PRIVACY & COOKIE POLICY

MC Independent Procurement Solutions Ltd referred to in this policy as MC-IPS, we, us, or our.

The person who is accessing our website and whose data is processed is referred to in this policy as you and your.

1. INTRODUCTION

At MC-IPS, your privacy and the security of your personal data are of utmost importance to us. We understand the significance of your privacy and your concerns about how your personal data is used. Therefore, we deeply respect and value the privacy of all our website visitors and ensure that any personal data collected is utilised in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy and as permitted by law

Please read this Privacy & Cookie Policy carefully as it contains important information for you.

2. Information

2.1 Our Site is owned and operated by MC-IPS, a business structure that is a Limited Company.

2.2 Registered in England under company number 15281353.

2.3 Registered Address: 10 Beech Court Wokingham Road, Hurst, Berkshire, RG10 0RQ.

2.4 Data Protection Officer: Marc Chapman.

2.5 Email Address: info@mc-ips.com.

3. What does this policy cover?

This Privacy & Cookie Policy specifically pertains to your use of our website. Please be aware that our website may include links to third-party websites, over which we have no control and cannot guarantee the protection and privacy of any personal data you may provide to them. We recommend that you review the privacy policies of these third-party websites before sharing any information. Furthermore, our policy details the use of cookies on our website.

4. Your personal data?

Personal data is defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (the “UK GDPR”) which is collectively known as, “the Data Protection Legislation” and defines personal data as any information that relates to an identifiable individual, directly or indirectly, through an identifier.

Any information pertaining to an identified or recognisable individual is considered personal data, and that person is referred to as the data subject. Your name, contact information, feedback, the services you received, as well as less evident information such as identification numbers, electronic location data, IP addresses, operating systems, and online identifiers, are all examples of the information that could be included.

5. Your rights in relation to data

Under the Data Protection Legislation, you have the following rights, which are able to makerequests without charge. They are as follows:

a) The right to access – this is the right to obtain from us confirmation of whether personal data concerning you is being processed, and, where that is the case, access to that personal data and various other information and/or rights about the personal data we hold about you.

b) The right to rectification – this is the right to obtain from us, without any undue delay, the putting right of inaccurate personal data concerning you.

c) The right to erasure – this is the right for you to request, in certain circumstances, for us to delete or otherwise dispose of any of your personal data relating to you.

d) The right to restrict – this means that you can request that, in certain circumstances, we restrict (i.e., prevent) the processing of your personal data.

e) The right to data portability – this means that, in certain circumstances, if you have provided personal data to us directly, we are using it with your consent or for the performance of a contract, and that data is processed using automated means, you can ask us for a copy of that personal data to re-use with another data controller.

f) The right to object – in certain circumstances, you can object to us using your personal data for a particular purpose or purposes, such as direct marketing.

g) The right not to be subjected to automated decision-making – you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing and profiling. We do not use your personal data in this way.

h) The right to withdraw consent. This means that, if we are relying on your consent as the legal basis for using your personal data, you are free to withdraw that consent at any time.

For more information about our use of your personal data or exercising your rights as outlined above, please do not hesitate to contact us using the details provided in Clause 10.

Keeping your personal data accurate and up-to-date is crucial. If any of the personal data we hold about you changes, kindly keep us informed as long as we have that data.

If you have any concerns regarding our use of your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us by using our details at the top of this Privacy Policy. We would like to resolve any issues internally; we appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly.

6. What data is collected and how?

We collect the following personal data from you: name, address, email, business details such as contact name and position and other information that you may provide, which we may use in relation to carrying out the requested work and matters listed below.

When you use ourwebsite, certain information is collected automatically, such as your IP address, the type of browser you are using, and other non-personal data about your device, such as operating system type or version, and display resolution.

If you choose to contact us via email, we may collect your name, your email address, and any other information which you provide. For the purposes of the Data Protection Legislation, we are the data controller responsible for such personal data.

Under the Data Protection Legislation, we may use your information as it is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests, as allowed under Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. The legitimate interests are the proper operation and functionality of our website.

We may also use your personal information for marketing purposes, which may involve getting in touch with you by phone, email, text message, or letter to share information, news, and offers about our products/services, with your consent and/or where permitted by law. You will always have the option to opt-out as we constantly work to completely uphold your rights and adhere to our commitments under the Data Protection Legislation and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

7. Keeping your data secure

If any personal data is collected, it will be stored and processed securely and not for longer than necessary for the original purpose of collection. We will always comply with our legal obligations and protect your rights under Data Protection Legislation. More information on security can be found in Clause7.

