Privacy Policy

Grey Thread Privacy Policy

 

Cookies & Privacy Notice – Customers

Grey Thread Limited (“Grey Thread”) is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Looking after the personal information you share with us is very important, and we want you to be confident that your personal data is kept safely and securely and to understand how we use it to offer you a better and more personalised shopping experience.

We have published this notice to help you understand

  • how and why we collect information from you;
  • who we share your information with, why and on what basis;and
  • what your rights are.

If we make changes to this notice we will notify you by updating it on our website. 

What information we collect when you register and why?

When you buy goods from us, you are entering into a contract with us and we will ask you to provide some personal information such as;

  • full name
  • address (and previous addresses)
  • date of birth
  • contact numbers, and
  • email address.

As an existing customer if you have shopped with us using a credit or debit card, or we have taken these details for a payment authorisation, we will securely collect and store this payment card information. New customers and existing customers whose payment cards have expired will be asked if they would like to automatically store these details in order to speed up the payment process. 

In order to undertake website personalisation, we will also gather information about the devices you use to access our sites (desktop and mobile), and this may include IP address. For further information on our use of cookies and tracking please see our Cookie Notice.

How do we use your information?

Data Protection says that we are allowed to use and share your personal data only where we have a proper reason to do so. The law says we must have one or more of these reasons and these are:

  • Contract – your personal information is processed in order to fulfil a contractual arrangement e.g. in order to send you your Directory catalogue.
  • Consent – where you agree to us using your information in this way e.g. for storing your payment card details.
  • Legitimate Interests – this means the interests of Grey Thread in managing our business to allow us to provide you with the best products and service in the most secure and appropriate way e.g. to transfer your data to certain Third Parties such as delivery partners.
  • Legal Obligation – where there is statutory or other legal requirement to share the information e.g. when we have to share your information for law enforcement purposes.

Here is a list of the ways that we may use your personal information, and which of the reasons described above we rely on to do so. Where we list legitimate interests as a reason, we also describe below what we believe these legitimate interests are.

What We Use Your Personal Information For Our Reasons (Legal Basis) Our Explanation Of Grey Thread Legitimate Interests
Set up your account • Legitimate interest Process efficiency in dealing with such activity.
Storing payment cards • Consent N/A
Process your orders • Fulfilling a contract N/A
Notify you of your order status. • Legitimate interests Process efficiency in dealing with such activity, and to make improvements to our services.
Manage your account/ provide customer services to you.  • Legal obligation/ Legitimate interests (depending on nature of services) Keeping our records up to date, handling our customer contact efficiently and effectively, working out which of our products and services may interest you and telling you about them.
To detect, investigate and report financial crime (e.g. Fraud) • Legal Obligation / legitimate interests Developing and improving how we deal with financial crime. Complying with any legal obligation placed on us by regulators such as the FCA. Complying with any regulations that apply to us. Process efficiency in dealing with such activity, and to make service and process improvements.
Undertake website personalisation and administration. • Legitimate interests Developing products, services, applications and designs that attract and retain customers. Improving customer interaction with our sites. Defining types of customers for new products or services
Marketing communications to inform you of special offers, promotions, new lines and Sales. Provide you with online advertising. • Legitimate interests Developing products, services, applications and designs that attract and retain customers. Improving customer interaction with our sites.
Notifying you about enhancements to our services, such as changes to the website and new services that may be of interest to you. • Legitimate interests Developing products, services, applications and designs that attract and retain customers. Improving customer interaction with our sites.
Contact you to undertake customer satisfaction surveys, invite you to provide product reviews or for market research. • Legitimate interests Developing products, services, applications and designs that attract and retain customers. Improving customer interaction with our sites.
Maintaining network and data security • Legitimate interests To maintain the security of our network this in turns helps us to maintain the safety and confidentiality of your information.
Logistics planning, demand forecasting, management information and research • Legitimate interests We use information about shopping habits, products bought and volumes, to help us to respond to demand, ensure the right products get to the right areas and to help us plan our ranges.

Who we share your information with and why

We with a number of trusted suppliers, agencies and businesses in order to provide you the high quality goods and services you expect from us. Some examples of the categories of third parties with whom we share your data are:

 

Delivery Partners

In order for you to receive your goods, Grey Thread works with a number of delivery partners. Again, we only pass limited information to them in order to ensure delivery of your items.

IT Companies

We work with businesses who support our website and other business systems.

Marketing Companies

We work with marketing companies who help us manage our electronic communications with you or carry out surveys and product reviews on our behalf.

Payment processing

We work with trusted third party payment processing providers in order to securely take and manage payments.

Your Rights 

Your personal data is protected by legal rights, which include your rights to object to our processing of your personal data; request that your personal data is erased or corrected; request access to your personal data. 

For more information or to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us using the contact details above. You also have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which regulates the processing of personal data. 

Keeping in touch with you

We want to keep you up to date with information about new ranges, special offers and improvements to our website. When you set your account up, we will ask you if you want to receive this type of marketing information.

 

We will not share your information with outside companies outside for their marketing purposes. 

