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Privacy Policy

At the Serious Sport Group, we take the protection and privacy of your personal information incredibly seriously (pardon the pun). As a result, we are committed to protecting your privacy always.
Please read the following privacy policy to understand how we use and protect the information that you provide us.

The Serious Sport Group will be referred to in this policy as “we”, “us” or “our” but you will better know us by our trading names, which include Serious Cricket, Serious Sport and Serious Football.

*By registering or placing an order on this website, you consent to the collection, use and transfer of your information under the terms of this policy. You also confirm that you are at least 18 years of age or have obtained your parent or guardian's consent.

Your Personal Data – What we collect & why?

So that The Serious Sport Group can deliver an effective service, at times we need to collect and use your personal data. This notice outlines the lawful basis in which we process your data, the types of data we use, and how and why we use it:

What’s the lawful basis in which we process your data?

Under the applicable data protection laws (GDPR) we need a lawful basis to collect and use your personal data. The law allows for six lawful bases to process people’s personal data:

Legal

Allows personal data to be legally collected and used if necessary, to comply with the law

Contractual

In the event that you request any goods and/or services from us, we will rely on our contractual relationship to process your personal data to provide such goods and/or services to you.

Legitimate Interest

We may also process your personal data on the basis that it is within our legitimate interests to do so – if it is fair and balanced and does not unduly impact the rights on the individual. We have assessed our business interests in carrying out marketing activities and we have carefully considered the impact the collection and use of personal data could potentially have on individuals’ rights.

Our legitimate interest includes:

  • Collecting vital information to help with enquiries via our website or those received by phone or email – this allows us to follow up on and provide you with the necessary information in relation to your enquiry.
  • Collecting publicly available data to offer our services to interested parties. You can unsubscribe from this at any time.  

We believe that these activities are unlikely to affect the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals concerned. We have therefore concluded that the most appropriate lawful ground for the processing of your personal data is our legitimate interests.

Consent

In certain circumstances, we may also rely on specific consent provided by you for the processing of your data. For example, if you enter one of our competitions. If you provide us with consent you may withdraw this at any time.

You have the right to object to this processing if you wish and if you do so we will remove your data from all our systems and cease all communication with you. For more information see the section below relating to your rights.

What do we collect?

We will collect personal information whenever you use our services via our website.

By setting up an account, you will be asked to provide us details such as email address, password, first name, last name, contact details, date of birth and team you play for. We require your consent to collect such information.

When you place an order, we will collect further details such as addresses and financial data that includes credit/debit card details. We are PCI:DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant which is a set of mandatory requirements designed to safeguard cardholder data. We will also collect transactional data such as the products you have brought from us so we can fulfil our contract.

By using our digital platform we also collect technical data that includes: IP address, location, type of operating system (OS), type of web browser, web browser plug-in, referring site, time of visit and number of pages visited. We also track your user journey through our website such as where you have clicked, the searches you make and what marketing channel led you to take a specific action on our site (e.g. email campaign).

If you subscribe to our marketing communications, we collect information on your preferences and interest.

If you enter one of our competitions we may collect personal data such as email address, first name, last name, and contact details but only with your consent to do so.

If you raise a query or complaint through any of our social media pages, we will have a record of your user name and will use this to resolve the matter you’ve raised.

Why?

This information is collected to help us:

  • Provide you with access to all parts of our website
  • To supply the goods or services you have requested
  • To bill you and to contact you where necessary concerning your orders
  • Manage your registration preferences
  • Analyse the information we collect so we can administer, support, improve and develop our business
  • Contact you via email, post or phone for your views on our services
  • Notify you occasionally about significant changes or developments to the website or our services

And if you allow us to by subscribing, we may also:

  • Contact you via email from time to time to inform you of any special offers, promotions and new products that may be of interest to you
  • Invite you to participate in marketing research and surveys

However, we will give you the option to unsubscribe from such communication at any time.

We also use your information for analytical purposes to help us understand our customer needs and business performance. This statistical analysis helps shape our future strategic plan to ensure we can deliver the best possible service to our target audience, whether that be ensuring we have enough staff during peak season or reviewing the effectiveness of our marketing.

How we keep your information secure

All the information you give us is protected by a secure server. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral.

Whilst we do our best to ensure security, data transmission over the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot, therefore, guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

Sharing your personal information

In most instances, we will not disclose your personal data to third parties without your consent. We only share your personal information with third parties that provide a range of services on behalf of the Serious Sport Group such as to assist us in:

  • Account registration
  • Fulfilling orders
  • Payment processing and verification
  • Web hosting and data storage
  • Data analytics
  • Creating and managing marketing promotions
  • Management of competitions
  • IT technical support
  • Customer service
  • Market research

We have the following third-party agreements in place:

  • DotDigital is our email service provider and allows us to hold and process your marketing communication preferences securely in line with consent provided via our website. DotDigital employ a variety of technical and organizational measures to keep personal data safe and to prevent unauthorized access. You can view their privacy policy here - https://dotdigital.com/terms/privacy-policy/https://www.adestra.com/privacy-policy/
  • Monek LTD (Secure Hosting - as our payment provider) helps us capture, process and deliver accurate customer payment data securely and in real-time. They are PCI:DSS Level 1 compliant which is the maximum level of card data security. You can view their privacy policy here - https://www.securehosting.com/download/POL-50_Privacy_Policy.pdf
  • UK Fast host and manage our e-commerce website. All the information you provide us with is protected by this secure server.
  • Lloyds Bank Cardnet – helps us capture, process and deliver accurate customer payment data securely over the phone. We are PCI:DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant which is a set of mandatory requirements designed to safeguard cardholder data. You can view their privacy policy here - https://lloydsbankcardnet.com/privacy/
  • Quickbooks is an accounting software used to manage our accounts. We use this software to process, submit and receive invoice payments on time. You can view their privacy policy here - https://quickbooks.intuit.com/uk/privacy-policy/

All information that is shared shall be treated with the same level of care and protection as in this policy and shall comply with the new data protection legislation.

