Introduction
This notice describes how Big Country Competitions (‘we’, ‘us’ ‘our’) collect, store, transfer and use personal data. It tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
Our address is: 11 Oliver’s Close, Portaferry, County Down, Northern Ireland BT22 1QW.
In the context of the law and this notice, ‘personal data’ is information that clearly identifies you as an individual or which could be used to identify you if combined with other information. Acting in any way on personal data is referred to as ‘processing’.
This notice applies to personal data collected through our website and through social media platforms.
Personal data we process
1. How we obtain personal data
The information we process about you includes information:
- you have directly provided to us
- that we obtain from third parties
- as a result of monitoring how you use our website or our services
2. Types of personal data we collect directly
When you create an account on our website or otherwise enter a game, we ask you to provide personal data. This can be categorised into the following groups:
- personal identifiers, such as your first and last names, your title and your date of birth
- contact information, such as your email address, your telephone number and your postal addresses
- account information, including your username and password
If you continue to use our website, over time we collect:
- the information you provide in your entries to games
- records of communication between us including messages sent through our website, email messages and telephone conversations
- marketing preferences that tell us what types of marketing you would like to receive
- preferences for prizes that you might win
If you win any prize draw we may also subsequently process documentation that confirms your identity, such as an image of your passport or driver’s licence.
3. Types of personal data we collect from third parties
We may confirm some of the information you provide to us directly using data from other sources in order to prevent fraud.
The additional information we collect can be categorised as follows:
- information that confirms your identity
- information that confirms your contact information
4. Other personal data we collect from your use of our website
By using our website, we process:
- technical information about the hardware and the software you use to access our website and use our services, including your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version and your device’s operating system
- usage information, including the frequency you use our services, the pages of our website that you visit, whether you receive messages from us and whether you reply to those messages
- transaction information that includes the details of the payments made to us for the games you have entered
5. Our use of aggregated information
We may aggregate anonymous information such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Anonymous information is that which does not identify you as an individual. Aggregated information may be derived from your personal data but is not considered as such in law because it does not reveal your identity.
However, if we combine or connect aggregated information with your personal data so that it can identify you in any way, we treat the combined information as personal data, and it will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.
6. If you do not provide personal data we need
Where we need to collect personal data under our terms, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform our contract. If so, we shall tell you.
The bases on which we process information about you
The law requires us to determine under which of six defined bases we process different categories of your personal data, and to notify you of the basis for each category.
If a basis on which we process your personal data is no longer relevant then we shall immediately stop processing your data.
If the basis changes then if required by law we shall notify you of the change and of any new basis under which we have determined that we can continue to process your information.
7. Information we process because we have a contractual obligation with you
When you create an account on our website, enter a game, or otherwise agree to our terms and conditions, a contract is formed between you and us.
In order to carry out our obligations under that contract we must process the information you give us. Some of this information may be personal data.
We may use it in order to:
- verify your identity
- process your game entry and the prize draw
We shall continue to process this information until the contract between us ends or is terminated by either party under the terms of the contract.
8. Information we process with your consent
Through certain actions when otherwise there is no contractual relationship between us, such as when you browse our website or ask us to provide more information about how a game works or our prizes, you provide your consent to us to process information that may be personal data.
If you are a winner of a prize draw, with your consent we publish your name and the county in which you live to demonstrate that a valid award took place.
Wherever possible, we aim to obtain your explicit consent to process this information.
We continue to process your information on this basis until you withdraw your consent or it can be reasonably assumed that your consent no longer exists.
You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us through our website. However, if you do so, you may not be able to use our website or our services further.
We aim to obtain and keep your consent to process your information. However, while we take your consent into account in decisions about whether or not to process your personal data, the withdrawal of your consent does not necessarily prevent us from continuing to process it. The law may allow us to continue to process your personal data, provided that there is another basis on which we may do so. For example, we may have a legal obligation to do so.
9. Information we process for the purposes of legitimate interests
We may process information on the basis there is a legitimate interest, either to you or to us, of doing so.
Where we process your information on this basis, we do after having given careful consideration to:
- whether the same objective could be achieved through other means
- whether processing (or not processing) might cause you harm
- whether you would expect us to process your data, and whether you would, in the round, consider it reasonable to do so
For example, we may process your data on this basis for the purposes of:
- improving our games and customer experience
- record-keeping for the proper and necessary administration of our business
- preventing fraudulent use of our servicesexercising our legal rights, including to detect and prevent fraud and to protect our intellectual property
- protecting your interests where we believe we have a duty to do so
10. Information we process because we have a legal obligation
Sometimes, we must process your information in order to comply with a statutory obligation.
For example, we may be required to give information to legal authorities if they so request.
This may include your personal data.
How and when we process your personal data
11. Payment information
Payment information is never taken by us or transferred to us either through our website or otherwise. Our employees and contractors never have access to it.
At the point of payment, you are transferred to a secure page on the website of our payment service provider. That page may be branded to look like a page on our website, but it is not controlled by us.
12. Service providers and business partners
We may share your personal data with businesses that provide services to us, or with business partners. In most circumstances, we shall ask for your consent before doing so.
As an example, we may use fraud prevention agencies and credit reference agencies to verify your identity and we may pass your information to those agencies if we strongly suspect fraud on our website.
13. Regulatory bodies
If requested, we may share some personal data with regulatory bodies, including the Advertising Standards Authority in order to show that valid awards for prize draws take place.
Use of information we collect through automated systems
14. Cookies
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer’s hard drive by your web browser when you visit a website that uses them. They allow information gathered on one web page to be stored until it is needed for use at a later date.
