GDPR
Owner and Data Controller
Jonathan Smith, Value Technology Expertise Limited, 2413 Euro Business Park, Little Island, Co Cork
Owner contact email: jonathan@vtel.ie
Owner phone number: 021 5003050
At Value Technology Expertise Limited we take your privacy and the protection of your information seriously. We have created this policy in line with the Data Protection Commissioner to demonstrate this commitment and to tell you how we handle and use your data. If after reading this policy, you have any questions please contact us using the details above.
Please review this statement periodically as we will amend and update it from time to time. This policy relates to transactions and activities in which you voluntarily engage, and it relates to data gathered on our websites, but it does not extend to any offline activities between you and any of our third party advertisers or news items.
Please note that the Site may contain links to other websites. For example, if you click on a banner or advertisement on the site and link to another website, then this privacy policy will not apply to any information collected on that website. We recommend that you read the privacy policies of each website that you visit. We may transfer, sell or assign data to another company because of a merger, sale or company re-organisation.
We endeavour to comply with the guidelines laid out by Ireland’s Data Commissioner in the collection, protection and distribution of data we may collect about you on our website. You should be aware of your rights and your right to contact us;
Children under the age of 13
Value Technology Expertise Limited is not aimed at users under the age of 13. We do not to the best of our knowledge collect information from or relating to children under the age of 13. If we discover that we have collected personal information from a child below the age of 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at info@vtel.ie
What information do we collect?
You are not required to provide information directly to us to view the desktop version of the website. We only request information which is necessary for us to fulfil our service obligations on the website. We are an online sales outlet. We do require that you register in order to view our products. To receive our newsletter, you must register with your email only but to view our content on desktop or mobile this is not a requirement.
You may opt to register using a form on the website. If you sign up for a news alert or newsletter or enter a competition you will also be registering a profile with us.
We may also keep a record of any contact you have with us. With your consent, we may use your mobile number or email address to send you promotions, notifications, or other services. You have the option to unsubscribe or opt-out of all communications on every text or email we send you.
By registering with us you promise to
If you think someone has accessed your account without your permission, you will let us know.
What do we use this information for?
Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways;
To notify you of any changes to the website or service.
To notify you of local offers/news within any newsletter we may produce which you voluntarily register for.
To analyse our audience demographically for internal use and behaviour tracking, we never disclose personal information to any 3rd party.
To target relevant news content or ads to you based on your previous visits to the site, this makes your experience with our content more relevant and allows us to supply our content free of charge. We do not and will not personally identify you for this information, we use aggregated anonymous data so for example we can tell an advertiser we have 5000 users based in Cork and allow them to target an ad to those users, but they will never know the individual details of those 5000 users.
To improve our customer service levels to you – having your information and knowing how you use the website helps us to respond efficiently and effectively to your support requests.
We can tell using registration information and cookies we have collected a bit more about you and your interests – this helps us to develop additional content we know you will like and want to read. By remembering who you are it makes it easier for you to enter competitions, comment or share articles to social media.
Your information, whether public or private will not be sold to any other company for any reason whatsoever without your express consent.
You are always in control of your data – we are relying on you to help us deliver a service and product our users want to read. We need to know more about you to improve our service to you.
Please do not submit your personal information if you do not want us to collect it.
Information you post
Any personal information which you volunteer in your public profile either through Social Media or on our website you post as a comment will be available worldwide to anyone with access to the website.
Please do not post any information you are not happy to leave up indefinitely or turn up in Google search results. Please do not post any offensive or discriminatory information (commenting house rules.) We recommend you do not post your name, address, telephone number, email address or anything else that may lead someone to identify you if this is something you would not wish to have publicly accessible.
Please note that certain information (such as profile photographs) which you may choose to provide might reveal your gender, ethnic origin, nationality, religion and/or sexual orientation.
Site Security
At Value Technology Expertise Limited we make every effort to protect the data which you provide to us. We consistently monitor our servers for unauthorised access and we have appropriate security management systems in place to safeguard this. Anti-virus software and Firewalls are installed on all areas of the site. If we ask anyone else to do some work for us on our websites or servers, we ensure they have the same prominent levels of security in place. We do recognise however that, unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide to us. You do so at your own risk. Third party activities relating to any advertiser to whom you submitted your information Value Technology Expertise Limited. We urge you to review the privacy policy of such advertisers to ensure your information is secure once it is transferred to that third party. If you wish to modify any information submitted to an advertiser, you must contact them directly as they are responsible for that information.
IP Addresses and Cookies
Like most other websites we will collect information about your computer including, if available, your IP Address, Operating System, Browser Type and Location for statistical and behavioural tracking. This information helps us to enhance our service to you. This does not identify any individual; it is used as a tool to gather broad levels of data for analysis and to measure audience size and patterns of usage such as visitor numbers and how unique they are. We may also collect a cookie file for the same reason. These are small files that a site or service provider transfers to your hard drive through your browser which essentially enables us to remember certain non-identifiable information. You can disable cookies through Internet Options on your browser menu at any time.
