consumeradvice.scot Privacy Notice

How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you via our website when you complete the contact form and through cookies.

Customer information is obtained over the course of the enquiry with us. This can be done by phone, email, livechat or contact form.

What type of information do we collect from you via our website?

The following types of personal information are from the contact form:

Name
Address
Email address
IP address

Use of Cookies

Our website uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information stored on your computer which allows websites to recognise you when you visit. These cookies will not identify you as an individual but will collect statistical data concerning your browsing patterns and actions online. We use cookies in order to understand more about how our site is being used by visitors.

Cookies help us track various aspects of user visitations to our website. This includes the length of a user visit, their geographic location and patterns of user navigation on our site.

You can switch off cookies on your computer, although this may result in a loss of functionality when accessing our website.

It is possible to switch off cookies. For more information visit our full cookies policy.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site.

The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited.

For more information on Google Analytics’ privacy policy visit here

Google Maps

These are Google Maps third-party cookies, which are unique identifiers to allow traffic analysis to Google Maps.

For more information on Google Maps’ privacy policy visit here

What Information is collected from me as a customer?

Your name
Your contact details
Your specific enquiry details and circumstances*
Details of the trader
Any emails we have sent to each other
Any notes or comments made on your enquiry by our advisors

*This depends on your circumstances and the issue you wish us to advise on. This may include Special Category data, if relevant to the case.

How do we use this information and what is the legal basis for this use?

We process the data listed above for the following purposes:

Purpose	Lawful Basis
to assist you in your enquiry to provide relevant and applicable guidance, advice and information	Legitimate Interests (GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)) – We need to process your data to provide you with our services
to forward you relevant information or advice via email or text, following the resolution of your query	Legitimate Interests (GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)) – We need to process your data to provide you with this service
protecting ADS’s legitimate business interests and legal rights, including but not limited to, use in connection with legal claims, compliance, regulatory and investigative purposes (including disclosure of such information in connection with legal process or litigation)	Legitimate Interests (GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)) – We may need to process your data to protect our organisation
to monitor use of our websites and online services	Legitimate Interests (GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)) – We may use your information to help us check, improve and protect our products, content, services and websites, both online and offline
to monitor any customer account to prevent, investigate and/or report fraud, terrorism, misrepresentation, security incidents or crime	Legitimate Interests (GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)) and Legal Obligation (GDPR, Article 6(1)(c)) – We are legally obliged to process data for this purpose
to provide our funders with anonymous statistics on service use	Legitimate Interests (GDPR, Article 6(1)(f)) – These reports will never include any personally identifiable information, meaning no-one will be able to discern who you are from the information provided
to comply with applicable law and legislation	Legal Obligation (GDPR, Article 6(1)(c)) – We are legally obliged to process data for this purpose

With whom and where will we share your personal data?

In accordance with our legitimate interests, we may share data with the following authorities:

Relevant Local Authority
Trading Standards body,
Trading Standards Scotland,
Financial Conduct Authority
Competition and Markets Authority
Consumer Scotland*

* We may share your personal data with Consumer Scotland in order for them to undertake their statutory functions i.e providing consumer advocacy and advice, undertaking research and investigations and providing information to consumers.

consumeradvice.scot may provide relevant bodies with temporary access to information about your issue including information relating to any action taken, or purported to be taken, by individuals against traders for breaching trading standards and other consumer protection rules, so that these bodies can investigate those traders and, where appropriate, take enforcement action against them. Access by these bodies is for the purposes of performance of a task in the public interest (GDPR, Article 6(1)(e)).

To the extent that personal data (including special category personal data) relating to criminal convictions or offences is shared in relation to Traders, that personal data is shared with the above bodies on the basis that the processing is necessary for:

preventing or detecting unlawful acts (Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, paragraph 10); and/or
protecting the public against dishonesty etc (Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, paragraph 11).

Personal data may be shared with government authorities and/or law enforcement officials if required for the purposes above, if mandated by law or if needed for the legal protection of our legitimate interests in compliance with applicable laws.

How long do we keep your personal data?

Service	Retention Period	Data Type
consumeradvice.scot	Three months	Call recordings
	Two years	Name, contact details, specific enquiry details and circumstances, trader details, any emails we have sent to each other, any notes or comments made on your enquiry by our advisors, information related to how you accessed our website (if applicable)
	Five years	Generic referral data, generic outcome data, generic categorisation data

We will not keep your personal information for any purpose for longer than is necessary and will only retain the personal information that is necessary in relation to the purpose. We are also required to retain certain information as required by law or for as long as is reasonably necessary to meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse, or enforce our terms and conditions.

We collect and process personal data about you when you interact with our advisers or automated services. This data is grouped into the following retention periods. Note that no personally identifiable information is kept for longer than two years past your last contact with us.

We will retain your data for a short time beyond the specified retention period, to allow for information to be reviewed and any deletion to take place. In some instances, laws may require ADS to hold certain information for specific periods other than those listed above.

What are your rights in relation to your personal data?

Under data protection law, you have the following rights:

Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you in most cases.

Please contact us at DPO@advice.scot if you wish to make a request.

Cookies

Similar to most other websites, our website uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information stored on your computer which allows websites to recognise you when you visit. These cookies will not identify you as an individual but will collect statistical data concerning your browsing patterns and actions online. We use cookies in order to understand more about how our site is being used by visitors.

Cookies help us track various aspects of user visitations to our website. This includes the length of a user visit, their geographic location and patterns of user navigation on our site.

You can switch off cookies on your computer, although this may result in a loss of functionality when accessing our website.

Other websites

The ConsumerAdvice.Scot website may contain links to websites which are controlled by external organisations. This privacy policy only covers our own website. Therefore, we strongly advise that you read the privacy notices of other sites, even if they are accessed using links from our website.

Additionally, we are not responsible for the privacy policies and security practices of other third-party sites which may link you to our website. We are not responsible for the policies and practices of these sites and recommend that you read the privacy policy of these sites.

Where can you find more information about ADS’s handling of your data?

If you have any outstanding questions or requests regarding this policy or our privacy practices in general, you can contact us by email through DPO@advice.scot.

Complaints

If you are not happy with our response or require further information regarding data processing rules and regulations, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office: https://ico.org.uk/.