Quality Compliance Systems Ltd (company number 06234100) (“QCS”/”we”/”our”/”us”) takes your privacy very seriously and is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
If you wish to contact us regarding this privacy and cookies policy, please contact us here: https://www.qcs.co.uk/contact-us/ QCS is the data controller and our registered office is Second Floor, 1 Church Road, Richmond, TW9 2QE.
This privacy and cookies policy (together with the Terms and Conditions, which you can find here: https://www.qcs.co.uk/privacy-and-cookie-policy/ sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide through your use of our website (https://www.qcs.co.uk/) (the “Website”) and the QCS application (https://www.ukqcs.com/, https://app.qcs.co.uk and mobile applications) (the “Application”) will be processed by us.
This privacy and cookies policy does not apply to websites that you may be able to access via links on the Website or Application and/or activities offered by third parties. Please ensure you review any relevant policies on any third party websites before proceeding. QCS is not responsible for the collection or use of your personal data from these third party websites.
Find out more:
- CONTRACT
- DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU OR ABOUT YOU AND OUR SOURCES OF THAT DATA
- PURPOSE AND LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING YOUR PERSONAL DATA
- MARKETING
- DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
- WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
- SECURITY
- RETAINING PERSONAL DATA
- YOUR RIGHTS
- COOKIES
- CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY AND COOKIES POLICY
- HOW TO CONTACT US
Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.
CONTRACT
Unless you are a visitor of the Website, QCS will have entered into an agreement with the organisation that
you represent (the “Organisation”) for the use of our services available via the Website or the Application (the “Contract”).
Please note that the information the Organisation or you provide to us (whether it is personal or non-personal data) will also be
governed by the Contract. If you have any queries about the processing carried out by the Organisation or your rights in respect of such processing, we recommend that you check the Organisation’s privacy policy.
DATA WE COLLECT FROM YOU OR ABOUT YOU AND OUR SOURCES OF THAT DATA
We will collect the following data about you:
- Data you give us. You may give us data about you:
- by filing in forms on the Application or the Website. For instance, if the Organisation or we create a user profile for you in order to enable you to access the Website and/or Application and any services provided by us under the Contract (whether on a trial or full basis);
- when you complete the sign up form through the Website;
- when you download or register to use the Application;
- if you sign up to receive marketing communications from us about products and services we offer;
- when you report a problem with the Website or Application;
- if you complete a survey or provide feedback, for example, about the Application or the Website;
- if you contact or correspond with us (for example, by phone, e-mail or otherwise) for any reason
- when you transmit or upload content or reports including, but not limited to: opinions, comments, communications, data relating to regulatory compliance; and
- any comments, opinions and/or feedback you provide to us regarding the Website and/or Application, for example during any trial period that you may participate in or thereafter.
Data we collect about you. With regard to each of your visits to the Website or the Application we will automatically collect the following:
- technical information, including the type of device (and its unique device identifier) you use to access the Website or the Application, the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, mobile network information and platform;
- information about your visit to the Website including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL), clickstream to, through and from the Website or Application (including date and time), pages you viewed, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page; and
- information about your use of the Application and Website including the services that you have viewed, the duration spent using those services and data files uploaded to the Application.
Data provided by the Organisation. The Organisation will give us information when:
- signing up to the Website or Application to enable us to create a user profile for you in order to give you access the Website and/or Application under the Contract (whether on a trial or full basis). This information may include your name, service type, company email address and job title; and
- uploading data to the Website or Application as part of compliance actions taken by the Organisation.