We also use outside providers for web-site statistics. The primary provider we use is Google Analytics. You can find further information on the information which it collects at http://www.google.com/analytics/. If you access us via a mobile browser we may identify the location of your device, the browser type you accessed with and the operating system.
Types of Data collected
In working with our clients and when they provide us with their details in a commercial transaction to promote their business, organisation or self, we only use the information provided for the purposes of promoting the client. The information provided in any publication or online platform is only the general information provided to us that is requested to be made public. No confidential information is shared publicly. The information provided to us by a client that is shared publicly by us is done solely for the promotion of our clients across our publications and platforms and with their agreement and is never used by us or allowed by us to be used by third parties for mailing lists or direct marketing purposes. Among the types of Personal Data that this Application collects, by itself or through third parties, there are Cookies, Usage Data name, phone number and email address. Complete details on each type of Personal Data collected are provided in the dedicated sections of this privacy policy or by specific explanation texts displayed prior to the Data collection. The Personal Data may be freely provided by the User, or, in case of Usage Data, collected automatically when using this Application.
All Data requested by this Application is mandatory and failure to provide this Data may make it impossible for this Application to provide its services. In cases where this Application specifically states that some Data is not mandatory, Users are free not to communicate this Data without any consequences on the availability or the functioning of the service. Users who are uncertain about which Personal Data is mandatory are welcome to contact the Owner. Any use of Cookies – or of other tracking tools – by this Application or by the owners of third-party services used by this Application serves the purpose of providing the service required by the User, in addition to any other purposes described in the present document and in the Cookie Policy, if available.
Users are responsible for any third-party Personal Data obtained, published or shared through this Application and confirm that they have the third party’s consent to provide the Data to the Owner.
Mode and place of processing the Data/Methods of processing
The Data Controller processes the Data of Users in a proper manner and shall take appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, or unauthorized destruction of the Data.
The Data processing is carried out using computers and/or IT enabled tools, following organizational procedures and modes strictly related to the purposes indicated. In addition to the Data Controller, in some cases, the Data may be accessible to certain types of persons in charge, involved with the operation of the site (administration, sales, marketing, legal, system administration) or external parties (such as third-party technical service providers, mail carriers, hosting providers, IT companies, communications agencies) appointed, if necessary, as Data Processors by the Owner. The updated list of these parties may be requested from the Data Controller at any time.
Place
The Data is processed at the Data Controller’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. For further information, please contact the Data Controller.
Retention time
The Data is kept for the time necessary to provide the service requested by the User, or stated by the purposes outlined in this document, and the User can always request that the Data Controller suspend or remove the data.
The use of the collected Data
The Data concerning the User is collected to allow the Owner to provide its services, as well as for the following purposes: Analytics, Contacting the User and Displaying content from external platforms, managing contacts and sending messages and Platform services and hosting. The Personal Data used for each purpose is outlined in the specific sections of this document.
Detailed information on the processing of Personal Data
Personal Data is collected for the following purposes and using the following services:
Analytics
The services contained in this section enable the Owner to monitor and analyse web traffic and can be used to keep track of User behaviour.
Google Analytics (Google Inc.)
Google Analytics is a web analysis service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google utilizes the Data collected to track and examine the use of this Application, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services.
Google may use the Data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.
Personal Data collected: Cookies and Usage Data.
Place of processing: United States – Privacy Policy.
Contacting the User/Contact form (this Application)
By filling in the contact form with their Data, the User authorizes this Application to use these details to reply to requests for information, quotes or any other kind of request as indicated by the form’s header.
Personal Data collected: email address, first name and phone number.
Displaying content from external platforms
This type of service allows you to view content hosted on external platforms directly from the pages of this Application and interact with them.
This type of service might still collect web traffic data for the pages where the service is installed, even when Users do not use it.
Google Maps widget (Google Inc.)
Google Maps is a maps visualization service provided by Google Inc. that allows this Application to incorporate the content of this kind on its pages.
Personal Data collected: Cookies and Usage Data.
Place of processing: United States – Privacy Policy.
Managing contacts and sending messages
This type of service makes it possible to manage a database of email contacts, phone contacts or any other contact information to communicate with the User.
These services may also collect data concerning the date and time when the message was viewed by the User, as well as when the User interacted with it, such as by clicking on links included in the message. Our provider is SendGrid and you can find out more information on their policy here – General Data Protection Regulation
MailChimp (The Rocket Science Group, LLC.)
MailChimp is an email address management and message sending service provided by The Rocket Science Group, LLC.
Personal Data collected: first name, last name, email address.