Our website may contain links to external sites on the odd occasion. Please note that the Serious Sport Group is not responsible for the privacy policy of those sites.

Apart from the above, we do not share any of your personal data with any third parties except where we are compelled or permitted by law to do so.

As a group, we may share personal information within the Serious Sport Group for any of the purposes outlined in this policy.

How long do we keep your personal data for?

We shall only keep your personal data for as long as we have a valid reason to do so. This includes providing you with the goods or services requested, to fulfil any legal obligations, resolve any disputes and so long as a contract remains in place.

We will retain your personal information that is provided upon registering an account on for as long as you remain a customer. You have the right to request this information to be updated or deleted at any time.

All transactional data will be retained after you have completed your purchase in order to fulfil any contractual obligations such as refunds and to meet legal obligations for the retention of transactional data.

If you opt out of our marketing communication, we will still retain a record of your contact details to ensure that we don’t send you any further communication. Again, you can request for this information to be permanently deleted at any time.

Where you have opted in to receive marketing communication, event-level data such as email opens and clicks will be archived after a period of 24 months.

Google Analytics user-level and event-level data associated with cookies, user identifiers (e.g. User ID) and advertising identifiers will be deleted after a period of 50 months.

Coaching course registers will be retained for a period of 12 months after the course.

Any job applications will be retained on file, even if unsuccessful for a period of 12 months as other vacancies may become available.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file which is placed on your hard drive when you visit our website. The only personal information a cookie can obtain is information a user supplies themselves. A cookie cannot read data from your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies, however, enhance our website performance in a number of ways, including providing a secure way for us to verify your identity during your visit to our website and personalising your experience on our site, making it more convenient for you.

Types of Cookies Used

  1. Essential Cookies: These cookies are necessary for the functioning of our Website and cannot be disabled in our systems. They are usually set in response to your actions, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or completing forms. You can set your browser to block these cookies, but some parts of the Website may not function properly.

  2. Analytical/Performance Cookies: These cookies allow us to collect information about how visitors use the Website, such as which pages are visited most often or if error messages are displayed. The information collected is used to improve the performance of the Website and enhance your user experience. These cookies do not identify you personally. By using our Website, you consent to the use of these cookies.

  3. Functionality Cookies: These cookies enable the Website to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly.

  4. Targeting/Advertising Cookies: These cookies may be set through our Website by our advertising partners. They may be used by these companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertisements on other websites. They do not directly store personal information but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you may experience less targeted advertising.

Managing Cookies

By visiting our website, and consenting to the use of cookies, you agree to the use of the types of cookies explained above. You can control and manage these cookies in various ways. Most web browsers allow you to accept or reject cookies, delete cookies already stored on your device, and set preferences for certain websites. Please note that if you disable or delete cookies, certain features and content of our Website may not be available to you. For more information on deleting or controlling cookies, please head to www.aboutcookies.org.

Children’s Privacy

The Serious Sport Group does not intentionally or knowingly collect any personal information from Children under the age of 13. If a parent or guardian is aware that such personally identifiable information has been processed without consent, we ask that they contact us so we can delete the information from our files.

When using our online booking system for services such as; coaching courses, 121 coaching and net hire, we require consent from a parent or guardian for the processing of information of children under the age of 18. Where consent has been received, we will only process information such as name, date of birth and medical history (for vital interest) of the participant attending any of our coaching courses or 121 coaching sessions.

Coaching course registers will be printed with all the above information and held by the lead Coach for the duration of the coaching course. We will retain these records for a period of 12 months after which they will be destroyed.

Your rights

Whilst we are holding or processing your personal data, you have the following rights:

  1. Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.
  2. Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
  3. Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances, you can ask for the data we hold about you to be deleted.
  4. Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply you have a right to restrict the processing of your personal data.
  5. Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.
  6. Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.
  7. Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.
  8. Right to judicial review: in the event that The Serious Sport Group refuses your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why. If you are not satisfied with this you have the right to complain to the relevant supervisory authority (see detail below on Complaints)
  9. Where you have consented to processing of your personal data, you have the right to remove this consent at any time

You can exercise these rights at any time by contacting the appropriate individual under ‘Key Contacts’.

Key Contacts

Our Data Protection Officer is responsible for helping ensure we treat your personal data appropriately. They can be contacted at: data@serioussport.co.uk

Complaints

If you feel you need to make a complaint about how we are processing your personal data, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office as the relevant supervisory authority. However, we would appreciate the chance to deal with your complaint internally before you approach the ICO, so please do contact us.

You can contact the ICO through the following means: