:

has contacted us to enquire about the products or services we have to offer;
has entered into a contract with us to obtain supplies or services from us;
has negotiated, or entered into, a contract with us to supply products or services to us
This notice does not form part of any contract for products or services. Copies of our customer terms and conditions in respect of each service or product we offer are available upon request, are published on our websites and for new customers, are issued with the first order or agreement to provide services.

References to ‘we’, ‘our’ or ‘us’ in this privacy notice are to SwimExpert Limited of 6 Weighbridge Row, Cardiff Road, Reading, RG1 8LX (Registered number 07872428).

Reference to ‘you’ or ‘your’ refers to you as the person we are collecting and processing personal information about, but also includes any children or dependants that you are parent or legal guardian of, where you have provided us with their personal information. 

We are committed to respecting your privacy. This notice is to explain how we may use the personal information we collect and use about you during and after your working relationship with us. This notice explains how we comply with the laws on data protection and what your rights are.

Applicable laws include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into effect on 25 May 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR)

We are the ‘data controller’ of any personal information you provide to us and are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller. This means that we are responsible for complying with data protection laws including GDPR.  We do not meet the criteria for appointing a specific ‘Data Protection Officer’ but if having read this Privacy Notice you have any questions about how we collect, store or use your information, you can contact us using the details set out in the ‘Contacting us’ section at the end of this privacy notice.

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

In order for us to provide details and quotations about our products and services and to work with you thereafter, we need to collect and process personal data about you.

The personal information that we collect will depend on your relationship with us. We will collect different information depending on whether you are a customer or prospective customer, an employee, subcontractor, supplier, website user, or other third party.

You may provide us with, or we may obtain personal information about you, such as information regarding your:

Contact details: information that allows us to contact you directly such as your name, email address, telephone number and addresses;
On-boarding details: all information provided by you as part of our customer or employee registration process;
Identification documents: information such as passport, driving licence, utility bills, identity cards, signature, etc.;
Family members: any next of kin as emergency contacts;
Financial information: bank accounts, payment and receipt details, financial status and tax status;
Online account Information: for any of our online portals including username, password and other identifying information and other account information;
Website browsing history: including your IP address, device details and activity obtained through our use of cookies. You can find more information about this in our Cookies Policy;
Identifiers: such as tax or government identifiers;
Records of your interactions with us: such as any enquiries or orders you make, telephone conversations, letters and other correspondence (including e-mail) and your usage of our online portals;
Responses to any feedback requests: we keep records of feedback you give us;
Your marketing preferences: so that we know whether and how we should contact you.
We will only collect and process personal information where we have a lawful basis for obtaining and using such information.

If you provide personal information to us about other individuals (for example, through a “refer a friend scheme”) you agree: (a) to inform the individual about the content of this Privacy Policy; and (b) to obtain any consent where we indicate that it is required for the processing of that individual’s personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Depending on your business relationship with us, we may need to collect, store and use ‘special categories’ (as defined by GDPR) of more sensitive personal information regarding you. Examples of special categories that we may need to collect and process are as follows:

information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records, medical records and health professional information and disability information
criminal records information in relation to you (including information provided in or as a result of a Disclosure and Barring Service application)
If we collect any special category personal information about you, we will only do so where we have a lawful basis for obtaining and using such information.

3. WHERE WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION

We will collect personal information from a number of sources. These include the following:

Directly from you: from yourself, when you register to become a customer of ours, complete forms we provide to you, use our website, complete an online form, make an enquiry, make a complaint, provide identification or financial information to us, contact us by phone, email or communicate with us directly in some other way;
Third parties authorised by you: a family member or someone else authorised by you;
Our website: provides us with information about how you use it and the devices that you use to connect to our website;
Providers of information: which may include DBS service providers, Companies House and other web platforms;
Your professional advisors: such as lawyers, accountants and financial advisors etc;
Our professional advisors: such as our lawyers and accountants.
Government agencies: such as HMRC and from professional regulators
If you are providing us with details about family members they have a right to know and to be aware of what personal information we hold about them, how we collect it and how we use and may share that information. Please share this privacy notice with them. They also have the same rights as set out in the ‘Your rights in relation to personal information’ section below.

4. WHAT WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR

We may process your personal information for a number of different purposes. For each purpose we must have a legal ground for such processing. When the information that we process is classed as sensitive personal information, we must have an additional legal ground for such processing.