PURPOSE AND LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We will use the personal data held about you for the purposes stated below:
| Purpose of Processing | Type of personal data | Legal basis for processing |
|---|---|---|
| To enable us to provide you with access to the Website and Application and for you to use our services | Your name, job title, Organisation, business address, work phone number and work email address | Legitimate interest – to allow us to perform our contract with the Organisation |
| To process the payment for the Contract | Bank, credit or debit card details | Legitimate interest – to allow us to perform our contract with the Organisation |
| To help us identify you and any subscriptions you hold with us | Your name, job title, Organisation, business address, work phone number and work email address | Legitimate interest – to allow us to perform our contract with the Organisation |
| To deal with any enquiries, correspondence, concerns or complaints you have raised about the Application or Website | Your Organisation contact details and information about the issue raised | Legitimate interest – to allow us to improve the Application and Website and perform our contract with your Organisation |
| To notify you about changes to any element of our services, for example, an update or upgrade of the Website or Application, and addition or change to the content provided in the Application. | Your name and Organisation email address | Legitimate interest – to allow us to perform our contract with the Organisation |
| To tell you if your subscription with us is due to expire | Your name, Organisation email address and Organisation details | Legitimate interest – to allow us to continue providing the Website and Application to you |
| To ensure that content on the Website and the Application is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your device | Technical information as mentioned above | Legitimate interest – to allow us to present the Website and Application better |
| To carry out surveys and market research | Your Organisation contact details and opinions on our products and services | For individuals not using corporate contact details, consent For our corporate contacts, legitimate interest – to allow us to better understand our user’s needs and to improve the Application |
| For our internal operations, including data analysis, testing, research, statistical purposes and troubleshooting | Technical information as mentioned above | Legitimate Interest – to better understand our users and continuously improving the Website and Application |
| As part of our efforts to keep the Website and the Application safe and secure | Your name and contact details, Organisation details, the administrator’s details and technical information mentioned above | Legitimate Interest – to improve an ensure the safety of the Website and Application |
| To provide you with information, products and services about us and details of any upcoming events | Your name, Organisation name and Organisation email address | Consent |
| To send you our newsletters | Your name, Organisation name and Organisation email address | For individuals not using corporate contact details, consent For our corporate contacts, legitimate interest – to promoted our services to contacts via our newsletters |
Please note that we may use and share non-personal data we receive or collect from you in connection with the Website or Application.
Where we have a legal basis to use your personal data without consent (as we have described above), this policy fulfils our duty to
process personal data fairly and lawfully and in a manner that you would expect given the nature of our relationship with you,
by giving you appropriate notice and explanation of the way in which your personal data will be used.
Where consent is required for our use of your personal data, by ticking the appropriate consent box or
otherwise communicating your consent, you consent to our use of that personal data for the purposes covered by the specific consent that you have given.
MARKETING
As mentioned above, we would like to provide you with information about products, services and opportunities which
may be of interest to you if you consent. We may provide such information to you by email or through personalised online
content and advertising through the Website, social media platforms or our online partners. Even if you consent, you can
change your mind about this at any time (click here: https://www.qcs.co.uk/contact-us/ for more information on how to contact us).
If you have given consent for us to do so we may share your personal data to selected partners for marketing purposes regarding QCS products and services. You may opt out of this at any time.
We will only send you marketing messages if you would like us to. You can tell us that you wish to receive such marketing messages by ticking the relevant boxes when you submit a sign up form to us, sign up to the Website or Application for the first time or by updating the privacy settings of your account. You will have the opportunity to clearly set out whether you wish to receive marketing messages from us by ticking the relevant boxes.
You can unsubscribe from any marketing materials at any time by clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any such materials, by updating your privacy settings of your account or by contacting us.
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We may share your personal data with selected third parties in accordance with this policy, including:
- service providers (for example, IT services or payment service providers), business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with you, but also when providing you with marketing communications;
- analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of the Website or the Application;
- government or other law enforcement agencies, in connection with the investigation of unlawful activities or for other legal reasons (this may include your location information);
- in the event that we sell any business or assets or receive investment into our business, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective buyer or investor;
- if QCS or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by us, including your personal data, will be one of the transferred assets; and
- if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply Contract or any other contract between you and us or between the Organisation or us; or to protect the rights, property or safety of QCS, our users, and others.
WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
The personal data that we hold about you will only be processed and stored by us within the UK or the EEA.
