Privacy Policy

Security, Cookies and Privacy Policy

This website ("website") is operated by Blacks of Sopwell Ltd. In this Security, Cookie and Privacy Policy, we, us and our, refer to Blacks of Sopwell Ltd, company number 05475004.

We are registered in England and Wales at North Barn D, New Barnes Mill, Cottonmill Lane, St.Albans Hertfordshire AL1 2HA.

If you have any questions, please contact our Data Protection Officer/Team at dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com and we will endeavour to do our best to answer your questions.

Privacy policy

To help us achieve our goal of providing the highest quality products and services, we use information from our interactions with you and other customers, as well as from other parties.

Because we respect your privacy, we have implemented procedures to ensure that your personal information is handled in a safe, secure, and responsible manner.

Security

We are committed to handling your personal information with high standards of information security.

Personal information provided on the website and online credit card transactions are transmitted through a secure server. You can tell that your data is secure by looking for the padlock icon. However, as no data transmissions over the internet can ever be guaranteed as 100% secure, we cannot accept responsibility for an unauthorised access or loss of personal information that is beyond our reasonable control.

Our payment security operates on encryption Level 1 PCI compliant.

The legal basis we rely on

Order obligations

In certain situations, we may require your details such as full name, address and telephone number to complete and deliver your order from Blacks of Sopwell Ltd.

Legitimate interests 

In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests. For example, we may use your purchase history to send you personalised offers or incentives.

Legal obligations 

In certain situations, we may use your personal details in compliance with legal obligations. For example, in the event of fraud or theft.

Your rights 

As a customer of Blacks of Sopwell Ltd, you have rights with regards to how we use and hold your information. This includes:

  • The right to be informed (i.e. via this privacy policy).
  • The right to access the personal information that we hold about you.
  • The right to change or rectify the personal information that we hold about you (if you have an online account you can do so here).
  • The right to erasure or restrict the processing of personal information that we hold about you. This includes automated decision-making programmes or profiling.
  • The right to stop direct mailings or email marketing.

The information we collect

Generally, you may browse the website without providing any personally identifiable information. However, we may ask you to provide personally identifiable information at various times and places on this website. In some cases, if you choose not to provide us with the requested information, you may not be able to access all parts of this website or participate in all its features.

We receive and store any personally identifiable information that you enter on the website, whenever you shop with Blacks of Sopwell Ltd —online, or in our stores, or information you give us in any other way, such as by subscribing to our, email, or mobile messaging.

This includes:

  • Registration Details, e.g. Title, Name, Postal Address, Email, Telephone / Mobile Number. 
  • Card Payment Details used for transactions: Card Name, Number, Expiration Date, CSV number, Billing and Delivery Address
  • Username and Password
  • Purchase and Returns History.
  • Customer Service information including enquiries, comments, complaints and information exchanged with our customer service team.

If you use one of our services or participate in one of our surveys, promotions, or sweepstakes, we may ask for additional information, such as your age, interests, or product preferences. From your purchases and other interactions with us, we obtain information concerning the specific products or services you purchase or use. When you visit this website, our web server automatically collects anonymous information such as log data and IP addresses and may collect general information concerning your location. We may use the automatically collected information for a number of purposes, such as improving our site design, product assortments, customer service, and special promotions.

Your personal data is also collected when you: 

  • Interact or engage with us on social media.
  • When you choose to complete any surveys we send you.
  • When you enter prize draws or competitions.
  • When you fill out any forms on the Blacks of Sopwell website, such as product reviews, stock notification emails.
  • When you’ve given a third party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.
  • CCTV security systems, when you visit Blacks of Sopwell Ltd or park in our carpark. These systems may record your image when you visit. 

How we use the information we collect

We use the information we collect to offer you the best customer experience as possible. Purposes include:

  • To complete your purchase transactions.
  • To provide the services you request.
  • To send you our leaflets and catalogues and other offerings by mail.
  • To identify your product and service preferences, so we can notify you of new or additional products, services, and promotions that might be of interest to you.
  • To notify you of product recalls or provide other information concerning products you have purchased.
  • To improve our merchandise selections, customer service, and overall shopping experience.

We may also create Anonymous Data Records from Personal Data by excluding personally identifiable information for the purposes of business research and to perform statistical analyses of users’ aggregate behaviour in order to enhance and improve the services we offer.

How long we hold your data for

We only hold your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or for as long as your account it open with us.

Blacks of Sopwell Ltd has specified retention periods for these purposes and customer orders will be kept for a maximum of five years, after which the information will be deleted or anonymised for business research and analysis. However, there may be a legal basis, such as the prevention of fraud and crime for which we will hold your information beyond this five year period and we may share your information with a law enforcement body, when required to do so.