Generally we will rely on one or more of the following legal grounds for each purpose:

Where the processing is necessary for our provision or contemplated provision of products or services to you
Where we have a legitimate business need such as maintaining our business records or developing and improving our products and services where such business need does not harm your interests
Where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to use such personal information
Where the use is necessary to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights
Where you have provided your consent to our use of your personal information
Below we describe the main purposes for which we process your personal information and our lawful basis for being able to do this.

Purpose:  For the purposes of onboarding you as a customer

Personal Information Used: All the personal information we collect and payment information, where a payment is being made by you

Lawful Basis:  This is necessary to enable us to enter into, manage and perform our contract with you

 

Purpose:  To provide an ongoing service to you

Personal Information Used: All the personal information we collect and payment information, where a payment is being made by you

Lawful Basis:  This is necessary to fulfil our contract with you.

 

Purpose:  Carrying out any identity and criminal record checks on instructors and other relevant personnel

Personal Information Used: Name, personal  contact details and other identifiers, and identification documents, as required to perform ID and DBS checks

Lawful Basis:  We have a legal obligation to do so.

 

Purpose:  To manage our business and internal reporting

Personal Information Used:  All the personal information we collect about you

Lawful Basis:  We have a legitimate interest to ensure that we operate efficiently and manage our business properly.

 

Purpose: To deal with enquiries, complaints and other communications from you and dealing with legal matters

Personal Information Used:  All the personal information we collect about you

Lawful Basis:  We have a legitimate interest to ensure that we operate efficiently and deal with any enquiries, complaints or other

communications.  We have a legitimate interest to ensure that all legal matters are managed effectively.

 

Purpose: For the purposes of staff training

Personal Information Used:  All the personal information we collect about you

Lawful Basis:  We have a legitimate interest to improve the services we provide.

 

Purpose:  To provide you with our customer portal and/or website access and for the purposes of ensuring the security of our systems and our information including preventing unauthorised access to our computer and electronic communications systems and preventing malicious software distribution

Personal Information Used:  On-boarding details, online account information and your usage of our IT systems

Lawful Basis:  We have a legitimate business in ensuring our systems are secure.

 

Purpose:  To conduct data analytics studies and customer satisfaction surveys or feedback requests to review, and better understand our customer, retention, attrition and satisfaction levels

Personal Information Used: Our customer records and any information you provide in response to our customer feedback requests

Lawful Basis:  We have a legitimate interest in order to improve as a business.

 

Purpose:  Marketing to you, our services and our products which may be of potential interest to you

Personal Information Used:  Name, personal contact details and other identifiers, marketing preferences and past purchase history

Lawful Basis:  When you have registered as a customer, we have a legitimate interest as part of our service to you, to identify products and services that may be of interest to you.  For prospective individuals who have previously enquired about our services or products, we have a legitimate interest  to identify products and services that may be of interest to you and to update you on changes to our product or services that may be of interest.

 

Purpose:  For the purpose of complying with any regulatory requirements

Personal Information Used:  All the personal information we collect about you

Lawful Basis:  We may have a legal obligation to comply with regulatory requirements and we have a legitimate interest in complying with regulatory requirements.

 

Purpose: Storage of records relating to you and also records relating to our business

Personal Information Used:  All the personal information we collect about you

Lawful Basis:  To be able to manage and fulfil our contract with you, we may have a legal and/or regulatory obligation to do so and we also have a legitimate interest to keep proper records.

 

For some of your personal information, you will have a legal, contractual or other requirement or obligation for you to provide us with your personal information. If you do not provide us with the requested personal information we may not be able to properly perform our contract with you or comply with legal obligations. For other personal information, whilst you may not be under an obligation to provide it to us, if you do not provide it then we may not be able to properly perform our services for you.

You should be aware that it is not a condition of any contract with us that you agree to any request for consent from us and we do not usually rely on consent as a basis for processing your personal information. However, if we have asked you for consent, and you have given us your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, which you may do by contacting us as described in the ‘Contacting us’ section below.

Please note however, that the withdrawal of your consent will not affect any use of the data made before you withdrew your consent and we may still be entitled to hold and process the relevant personal information to the extent that we are entitled to do so on bases other than your consent.

Withdrawing consent may also have the same effects as not providing the information in the first place, for example we may no longer be able to provide carry out certain activities.