SECURITY
All information you provide to us is stored on secure servers. We will use technical and organisational measures to safeguard your personal data.
Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) access details and a password which enable you to access the Website and Application, you are responsible for keeping these access details and password confidential. We ask you not to share your access details and password with anyone.
We maintain (and ensure that anyone we share your personal data with maintains) appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that an appropriate level of security in respect of all personal data we process. Although we use industry standard good practice to ensure data is encrypted in-transit, unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to the Website or Application and you acknowledge that any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features which are appropriate to the type of personal data you have provided to try to prevent unauthorised access or inadvertent disclosure.
RETAINING PERSONAL DATA
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.
Even if you request that we erase your data, we may still need to keep it (please see below) or may keep it in a form that doesn’t
identify you. If we are processing your personal data as part of a Contract and you have not agreed that we may use your data for
marketing purposes, we will retain your personal data on record for no more than the duration of the Contract and 12 months thereafter.
Please contact us or the Organisation directly for details of the duration of the Contract.
YOUR RIGHTS
You have the following rights with regard to your personal data:
- Access. You have the right to access data we hold about you. This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it;
- Rectification or erasure. You have the right to request that we rectify or delete any personal data that we hold about you (unless we have the legal right to retain it).
If you request that we erase any personal data that we require in order to provide our services to your Organisation, you may no longer be able to use it. This right does not extend
to non-personal data. It is likely to be necessary for us to retain your personal data to enable us to carry out a contract with your Organisation, and your rights under applicable law
to request erasure may be limited accordingly. - Restriction. You also have the right to restrict us from processing your personal data if the data is inaccurate, the processing is unlawful or we no longer need to your personal data
for the purposes for which we hold it. - Data portability. You have the right to obtain personal data we hold about you, in a structured, electronic format, and to transmit such data to another data controller if the legal basis
for processing such personal data is consent.
If you have any further questions in respect of our profiling or automated decision-making processes or the accuracy of them, please let us know.
- Object /change of preferences. You have a right to request that we stop processing your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate
interest (or those of a third party). You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
For example, if you have given your consent to receive updates from us about upcoming events, but have changed your mind, you have the ability to opt out
from receiving such communications going forward by contacting us using the details provided below or clicking the relevant link in any communications you
receive. Please note, if you submit a request for us to stop processing your personal data in a certain way and this type of processing is required in order to
facilitate your use of the Website or Application, you will no longer be able to use the Website or Application following your request for us to stop the relevant processing. - Complaints. If for any reason you are not happy with the way that we have handled your personal data, please contact us. If you are still not happy, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
- Automated decision making. We do not currently carry out decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling. If we change our practices to do this in a way which has legal or similarly significant effects on you, you may have the right to object. If this becomes relevant in the future, we will update this policy to provide further information.
Please note that if you ask us to stop processing your personal data in a certain way or erase your personal data, and this type of processing or data is needed to facilitate your use of the Website or the Application you may not be able to use the Website or the Application as you did before. This does not include your right to object to direct marketing, which can be exercised at any time without restriction. Please allow at least 3 working days for your request to be actioned.
Please note that the rights mentioned above do not extend to non-personal data.
If you would like to exercise any of the rights mentioned above, please contact us at Data Protection Compliance, Third Floor, One London Square, Cross Lanes, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1UN or via the website at: https://www.qcs.co.uk/contact-us/.
COOKIES
We use cookies, which are small files of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer or mobile device if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s or mobile device’s hard drive.
By clicking “[Accept Cookies]” on the cookie consent box when you first access the Website and by continuing to access and use the Website you accept our use of cookies. For your reference, we set out below the wording of our cookie consent box.
“We use cookies to make our website work better and improve your online experience. By continuing to browse this website you accept the use of cookies, read more about cookies https://www.qcs.co.uk/privacy-and-cookie-policy/. Accept Cookies”
We use the following cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of the Website and Application. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of the Website and Application, make use of e-billing services.
