The Creative Desk is committed to ensuring your personal information is secure at all times and that you have a clear understanding of how and why we use your personal data.
We, The Creative Desk, are the ‘controllers’ of the information which we collect about you (‘personal data’). Being controllers of your personal data, we are responsible for how your data is processed. The word ‘process’ covers most things that can be done with personal data, including collection, storage, use and destruction of that data.
This notice explains why and how we process your data, and explains the rights you have around your data, including the right to access it, and to object to the way it is processed. Please see the section on ‘Your Rights as a Data Subject’ for more information.
If you have any questions in relation to this privacy policy or how we use your personal data they should be sent to info@thecreativedesk.co.uk.
Personal data
‘Personal data’ is any information that relates to a living, identifiable person. This data can include your name, contact details, and other information we gather as part of our relationship with you.
It can also include ‘special categories’ of data, which is information about a person’s race or ethnic origin, religious, political or other beliefs, physical or mental health, trade union membership, genetic or biometric data, sex life or sexual orientation. The collection and use of these types of data is subject to strict controls. Similarly, information about criminal convictions and offences is also limited in the way it can be processed. We are committed to protecting your personal data, whether it is ‘special categories’ or not, and we only process data if we need to for a specific purpose, as explained below.
We collect your personal data mostly through our contact with you, and the data is usually provided by you, but in some instances, we may receive data about you from other people/organisations and through public sources such as professional media and networking sites (including LinkedIn).
Your personal data (any information which identifies you, or which can be identified as relating to you personally for example, name, address, phone number, email address) will be collected and used by us. We’ll only collect the personal data that we need. You can give us your personal data by filling in forms on our website, by subscribing to our blog, using other social media functions on our website, entering a survey or by corresponding with us (by phone, email or contracting for our services as a customer).
This personal data you give us may include name, title, address, date of birth, age, gender, employment status, demographic information, email address, telephone numbers, personal description, photographs, attitudes, opinions, usernames and passwords).
Your data and how and why we process it
We use your personal data so that we can provide our services to you, including to:
- carry out our obligations arising from any contracts we intend to enter into or have entered into between you and us;
- maintain our business relationship;
- perform administration or operational functions;
- to third parties (see below);
- analyse visitor trends and traffic on our websites – this information does not identify you individually – and ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
- as part of our efforts to keep our site safe and secure;
- notify you about changes to our services or this Privacy Policy;
- carry out market research, marketing analysis and satisfaction surveys;
- where you have provided your contact information with the possible use of our services, advise you of news and industry updates, events, services, promotions, competitions and reports and other information that we feel may be of interest to you because it is relevant to you or your organisation. Where we do this you will be able to unsubscribe from such communications by contacting us at info@thecreativedesk.co.uk; and
- to comply with our legal obligations and rights, under contracts and at law, and to cooperate with authorities and investigations.
What legal basis do we have for using your information?
For clients as well as applicants to work for The Creative Desk, our processing is necessary for our legitimate interests. As an online business management and Virtual Assistant provider, processing of personal data of our clients is a fundamental, essential part of the process in that we need the information in order to be able to provide our services.
We will rely on contract if we are negotiating with you or your organisation or any other contract to provide services to you or your organisation.
We will rely on legal obligation if we are legally required to hold information on you to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations, such as disclosure to public authorities, regulators, and investigations.
Who we share your data with
We will only share data with companies or other organisations that are an essential part of providing services to you. When we allow third parties acting on behalf of The Creative Desk to access your information, we will always have complete control of what they see, how long they see it for and what they are allowed to do with it. We do not sell or share your personal information for other organisations to use.
We may share information with employees, third party cloud hosting and IT infrastructure providers who host the website and provide IT support in respect of the website. We may also disclose your personal information to third parties if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements, or to protect the rights or property of The Creative Desk. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection.
How we store your data
Your personal data is held in both hard copy and electronic formats.
Electronic data, including emails, is stored on our servers, which are in the UK and Ireland and on our software suppliers’ servers which are also located in the UK and Ireland.
How long we keep your data
We will only use and store your information for as long as it is required for the purposes it was collected for. How long it will be stored for depends on the information in question, what it is being used for and, sometimes, statutory legal requirements.
Once the applicable retention period expires, unless we are legally required to keep the data longer, or there are important and justifiable reasons why we should keep it, we will securely delete the data.
Using our website – internet-based transfers
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.
Our website may include links to external websites operated by other organisations which may collect personal data about you when you visit them. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of any third-party websites. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.
Cookies on our website
Cookies are small files which websites store on your computer, and which contain various types of information about your visit to a website. They are not viruses or malicious software, but they are generally aimed at providing you with a good experience when browsing a site by, for example, remembering your preferences so that you do not need to reset them every time you visit the website.
Cookies can record information about how you browse the internet. They can therefore be used by websites to advertise goods and services which, based on your browsing history, are like goods and services which you have previously searched online. This is why some users reject or delete cookies.
Cookies normally expire after a length of time which can vary from a few minutes to more than a year. Some cookies are ‘session cookies’ which are deleted when you close your internet browser or after a period of inactivity. Others are ‘persistent cookies’ which remain on your computer until their expiration date.
We do not store cookies on your computer without your consent unless they have the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of communications or they are strictly necessary for providing an online service.
You may restrict or block cookies which are set by any website through your browser settings. Your browser settings also allow you to clear your browsing history and delete cookies. Information about how you can do this can be found on this link https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/online/cookies. Mobile devices may have their own settings and you need to refer to the manual of the device.
Please note that restricting or disabling cookies may impact the functioning of parts of our website.
Your rights as a data subject
As a data subject, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data processed by us:
- to be given information about how your data is processed and why.
- to access the personal data, we hold about you.
- to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate and complete.
- to have your personal data deleted.
- to ask us to restrict processing your personal data.
- to ask us to transfer your personal data.
- to object to us processing your data.
- to withdraw consent to the Society sending you information by email.
- rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
Withdrawing consent
If we are relying on your consent to process your data, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
Complaints to the Information Commissioner
You have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about the way in which we process your personal data. You can make a complaint on the ICO’s website https://ico.org.uk/.
Exercising your rights, queries and complaints
For more information on your rights, if you wish to exercise any right or for any queries you may have or if you wish to make a complaint, please contact info@thecreativedesk.co.uk