Privacy

International Correspondence Schools - Privacy Policy 

International Correspondence Schools (we) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.  We recognise that many visitors and users of this web site are concerned about the information they provide to us and how we treat that information.  This privacy policy has been developed to address those concerns. 

This policy (together with our terms of use) and any other documents referred to on it) sets out the basis on which any personal information we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed and held by us.  Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal information and how we will treat it.  Your use of this web site indicates that you have read and accept our privacy practices as outlined in this privacy policy.  

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 the data controller is International Correspondence Schools Limited, a company incorporated and registered in England under company number 00898213, with its registered office at Equitable House, 47 King William Street, London EC4R 9AF and its main trading address at 1st Floor, 45 Finnieston Street, Glasgow G3 8JU. 

Information we collect

When you visit our site http://www.icslearn.co.uk/ (our site), you may provide us with two types of information:-

(1)        personal information that you knowingly choose to disclose, which is collected on an individual basis and

(2)        general user information that does not contain personally identifiable information, which is collected on an aggregate basis as you browse our site. 

In some cases, if you choose not to provide us with the requested information, you may not be able to access all of our site's functionality, content or services.

Personally identifiable information you choose to provide: 

We may ask for certain personal information from you for the purpose of providing to you content and/or services that you request.  For example:- 

• You may provide us with details about yourself so that we can send you information about our products and services.  This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our site, subscribing to our service, posting material or requesting further services, including signing up to our email newsletter.  The details we ask for vary with the products and services that you request.  The relevant on-line entry page will give you more information about how we might use and share those details and your choices.
• If you wish to purchase our products or services through our site, you may need to provide us with information so that we can complete that transaction, including your debit or credit card information.
• You may be asked to disclose personal information to us so that we can provide assistance and information to you.  For example, we may collect personal information from you (such as an e-mail address, system information and problem descriptions) in order to provide online technical support and troubleshooting.
• We may also ask you to complete surveys that we use for research purposes, although you do not have to respond to them.

Non-personally identifiable information we collect: 

Cookies/Web server logs: similar to other commercial websites, our site uses standard technology called "cookies" and web server logs to collect information about how our site is used.  Cookies are a feature of web browser software that allows web servers to recognise the computer used to access a web site.  Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored by a user's web browser on the user's hard drive.  They help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more personalised service.  They enable us to estimate our audience size and usage pattern, to store information about your preferences, and so allow us to customise our site according to your individual interests, to speed up your searches and to recognise you when you return to our site.  Information gathered through cookies and web server logs may include the date and time of visits, the pages viewed, time spent at our site and the web sites visited just before and just after our site.  This information is collected on an aggregate basis.  None of this information is associated with you as an individual. 

You can, of course, disable cookies on your computer by indicating this in the preference or options menus in your browser.  However, it is possible that some parts of our site will not operate correctly if you disable cookies.  Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you log on to our site.  You should consult with your browser's provider/manufacturer if you have any questions regarding disabling cookies.  By accessing our website you are accepting that you agree with our collection of this data.

Where we store your information 

The information that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA).  It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers.  Such staff may be engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of your order, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services.  By submitting your personal information, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing.

Security 

We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your information is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.  We do so by limiting the number of people who have physical access to our database servers, as well as installing electronic security systems that guard against unauthorised access.  However, no system and no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL technology.Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.  We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your information 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. 

How we use your information 

We use information held about you in the following ways:- 

• To ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer. 
• To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes.
• To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us.
• To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so.
• To notify you about changes to our service.

We may also use your information, or permit selected third parties (including, without limitation, companies within our group) to use your information, to provide you with information about goods and services which may be of interest to you and we or they may contact you about these by post and telephone.

If you are an existing customer, we will only contact you by electronic means (e-mail or SMS) with information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale to you.

If you are a new customer, and where we permit selected third parties to use your information, we (or they) will contact you by electronic means only if you have consented to this.

If you do not want us to use your information in this way, or to pass your details on to third parties for marketing purposes, please tick the relevant box situated on the form on which we collect your information (the registration form).

How to access and/or modify your information or choices 

If you visit our site and volunteer personally identifiable information, you may modify, correct or update such information at any time by visiting http://www.icslearn.co.uk/ where you will have the opportunity to access and revise certain of your personally identifiable information and to update your preferences regarding what information you want to receive from us.  You can do this by visiting the Contact Us page and sending us an email. 

Disclosure of your information

We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties:- 

• In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal information to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets.
• If we or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal information held by us about our customers will be one of the transferred assets.
• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use or terms and conditions of supply  or Community Rules and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of International Correspondence Schools Limited, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

Your rights

You have the right to ask us not to use your personal information for marketing purposes.  We will usually inform you (before collecting your information) if we intend to use your information for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your information.  You can also exercise the right at any time by contacting us at International Correspondence Schools Limited, 1st Floor, 45 Finnieston Street, GlasgowG3 8JUor mailto:dataservice@ICS-uk.co.uk. 

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, advertisers and affiliates.  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 these policies.  Please check these policies before you submit any personal information to these websites. 

Changes to our privacy policy

From time to time, we may change our privacy policy.  If we make a change, it will not affect the choices you have made about any information you gave us before that change.  Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.

How to reach us

We are committed to working with you to answer any questions or address any issues you may have about your privacy. 

You have the right to request details of the information held by us about you.  Any such request may be subject to a fee of £10 to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you. 

At any time you may ask us to correct or update any of your information.

Unless exceptional circumstances apply, ICS will not charge individuals for processing complaints. 

You can contact us by calling (+44) 141 221 2926 or emailing us at mailto:dataservice@ICS-uk.co.uk or writing to us at:

Data Protection Compliance Officer,  ICS Limited, 1st Floor, 45 Finnieston Street, Glasgow, G3 8JU. 

Updated June 2011