Privacy Policy

 

In this document, "we", "our", or "us" refer to Briars Hut.

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Our address is The Briars, Top Common, Spooner Row, WYMONDHAM, Norfolk NR18 9JS

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Introduction

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1. This is a notice to inform you of our policy about all the information we record about you. It sets out the conditions under which we may process any information that we collect from you or that you provide to us. It covers information that could identify you (“personal information”) and information that could not. In the context of the law and this notice, “process” means collect, store, transfer, use or otherwise act on information.

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2. We regret that if there are one or more points below with which you are unhappy, your only recourse is to leave our website immediately.

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3. We take seriously the protection of your privacy and confidentiality. We understand that all visitors to our website are entitled to know that their personal data will not be used for any purpose unintended by them and will not accidentally fall into the hands of a third party.

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4. We undertake to preserve the confidentiality of all information you provide to us and hope that you reciprocate.

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5. Our policy complies with UK law accordingly implemented, including that required by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

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6. The law requires us to tell you about your rights and our obligations to you in regard to the processing and control of your personal data.

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7. Except as set out below, we do not share, sell, or disclose to a third party any information collected through our website.

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The basis on which we process information about you

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The law requires us to determine under which of six defined bases we process different categories of your personal information and to notify you of the basis for each category.

If the basis on which we process your personal information is no longer relevant, we shall immediately stop processing your data.

If the basis changes, then if required by law, we shall notify you of the change and of any new basis under which we have determined that we can continue to process your information.

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1. Information we process because we have a contractual obligation to you

When you create an account on our website, buy a product or service from us, or otherwise agree to our terms and conditions, a contract is formed between you and us.

To carry out our obligations under that contract, we must process the information you give us. Some of this information may be personal information.

We may use it to:

• verify your identity for security purposes

• sell products to you

• provide you with our services

• provide you with suggestions and advice on products, services and how to obtain the most from using our website

We process this information on the basis that there is a contract between us or that you have requested that we use the information before we enter into a legal contract.

Additionally, we may aggregate this information in a general way and use it to provide class information, for example, to monitor our performance with respect to a particular service we provide. If we use it for this purpose, you as an individual will not be personally identifiable.

We shall continue to process this information until the contract between us ends or is terminated by either party under the contract terms.

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2. Information we process with your consent

Through certain actions when otherwise there is no contractual relationship between us, such as when you browse our website or ask us to provide you with more information about our business, job opportunities, products and services, you provide your consent to us to process information that may be personal.

Wherever possible, we aim to obtain your explicit consent to process this information, for example, by asking you to agree to our use of cookies.

Sometimes you might implicitly consent, such as when you send us a message by e-mail to which you reasonably expect us to reply.

Except where you have consented to our use of your information for a specific purpose, we do not use your information in any way that would identify you personally. We may aggregate it in a general way and use it to provide class information, for example, to monitor the performance of a particular page on our website.

If you have given us explicit permission to do so, we may, from time to time, pass your name and contact information to selected associates whom we consider may provide services or products you would find useful.

We continue to process your information on this basis until you withdraw your consent, or it can be reasonably assumed that your consent no longer exists.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by instructing us at ali@briarshut.co.uk. However, if you do so, you may not be able to use our website or our services further.

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3. Information we process for the purposes of legitimate interests

We may process the information on the basis that there is a legitimate interest, either to you or to us, in doing so.

Where we process your information on this basis, we do after having given careful consideration to the following: 

• whether the same objective could be achieved through other means

• whether processing (or not processing) might cause you harm

• whether you would expect us to process your data and whether you would, in the round, consider it reasonable to do so.

For example, we may process your data on this basis for the purposes of:

• record-keeping for the proper and necessary administration of our business

• responding to unsolicited communication from you to which we believe you would expect a response

• protecting and asserting the legal rights of any party

• insuring against or obtaining professional advice that is required to manage business risk

• protecting your interests where we believe we have a duty to do so

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4. Information we process because we have a legal obligation

We are subject to the law like everyone else. Sometimes, we must process your information to comply with a statutory obligation. 

For example, we may be required to give information to legal authorities if they so request or if they have the proper authorisation, such as a search warrant or court order.

This may include your personal information.

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Specific uses of information you provide to us

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5. Information provided on the understanding that it will be shared with a third party

Our website may allow you to post information with a view to that information being read, copied, downloaded, or used by others.

