QBS Data Protection & Privacy Statement Overview
QBS PC Help is committed to protecting the privacy and security of those with whom we deal with.
We recognize the need to respect and protect information that is collected or disclosed to us (called "Personal Information" explained below).
This Privacy Statement is intended to tell you how we use your Personal Information and describes how we collect and use your Personal Information during and after your relationship with us, in accordance with applicable Data Protection Laws.
The following sections 1 to 8 explain our Privacy Statement in much more detail.
1. Introduction & General Terms
This document ("Privacy Statement"), in combination with our Cookie Policy make up our commitment to protecting personal information we hold about our newsletter subscribers, our PC Tips Blog users and website visitors or any other data subject whose personal information we hold. Personal information as outlined in this policy is being processed by QBS PC Help ("we", "our", "us").
In the event of any part of QBS PC Help being sold or going into receivership you will be informed and should any change of ownership occur, the new owner will manage your personal information preferences for you.
2. Our Commitment to You
We are committed to managing and safeguarding your personal information in accordance with current legislation and best practice. Our aim is to be responsible, relevant and secure when using your data. Whenever you provide personal information we will treat that information in accordance with this Privacy Statement.
Our website contains hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third-parties. These third-party websites have their own privacy policies, and are also likely to use cookies, and we therefore urge you to review them. They will govern the use of personal information you submit when visiting these websites, which may also be collected by cookies. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third-party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.
We reserve the right to revise or amend this Privacy Statement at any time to reflect changes to our business or changes in the law. Where these changes are significant we will endeavor to email all of our registered users to make sure that they are informed of such changes. However, it is your responsibility to check this Privacy Statement before each use of the QBS PC Help Website and QBS Blog.
3. What Data we collect
When you submit an online form, sign up for our newsletter, or when you visit our blog and website, we may collect both personal and more specific data about you.
Data you provide to us
When you participate in, access, purchase or sign up to any of our services, activities or online content, such as our Easy PC Guide eBook, blog and newsletter, we receive personal information about you. This can consist of information such as your name and email address, as well as information collected about your use of our services (such as when you enter our site and how long you stay).
Data we collect through your use of our website
We may collect information about how you use our website or other content online, and the device(s) you use to access the services. This includes collecting unique online identifiers such as IP addresses, which are numbers that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the Internet. Anonymous data will be recorded for the purpose of reporting web traffic statistics, advertisement 'click-throughs', and/or other activities on our website or blog. We may receive information about you from any third parties we may partner with through the use of cookie technologies to personalize advertisements for goods and services. To opt out of receiving advertisements tailored to your interests by our partners, visit the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance at http://youronlinechoices.eu/
For detailed information on Cookies and how we use them please see our Cookie Policy.
4. How we use your data
We may use the information you share with us and the information we collect through your use of our site in the ways described below and as described at the time of capture.
Customer Services
We will use the information you provide to respond to inquiries or requests that you direct to us. Your data will not be added to any marketing lists unless you have consented to this and will only be shared with third parties where we have appointed them to manage specific aspects of your customer care.
PC Tips Newsletter
We will use the details you have shared to send you the PC Tips newsletter to which you have subscribed. We will not add them to any marketing lists unless you have consented to this. We will provide a way for you to unsubscribe on every newsletter we send to you. Details you share with us for the purpose of newsletter subscription will never be shared with a third party.
Easy PC Guide eBook
We will use the details you have shared to let you download your copy of the Easy PC Guide once payment via PayPal is completed. Details you share with us for the purpose of eBook purchase will never be shared with a third party.
The QBS Blog
We will use the details you have shared, typically your name and email address, to sign you up for Blog membership. Details you share with us for the purpose of Blog membership will never be shared with a third party.
A Brief Review of Cookies and how we use them
"Cookies" are small pieces of information that a website sends to your computer's hard drive while you are viewing a website. We use cookies for a number of reasons:
Strictly Necessary Cookies – These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms.
Performance Cookies – These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site.
Functional Cookies – These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and usage. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies – These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites.
Social Media Cookies – These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests.
For more information on how we use cookies please read our Cookie Policy.
Analytics
QBS PC Help uses Google Analytics as its primary solution for tracking website visits, interactions and events. We use website analytics data to help improve the way we delivery content and online experiences to visitors.
For full details on how Google processes your data please visit: https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/2919631
Online Advertising
Our website and blog do show advertising to users. A certain amount of this advertising is tailored to the individual user, a practice known as "Online Behavioral Advertising" which uses cookies to discover general information about the pages you visit. This keeps our website and blog and the services you use free of charge. Our advertising delivery systems and partners uses the limited information available to it to serve adverts to you, which it believes are relevant. It does not collect personal information such as your name, email address postal address or telephone number.
From time to time, we may share this aggregated data with our advertising partners. This could mean that when you are on other websites you are served advertising based on your behaviour across our website or blog or you may be served advertising based on your behaviour on other sites.
Behavioral re targeting is another form of Online Behavioral Advertising that enables us and some of our advertising partners to show you adverts based on browsing patterns and interactions with the site away from our site. For example, if you have visited a website where you browse possible purchases but do not buy them, you may start seeing adverts from that same site displaying special offers or showing you the products that you were browsing. This allows companies to advertise to website visitors who leave their website without making a purchase.