- Analytical/performance cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and users and to see how visitors and users move around the Website and Application when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way the Website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
- Functionality cookies. These are used to recognise you when you return to the Website and Application. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
- Targeting cookies. These cookies record your visit to the Website and Application, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make the Website and Application and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
- Tracking cookies. These cookies are used to track a user’s activity online. Tracking cookies are a specific type of cookie that can only track user activity through pages related to our advertising.
You can find more information about the individual cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them in the table below:
| Cookie Name | Purpose |
|---|---|
| User_id | This cookie is essential for the Website to operate. It allows us to synchronise your login status between the forum section of the Website and the other sections of the Website. |
| Session | This cookie is essential for the Website to operate. It allows us to remember your details during your current visit to the Website. Most of the cookies we use are known as session cookies. These cookies expire whenever you close your browser or shut down your computer. |
| authautologin | This cookie is a functionality cookie which automatically logs users in if their “session” cookie has expired. This allows you to navigate away from the Website and then return to the Website in the same browsing session. |
| bblastactivity | This cookie is a functionality cookie which records the time at which you were last active on the forum section of the Website. This is used to update your public profile on the forum. |
| Bblastvisit | This cookie is a functionality cookie which records the time of your last visit to the Website. This allows us to bring updates which you may have missed to your attention. |
| bbpassword | This cookie is a functionality cookie which remembers your password in order to automatically log you into the forum sections of our Website if you have already logged into your account. |
| Bbuserid | This cookie is a functionality cookie which remembers your user ID in order to automatically log you into the forum sections of our Website if you have already logged into your account. |
| Google Analytics | This is an analytical / performance cookie. The Website uses Google Analytics to help analyse how users use the Website, collecting standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information in an anonymised form from which no user is identifiable. This information is transmitted to Google and processed to compile statistical reports on activity on the Website. These reports allow us to optimise our user experience. Google provide a browser add-on for users who wish to prevent their data from being used by Google Analytics. Further information is available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/. |
| Bing Tracking Pixel (UET) | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Google Adwords Conversion Tracking Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Linkedin Tracking Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Pardot Tracking Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Perfect Audience Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Pinterest Ads Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Taboola Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Twitter Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| Yahoo Gemini Pixel | This is a Tracking cookie used to track user activity through pages related to our advertising. |
| _ceir, is_returning | Track whether a visitor has visited the site before. |
| _CEFT | Store page variants assigned to visitors for A/B performance testing. |
| _cer.s | Track a recording visitor session unique ID, tracking host and start time. |
| _cer.v | Track whether a visitor has visited the site before. |
| _ce.s | Track a recording visitor session unique ID, tracking host and start time. |
| _ce.cch | Used to check if cookies can be added. |
| _ce.gtld | Used to identity the top level domain. |
| ce_need_secure_cookie | Used to determine cookie security parameters. |
| ce_successful_csp_check | Used to determine if the page has a Content Security Policy rule that would prevent tracking. |
| cebs | Used to track the current user session internally. |
| cebsp | Used to determine if a survey should be shown. |
| _gat | Request rate throttling. |
| _gat_gtag_UA_[id] | Track user behaviour in videos. |
Please note that third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control.
You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of the Website or the Application.
For more detailed information about cookies and how they can be managed and deleted, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
Changes to OUR privacy and cookies policy
Any changes we make to our privacy and cookies policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate or notified to you by e-mail.
Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy and cookies policy. Continued use of the Website or the Application (as appropriate) will signify that you agree to such changes.
HOW TO CONTACT US
Questions, comments and requests regarding our privacy and cookies policy are welcomed and should be addressed to QCS Limited at Third Floor, One London Square, Cross Lanes, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1UN, or via the website at: https://www.qcs.co.uk/contact-us/ or by phone on 0333 405 33 33.
Please also contact us if you would like to know more about our data processing activities, to update or amend any of your personal data which you have provided to us or if you believe our records relating to your personal data are incorrect.
Our privacy and cookies policy was last updated on 18th January 2022.