5. WHO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH

We share personal information with the following parties:

Any party approved by you: for example, family members;
Agencies undertaking DBS or other checks for us;
Other service providers to our business: including for example banking, administration and IT services. All our third party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information;
Advisors: our professional advisors;
Purchasers of our business: buyers or perspective buyers to whom we may sell or negotiate to sell our business;
The Government, government bodies or applicable regulators: where we are required to do so by law or to assist with their investigations or initiatives, for example HMRC, or the Information Commissioner’s Office;
Police, law enforcement and security services: to assist with the investigation and prevention of crime and the protection of national security.
We do not disclose personal information to anyone else except as set out above unless we have your consent or we are legally obliged to do so. We do not sell your data.

6. DIRECT MARKETING

Email, post, and telephone marketing: we only contact you if you are an existing or former customer or have previously made an enquiry about our products or services.  We do not purchase marketing lists nor make unsolicited contact with you.  

From time to time, we may contact you by email, post, telephone or SMS with information about our products and services we believe you may be interested in. You remain in control and have the option to opt out at any time.

If you wish to unsubscribe from emails sent by us, you may do so at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link that appears in all marketing emails. Otherwise you can always contact us using the details described in the ‘Contacting us’ section below to update your contact preferences. In such circumstances, we will continue to send you service related (non-marketing) communications where these are necessary in relation to our contracts with you.

7. TRANSFERRING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION INTERNATIONALLY

The personal information we collect may be transferred to and stored in countries outside of the UK and the European Union, for example, in data centres located in the USA. Some of these jurisdictions require different levels of protection in respect of personal information and, in certain instances, the laws in those countries may be less protective than the jurisdiction you are typically resident in.

We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is only used in accordance with this privacy notice and applicable data protection laws and is respected and kept secure and where a third party processes your data on our behalf, we will put in place appropriate safeguards as required under data protection laws. For further details please contact us by using the details set out in the ‘Contacting us’ section below.

The personal information we collect about you is not transferred to or stored in countries outside of the UK or European Union except as set out in this section.

Our staff and other individuals working for us may, in limited circumstances, access personal information outside of the UK and European Union if they are working or on holiday abroad outside of the UK or European Union. If they do so they will be using our security measures and will be subject to their arrangements with us which are subject to English Law and the same legal protections that would apply to accessing personal data within the UK.

 

8. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR?

The duration for which we retain your personal information will differ depending on the type of information and the reason why we collected it from you. However, in some cases personal information may be retained on a long-term basis: for example, personal information that we need to retain for legal purposes will normally be retained in accordance with usual commercial practice and regulatory requirements. Generally, where there is no legal requirement we retain all physical and electronic records for a period of approximately 6½ years following the end of our relationship with you because this is the limitation period for claims related to breach of contract. Exceptions to this general rule where you have not yet become a client and we are only engaged in marketing to you, noting that you are able to unsubscribe any time youchoose, we will review this periodically but normally not retain your details longer than 6 years since our last interaction, unless you become a customer.

It is important to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up-to-date, and you should let us know if anything changes, for example if you move home or change your phone number or email address. You may be able to update some of the personal information we hold about you and can contact us by using the details set out in the ‘Contacting us’ section below.

9. YOUR RIGHTS IN RELATION TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

Under data protection law you have certain legal rights in relation to the personal information that we hold about you. You may exercise these rights at any time by contacting us using the details set out in the ‘Contacting us’ section below

Please note:

in some cases we may not be able to comply with your request (e.g. we might not be able to delete your data) for reasons such as our own obligations to comply with other legal or regulatory requirements. However, we will always respond to any request you make and if we can’t comply with your request, we will tell you why
in some circumstances exercising some of these rights (including the right to erasure, the right to restriction of processing and the right to withdraw consent) will mean we are unable to continue providing you with our services and may therefore result in the cancellation of any contract you have with us. Under our terms and conditions no refunds are payable on cancellation.
You have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

the right to be informed about how your personal information is being used;
the right to access the personal information we hold about you;
the right to request the correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you;
the right to request the erasure of your personal information in certain limited circumstances;
the right to restrict processing of your personal information where certain requirements are met;
the right to object to the processing of your personal information;
the right to request that we transfer elements of your data either to you or another service provider; and
the right to object to certain automated decision making processes using your personal information.
You should note that some of these rights, for example the right to require us to transfer your data to another service provider or the right to object to automated decision making, may not apply as they have specific requirements and exemptions which apply to them and they may not apply to personal information recorded and stored by us. For example, we do not use automated decision making in relation to your personal data. However, some have no conditions attached, so your right to withdraw consent or object to processing for direct marketing are absolute rights.

Whilst this privacy notice sets out a general summary of your legal rights in respect of personal information, this is a very complex area of law. More information about your legal rights can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/.

