Privacy Policy
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.
Legal basis of processing your data
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 consenting to receive email newsletters.
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.
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.
When do we collect your data?
When you contact us by any means with queries, complaints etc.
We collect data from publicly-available sources (such as Land Registry) when you have given your consent to share information or where the information is made public as a matter of law.
When you enter our stores or offices, CCTV systems operated for the security of both customers. These systems may record your image during your visit.
What sort of data do we collect?
We collect and store:
Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser.
Details of your visits to our websites or apps, and which site you came from to ours.
Personal details which help us to recommend items of interest.
Your image may be recorded on CCTV when you visit a shop.
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.
We may also store 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 we collect your data
We want to give you the best possible customer experience. To do this, we use the data we have relating to your use of our website, and social interactions with us, to deliver more personalised content. We then use this to offer you promotions, products and services 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. You always remain in control of your own privacy. If you wish to change how we use your data, you’ll find details in the ‘What are my rights?’ section 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:
To process any orders that you make by using our websites, apps or in store. If we don’t collect your personal data, we won’t be able to process your order and comply with our legal obligations.
To respond to your queries, refund requests and complaints. Handling the information you provide enables us to respond. We may also keep a record of these to inform any future communication with us and to demonstrate how we communicated with you throughout. We do this on the basis of our contractual obligations to you, our legal obligations and our legitimate interests in providing you with the best service and understanding how we can improve our service based on your experience.
To protect our business and your details from fraud and other illegal activities. This includes using your personal data to maintain, update and safeguard your account. We’ll also monitor your browsing activity with us to quickly identify and resolve any problems and protect the integrity of our websites. We’ll do all of this as part of our legitimate interest.
To protect our customers, premises, assets from crime, we operate CCTV systems in our stores which record images for security. We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests.
To process payments and to prevent fraudulent transactions. We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests. This also helps to protect our customers from fraud.
If we discover any criminal activity or alleged criminal activity through our use of CCTV, fraud monitoring and suspicious transaction monitoring, we will process this data for the purposes of preventing or detecting unlawful acts. We aim to protect the individuals we interact with from criminal activities.
With your consent, we will use your personal data, preferences and details of your transactions to keep you informed by email, web, telephone and through our Customer Service team about relevant products and services including tailored special offers, discounts, promotions, events, competitions and so on.You are free to opt out of hearing from us via any of these channels at any time.
To develop, test and improve the systems, services and products we provide to you. We’ll do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests.
To display the most interesting content to you on our websites or apps, we’ll use data we hold about your favourite brands or products and so on. We do so on the basis of your consent to receive app notifications and/or for our website to place cookies or similar technology on your device.
To administer any of our prize draws or competitions which you enter, based on your consent given at the time of entering.
To comply with our contractual or legal obligations to share data with law enforcement.
Your data and 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 the personal data we’ve gathered about you. We also combine the data that we collect directly from you with data that we obtain from third parties to whom you have given your consent to pass that data onto us.
How do we protect your data?
As our valued customer, we take your privacy and security very seriously. With this in mind, we will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it. 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 do we keep your 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.
Orders
When you place an order, we’ll keep the personal data you give us for six years so we can comply with our legal and contractual obligations.
Who do we share your data with?
We sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties.
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.
How do we share 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.
We may, from time to time, expand, reduce or sell the business and this may involve the transfer of divisions or the whole business to new owners. If this happens, your personal data will, where relevant, be transferred to the new owner or controlling party, under the terms of this Privacy Notice. For further information please contact our Data Protection Officer.
To help personalise your journey through our websites we currently use the following companies, who will process your personal data as part of their contracts with us:
Mailchimp
Concrete5
Google
Where is your data 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 our teams in 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. 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. For more information about these contracts, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the contact details in the section below. 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 personal data?
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, or once the purpose for which we hold the data has come to an end.
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 Protection Officer, 20 Garrett Street, London, EC1Y 0TW, or DPO@the-four-group.com. To ask for your information to be amended, please update your online account, or contact our Customer Services team. 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 direct marketing?
There are several ways you can stop receiving 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 visit the ‘My Account’ area and change your preferences. Write to / email us at info@fourmarketing.com Please note that you may continue to receive communications for a short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated.
Use of our services by children
Our website is not intended for the use of children under the age of 16. We ask that children do not provide personal information through our website. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under the age of 16, we will delete that information from our records.
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.
You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113.
Or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns (opens in a new window; please note we can't be responsible for the content of external websites) 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.
Further help or advice
We hope this Privacy Notice has been helpful in setting out the way we handle your personal data and your rights to control it. If you have any questions that haven’t been covered, please contact our Data Protection Officer who will be pleased to help you:
Email us at DPO@the-four-group.com
Cookies
A cookie is simply a very small file of letters or numbers, stored on your computer, mobile or other device. They help track use of the website, and personalise your shopping experience. When you return to a site, the settings and information from your last visit are ‘remembered’ – like items in your shopping bag, or automatic account log-in.
Cookies are safe to store on your computer. Most web browsers have cookie storage enabled as a default setting, but all browsers offer you the option to disable this if you prefer. If you choose to disable some or all cookies, you might not be able to make full use of our website. For example, you may not be able to add items to your shopping basket, proceed to checkout, or use any of our products and services that require you to sign in.