Place of processing: United States – Privacy Policy.
WordPress.com (Automattic Inc.)
WordPress.com is a platform provided by Automattic Inc. that allows the Owner to build, run and host this Application.
Personal Data collected: several types of Data as specified in the privacy policy of the service.
Place of processing: United States – Privacy Policy.
Additional information about Data collection and processing
Legal action
The User’s Personal Data may be used for legal purposes by the Data Controller, in Court or in the stages leading to possible legal action arising from improper use of this Application or the related services.
The User declares to be aware that the Data Controller may be required to reveal personal data upon request of public authorities.
Additional information about User’s Personal Data
In addition to the information contained in this privacy policy, this Application may provide the User with additional and contextual information concerning services or the collection and processing of Personal Data upon request.
Affiliates or 3rd party organisations
We may partner with co-branded organisations or other companies to supply services for our users. If you opt to sign up to those companies or purchase from them you should familiarise yourself with their privacy policy and terms and conditions. They may pass information regarding what you have purchased back to us for tracking purposes or so that your account is up to date when you log in. They may not share, resell or use the data for their own direct marketing purposes. We reserve the right to disclose your opt-out information to third parties so they can suppress your name from future contact lists, in accordance with relevant laws. We may occasionally release personal information as required by law, for example, to comply with a court order or subpoena
System logs and maintenance
For operation and maintenance purposes, this Application and any third-party services may collect files that record interaction with this Application (System logs) use other Personal Data (such as the IP Address) for this purpose.
Information not contained in this policy
More details concerning the collection or processing of Personal Data may be requested from the Data Controller at any time. Please see the contact information at the beginning of this document.
The rights of Users
Users have the right, at any time, to know whether their Personal Data has been stored and can consult the Data Controller to learn about their contents and origin, to verify their accuracy or to ask for them to be supplemented, cancelled, updated or corrected, or for their transformation into anonymous format or to block any data held in violation of the law, as well as to oppose their treatment for all legitimate reasons. Requests should be sent to the Data Controller at the contact information set out above.
This Application does not support “Do Not Track” requests. To determine whether any of the third-party services it uses honour the “Do Not Track” requests, please read their privacy policies.
Changes to this privacy policy
The Data Controller reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy at any time by giving notice to its Users on this page. It is strongly recommended to check this page often, referring to the date of the last modification listed at the bottom. If a User objects to any of the changes to the Policy, the User must cease using this Application and can request that the Data Controller remove the Personal Data. Unless stated otherwise, the then-current privacy policy applies to all Personal Data the Data Controller has about Users.
Information about this privacy policy
The Data Controller is responsible for this privacy policy.
We may use helpful links to third party sites but we have no responsibility to how your data is used on these sites. Refer to the individual privacy policy of the site your visiting to find out more details.
Definitions and legal references
Personal Data (or Data)
Any information regarding a natural person, a legal person, an institution or an association, which is, or can be, identified, even indirectly, by reference to any other information, including a personal identification number.
Usage Data
Information collected automatically through this Application (or third-party services employed in this Application), which can include: the IP addresses or domain names of the computers utilized by the Users who use this Application, the URI addresses (Uniform Resource Identifier), the time of the request, the method utilized to submit the request to the server, the size of the file received in response, the numerical code indicating the status of the server’s answer (successful outcome, error, etc.), the country of origin, the features of the browser and the operating system utilized by the User, the various time details per visit (e.g., the time spent on each page within the Application) and the details about the path followed within the Application with special reference to the sequence of pages visited, and other parameters of the device operating system and/or the User’s IT environment.
User
The individual using this Application, which must coincide with or be authorized by the Data Subject, to whom the Personal Data refers.
Data Subject
The legal or natural person to whom the Personal Data refers.
Data Processor (or Data Supervisor)
The natural person, legal person, public administration or any other body, association or organization authorized by the Data Controller to process the Personal Data in compliance with this privacy policy.
Data Controller (or Owner)
The natural person, legal person, public administration or any other body, association or organization with the right, also jointly with another Data Controller, to make decisions regarding the purposes, and the methods of processing of Personal Data and the means used, including the security measures concerning the operation and use of this Application. The Data Controller, unless otherwise specified, is the Owner of this Application.
This Application
How the Personal Data of the User is collected.
Web browser cookies
Our application may use “cookies” to enhance user experience. User’s web browser places cookies on their hard drive for record-keeping purposes and sometimes to track information about them. Users may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If they do so, note that some parts of the Site may not function properly.
Legal information
Notice to European Users: this privacy statement has been prepared in fulfilment of the obligations under Art. 10 of EC Directive n. 95/46/EC, and under the provisions of Directive 2002/58/EC, as revised by Directive 2009/136/EC, on the subject of Cookies.
This privacy policy relates solely to this Application.
Latest update: November, 2022