Privacy Policy

Why do we hold personal data

We want to give you the best possible customer experience and like any business, the Van Walt Group of companies have to keep personal data about staff, customers and potential customers. Data protection laws allow us to use the customer data we collect as part of our legitimate interest in better understanding our customers and providing the highest levels of service and equipment. For example, when you fill in the contact form on our website, we need to keep a record so we can get back to you. We may process this data and hold it so we can deliver our equipment and services; enhance, modify, or improve our services and equipment, and so we can provide useful information to you relating to our equipment, business and the sector in which we operate.

We want to explain how we store, handle and keep that data safe.

The legal basis we are relying on

Van Walt Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration reference: ZA353340. A copy of our Registration Certificate is available below:

The law on data protection in the countries we operate in sets out a number of different reasons why we might collect and process your data:

Consent

For example, when you tick a box to receive a newsletter.

Contractual obligations

For example, if you place a purchase order with us; if you purchase an item of equipment from us and we need to inform you of a product upgrade or an item of equipment you have purchased from us is due for a service and/or calibration check.

Legitimate interest

For example, we will use your purchase and interaction history to send you marketing information on equipment and services that we think might be of interest to you in your work.

What data do we keep

We hold information such as your first and last names: your business email address, business phone number and postal address. Your job title and the department you work in. We will hold details about the equipment we have quoted and sold to you, plus a record of our contact history with you.

How do we protect your data

We recognise how important data security is to you so as a responsible company, Van Walt stores all data on secured computer systems. Anything that is archived will be placed on encrypted drives. We use third-party customer database software which is backed-up daily. The same goes for the Microsoft services we use, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. We use Microsoft Exchange as an email host. We also use Act Automation for marketing purposes: to send emails and to manage customer and prospect lists.

These third parties are not permitted to share your data or to use it for marketing purposes. We do, for example, give your address to couriers so they can deliver your orders. What we won't ever do is sell your data, you will only ever receive marketing material from Van Walt.

How long do we keep your data

We will keep your data in our systems until it is no longer relevant to our business, but you can request that we remove or update it at any time.

What are your access rights to your data

Your data belongs to you which means you can request copies of your personal data at any time. You also have the right to be forgotten, so if you ask that we delete your data, we will do so or provide a valid reason why we are unable to. We will require proof of your identity before deleting your data.

You have the right to request that we stop using your personal data for direct marketing. We will always comply with your request but unsubscribing from direct marketing is not the same as a request for us to delete personal data. If, for example, you unsubscribe from a mailing list, it is necessary to keep your email address on record to prevent marketing email from being sent to you. If we were to delete that information, we would have no way to tell if you have unsubscribed.

In cases where we are processing your data on the basis of our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop, and we will do so unless we believe we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue contacting you. For example, a product recall. This does not affect your right to request erasure of your personal data.

Your right to complain

If, for any reason, you are unhappy with the way your personal data is treated by us, you have the right to complain to a supervisory authority. In the UK, that would be the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Website analytics

Anyone who visits our website will automatically have data about them collected via Google Analytics. This gives us broad information about what people are doing on our website and which pages they are looking at. It does not provide us with personal information that could be used to identify individuals.

Cookies

When using our websites (through any device) you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy. Van Walt Ltd reserves the right to make changes to our Cookie Policy. Any such changes shall appear here and become effective immediately. Your continued use of our websites is taken as meaning that you agree to any such changes.

A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. The cookies we use are "analytical" cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors, to see how visitors move around the site when they are using it and to distinguish you from other users. This helps us to provide you with a good online experience when you browse our website and allows us to improve our site and how it works, for example, by ensuring that you can easily find what you are looking for.

Our data controllers and processors

Because we use some third-party, cloud-based software, some data will be processed by these external organisations. Van Walt will also process some of this data on our own systems. In both cases, the controller of the data is Van Walt's legal representation in the countries we operate in.