Privacy PolicyGifts From Scotland Ltd fully complies with the European Data Protection law which requires “Member States to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data”, as implemented by the UK parliament in the 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA). The DPA regulates what we may do with the data we collect, and because Gifts From Scotland Ltd wants to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy, we go beyond our statutory requirements in implementing our privacy policy. Gifts From Scotland Ltd complies with European principles of data protection, that is to say the data must be:
Information Collection and Use Gifts From Scotland Ltd is the owner of the information collected on the Gifts From Scotland Ltd websites. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement and our data protection registration. Gifts From Scotland Ltd collects information from our users at several different points on our website and will not use your information for purposes other than those clearly stated at the point of their collection or in their own clearly identified Terms & Conditions section. Registration In order to use some facilities on this website, a user must first complete a registration process. During registration a user is required to give their contact information (such as name and email address). This information is used to contact the user about the services on our site for which they have expressed interest. Correcting/Updating Personal Information If the personal information we’ve gathered from you changes or you no longer desire our service, we will gladly correct, update, or remove any personal data that you have previously provided to us.
Orders We request information from the user as required to process online orders. Here a user must provide contact information (like name and shipping address) and financial information (like credit card number, expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fill customer’s orders. If we have trouble processing an order, this contact information is used to get in touch with the user. This information may be stored and used for the use of customer service representatives providing users with the service they require. Cookies Cookies are small text files that websites send to your computer. A cookie can be thought of as an Internet user's identification card. They let the website know when the user has returned. This lets the site bring up information relevant to that user, for example your name, past orders etc. Cookies make the interaction between users and websites faster and easier. Without cookies, it would be very difficult for a website to allow a visitor to fill up a shopping basket or to remember the user's preferences or registration details for a future visit. The Gifts From Scotland Ltd website uses cookies to allow customers to move from one part of the web site to another and to add items to the shopping basket without having to login repeatedly. Cookies are not computer programs, and can't read other information saved on your hard drive. They cannot be used to disseminate viruses, or get a user's email address etc. They only contain and transfer to the website as much information as the users themselves have disclosed to that website. Log Files We use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer the site, track users’ movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. This information is not stored. Sharing We will not share aggregated demographic information with our partners and advertisers. We use outside shipping companies to ship orders, and a credit card processing company to bill users for goods and services. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes. Links This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Gifts From Scotland Ltd is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by Gifts From Scotland Ltd’s websites. Newsletter If a user wishes to subscribe to our newsletters, we ask for contact information such as name and email address. Surveys & Contests If in the future we decide to undertake survey’s or contests on our website, information may be requested from users participating. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age level). Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site. Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. It will be used for further marketing purposes only if the user has specifically opted to accept such communications. Security This website takes every precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and off-line by our practices as well as UK and European law. As part of our registration/order process, users may be asked to enter sensitive information (such as credit card number). This information is encrypted and is protected with the best encryption software in the industry - SSL. While on a secure page, such as our order form, the lock icon on the bottom of Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer becomes locked, as opposed to un-locked, or open, when you are just ’surfing’. While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, our billing clerk or a customer service representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information. ALL employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Every quarter, as well as any time new policies are added, our employees are notified and/or reminded of the importance we place on privacy, and what they can do to ensure our customers’ information is protected. Finally, the servers that we store personally identifiable information on are kept in a secure environment. If you have any questions about the security at our website, you can send an email to info@agiftfromscotland.com . However, we reserve the right not to reveal detailed information about our security measures, since this might itself compromise our security. Special Offers We send all new members a welcoming email confirming registration with a brief overview of the account features. Established members will occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, and a newsletter. Out of respect for the privacy of our users we present these as optional types of communications. Site and Service Updates We also send the user site and service announcement updates. Members are not able to un-subscribe from service announcements, which contain important information about the service. We communicate with the user to provide requested services and in regards to issues relating to their account via email or phone. But we will do only occasionally, as necessary. Choice/Opt-in Our users are given the opportunity to ‘opt-in’ to having their information used for purposes not directly related to our site at the point where we ask for the information. Users who no longer wish to receive our newsletter or promotional materials from our partners may opt-out of receiving these communications by using the opt-out mechanisms on member information pages. Notification of Changes If we need to amend our privacy policy in any way, we will post those changes on our Homepage so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy and data protection laws of the UK and EU.
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