PRIVACY POLICY
Introduction and lawful basis
1. This privacy policy sets out how Orb Property Planning Limited (Orb Planning) uses and protects any personal information that you give to us when you contact us by phone or by email or when using this website.
2. Orb Planning is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. If we ask you to provide any identifying information, it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.
3. Under the General Data Protection Regulations, Orb Planning is required to state the lawful basis for processing personal information. Orb Planning considers its lawful basis to be ‘contract’, meaning that the processing of personal information is necessary for the contract Orb Planning has with you, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract.
4. Websites linked to from our website are not covered by this privacy policy. You should review the privacy policies of such websites before continuing to use them.
5. Orb Planning will review and, if necessary, update this policy from time to time. This policy is effective from January 2018. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please email us.
Information we collect
6. Orb Planning gathers personal information provided to us by you in order to provide our service to you. Should you contact us, we may collect and process the following information:
name
contact information, including email address and phone number
demographic information, such as your address and postcode
a record of your correspondence with us.
7. Should you decide to withhold any of this data, we may be unable to effectively provide our service to you. This is because it is necessary for us to have your full contact details and address in order to undertake the main services that we provide (advice about planning permission).
What we do with the information we gather
8. We require the information set out in paragraph 6 to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, particularly for the following reasons:
To contact you about your enquiry.
To provide our service to you.
Internal record keeping.
We may use the information to improve our products and services.
Retention period
9. There are various laws and regulations which govern the retention periods of information. Orb Planning therefore has a Data Retention Policy that sets out how long Orb Planning will securely keep the different types of personal data and information that it processes.
10. Orb’s Data Retention Policy reflects Principle 5 of the Data Protection Act, which says that personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes. We keep our Data Retention Policy, and the retention periods set out in it, under regular review.
Security
11. We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect.
12. We have reviewed and are satisfied with the information security arrangements of the companies we use to help us manage our business or we must necessarily pass your personal information to for the purposes of providing our service to you. This includes, but is may not be limited to, your local authority, your appointed building inspector, our accounting software provider and our project management software provider.
How we use cookies on our website
13. A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added 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.
14. We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage 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.
15. 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.
16. You can choose to accept or decline cookies using your web browser. 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 our website.
Controlling your personal information - your rights
17. We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your explicit permission or are required by law to do so.
18. You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information by us at any time by emailing us, although in doing so you should consider our ability to be able to provide you with our services.
19. You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please email us.
Further information
20. If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us as soon as possible. We will quickly correct any information found to be incorrect.
21. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, or Orb Planning’s approach to data security, you should contact our Data Controller, Robert Marchant, or our Data Protection Officer, Karen Minns.
22. This privacy policy is available on our website. If you would like a hard copy of this privacy policy posted to you, please contact us.