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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Updated 24th May 2018


Protecting your privacy - Packt Privacy Policy


Introduction
This Privacy Notice explains in detail the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data, and keep it safe.
We know that there’s a lot of information here, but we want you to be fully informed about your rights, and how Packt uses your data; for example how we combine data to build a picture of you.
We hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not, please do get in touch with us.
It’s likely that we’ll need to update this Privacy Notice from time to time. We’ll notify you of any significant changes, but you’re welcome to come back and check it whenever you wish.
When you are using the Packt website, Packt Publishing Limited is the data controller.


Explaining the legal bases we rely on
The law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons for which a company may collect and process your personal data, including:


Consent
In specific situations, we can collect and process your data with your consent.
For example, when you tick a box to receive email campaigns
When collecting your personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.


Contractual obligations
In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligations.
For example, if you order an item from us for home delivery, we’ll collect your address details to deliver your purchase, and pass them to our courier.


Legal compliance
If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data.
For example, we can pass on details of people involved in fraud or other criminal activity affecting Packt to law enforcement.


Legitimate interest
In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests.
For example, we will use your purchase history to send you or make available personalised offers.
We also combine the shopping history of many customers to identify trends and ensure we can keep up with demand, or develop new products/services.


When do we collect your personal data?

  • When you visit our website, and use your account to buy products, or redeem vouchers from.
  • When you make an online purchase and check out as a guest (in which case we just collect transaction-based data, such as email, name, and address).
  • When you create an account with us.
  • When you engage with us on social media.
  • When you download or install our app.
  • When you join a Packt loyalty programme (such as Packt Members Club).
  • When you sign up to ‘My Account’ you will be given access to an area on packtpub.com which will collect and store all of your receipts for you when you make a purchase from Packt.
  • When you contact us by any means with queries, complaints etc.
  • When you enter prize draws or competitions.
  • When you choose to complete any surveys we send you.
  • When you comment on or review our products and services.
  • When you’ve given a third party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.


What sort of personal data do we collect?

  • If you have a web account with us: your name, date of birth, job title, billing/delivery address, orders and receipts, email and telephone number. For your security, we’ll also keep an encrypted record of your login password.
  • Details of your interactions with us through online or by using one of our apps. For example, we collect notes from our conversations with you, details of any complaints or comments you make, details of purchases you made, items viewed or added to your basket, voucher redemptions, products you show interest in, web pages you visit and how and when you contact us.
  • Details of your shopping preferences.
  • For example, which of our products and web pages you prefer to visit and where you redeem your vouchers or discount codes.
  • Details of your visits to our websites or apps, and which site you came from to ours.
  • Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser.  Learn more about how we use cookies and similar technologies.
  • Personal details which help us to recommend items of interest.
  • For example, you might share information on your topic preference which allows us to recommend appropriate technology area eBooks.
  • We’ll only ask for and use your personal data collected for recommending items of interest and to tailor your shopping experience with us. Of course, it’s always your choice whether you share such details with us.
  • Payment card information, which is stored with a Payment Card Provider in a PSI-DSS Compliant Manner.
  • Your comments and product reviews.
  • To deliver the best possible web experience, we collect technical information about your internet connection and browser as well as the country and telephone code where your computer is located, the web pages viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on, and any search terms you entered. 
  • Your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments, questions or feedback.

How and why do we use your personal data?
We want to give you the best possible customer experience. One way to achieve that is to get the richest picture we can of who you are by combining the data we have about you.
We then use this to offer you promotions and products that are most likely to interest you.
The data privacy law allows this as part of our legitimate interest in understanding our customers and providing the highest levels of service.
Of course, if you wish to change how we use your data, you’ll find details in the ‘What are my rights?’ in section 11 below.
Remember, if you choose not to share your personal data with us, or refuse certain contact permissions, we might not be able to provide some services you’ve asked for.


Here’s how we’ll use your personal data and why:
Here’s more at how we use  cookies and similar technologies.


Combining your data for personalised direct marketing
We want to bring you offers and promotions that are most relevant to your interests at particular times. To help us form a better, overall understanding of you as a customer, we combine your personal data gathered as described above, for example your shopping history.


How we protect your personal data
We know how much data security matters to all our customers. With this in mind we will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.
We secure access to all transactional areas of our websites and apps using ‘https’ technology.
Access to your personal data is password-protected, and sensitive data such as payment card information) is secured and tokenised to ensure it is protected.
We regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and we carry out penetration testing to identify ways to further strengthen security.


How long will we keep your personal data?
Whenever we collect or process your personal data, we’ll only keep it for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.
At the end of that retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised, for example by aggregation with other data so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning.

Example of customer data retention period:
Orders
When you place an order, we’ll keep the personal data you give us for five years so we can comply with our legal and contractual obligations.


Who do we share your personal data with?
We sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties.
For example, delivery couriers, email distributors, payment providers, print on demand partners, for fraud management, to help us personalise our offers to you and so on.