If you want to opt out of receiving Online Behavioral Advertising this does not mean that you will no longer receive advertising when you are using our sites. It just means that the advertising you see will not be customized for you. If you would like more information about online behavioral targeting and how to opt out of it, please visit www.youronlinechoices.com or you can also visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/
Links to third party websites
When you click on advertisements or links on any of our sites, you will leave that site and go to a third-party site, which is outside of our control. When we place an advertisement or a hyperlink on our sites (website and blog), it does not signify that we are endorsing that advertiser's product or service. We do not accept responsibility for content, have no control over and our Privacy Statement does not apply to these companies, sites or content and if such third-party sites collect personal data, we cannot control how this data is processed, stored or used. We advise that you read their data collection statements, which accompany any registration and their Privacy Statements before you submit your personal information.
Using our website from outside the UK
QBS PC Help makes no representation or warranty that the content and materials on the Website and Blog are appropriate or available for use in locations outside of the United Kingdom. Those who choose to access the Website or Blog from other locations do so on their own initiative and at their own risk, and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent applicable.
5. Who we share your personal data with
QBS PC Help has formed partnerships with a variety of carefully selected companies that we share data with in order to carry out the activities described in the section How we Use your Data. Below is a non-exhaustive list of our key partners:
Paypal, Amazon UK , Amazon Kindle, Hewlett Packard, Twitter and Google
6. How long we keep your personal data for
We will hold your personal information on our systems only for as long as required to provide you with the products and/or services you have requested.
Where you sign up to receive email marketing from us we will retain your name and e-mail address so that we can send you your email and continue to honor and respect that request. To unsubscribe from our email at any time, please click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email we send you and update your account preferences.
In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see 'Personal Data - Your rights' below for further information.
7. Personal Data – Your rights
Under the GDPR including any implementing data protection legislation in the UK you have the rights shown below: -
Your right of access
Your right to rectification and erasure
Your right to restrict processing
Your right to data portability
Your right to object
Your rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
Right of Access
You may, at any time, request access to the personal data that we hold which relates to you (you may have heard of this right being described as a "subject access request").
Please note that this right entitles you to receive a copy of the personal data that we hold about you in order to enable you to check that it is correct and to ensure that we are processing that personal data lawfully. It is not a right that allows you to request personal data about other people, or a right to request specific documents from us that do not relate to your personal data.
You can exercise this right at any time by writing to us using the contact details set out here and telling us that you are making a subject access request. You do not have to fill in a specific form to make this kind of request.
Your Right to Rectification and Erasure
You may, at any time, request that we correct personal data that we hold about you which you believe is incorrect or inaccurate. You may also ask us to erase personal data if you do not believe that we need to continue retaining it (you may have heard of this right described as the "right to be forgotten").
Please note that we may ask you to verify any new data that you provide to us and may take our own steps to check that the new data you have supplied us with is right. Further, we are not always obliged to erase personal data when asked to do so; if for any reason we believe that we have a good legal reason to continue processing personal data that you ask us to erase we will tell you what that reason is at the time we respond to your request.
You can exercise this right at any time by writing to us using the contact details set out here and telling us that you are making a request to have your personal data rectified or erased and on what basis you are making that request. If you want us to replace inaccurate data with new data, you should tell us what that new data is. You do not have to fill in a specific form to make this kind of request.
Your Right to Restrict Processing
Where we process your personal data on the basis of a legitimate interest (see the How we use your data section of this Policy which explains why we use your personal data) you are entitled to ask us to stop processing it in that way if you feel that our continuing to do so impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms or if you feel that those legitimate interests are not valid.
You may also ask us to stop processing your personal data (a) if you dispute the accuracy of that personal data and want us to verify that data is accurate (b) where it has been established that our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where we no longer need to process your personal data (and would otherwise dispose of it) but you wish for us to continue storing it in order to enable you to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Please note that if for any reason we believe that we have a good legal reason to continue processing personal data that you ask us to stop processing, we will tell you what that reason is, either at the time we first respond to your request or after we have had the opportunity to consider and investigate it.
You can exercise this right at any time by writing to us using the contact details set out here and telling us that you are making a request to have us stop processing the relevant aspect of your personal data and describing which of the above conditions you believe is relevant to that request. You do not have to fill in a specific form to make this kind of request.
Your Right to Data Portability
Where you wish to transfer certain personal data that we hold about you, which is processed by automated means, to a third party you may write to us and ask us to provide it to you in a commonly used machine-readable format.
Because of the kind of work that we do and the systems that we use, we do not envisage this right being particularly relevant to the majority of individuals with whom we interact. However, if you wish to transfer your data from us to a third party we are happy to consider such requests.
Your Right to stop receiving communications
For details on your rights to ask us to stop sending you various kinds of communications, please contact us.
Your Right to object to automated decision making and profiling
You have the right to be informed about the existence of any automated decision making and profiling of your personal data, and where appropriate, be provided with meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing that affects you.
Exercising your rights
If you wish to exercise any of these rights or simply wish to find out what information, if any, we hold that relates to you, you must make your request in writing by sending an email to privacy@qbspchelp.co.uk or a letter to QBS PC Help, 50, Toberkeagh Road, Bushmills, County Antrim BT57 8YA.
You can help us to process your request quickly by providing us with information that will help us identify records we hold that relate to you. For example, your name, address, email address, telephone number, subscriber id or in the case of information captured via cookies, the IP address of the device you have used.
Contact our Data Privacy Helpdesk
If you have an inquiry or concern about the contents of our Privacy Policy or our handling and use of your data, please email the Privacy Helpdesk on privacy@qbspchelp.co.uk or send a letter to The Privacy Helpdesk, QBS PC Help, 50, Toberkeagh Road, Bushmills, County Antrim BT57 8YA. If you are not satisfied with our response to your enquiry or concern, you may wish to contact the Information Commissioner via their website
If we decide to change our Privacy Notice we will post these changes on this page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and in what circumstances we disclose it.
8. Changes to this Privacy Statement
14 June 2018 – New Policy Published