Privacy, Cookie & Data Policy

The privacy of our users is important to us and we take care to safeguard it. We have updated this policy in line with the principles of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that came into effect on 25th May 2018.

This page describes our privacy policy, including the information that we might collect and how this is processed and stored.

What information do we collect?

We collect:

• The names and email addresses of individuals that contact us – companies or members of the public – directly with an enquiry

We collect information for the following activities:

• To answer questions from the public

More specifically:

About Bed Advice UK: Bed Advice UK is brought to you by The National Bed Federation. The NBF is a (not for profit) trade association for British and Irish bed manufacturers and other companies within the supply chain, and as such is principally a membership organisation. Therefore, the focus of the NBF’s main public activity in regard to the processing of personal data is business-to-business and the lawful basis for processing personal data will often be because it is in the legitimate interest of the parties and necessary for the performance of the contract with the NBF and the member.

The NBF operates with a few trusted individuals that provide consultancy services in specific areas and these are governed by a contract (employment or service) and a privacy policy in line with data protection laws. With a few exceptions, when engaged with members, including member recruitment or retention activities, no personal data will be shared outside of the NBF or any consultant(s) or trusted third parties that the NBF engages to help in this exercise and in the general operation of the business. (For further detail – see below – Do we disclose any information to outside parties).

Visits to our website:

Visitors to the Bed Advice UK web site do so on an anonymous basis. However, your personal information will be processed if you voluntarily complete any forms on our site or if you contact us with comments or specific requests.

Log File Analytics & Google Analytics: Our web server records IP addresses and writes these to log files that allow us to analyse visitor numbers on this website, track user’s movement around the website and from page to page, we use this information see how visitors use and interact with our website.

Google Analytics is implemented on this website and collects various data points from visitors to the website. IP Addresses are used to distinguish visitor numbers to the website. Google Analytics will record the country you access this website from using your IP Address. Data gathered by Google Analytics allows us to analyse visitor numbers on this website, track user’s movement around the website and from page to page, we use this information see how visitors use and interact with our website. Google Analytics data is stored for a period of 26 months which allows us to build a year upon year picture of visitor numbers to our website.

Data gathered by Google Analytics may be stored outside of the European Union in line with its undertakings through the EU-US Privacy Shield Program. Further information can be found at https://policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks?hl=en&gl=de

You can find out more about Google’s position on privacy as regards its analytics service at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en-GB

Website Backups: This website is backed up on a regular basis for security and disaster recovery purposes. The backups are stored securely with Dropbox. Dropbox may store these backups outside of the European Union in line with its undertakings through the EU-US Privacy Shield Program. Further information can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/privacy

Website backups will be stored for a maximum of 30 days before being deleted.

How does the NBF store and protect your information?

The information we collect is stored on and off line and we implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of personal information. On-line data is stored in the local server and backed-up regularly. Some data is held in portable hard drives and these are stored in secure locked cabinets. Paper documentation is stored in organised files in locked cabinets. Archived paper data is held concerning past NBF activities and this data held in a secure and locked storage area.

We will retain all given information on the following basis

All information required to administer our accounts system, including bank account details, are stored on Sage software. All paper accounting information is routinely destroyed after seven years. Similarly, where applicable, the criteria used to determine the period of storage of personal data is the respective statutory retention period. After expiration of that period, the corresponding data is routinely deleted, as long as it is no longer necessary for the fulfilment of the contract or the initiation of a contract.

All other contact details and information is retained until otherwise advised by a member company that it should change, or for a reasonable period after a member company leaves membership as is the case for any other contact details unless that individual has unsubscribed from further contact or a specific opt-in requirement is appropriate and that individual had not provided it.

Do we use cookies?

Yes (Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the sites or service providers systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.

We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information collected on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business.

See our Cookie Policy for more information.

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

Identifiable personal information collected by the NBF whether business or public, will not be sold, exchanged, transferred, or given to any other company or third party for any reason whatsoever, without your explicit consent. This does not include:

• Trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, e-mail distribution, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information being confidential.
• Information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety.

Third party links

Occasionally at our discretion, we may include or offer third party products or services on our website. These third party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites. We do not provide personal information to these third parties.

Internal policies

All those working for the NBF are issued with a privacy policy, a data subjects’ access policy and a data subject rights policy and in that respect all are advised of their right:

• to be informed
• of access
• for any inaccuracies to be corrected
• to have information deleted
• to restrict the processing of the data
• to portability
• to object to the inclusion of any information
• to regulate any automated decision-making and profiling of personal data

Equally, all are advised to make the controller (NBF) immediately aware if they believe there has been a personal data breach and the NBF will, if founded, report the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office without undue delay and within 72 hours of discovering the breach.

Please note a reportable breach is one which is likely to result in a risk to people’s rights and freedoms. If this is not a likely consequence, the breach does not need to be reported. The data held on individuals in NBF member companies is provided by the member and can be corrected, deleted or amended at any time by advising NBF of the appropriate changes.