Cookie & Privacy Policy

This policy is intended to inform you how we at Benchmark Designs Ltd collect and use information provided by visitors to our website (located at www.benchmark-designs.co.uk)

By visiting our Website, viewing its contents or communicating with us via e-mail or otherwise, you are consenting to the terms of this Privacy Policy. All information and data that we receive from or about you, such as (but not limited to) your name, address, geographic location, e-mail address(es), IP address, user names, passwords, course selections, product and service purchases, transaction and payment information and communications are governed by this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party sites from which you may access our Website or access any of the materials on our Website. If you do not wish to consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use or otherwise visit our Website.

A cookie is a small file which is placed on your computer’s hard drive and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences. We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website. These are cookies which allow you to share (where applicable) any of this Website’s pages with your social networks – but only if you explicitly choose to.

We use the following cookies:

Necessary cookies:

These are cookies that are required for the operation of this Website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of this Website, use a shopping cart 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 this Website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way this Website works.

Functionality cookies:

These are used to recognise you when you return to this Website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).

Social networking cookies:

These are cookies which allow you to share (where applicable) any of this Website’s pages with your social networks – but only if you explicitly choose to.

GDPR:

This policy has been prepared with due regard to the data protection laws applicable to the data processing activities performed by Benchmark Designs Ltd in the countries in which we operate (‘applicable laws’), including the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) and any subsequent amendment or legislation passed to enact GDPR into UK law. Although the GDPR applies to EU subjects and processing in the EU, Benchmark Designs Ltd has chosen to apply the GDPR standard of data protection to all data subjects whose personal information we collect and process irrespective of the place of collecting and processing. It may still be necessary to apply a different standard in response to the laws in different countries and it is possible that we may issue addendums for specific countries in which we operate and where appropriate.

Our registered office is:

Benchmark Designs Ltd
Unit 67 Shrivenham Hundred Business Park
Majors Road
Watchfield
Oxfordshire
SN6 8TY

Registered Business Number: 6527908. VAT Registered: 930496713.

If you need to contact us about this policy, or have any questions about your personal data, please write to

Data Protection Officer
Benchmark Designs Ltd
Unit 67 Shrivenham Hundred Business Park
Majors Road
Watchfield
Oxfordshire
SN6 8TY

or email info@benchmark-designs.co.uk

SECTION 1 – WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR INFORMATION?

When you purchase something from our store, as part of the buying and selling process, we collect the personal information you give us such as your name, address and email address.
When you browse our website/store, we also automatically receive your computer’s internet protocol (IP) address in order to provide us with information that helps us learn about your browser and operating system.
Email marketing: With your permission, we may send you emails about our store, new products and other updates. When you provide such personal information, you accept that we may retain your personal information and that it may be held by us or any third party that processes it on our behalf for the purposes of providing the information, goods or services which you have requested. Any third parties who process personal information on our behalf are required to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the personal information that they process for us. When we provide you with products or services we may collect and store any personal information that you provide to us. We may, for example, keep a record of your name, address, delivery address, email address, telephone number and payment card details.
We will use your data for the following purposes:
· to provide products and services you request or have expressed an interest in
· for marketing to you via email, phone, direct mail, or social media
· to create an individual profile for you so that we can understand and respect your preferences
· to communicate with you if any products or services you have requested are unavailable
· for fraud screening and prevention purposes
· for record-keeping purposes
· to carry out market research so that we can improve the products and services we offer
· to track your activity on our digital platforms
· to personalise and improve your experience on our digital platforms
· to personalise any communications that we may send you
· to respond to your correspondence, so that we can reply to your enquiries and requests in an efficient and effective manner
When you sign up with us for an online account, register to receive marketing communications from us (and/or our official partners), fill in one of our forms (whether online or offline) or otherwise expressly provide us with your personal information, we may collect and store any personal information that you provide to us and may use it to personalise and improve your experience on our digital platforms, provide products and services you request from us, and carry out market research.
When you interact with our digital platforms, we may also automatically collect the following information about your visit. This is primarily to help us better understand how our fans use our digital platforms to enable us to create better content and more relevant communications:
· how you have reached our digital platform, the internet protocol (IP) address you have used, and the MAC address of your device
· your operating system, browser type, versions and plug-ins
· your journey through our digital platform, including which links you click on and any searches you made, how long you stayed on a page, and other page interaction information
· offers you have redeemed
· what content you like or share
· which pop up or push messages you might have seen and responded to
· information collected in any forms you complete
· location-based services
We may also infer your country of location from the IP address you have used to access our digital platforms.
We may also generate, use and disclose aggregated and/or anonymised information and statistics about our website and digital platform visitors for marketing and strategic purposes. However, no visitor will be individually identifiable from these aggregated and/or anonymised information and statistics.

