Data Protection and Privacy Policy

We respect the privacy of all individuals who use this Website. This privacy policy explains what information we gather from you, how we use it and how you may control our use of your personal information. We will ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

This Website contains links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our Website and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Website.

Blacks is the sole owner of the information collected on this Website. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement. Blacks, collects information from our users at several different points on our Website unless we are legally entitled or required to do so, or if we believe that such action is necessary to protect and/or defend our rights, property or personal safety and those of other users of this Website.

Your privacy is of the highest importance to us, and we promise never to release your personal details to any outside company for mailing or marketing purposes without your express permission.

Information collected

We may collect the following data from you:

Information that you provide to us when setting up or amending an account with us. For example, your name, address, various delivery addresses, email address, contact telephone numbers password, password question and answer, and card details which can be used when you subsequently place an order;
Information that you provide to us when placing an order online or by filling in any online registration form which we may make available on our Website. For example, your name, email address, payment address and card details which are essential for processing an order;
Information which you voluntarily disclose to us by email or other means;
Information about your computer including, where available, your IP address, operating system and browser type;
Information about your internet usage obtained using a cookie file which is stored on the hard drive of your computer.

Surveys and Contests

From time-to-time our Website requests information from its users via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as post code, age level). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this Website.

Uses made of the information
We use information held about you in the following ways:

internal analysis purposes within our group of companies;
to create and maintain your account with us;
to comply with our obligations following your order as set out in our terms and conditions of sale;
to provide regular updates and newsletters in respect of our products and services; to ensure that content from our Website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
to administer and otherwise perform our obligations in relation to the goods and/or services which we have agreed to provide to you. For example, we may use an outside carrier company to deliver orders, and a credit card processing company to bill you for goods and services. These companies do not retain, share, store or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes;
to provide you with information and services including any marketing that you have requested from us and otherwise to respond to queries which you may submit;
to allow you to participate in interactive features of our Website where you have chosen to do so;
to notify you about changes to our Website; to offer you products and services provided by us or any other company within the same group of companies.

You should be aware that if we are requested by the police or any other regulatory or government authority investigating suspected illegal activities to provide your personal information and/or user information, we are entitled to do so.

Correction/Updating Personal Information

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your post code), or if a user no longer desires our service, we will endeavour to provide a way to correct, update or remove that user's personal data provided to us. This can easily be done by emailing Customer Services at customerservice@blacks.co.uk.

Third parties who may use the information
We may pass your data to third parties for the purposes of processing credit or debit card payments and processing your orders.
We may also use your data or permit selected third parties to use your data to provide you with information about products or services which may be of interest or benefit to you; to conduct market research.

Your consent

During the online ordering and/or registration process you will be given the opportunity to withdraw your consent to either:

(a) our contacting you to offer you promotional goods and services; and/or
(b) our passing information about you to third parties who may offer you goods or services which they believe you may be interested in.

Users who no longer wish to receive regular information from Blacks may opt-out of receiving these communications by emailing us at unsubscribe@blacks.co.uk.

Where you withdraw your consent to use of your personal information we will stop such use as soon as reasonably practicable. If you wish to cease receiving promotional offers from any third party to whom we have disclosed information about you in accordance with this privacy policy, please contact that company directly using the procedure given by that company in its communications with you.

Cookies

We use "cookies" and we obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses our Website. Although we will not be able to provide you with a personalised experience at our Website if we cannot recognise you, we want you to be aware that these tools exist. If you do choose to register with us then you will be able to choose whether you wish cookies to be turned on or off.

Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognise your browser and to provide features such as personalised greetings and storage of items in your Shopping Basket between visits. These cookies will enable us to improve our knowledge of your use of our web site and to identify whether or not all of the pages which you request are successfully received. Whilst these cookies are anonymous, they do allow us to improve our Website. The Help menu on the menu bar of most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of some of our Website's most useful features and we recommend that you leave them turned on. If you do leave cookies turned on, be sure to sign off when you finish using a shared computer.

Security

At Blacks, we realise how important it is to securely store any information that you provide us. Our site (blacks.co.uk) currently uses high-level Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology, the most advanced security software currently available for online transactions. You can therefore rest assured that we take the security of your payment and personal details very seriously. We may vary this in the future if we feel you will benefit from greater security whilst using our Website.

You can tell whether a webpage is secure as 'https' will replace the 'http' at the front of the www.blacks.co.uk in your browser address window, also a small locked padlock will appear in the bottom bar of your browser window.

click here to verify our site security

While we currently use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also protect your information off-line. All of your information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, a customer services representative) are granted access to your personal information. The servers on which we store your personal information are kept in a secure environment.

Verified by Visa and Mastercard® SecureCode™

To give you even more confidence in shopping online with blacks.co.uk, we have introduced Verified by Visa and Mastercard® SecureCode™. These services enhance your existing credit/debit card accounts against unauthorized use when you shop with us. To use this service, you must first register with the bank or other organisation that issued your card.

Visit the Verified by Visa website
Visit the Mastercard® SecureCode™ website

Once you have registered and created your own private password with your card issuer, you will be automatically prompted at the checkout when the card is being processed to provide this password each time you make a purchase.

Please note: Your Verified by Visa and Mastercard® SecureCode™ password is related to your credit/debit cards and is not your blacks.co.uk customer account password. Blacks.co.uk does not have access to your Verified by Visa or Mastercard® SecureCode™ password.

Phishing

Phishing is the practice of tricking someone into giving confidential information. Examples include falsely claiming to be a legitimate company when sending an email to a user, in an attempt to get the user to send private information that will be used for identity theft and fraud.

Blacks will never ask you to send any personal details via email. If we require such details, for security reasons we will ask you to contact us by telephone. Should you receive an email claiming to be from Blacks, Blacks Leisure Group and/or The Outdoor Group Limited requesting this kind of information please do not respond but contact us immediately.