Examples include:

• posting a message on a forum

• tagging an image

• clicking on an icon next to another visitor’s message to convey your agreement, disagreement or thanks

In posting personal information, it is up to you to satisfy yourself about the privacy level of every person who might use it.

We do not specifically use this information except to allow it to be displayed or shared.

We do store it, and we reserve the right to use it in the future in any way we decide.

Once your information enters the public domain, we have no control over what any individual third party may do with it. We accept no responsibility for their actions at any time.

Provided your request is reasonable, and there is no legal basis for us to retain it, then at our discretion, we may agree to your request to delete the personal information that you have posted. You can make a request by contacting us at ali@briarshut.co.uk

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6. Complaints regarding content on our website

We attempt to moderate user-generated content, but we are not always able to do so as soon as that content is published.

If you complain about any of the content on our website, we shall investigate your complaint.

If we feel it is justified or believe the law requires us to do so, we shall remove the content while investigating.

Free speech is a fundamental right, so we have to make a judgment as to whose right will be obstructed: yours or that of the person who posted the content that offends you.

If we think your complaint is vexatious or without any basis, we shall not correspond with you about it.

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7. Information relating to your method of payment

At the point of payment, you may be transferred to a secure page on the website of Stripe. That page may be branded to look like a page on our website, but we do not control it. Your method of payment, card provider and expiry date do become available to us, but your full card number does not. To identify your card, we can see the final four digits of your card.

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8. Job application and employment

If you send us information in connection with a job application, we may keep it for up to 3 years in case we decide to contact you at a later date.

If we employ you, we collect information about you and your work from time to time throughout the period of your employment. This information will be used only for purposes directly relevant to your employment. After your employment has ended, we will keep your file for seven years before destroying or deleting it.

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9. Sending a message to our support team

When you contact us, whether by telephone, through our website or by e-mail, we collect the data you have given to us to reply with the information you need.

We record your request and our reply to increase the efficiency of our business.

We keep personally identifiable information associated with your messages, such as your name and email address, so as to be able to track our communications with you to provide a high-quality service.

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10. Complaining

When we receive a complaint, we record all the information you give us.

We use that information to resolve your complaint.

If your complaint reasonably requires us to contact some other person, we may decide to give to that other person some of the information contained in your complaint. We do this as infrequently as possible, but it is a matter of our sole discretion as to whether we give information and if we do, what that information is.

We may also compile statistics showing information obtained from this source to assess the level of service we provide, but not in a way that could identify you or any other person.

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11. Affiliate and business partner information

This is information given to us by you in your capacity as an affiliate of us or as a business partner.

It allows us to recognise visitors that you have referred to us and to credit you with any commission due for such referrals. It also includes information that allows us to transfer any commission to you.

The information is not used for any other purpose.

We undertake to preserve the confidentiality of the information and of the terms of our relationship.

We expect any affiliate or partner to agree to reciprocate this policy.

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Use of information we collect through automated systems when you visit our website

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12. Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer's hard drive by your web browser when you visit any website. They allow information gathered on one web page to be stored until it is needed for use on another, allowing a website to provide you with a personalised experience and the website owner with statistics about how you use the website so that it can be improved.

Some cookies may last for a defined period of time, such as one day or until you close your browser. Others last indefinitely.

Your web browser should allow you to delete any you choose. It also should allow you to prevent or limit their use.

Our website uses cookies. They are placed by software that operates on our servers and by software operated by third parties whose services we use.

When you first visit our website, we ask whether you wish us to use cookies. If you choose not to accept them, we shall not use them for your visit except to record that you have not consented to their use for any other purpose.

If you choose not to use cookies or you prevent their use through your browser settings, you may not be able to use all the functionality of our website.

We use cookies in the following ways:

• to track how you use our website

• to record whether you have seen specific messages we display on our website

• to keep you signed in on our site

• to record your answers to surveys and questionnaires on our site while you complete them

• to record the conversation thread during a live chat with our support team

We provide more information about the cookies we use in our cookie policy.

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13. Personal identifiers from your browsing activity

Requests by your web browser to our servers for web pages and other content on our website are recorded.

We record information such as your geographical location, your Internet service provider and your IP address. We also record information about the software you use to browse our websites, such as the type of computer or device and the screen resolution.