Here’s the policy we apply to those organisations to keep your data safe and protect your privacy:

  • We provide only the information they need to perform their specific services.
  • They may only use your data for the exact purposes we specify in our contract with them.
  • We work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times.
  • If we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will either be deleted or rendered anonymous.
  • Examples of the kind of third parties we work with are:
  • IT companies who support our website and other business systems.
  • Operational companies such as print on demand partners & delivery couriers.
  • Direct marketing companies who help us manage our electronic communications with you.
  • Google/Facebook to show you products that might interest you while you’re browsing the internet. This is based on either your marketing consent or your acceptance of cookies on our websites.  See our cookies notice for details.

Sharing your data with third parties for their own purposes
We will only do this in very specific circumstances, for example:

  • For fraud management, we may share information about fraudulent or potentially fraudulent activity in our premises or systems. This may include sharing data about individuals with law enforcement bodies.
  • We may also be required to disclose your personal data to the police or other enforcement, regulatory or Government body, in your country of origin or elsewhere, upon a valid request to do so. These requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis and take the privacy of our customers into consideration.
  • To help personalise your journey through our website we currently use the following companies, who will process your personal data as part of their contracts with us:
  • Adform
  • Oracle Marketing Cloud
  • Criteo
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • GetSiteControl
  • Barilliance
  • HubSpot
  • Zuora
  • HEAP Analytics


Where your personal data may be processed
Sometimes we will need to share your personal data with third parties and suppliers outside the European Economic Area (EEA), such as Australia or the USA.


International orders
If you are based outside the UK and place an order with us, we will transfer the personal data that we collect from you to the UK.
Protecting your data outside the EEA
The EEA includes all EU Member countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. We may transfer personal data that we collect from you to third-party data processors in countries that are outside the EEA.
For example, this might be required in order to fulfil your order or process your payment details
If we do this, we have procedures in place to ensure your data receives the same protection as if it were being processed inside the EEA. For example, our contracts with third parties stipulate the standards they must follow at all times.
Any transfer of your personal data will follow applicable laws and we will treat the information under the guiding principles of this Privacy Notice.


What are your rights over your personal data?


An overview of your different rights
You have the right to request:

  • Access to the personal data we hold about you, free of charge in most cases.
  • The correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete.
  • For example, when you withdraw consent, or object and we have no legitimate overriding interest.
  • That we stop using your personal data for direct marketing (either through specific channels, or all channels).
  • That we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw that consent.
  • You have the right to request a copy of any information about you that we hold at any time, and also to have that information corrected if it is inaccurate. To ask for your information, please contact Data Requests on datasubjectrequest@packtpub.com. To ask for your information to be amended, please update your online account, or contact our Customer Services team at customercare@packtpub.com.
  • If we choose not to action your request we will explain to you the reasons for our refusal.


Your right to withdraw consent

  • Whenever you have given us your consent to use your personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and withdraw that consent.
  • Where we rely on our legitimate interest
  • In cases where we are processing your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your individual situation. We must then do so unless we believe we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.
  • Direct marketing
  • You have the right to stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing activity through all channels, or selected channels. We must always comply with your request.
  • Checking your identity
  • To protect the confidentiality of your information, we will ask you to verify your identity before proceeding with any request you make under this Privacy Notice. If you have authorised a third party to submit a request on your behalf, we will ask them to prove they have your permission to act.


How can you stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing?

There are several ways you can stop direct marketing communications from us:

  • Click the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any email communication that we send you. We will then stop any further emails from that particular division.
  • If you have an account, log in into your account, visit the ‘My Account’ area and change your preferences.
  • In our apps, you can manage your preferences and opt out from one or all of the different push notifications by selecting or deselecting the relevant options in the ‘Settings’ section.
  • Please note that you may continue to receive communications for a short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated.

Contacting the Regulator
If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
If you are based outside the UK, you have the right to lodge your complaint with the relevant data protection regulator in your country of residence.


If you live outside the UK
For all non-UK customers
By using our services or providing your personal data to us, you expressly consent to the processing of your personal data by us or on our behalf. Of course, you still have the right to ask us not to process your data in certain ways, and if you do so, we will respect your wishes.
Sometimes we’ll need to transfer your personal data between countries to enable us to supply the goods or services you’ve requested. In the ordinary course of business, we may transfer your personal data from your country of residence to ourselves and to third parties located in and outside of the UK.
By dealing with us, you are giving your consent to this overseas use, transfer and disclosure of your personal data outside your country of residence for our ordinary business purposes.
This may occur because our information technology storage facilities and servers are located outside your country of residence, and could include storage of your personal data on servers in the UK.
We’ll ensure that reasonable steps are taken to prevent third parties outside your country of residence using your personal data in any way that’s not set out in this Privacy Notice. We’ll also make sure we adequately protect the confidentiality and privacy of your personal data.
This policy applies to all web sites and email services provided by Packt Publishing. By using these web sites you consent to the general terms and conditions of usage and to the terms of this privacy policy.

Packt Publishing Ltd
Grosvenor House
11 St Paul's Square
Birmingham B3 1RB
United Kingdom
T : +44 (0) 121 265 6484
F: +44 (0) 121 212 1419