They are commonly used to provide you with a personalised experience while you browse a website, for example, allowing your preferences to be remembered.
They can also provide core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility; record how you interact with the website so that the owner can understand how to improve the experience of other visitors; and serve you advertisements that are relevant to your browsing history.
Some cookies may last for a defined period of time, such as one visit (known as a session), one day or until you close your browser. Others last indefinitely until you delete them.
Your web browser should allow you to delete any cookie you choose. It should also allow you to prevent or limit their use. Your web browser may support a plug-in or add-on that helps you manage which cookies you wish to allow to operate.
The law requires you to give explicit consent for use of any cookies that are not strictly necessary for the operation of a website.
When you first visit our website, we ask you whether you wish us to use cookies. If you choose not to accept them, we shall not use them for your visit except to record that you have not consented to their use for any other purpose.
If you choose not to use cookies or you prevent their use through your browser settings, you may not be able to use all the functionality of our website.
We use cookies in the following ways:
- to facilitate game play
- to track how you use our website
- to record whether you have seen specific messages we display on our website
- to keep you signed in to our website
15. Personal identifiers from your browsing activity
Requests by your web browser to our servers for web pages and other content on our website are recorded.
We record information such as your geographical location, your Internet service provider and your IP address. We also record information about the software you are using to browse our website, such as the type of computer or device and the screen resolution.
We use this information in aggregate to assess the popularity of the webpages on our website and how we perform in providing content to you.
If combined with other information we know about you from previous visits and such information is reasonably unusual, the data possibly could be used to identify you personally, even if you are not signed in to our website.
16. Re-marketing
Re-marketing involves placing a ‘tracking technology’ such as a cookie, a ‘web beacon’ (also known as an ‘action tag’ or a ‘single-pixel GIF’) to track which pages you visit and to serve you relevant adverts for our services when you visit some other website.
The benefit of re-marketing technology is that we can provide you with more useful and relevant adverts, and not show you ones repeatedly that you may have already seen.
We may use a third-party advertising service to provide us with re-marketing services from time to time. If you have consented to our use of such tracking technologies, you may see advertisements for our products and services on other websites.
We do not provide your personal data to advertisers or to third-party re-marketing service providers. However, if you are already a member of a website whose affiliated business provides such services, that affiliated business may learn of your preferences in relation to your use of our website.
Other matters
17. Your rights
The law requires us to tell you about your rights and our obligations to you in regard to the processing and control of your personal data.
We do this now, by requesting that you read the information provided at http://www.knowyourprivacyrights.org
18. Use of our services by children
We do not allow children to enter our promotions, nor do we market to children.
However, we collect data about all visitors to our website regardless of age, and we anticipate that some of those visitors may be children.
19. Data may be processed outside the UK
Our websites are hosted in the United Kingdom.
We may also use outsourced services in countries outside the UK from time to time in other aspects of our business.
For example, we may use services provided by Facebook, whose servers may be located in the United States of America.
Accordingly data obtained within the UK could be processed outside the UK.
If data may be transferred outside the UK, we ensure that the organisation that processes the data applies safeguards to the processing, and in particular, that the contracts between us and them require them to do so to the same standards as UK law requires.
20. Control over your own information
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Please inform us if your personal data changes.
At any time, you may contact us to request that we provide you with the personal data we hold about you.
At any time you may review or update personally identifiable information that we hold about you, by signing in to your account on our website.
To obtain a copy of any information that is not provided on our website you should contact us to make that request.
When we receive any request to access, edit or delete personal data we first take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you access or otherwise taking any action. This is important to safeguard your information.
Please be aware that we are not obliged by law to provide you with all personal data we hold about you, and that if we do provide you with information, the law allows us to charge for such provision if doing so incurs costs for us. After receiving your request, we will tell you when we expect to provide you with the information, and whether we require any fee for providing it to you.
You should also be aware that the law does not oblige us to delete your personal data or to stop processing it simply because you do not consent to us doing so. While having your consent is an important consideration as to whether to process it, if there is another legitimate basis on which we may process it, we may do so on that basis.
If you wish us to remove personally identifiable information from our website, you should contact us to make your request.
21. Communicating with us
When you contact us, whether through our website, by social media or by email, we collect the data you have given to us in order to reply with the information you need.
We record your request and our reply in order to increase the efficiency of our business.
We may keep personally identifiable information associated with your message, such as your name and email address so as to be able to track our communications with you to provide a high quality service.
22. Complaining
If you are not happy with our privacy policy, or if you have any complaint, then you should tell us.
When we receive a complaint, we record the information you have given to us on the basis of consent. We use that information to resolve your complaint.
If we think your complaint is vexatious or without any basis, we shall not correspond with you about it.
If your complaint reasonably requires us to notify some other person, we may decide to give to that other person some of the information contained in your complaint. We do this as infrequently as possible, but it is a matter for our sole discretion whether we do give information, and if we do, what that information is.
We may also compile statistics showing information obtained from this source to assess the level of service we provide, but not in a way that could identify you or any other person.
If a dispute is not settled then we hope you will agree to attempt to resolve it by engaging in good faith with us in a process of mediation or arbitration.
If you are in any way dissatisfied about how we process your personal data, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This can be done at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about your concern before you approach the ICO.
23. Retention period
Except as otherwise mentioned in this privacy notice, we keep your personal data only for as long as required by us:
- to allow you to enter and to participate in games
- to comply with other law, including for the period demanded by our tax authorities
- to support a claim or defence in court
24. Compliance with the law
Our privacy policy complies with the law in the United Kingdom, specifically with the Data Protection Act 2018 accordingly incorporating the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
25. Review of this privacy policy
We shall update this privacy notice from time to time as necessary.