To exercise any of the above rights, or if you have any questions relating to your rights, please contact us by using the details set out in the ‘Contacting us’ section below. If you are unhappy with the way we are using your personal information you can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office or your local data protection regulator. We are here to help and encourage you to contact us to resolve your complaint first.

10. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. When we change this notice in a material way, we will update the version date at the bottom of this page. For significant changes to this notice we will try to give you reasonable notice unless we are prevented from doing so. Where required by law we will seek your consent to changes in the way we use your personal information.

11. CONTACTING US

In the event of any query or complaint in connection with the information we hold about you or our marketing to you, please email info@swimexpert.co.uk or write to us at Data Protection, SwimExpert Limited, 75 Milford Road, Reading RG1 8LG.

 

Privacy Policy - Version dated 23 May 2018

 

 

 

Cookies And Traffic Data

 


Understanding How and Why We Use Cookies

SwimExpert use cookies throughout all our sites and online environments to create the most secure and effective website possible for our customers. Among other things, cookies allow you to access our services and for these services to operate as advertised. This section explains what cookies are, how we use them and what benefits they bring.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are sent to and stored on your computer, smartphone or other devices for accessing the internet, whenever you visit a website. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device.

SwimExpert sites and online environments use cookies for a variety of reasons, such as to determine preferences, let users navigate between pages efficiently, verify data and carry out other essential checks that ensures the data you interact with is accurate and relevant to your account.

Some of the functions that cookies perform can also be achieved using similar technologies. This section refers to ‘cookies’ throughout, however it includes those alternate mechanisms.

More information about cookies can be found on www.allaboutcookies.org.

How Cookies Make Our Website Safer and Easier to Use

Cookies are used for a variety of reasons, such as to safeguard your privacy when browsing SwimExpert sites and online environments.

Cookies are essential—without them none of the services you subscribe to would function correctly.

We use analytics cookies to help us make our website better for those who visit it regularly. They help us work out what users like and don’t like and how we can improve things for you. These collect information anonymously.

How to Restrict Cookies

You can set your browser to accept or reject all specific cookies. You can also set your browser to alert you each time a cookie is presented to your computer. You can delete cookies that have been stored on your computer but remember, if you prevent us from placing cookies on your computer during your visit, or you subsequently delete a cookie that has been placed, it will not be possible for you to use our websites effectively.

By disabling cookies from your browser settings, you will be restricting the cookies that SwimExpert use to manage its website and this will have an impact on how the website will function. This will apply to all websites once cookies are disabled via your browser settings and not only SwimExpert websites and online environments.

If you would like to restrict or block cookies that are set by us and other websites, you can do this through your web browser settings. Please refer to your browser’s help section for further information.

List of the main cookies we collect

The table below lists the main cookies we collect and what information they store.

COOKIE name COOKIE Description
CART The association with your shopping cart.
CATEGORY_INFO Stores the category info on the page, that allows to display pages more quickly.
COMPARE The items that you have in the Compare Products list.
CURRENCY Your preferred currency
CUSTOMER An encrypted version of your customer id with the store.
CUSTOMER_AUTH An indicator if you are currently logged into the store.
CUSTOMER_INFO An encrypted version of the customer group you belong to.
CUSTOMER_SEGMENT_IDS Stores the Customer Segment ID
EXTERNAL_NO_CACHE A flag, which indicates whether caching is disabled or not.
FRONTEND You sesssion ID on the server.
GUEST-VIEW Allows guests to edit their orders.
LAST_CATEGORY The last category you visited.
LAST_PRODUCT The most recent product you have viewed.
NEWMESSAGE Indicates whether a new message has been received.
NO_CACHE Indicates whether it is allowed to use cache.
PERSISTENT_SHOPPING_CART A link to information about your cart and viewing history if you have asked the site.
POLL The ID of any polls you have recently voted in.
POLLN Information on what polls you have voted on.
RECENTLYCOMPARED The items that you have recently compared.
STF Information on products you have emailed to friends.
STORE The store view or language you have selected.
USER_ALLOWED_SAVE_COOKIE Indicates whether a customer allowed to use cookies.
VIEWED_PRODUCT_IDS The products that you have recently viewed.
WISHLIST An encrypted list of products added to your Wishlist.
WISHLIST_CNT The number of items in your Wishlist.

 

 

Updating Our Privacy Statement

 

We may update this Privacy Statement from time to time in our sole discretion and, in such an event, we will post a clear message on our websites. By continuing to use the websites after we post notification of any such changes, you accept and agree to this Privacy Statement as modified.