How long we keep your information

If we collect your personal information, the length of time we retain it is determined by a number of factors including the purpose for which we use that information and our obligations under other laws.

We may need your personal information to establish, bring or defend legal claims. For this purpose, we will always retain your personal information for 7 years after the date it is no longer needed by us for any of the purposes listed under How we use your information above. The only exceptions to this are where:

  • the law requires us to hold your personal information for a longer period, or delete it sooner;
  • you exercise your right to have the information erased (where it applies) and we do not need to hold it in connection with any of the reasons permitted or required under the law;
  • we bring or defend a legal claim or other proceedings during the period we retain your personal information, in which case we will retain your personal information until those proceedings have concluded and no further appeals are possible; or
  • in limited cases, existing or future law or a court or regulator requires us to keep your personal information for a longer or shorter period.

What are your rights

You are entitled to request the following Data Subject Rights and there is more information on these on the Information Commissioners website www.ico.org.uk 

  • Right of access –to request access to your personal information and information about how we process it
  • Right to rectification –to have your personal information corrected if it is inaccurate and to have incomplete personal information completed
  • Right to erasure (also known as the Right to be Forgotten) – to have your personal information erased. 
  • Right to restriction of processing – to restrict processing of your personal information
  • Right to data portability – to electronically move, copy or transfer your personal information in a standard form
  • Right to object – to object to processing of your personal information
  • Rights with regards to automated individual decision making, including profiling –rights relating to automated decision making, including profiling

 

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection regulator in Europe, in particular in a country you work or live or where your legal rights have been infringed. The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the data protection regulator in the UK, are available on the ICO website www.ico.org.uk where your personal information has or is being used in a way that you believe does not comply with data, however, we encourage you to contact us before making any complaint and we will seek to resolve any issues or concerns you may have.

Cookie Notice

This notice is designed to help you understand what cookies are, how we use them and the choices you have in regards to their use.

By continuing to use the “Site”, you are agreeing to our use of cookies in the manner described in this notice.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer or other device when you visit the Site. This allows the Site to recognise you as a user either for the duration of your visit (using a ‘session cookie’) or for repeat visits ( a ‘persistent cookie’). They are not harmful and do not contain any information such as your home address, date of birth or credit card details.

 

The cookies we use fall into four broad types:

 

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential in helping you to move around our Site and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies, services you have asked for, such as setting up an account cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you’ve been on the internet.

 

Analytical/Performance Cookies

In order to keep the Site, its services and products relevant, easy to use and up-to-date, we use web analytics services to help us understand how people use our Site. For example, we can see which parts of the Site and products are most popular, identify when errors occur, and test different versions of a page or feature to see which one works best.

 

Functionality Cookies 

These cookies allow websites and applications to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. The information these cookies collect is usually anonymised which means we can’t identify you personally. They do not gather any information about you that could be used for selling advertising or remembering where you’ve been on the internet, but do help us to serve you with advertising that is more relevant to you.

 

Targeted Marketing Cookies

We also use cookies to assist in targeted advertising. Without these cookies, online advertisements you encounter will be less relevant to you and your interests. We also use them to measure the effectiveness of our marketing communications, for example by telling us if you have responded to an advert that we have sent you.

 

What do we use Cookies for?

  • They enable you to transact, whilst other non-essential cookies enable us to give you an enhanced, personalised web experience and determine relevant products to show you.
  • To personalise and improve your customer experience.
  • To allow you to securely sign in to your Account, so that you can use “My Account” features such as order information, making payments and viewing statements.
  • To recognise the device that you are using.
  • To store the content of your online shopping bag whilst you browse the site and to complete an order.
  • To record the areas of the Site that you have visited, products you have viewed and time spent browsing, as well as the products you purchased. Grey Thread uses this information to help make the website more user friendly, develop our Site design and to continuously improve the quality of the service we provide.
  • To distribute visitors to our Site evenly across platforms to ensure the content is served at the fastest possible speed.
  • For re-marketing purposes to determine relevant related products to show you when you’re browsing on other selected websites. These cookies can be associated with services provided by a third party such as an advertising network.
  • We also offer you the facility to share your experience on our Site through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. By using these features, you are consenting to allow cookies from these providers. More information about how these providers use cookies can be found at their websites.

 

Are cookies safe?

Yes. The information stored in cookies is safe and anonymous to any external third party, and your account security is never compromised. You can find more information about cookies at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ For a video about cookies visit https://www.google.com/intl/en-GB/policies/technologies/cookies/

Can I turn off cookies?

Yes – but if you choose not to allow the use of cookies, your experience of our Site will be limited and many integral aspects of the Site, including (but not limited to) adding items to your shopping bag and accessing your account, will not work at all.

 

To change your cookie settings, or if you want to be notified each time a cookie is about to be used, you should amend the settings provided in your web browser to prevent us from storing cookies on your computer hard drive. 

For information on how to disable cookies, please consult the “Help” tab of your browser via the menu bar. For further information on non-essential cookies used for targeting and banner advertising please see below.

Contact

Should you need to contact us please write to hello@greythread.com

 

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