Hestia Homes Privacy Policy

General Introduction

This privacy policy governs the collection, storage, use of personal information collected by Hestia Homes, which is the data controller of the personal data it collects.

Please read this privacy policy carefully – by using our services and our website, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to this privacy policy in its entirety. If you do not accept them, you should not use our services or website. 

This policy provides details about the personal information we collect from you, how we use your personal information, and your rights regarding the personal information we hold about you.

Personal data means data that relate to a living individual who can be identified from that data, or from that data and other information which is in our possession, or is likely to come into our possession, and includes any expression of opinion about an individual and any indication of our intentions or the intentions of any other person in respect of the individual.

We will use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose if required, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so. Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Where we need to collect personal data by law or under the terms of a contract with you, and you fail to provide that data on request, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (e.g. to provide you with goods or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us. We will tell you if this is the case.

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies which process your data or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. For more information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie Policy.

How we use your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • With your explicit consent (which you may withdraw at any time)

  • Where we need to perform a contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you

  • Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests

  • Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation

  • Where it is in the public interest to do so

This may include things like:

  • providing goods and services to you

  • personalisation of content, business information, or user experience on our website

  • account setup and administration

  • delivering marketing and events communication

  • carrying out polls and surveys 

  • internal research and development purposes

  • meeting internal audit requirements

How is your personal data collected by us? 

We use different methods to collect data from and about you, which may not always be collected directly from you.

You may give us your identity data, contact data, and financial data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, telephone, email, or otherwise. 

As you interact with our website, Squarespace may automatically collect technical data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. This may also include your internet protocol (IP) address. We collect such personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies. Please see our Cookie Policy for further details.

We may receive personal data about you indirectly, from various third parties and publicly available sources such as search engines, social media sites, Companies House, suppliers, and finance and compliance check services such as Dunn & Bradstreet. 

What personal data may we be collecting about you? 

We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you, which we have grouped together as follows:

  • Identity data include first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, emergency contacts, title, date of birth, profession, and gender

  • Contact data include billing address, delivery address, email address, and telephone numbers

  • Financial data include bank account and payment card details

  • Transaction data include details about payments to and from you

  • Technical data include IP address, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access our website

  • Profile data include your interests, preferences, feedback, and any survey responses 

  • Marketing and communications data include your preferences in receiving marketing and or newsletters from us and any communication preferences collected

  • Aggregated data are statistical or demographic data for any purpose and may be derived from your personal data but are not considered personal data by law, as these data do not directly or indirectly reveal your identity

  • Usage data including information about how you use our website

  • Special categories of personal data include details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, health, and genetic and biometric data 

  • Educational and biographical data include information about your work history, job title, specialisms, qualifications, professional licence numbers for accredited bodies, progression, achievements, and extra-curricular activities

How does our website collect your data? 

This website collects personal data to power our site analytics, including:

  • Information about your browser, network, and device

  • Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website

  • Your IP address

This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:

  • Clicks

  • Internal links

  • Timestamps

  • Scrolling

  • Searches 

  • Pages visited

We share this information with Squarespace, our website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.

These functional and required cookies are always used, which allows Squarespace, our hosting platform, to securely provide and maintain this website for you. 

These analytics and performance cookies are used on this website, as described below, only when you acknowledge our cookie banner. This website uses analytics and performance cookies to view site traffic, activity, and other data.

This website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace collects personal data when you visit this website, including:

  • Information about your browser, network, and device

  • Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website

  • Web pages you view while on this website

  • Your IP address

Squarespace needs the data to run this website, and to protect and improve its platform and services. Squarespace analyses the data in a de-personalized form.

Squarespace is located in the US and their data processing agreement with you and with us is here https://www.squarespace.com/dpa. Our provision of this website to you are subject also to Squarespace’s terms and policies which are provided here Terms of Service – Squarespace and Privacy Policy here Privacy Policy – Squarespace.  

External links & sharing

This website may include links to external websites, plug-ins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow other parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these external websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

 This website includes share buttons that enable you to share pages or other content from this site to the following third-party services: [Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok]. If you click a share button, these third parties may receive your personal data, including:

  • Information about your browser, network and device

  • Details about the web page or content you shared or proposed to share

  • Your IP address

Sharing your data with Third Parties 

We may have to share your personal data with third parties, including those outlined below. We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

This includes the following external third parties:

  • Key service providers who provide compliance, IT, and system administration services; these include Squarespace for web platform and hosting purposes, Microsoft Corporation (for Microsoft Applications including Teams and SharePoint), Zoom Video Communications, Inc., for teleconferencing and webinar services

  • Professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance, and accounting services

  • HM Revenue & Customs, regulators, and other authorities based in the EEA or outside the EEA who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances including the public interest

  • Third parties identified in our contracts with you who assist with the performance of services or the supply of goods by us

  • Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or our assets; alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy

By providing us with your personal data you agree that we may share personal data, on a confidential basis, with third-party individuals and organisations that assist us, including contractors, financial service providers, web hosts, and others as set out above in order to carry out our business.

How long we keep your data

We will retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to provide you with our services and for a reasonable period thereafter to enable us to meet our contractual and legal obligations and to deal with complaints and claims. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you. We are required by law to keep basic information about our customers (including contact, identity, financial and transaction data) for at least 6 years after they cease being customers for legal and tax-reporting purposes. At the end of the retention period, your personal data will be securely deleted 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.

How we protect your data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the data that we process from unauthorised loss, disclosure, use, alteration, or destruction and to ensure business continuity and disaster recovery including the use of password protection, appropriate encryption, and secure file transfer protocols. Access to all personal information we hold is restricted strictly to those with a need to know to carry out their role or function to us and we ensure all staff and contractors with access are appropriately trained. Squarespace’s security measures and safeguards can be found here: https://www.squarespace.com/measures

Your rights and complaints 

You have the following rights in respect of your personal data:

  • You have the right of access to your personal data and can request copies of it and information about our processing of it

  • If the personal data we hold about you in incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to rectify or add to it

  • Where we are using your personal data with your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time

  • Where we are using your personal because it is in our legitimate interests to do so, you can object to us using it this way

  • Where we are using your personal data for direct marketing, including profiling for direct marketing purposes, you can object to us doing so

  • You can ask us to restrict the use of your personal data if:

    • It is not accurate

    • It has been used unlawfully but you do not want us to delete it

    • We do not need it any-more, but you want us to keep it for use in legal claims 

    • if you have already asked us to stop using your data but you are waiting to receive confirmation from us as to whether we can comply with your request.

  • In some circumstances you can compel us to erase your personal data and request a machine-readable copy of your personal data to transfer to another service provider

  • You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

If you wish to exercise your rights, please contact us at info@hestiahomesltd.co.uk

You can also lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. They can be contacted using the information provided at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please email us at info@hestiahomesltd.co.uk

Changes to this privacy policy 

We may update this policy from time to time as shown below. We will notify of the changes where required by applicable law to do so.

Last modified 21st April 2023