We use this information in the aggregate to assess the popularity of the webpages on our website and how we perform in providing content to you.

If combined with other information we know about you from previous visits; the data possibly could be used to identify you personally, even if you are not signed in to our website.

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14. Our use of re-marketing

Re-marketing involves placing a cookie on your computer when you browse our website to be able to serve you an advert for our products or services when you visit some other website.

We may use a third party to provide us with re-marketing services from time to time. If so, then if you have consented to our use of cookies, you may see advertisements for our products and services on other websites.

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Disclosure and sharing of your information

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15. Information we obtain from third parties

Although we do not disclose your personal information to any third party (except as set out in this notice), we sometimes receive data that is indirectly made up of your personal information from third parties whose services we use.

No such information is personally identifiable to you.

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16. Third-party advertising on our website

Third parties may advertise on our website. In doing so, those parties, their agents or other companies working for them may use technology that automatically collects information about you when their advertisement is displayed on our website.

They may also use other technology, such as cookies or JavaScript, to personalise the content and to measure the performance of their adverts.

We do not have control over these technologies or the data these parties obtain. Accordingly, this privacy notice does not cover the information practices of these third parties.

 

17. Data may be processed outside the European Union

 

Website Hosting

Wix.com, an American corporation, hosts our website and provides us with an online platform that allows us to sell our services to you. 

 

Online booking

Our online booking management software is provided by freetobook.com, a British company. 

 

You may also make reservations for our services through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) like Airbnb, Expedia, Booking.com etc. OTAs may hold your data and process your payments using their own or third-party servers and payment gateways. You should consult the relevant OTA for their policies.

 

Payment gateway

We use Stripe to process debit/credit card payments. Stripe’s headquarters are in the United States of America.

 

Stripe’s 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.

 

The personal and debit/credit card data you supply as part of the booking process is stored securely on the Stripe payment system, which is properly encrypted and protected.

 

Data storage

Your data may be stored by our hosting, booking, payment and OTA partners’ data storage, databases and general applications on secure servers behind firewalls.  

 

Access to your own information

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18. Access to your personal information

To obtain a copy of any information that is not provided on our website, you may send us a request at ali@briarshut.co.uk

After receiving the request, we will tell you when we expect to provide you with the information and whether we require any fee for providing it to you.

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19. Removal of your information

If you wish us to remove personally identifiable information from our website, you may contact us at ali@briarshut.co.uk

This may limit the service we can provide to you.

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20. Verification of your information

When we receive any request to access, edit or delete personally identifiable information, we shall first take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access or taking action. This is important to safeguard your information.

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Other matters

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21. Use of the site by children

We do not sell products or provide services for purchase by children, nor do we market to children. 

If you are under 18, you may use our website only with consent from a parent or guardian.

We collect data about all users and visitors to these areas regardless of age, and we anticipate that some of those users and visitors will be children. 

Such child users and visitors will inevitably visit other parts of the site and will be subject to whatever on-site marketing they find wherever they visit.

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22. Encryption of data sent between us

We use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates to verify our identity in your browser and to encrypt any data you give us.

Whenever information is transferred between us, you can check that it is done using SSL by looking for a closed padlock symbol or other trust marks in your browser’s URL bar or toolbar.

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23. How you can complain

If you are not happy with our privacy policy or if you have any complaints, then you should tell us by email. Our address is ali@briarshut.co.uk

If a dispute is not settled, then we hope you will agree to attempt to resolve it by engaging in good faith with us in a process of mediation or arbitration. 

If you are in any way dissatisfied with how we process your personal information, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office.

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24. The retention period for personal data

Except as otherwise mentioned in this privacy notice, we keep your personal information only for as long as required by us:

• to provide you with the services you have requested

• to comply with other laws, including for the period demanded by our tax authorities

• to support a claim or defence in court.

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25. Compliance with the law

Our privacy policy has been compiled so as to comply with the law of every country or legal jurisdiction in which we aim to do business. If you think it fails to satisfy the law of your jurisdiction, we should like to hear from you.

However, ultimately it is your choice as to whether you wish to use our website.

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26. Review of this privacy policy

We may update this privacy notice from time to time as necessary.

The terms that apply to you are those posted here on our website on the day you use our website. We advise you to print a copy for your records.

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If you have any questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us.