PRIVACY POLICY

Last Updated: [Insert Date]

1. Introduction

Welcome to the UK Dive Store privacy policy.

At UK Dive Store (“we”, “us”, or “our”), we take the protection of your data as seriously as we take the maintenance of your life-support equipment. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data.

This privacy policy aims to inform you about how we look after your personal data when you visit our website (ukdivestore.co.uk) (regardless of where you visit it from) or when you purchase goods and services from us. It tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

This website is not intended for children under the age of 18, and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.

2. Who We Are

The Data Controller

UK Dive Store is the controller and responsible for your personal data.

Contact Details If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact our Data Privacy Manager using the details below:

  • Full name of legal entity: UK Dive Store Ltd
  • Email address: [Insert Support Email, e.g., support@ukdivestore.co.uk]
  • Postal address: [Insert Physical Shop/Warehouse Address]
  • Telephone number: [Insert Phone Number]

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance.

3. The Data We Collect About You

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together follows:

  • Identity Data: Includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier, title, and date of birth (strictly required for age verification regarding the sale of knives, cylinders, and other restricted items).
  • Contact Data: Includes billing address, delivery address, email address, and telephone numbers.
  • Financial Data: Includes bank account and payment card details. Note: We do not store full credit/debit card numbers. Payments are processed via third-party secure payment gateways (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay).
  • Transaction Data: Includes details about payments to and from you and other details of products (regulators, drysuits, courses) and services you have purchased from us.
  • Technical Data: Includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
  • Profile Data: Includes your username and password, purchases or orders made by you, your interests (e.g., “Wreck Diving”, “Technical Diving”), preferences, feedback, and survey responses.
  • Diver Certification Data: If you purchase restricted equipment (e.g., certain rebreather consumables) or book training, we may collect your diver certification level, agency (PADI, BSAC, TDI, etc.), and diver number.
  • Marketing and Communications Data: Includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.

Special Category Data

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data).

However, if you book a diving course with us, we may require you to complete a Medical Statement. This health data is processed strictly for safety and insurance purposes and is handled with the highest level of confidentiality in compliance with Health & Safety laws.

4. How Is Your Personal Data Collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

  • Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact, and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
    • Order products or services;
    • Create an account on our website;
    • Subscribe to our newsletter (e.g., “The UK Diver’s Checklist”);
    • Request marketing to be sent to you;
    • Enter a competition, promotion, or survey; or
    • Give us feedback or contact customer support.
  • Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies.

5. How We Use Your Personal Data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

  1. Performance of Contract: Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you (e.g., processing your order, delivering your drysuit, servicing your regulator).
  2. Legitimate Interest: Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests (e.g., to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business, and for fraud prevention).
  3. Legal Obligation: Where we need to comply with a legal obligation (e.g., keeping records for HMRC, age verification laws for bladed articles).

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

  • To register you as a new customer.
  • To process and deliver your order:
    • Manage payments, fees and charges.
    • Collect and recover money owed to us.
    • Legal Basis: Performance of a Contract, Legitimate Interests.
  • To manage our relationship with you:
    • Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy.
    • Asking you to leave a review or take a survey.
    • Legal Basis: Performance of a Contract, Legal Obligation, Legitimate Interests.
  • To administer and protect our business and this website:
    • Troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data.
    • Legal Basis: Legitimate Interests (running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security).
  • To deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you:
    • Legal Basis: Legitimate Interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business).

Marketing

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.

You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or purchased goods from us and you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.

Opting Out You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link on any email marketing message sent to you or by contacting us at any time.

6. Disclosures of Your Personal Data

We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in Section 5.

  • Service Providers: Acting as processors based in the UK/EEA who provide IT and system administration services (e.g., website hosting, email services).
  • Professional Advisers: Acting as processors or joint controllers including lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers.
  • HM Revenue & Customs: Regulators and other authorities based in the UK who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.
  • Logistics Partners: Courier companies (e.g., DPD, Royal Mail, DHL) for the purpose of delivering your goods.
  • Payment Processors: Banks and payment gateway providers (e.g., PayPal, Stripe) to process your payments securely.
  • Manufacturers: In the event of a warranty claim or a safety recall (e.g., a regulator recall), we may need to share purchase details with the manufacturer to ensure your safety.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

7. Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered, or disclosed. Access to your personal data is limited to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption technology to protect your sensitive information during transmission.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

8. Data Retention

How long will you use my personal data for?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements.

  • Legal/Tax: By law, we have to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they cease being customers for tax purposes (HMRC requirements).
  • Equipment Safety: We may retain records of regulator servicing and cylinder testing indefinitely for safety audit purposes.

9. Your Legal Rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. You have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”).
  • Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you.
  • Request erasure of your personal data. Note: We may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons (e.g., HMRC tax records) which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
  • Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest.
  • Request restriction of processing of your personal data.
  • Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party.
  • Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us at [Insert Support Email].

No fee usually required You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

10. Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.

We use the following types of cookies:

  • Strictly necessary cookies: Required for the operation of our website (e.g., holding items in your shopping basket).
  • Analytical/performance cookies: Allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and see how visitors move around our website (e.g., Google Analytics).
  • Functionality cookies: Used to recognise you when you return to our website (e.g., greeting you by name).

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

11. Third-Party Links

This website may include links to third-party websites (e.g., PADI, BSAC, manufacturer sites), plug-ins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.