Car Plan Ltd - Data Protection Policy Statement
Policy Statement
The purpose of this document is to inform you of the policies that have been put in place in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (the "Act").
1. Fair and lawful information-handling
We will process all the data we collect and hold on you fairly and in accordance with the Act. As further explained in this policy statement, we will ensure the quality and security of your data (even if the data are transferred to other companies in Europe); and we will fully respect your rights, interests and fundamental freedoms with regard to your data.
2. Legitimate purposes
We will only collect; process and store data which are needed to fulfil our contractual obligations towards our customers, our partners, and the customers of our partners; to serve other legitimate business interests such as credit assessment or marketing; or to comply with legal requirements.
3. Data quality
We will employ effective procedures and safeguards to ensure that the data we hold on you are adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were obtained, as well as accurate and up to date. Where we become aware of any inaccuracies in the data we hold, we will correct and where appropriate, delete incorrect data. Retention periods are in place to ensure that data are only stored whilst they are required for the purposes in question or to meet legal and regulatory requirements. Where data are no longer required, we will ensure that they are disposed of in a secure manner.
4. Information to our customers
When we collect data from you, we will identify ourselves and inform you of the purpose(s) for which we collect the data. If we have obtained data on you, other than directly from you, we will inform you of this as soon as practicable after we have entered the data in our files or computers (unless you were already aware of the fact).
5. When will we seek your prior consent?
We will go further and ask for your prior consent in the following circumstances:
a. a credit check on you;
b. before we pass on any of your data to other companies for direct marketing purposes, by offering you the opportunity to object to such disclosures through a "tick-box" on your order form;
c. if we process sensitive data on you under any contract with you (or under a contract between you and a company we represent).
Provecta Data Protection Policy Mar 06
6. Special restrictions on the use of sensitive data
We will not normally seek data on your racial or ethnic origins, political opinions, religious or other beliefs, trade-union membership, physical or mental health, sex life or criminal convictions. When we do collect such data, it will be limited to data which are:
- required to be kept by law;
- needed for legal proceedings or to establish, exercise or defend legal rights (including protection against fraud);
- clearly and strictly necessary to fulfil a contract between you and us (or between you and a company we represent); or
- needed to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another person (for instance, if medical data are urgently required after an accident and you cannot give your consent).
7. Your rights
You have the right to require us to cease the communication of advertising or marketing material to you and we will ensure that your request is complied with. This includes the right to withdraw your consent to third-party direct-marketing use of your data, at any time.
You have the right to see all the data we hold on you. Should you wish to have access to all or a particular part of the data, you should contact:
Data Protection Officer
Provecta Car Plan Ltd
Minerva House
Valpy Street
Reading
RG1 1AR
Such access will be granted for a fee of £10. The information will be forwarded to you within 30 days.
Where any discrepancies are discovered, following your enquiry, we will take immediate steps to validate and, where appropriate, correct our records. We will confirm the actions taken in writing to you within 30 days of receiving your request to amend our records.
8. Security of information
We will only provide access to data on you to those of our employees who need such access in order to carry out necessary processing. We have taken appropriate steps to ensure the security of data whether it is stored in computer systems, paper files or other storage media. We expect the same high standards of security and confidentiality of any sub-contractors we employ to process data for us.
9. Transfer of information outside the European Economic Area
Data on you may, on occasion, be transferred to Provecta facilities or companies, data processing agencies ("processors") or third parties outside the EEA, for analysis, technical processing or other legitimate purposes. The countries where such other facilities or companies are situated may have no data protection legislation, or laws which are less rigorous than the legislation introduced by the Member States of the European Union and the EEA.
In such cases, we will ensure that your rights with regards to any such processing and your data will still be adequately protected. If we transfer your data to agencies or third parties, outside the EEA, we will require similar, binding contractual undertakings, and we monitor compliance. Our partners have agreed to adopt equivalent measures.