Others with whom we share your information

Blacks of Sopwell Ltd will never sell, trade or rent any of your information to any third party and this includes, but is not limited to your name, address, telephone number, email or credit card information.

However, we may share your personal information with our suppliers, service providers, couriers and other third-party contractors to fulfil contractual orders that you place with us and to provide the services you request. Blacks of Sopwell Ltd also uses a data management company and newsletter service where your data is stored securely.

Paypal 

We work with PayPal to offer our customers more convenient methods of payment. PayPal enables you to send payments quickly and securely online using a credit card or bank account. All PayPal transactions are subject to the PayPal Privacy Policy, available to view here.

Social media advertising  

Blacks of Sopwell Ltd engages in online social media advertising on social media sites including Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

On these social media network sites, we target Blacks of Sopwell content, videos and ads to you when you are on other websites and social media sites. We do this using a variety of digital marketing networks and ad exchanges, and we use a range of advertising technologies like web beacons, pixels, ad tags and cookies, as well as specific services offered by social media networks, such as Facebook Custom Audience services. 

The ads that you will see will be based on information we hold about you, or your previous use of Blacks of Sopwell Ltd (such as your order history). You can view the Facebook Data Policy here, the Instagram Privacy Policy here and the Pinterest Privacy Policy here.

Our mailing lists

Emails

From time to time, you will receive promotional emails and newsletters from us about our products and services. Please note, you will only receive these promotional emails only if you have opted in to receive them from us on the Blacks of Sopwell website or have given a third-party permission to share your emails

 If you do not want to receive emails from Blacks of Sopwell you can click on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of any email communication sent by us or by emailing us at dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com or calling us on 01727 856053 (phone lines open Tuesday to Friday 9am – 5pm, excluding national holidays).

Please allow us 3 business days from when the request was received to complete the removal, as some of our promotions may already have been in process before you submitted your request.

Please note, if you place an order with us, sign up for an out of stock notification email we may contact you by email or telephone if we have any questions or queries in relation to your order or need to update you with regards to your account or order. In all instances, this will not re-subscribe you to our newsletter service.

Postal communications 

You will receive postal communications from us only if you have opted in to receive them.

If you do not wish to receive communications from us via post, then let us know at dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com or by calling us on 01727 856053 (phone lines open Tuesday to Friday 9am – 5pm, excluding national holidays) and we will unsubscribe you from our postal mailing list.

How can I subscribe to your postal or email mailing list?

If you wish to subscribe or have previously unsubscribed from our mailing list, you can easily subscribe again. To do so please take the following steps:

Email

To re-subscribe by email, please head to the Blacks of Sopwell website and enter your email address into the newsletter sign-up box. You will receive a confirmation email, that you will have to opt-in to hear from us.

Postal

To re-subscribe to our postal mailing list, please email dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com or call us on 01727 856053 (phone lines open Tuesday – Friday 9am – 5pm).

Online account registration 

To make online shopping faster and easier, you may register on the Blacks of Sopwell website for an online account.

As a registered customer, you only have to enter your shipping addresses and billing information once; they will be securely stored with us for your future use. Using your name and a password of your choice, you may access your account online at any time to add, delete, or change information.

Children

The Blacks of Sopwell website is intended for use by persons over the age of 18 and we will never knowingly collect any information or market to children under the age of 18.

If you suspect that we have collected information on a person age 18 or under, please email dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com and we will take all the necessary actions to remove this data from all of the Blacks of Sopwell controller and processor databases.

Regulatory bodies 

If you feel that Blacks of Sopwell Ltd has mishandled your data in any way, that your requests have been dealt with incorrectly or if you are concerned about the way we handle personal information you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

You can report a concern by visiting the ICO’s Website here or by calling the ICO’s helpline: 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Blacks of Sopwell Ltd reserves the right to update and make changes to this Security, Cookie and Privacy Policy from time to time. We advise you to revisit our Security, Cookie and Privacy Policy regularly to ensure that you are aware of any modifications or updates to the ways in which we collect and use your personal information.

Acceptance

By using this website, you accept the policies set forth in this Security, Cookie and Privacy Policy.

Any questions?

We respect and are committed to protecting your privacy.

If you have any questions we will do our best to provide additional information or answer any questions that you may have.

Contact our Data Protection Officer / Team here:

Write to:

Data Protection Team
Blacks of Sopwell
North Barn D, New Barnes Mill,
Cottonmill Lane
St.Albans, Hertfordshire
AL1 2HA

Contact Number: 01727 856053
Email: dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com

Last updated: August 2019

If you want to exercise your rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer / Team: dataprotection@blacksofsopwell.com / T: 01727 856053 (phone lines are open Tuesday to Friday 9am – 5pm, excluding UK national holidays).