We have stated above the personal data collected from you. However, please note that if you contact us and we obtain your personal details from your email, we may use them to respond to your email. The other technical data referred to above is necessary for the technical operation of our Site.

We will not share your personal data with any third parties for any purpose except for storage on email or web hosting servers.

8. Transferring your data

We will store some of your personal data in the UK. This means that it will be fully protected under the Data Protection Legislation.

We may store some of your personal data within the European Economic Area (the “EEA”). The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. This means that your personal data will be fully protected under the Data Protection Legislation, the GDPR, and/or to equivalent standards by law.

We may use specific contracts with external third parties that are approved by the European Commission for the transfer of personal data to third countries. Contracts like this require the same levels of personal data protection that would apply under the Data Protection Legislation. More information is available from the European Commission.

Protecting the security of personal data is a top priority for us. To achieve this, we implement the following measures:

Restricting access to personal data to authorised personnel, contractors, and third-party agents who have a legitimate need to access it and ensuring they are bound by confidentiality obligations.
Establishing protocols for managing data breaches, including accidental or unlawful loss, disclosure, alteration, or access to your personal data, and, where legally required, notifying you and/or the Information Commissioner’s Office (where necessary).

9. Sharing your data with others

We will only share your personal data with third parties in the following circumstances:

i. In the event that we sell, transfer, or merge all or part of our business or assets, your personal data may be transferred to a third party. We will take steps to ensure that your privacy rights continue to be protected and respected in accordance with this Privacy & Cookie Policy.

ii. In some limited circumstances, we may be required to disclose your personal data to the government, law enforcement and regulatory bodies and agencies in order to comply with our own legal and regulatory obligations.

Occasionally, it may be necessary to share data for statistical purposes.

For hosting and data storage purposes, we may contract with third parties such as Just Host, of Duinstraat 23, Unit 1-6, 2584 AV Den Haag, Netherlands whose privacy policy can be found at www.justhost.nl/privacy-policy-just-host/.

Any personal data that is transferred to a third party will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the third party’s legal obligations. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the information and data are anonymised before sharing it with any third party.

10. How can I access my personal data?

You have the right to request details of any personal data that we hold about you, which is also known as a “subject access request”. Please contact us using the details provided at the top of this Policy if you wish to make such a request.

All subject access requests should be made in writing and sent to the email or postal addresses shown at the top of this Policy.

There is not normally any charge for a subject access request. If your request is ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’ (for example, if you make repetitive requests) a fee may be charged to cover our administrative costs in responding.

Upon receiving your subject access request, we will respond within one month. While we aim to provide a complete response, including a copy of your personal data within this time, it may take up to three months from the date of receiving your request if it is complex. We will keep you informed of our progress.

11. About cookies

We use cookies to operate our website. A cookie is a small file that is sent by our web server to your web browser, where it is stored. The cookie contains an identifier which is sent back to our server each time your browser accesses our website. These cookies may be either ‘persistent cookies’, which are stored until they are deleted, or ‘session cookies’, which expire when you close your browser. While cookies generally do not hold personal data by which you can be identified, if we do hold personal data about you (such as if you have subscribed to a service), the cookie may be linked to that data.

We also use cookies for personalising the web browsing experience, security, advertising, analysis, or as appropriate.

i. Our website may place the following cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies: These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website, use a shopping facility or make use of e-billing services.
Analytical/performance cookies: They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
Functionality cookies: These are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences. By using the Website, you agree to our placement of functionality cookies.
Targeting cookies: We may use these cookies to record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We may use this information to allow any possible displayed advertising more relevant to your interests.

In addition to cookies used by us, our service providers may also use cookies, and those cookies may also be stored in your browser when you visit our website.

We may use Google Analytics. This uses cookies to gather data about how users use our website. This data is used to create reports about that use. Further information about Google’s use of data may be obtained from Google’s website.

In order to operate our website, we use Just Host. Further information about this use, and the privacy policy for this service provider, may be found on their website at www.justhost.com.

You can typically prevent the download and deletion of cookies in your browser. The process for doing so may vary by browser, so please consult your browser provider’s website for instructions. Please note that if you block or delete cookies, it may negatively affect your ability to access our website and services. This could result in limited access to our website’s features or a complete inability to access our member services.

12. This privacy & cookie policy

We may change, update, and amend this Privacy & Cookie Policy from time to time. This may be necessary, for example, if the law changes, or if we change our business in a way that affects personal data protection.

Any changes will be immediately posted on our website, and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy & Cookie Policy on your first use of our website following the changes. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up to date. This Privacy & Cookie Policy was last updated on 15.12.2023.