SECTION 2 – DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

In order to provide our products and services to you or to otherwise fulfil the contractual arrangements that we have with you, we may need to appoint other organisations to carry out some of the data processing activities on our behalf. These may include, for example, payment processing organisations, delivery organisations, fraud prevention and screening and credit risk management companies, and mailing houses.
We may share your data with advertising networks and/or social media platforms for the purposes of selecting and serving relevant adverts to you via those networks/platforms, and to search engine and analytics providers.
We may share your data with third parties:
(a) if we are under a legal or regulatory duty to do so
(b) if it is necessary to do so to enforce our terms and conditions of sale or other contractual rights
(c) to lawfully assist the police or security services with the prevention and detection of crime or terrorist activity
(d) where such disclosure is necessary to protect the safety or security of any persons
and/or (e) otherwise as permitted under applicable law.
SECTION 3 – UPDATES AND YOUR RIGHTS
If you would like to update your records, you can do so by changing your profile on our website. We encourage you to promptly update your personal information if it changes.
You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information that we hold about you in our records, to correct any inaccuracies and to update any out-of-date information. Please write to us at the address listed above should you wish to do so.
We will provide a copy of your information free of charge. However, if the request is deemed manifestly unfounded or excessive then we will charge a ‘reasonable fee’ covering our administration costs.

SECTION 4 – RETENTION POLICY

Benchmark Designs Ltd will only retain data for as long as it is required. Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

SECTION 5 – SHOPIFY

Our store is hosted on Shopify Inc. They provide us with an online e-commerce platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you.
Your data is stored through Shopify’s data storage, databases and the general Shopify application. They store your data on a secure server behind a firewall.

Payment:
If you choose a direct payment gateway to complete your purchase, then Shopify stores your credit card data. It is encrypted through the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Your purchase transaction data is stored only as long as is necessary to complete your purchase transaction. After that is complete, your purchase transaction information is deleted.
All direct payment gateways adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of credit card information by our store and its service providers.
For more insight, you may also want to read Shopify’s Terms of Service (https://www.shopify.com/legal/terms) or Privacy Statement (https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy).

SECTION 6 – COOKIES

Our websites use cookies to collect certain information about our website visitors automatically. Cookies are small text files that store basic information that a website can use to track online traffic flows, recognise repeat site visits and record information about your online preferences. They often include an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from our websites, which is then stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies do not attach to your system and damage your files but observe user behaviour and compile aggregate data that we then use to improve web services. We also use cookies to measure the effectiveness of advertising.
There are two broad categories of cookies – ‘first-party cookies and ‘third party cookies. First party cookies are cookies that are served directly by the website operator to your computer and are used only by the website operator to recognise your computer when it revisits that site. Third-party cookies are served by a service provider on behalf of the website operator and can be used by the service provider to recognise your computer when it visits other websites. Third-party cookies are most commonly used for website analytics or advertising purposes.
For further, more detailed information on how we use cookies, please refer to our Cookie Policy

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right, at any time, to modify, alter, or update this Privacy Policy. When we do so we will publish the changes on the website. If you do not agree to these changes, please do not continue to use the website. If material changes are made to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by placing a prominent notice on the website. Any queries or comments about this Privacy Policy should be sent to us using the contact details listed above.

SECTION 8 – SECURITY

Security is very important to us. Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) encryption technology is used for the protection of information in transit for any sensitive transactions such as payments. Additional security procedures are in place to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your personal information.
To enhance the security when purchasing through our online store we currently use ‘Verified by Visa’ and ‘MasterCard SecureCode’ as a part of the payment process.
Verified by Visa’ and ‘MasterCard SecureCode’ are schemes that have been introduced by card issuers to help tackle online fraud. These schemes are known as ‘3d Secure’ and Benchmark Designs Ltd, like many other businesses, is committed to fraud prevention. By participating in either scheme, your online shopping experience will be more secure.
To further protect your credit, debit or charge card against use without your consent, we may validate your name, address and other personal information supplied by you during the order process against appropriate third-party databases. In performing these checks personal information provided by you may be disclosed to a registered Credit Reference Agency which may keep a record of that information. You can rest assured that this is done only to confirm your identity, that a credit check is not performed and that your credit rating will be unaffected.
In addition, we have security procedures in place to protect our physical records and computerised databases from loss and misuse, and only allow access to them when it is absolutely necessary to do so and then under strict guidelines as to what use may be made of the personal information contained within them.

SECTION 9 – INTERNET-BASED TRANSFERS

Given that the Internet is a global environment, using the Internet to collect and process personal information may involve the transmission of personal information on an international basis. Therefore, by using our websites and digital platforms and communicating electronically with us, you acknowledge our processing of personal information in this way. However, we will endeavour to protect all personal information collected through our websites in accordance with strict data protection standards.