As our valued customer, it’s important to us as your trusted retailer that you’re fully aware of the use of cookies on the website. In adherence to European Union legislations, we’re clear about how we use cookies to enhance your shopping experience.
We carefully select third party suppliers to make your use of the site, and shopping experience, the best it can be. Both ourselves and our chosen partners place cookies onto your computer for use on our website. The data these cookies collect is mostly aggregated information which remains anonymous. We never use cookies to collect or record information such as your name, address or payment details.
A full guide to our cookies and their purposes
Site functionality cookies
These cookies are essential to the proper functioning of our website and enable you to use its features, such as access to secure areas of the site. Without these cookies, you won’t be able to purchase the products you are looking at. These are temporary cookie files, which are erased when you close your browser. When you restart your browser and return to the site, the site will not recognise you. You’ll need to log back in to your account or choose products again. A new session cookie will be generated, which will store your browsing information and will be active until you leave the site and close your browser.
Site analytics cookies
These cookies allow us to measure and analyse how our customers use the site, to improve both its functionality and your shopping experience. The data stored by these cookies never shows personal details from which your individual identity can be established.
Customer preference cookies
These cookies are used to remember your passwords and login information, so you don’t need to re-enter them every time you visit the site. They will also remember items in your shopping bag for next time. These files stay in one of your browser’s subfolders until you delete them manually, or your browser deletes them based on the duration period contained within the cookie’s file (by law, this can’t be longer than 6 months. We set a cookie’s lifetime to 30 days). These cookies persist even when a browser is closed.
Targeting or advertising cookies
These cookies are installed by third party websites separate to our site, such as advertisers. They gather data about your browsing habits, and allow them to track you across multiple websites. This information is used to deliver ads deemed relevant to you, limit the number of times a specific ad is served, or to help measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.
Sharing our pages
If you ‘share’ content with friends through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram, you may have cookies from these websites stored on your computer. We don't control the setting of these cookies, so we suggest you check the third-party websites for more information on how to manage them. You can find more information on social network policies on privacy and cookies by clicking the links above.
How to manage your cookies
You can enable or disable cookies by changing your website browser settings to accept or reject cookies as required. How to do this will depend on your browser. We have provided further information below on how to check which browser you use, and how to manage cookies. As mentioned above, please bear in mind that if cookies aren’t enabled on your computer, your activities will be restricted to browsing this website – and you won’t be able to add products to your shopping bag and buy them. First, establish which internet browser is set to default use on your machine (or which browser you use most often). To find out what it is, simply open the internet as usual and follow the steps below:
PC Users
On the toolbar at the top of your browser, click ‘Help.’ Choose the ‘About’ option from the drop-down menu. This will tell you the browser type and version.
Mac users
Click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your browser and choose the 'About' option. This will tell you the browser type and version. Once you know the browser you’re using, the below guides for each browser will help you find the cookie settings.
Internet Explorer
Click on the ‘Tools’ tab in the menu area of your browser. Select the ‘Internet Options’ option. This should open a pop-up box with lots of tabbed options. Select the ‘Privacy’ tab. Internet Explorer has a high, medium, or low auto-adjust system for internet content handling. You can configure your own settings by clicking the ‘Advanced’ tab, and ticking ‘Override automatic cookie handling’. Settings above medium will disable cookies; medium or below will enable cookies.
Mozilla Firefox
Click on the 'Tools' tab on the menu area of your browser. Select the ‘Options’ option. This should open a pop-up window with tabs along the top. Select ‘Privacy’. You should now see options for ‘Tracking’ and ‘History’. Under the ‘History’ drop down menu, select ‘Use customer settings for history’ to adjust your cookie settings.
Google Chrome
Click on the spanner icon in your browser. Select the ‘Settings’ option. This should open a box with tabs along the left hand side. Select the ‘Under the Hood’ tab. When this page is loaded, select a tab you’ll see at the top called ‘Content Settings’. This brings up your content controls including cookie permissions.
Safari
Click on the cog icon at the top of your browser. Select the ‘Preferences’ option. This should open a pop up window with several tabs along the top. From this list select ‘Privacy’. This will open the tab page that allows you to control the cookie settings.
Opera
Click the Opera file icon in the top left hand corner of your browser. From the drop-down list of options, highlight ‘Settings’, and then scroll across and select ‘Preferences’. This should open a pop up window with tabs along the top. Select ‘Advanced’. From the advanced options, from the left hand side select ‘Cookies’. This presents the cookie options for your use on this browser.
If you have another browser...
Please check the help settings within your browser, or use a search engine to find answers on the best way to enable or disable cookies in your chosen browser. Please remember we are not responsible for the content on external websites.
If you want more information...
The website below provides an in-depth guide to cookies and how to control, delete and understand them.
If you’re not happy with the way we use cookies, you can delete cookies after a visit to our site. Alternatively, browse the site using your browser’s anonymous usage setting (called ‘Incognito’ in Chrome, ‘InPrivate’ in Internet Explorer, ‘Private Browsing’ in Firefox and Safari etc).