Privacy Policy

 

DIR PRIVACY STATEMENT EUROPEAN UNION

At Dir, we value the trust of our customers. To earn your trust, we respect your privacy in handling personally-identifiable information relating to you and your transactions with us, whether at one of our Dir stores, through our Dir mail-order catalogue, or on our web sites located at www.dirstore.co.uk, , and other sites operated by Dir' affiliates located in the European Union and upon which this policy is posted. This Privacy Statement describes who controls the personally identifiable information we gather about you, what personally identifiable information we gather about you, what we do with it, the safeguards we have in place to protect it, and how you can control our use of it.Who controls personally identifiable information gathered about you?

Data that is gathered about you are controlled by DIR of which the headquarters are located at 66 Rea Street South, Birmingham B5 6LB.

what personally identifiable information does Dir Group request?

We collect personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide to us when you request a catalogue, place an order, enroll in a promotional program, send us a letter or e-mail, give us a telephone call . This information may include your name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, fax number, credit card number and expiration date, and other optional demographic information, ordering and payment details, return requests or offers submitted to you, as well as data relating to your use of our web site. Sometimes, we may need additional personally identifiable information - such as your age or date of birth, employment, or gender - such as in connection with your participation in a voluntary special program, or in order to help us personalize the information that you receive from us. You may browse our web site without supplying any personally identifiable information, but we will need to collect personally identifiable information in order for you to register on the site, to process your orders or to send you offers or information that you request.

Where is the collected information stored?

The personally identifiable information we collect about you will be stored and processed on electronic information systems operated by DIR Store (to which DIR Europe and DIR New York is affiliated) located primarily in the United Kingdom, although some of such information may remain on data storage systems in the country where originally provided.

What about web site "cookies"?

Our web sites in the European Union utilize "cookies" for limited purposes intended to provide you with a more convenient shopping experience, such as bypassing our opening splash page if you so choose, remembering your auto-login name and password if you so choose, and maintaining items in your shopping cart if you leave the site before checkout. Cookies are small data files that are stored on your computer's hard drive. Cookies do not give us control over your computer. Some of our business allies whose sites are accessible from our site may also use cookies, but we have no access to or control over these cookies.

How does Dir Group use personally identifying information about me?

The personally identifiable information that you voluntarily provide to us will be used to process your orders, notify you about new services or special promotional programs, send you offers or information, or inform you of the outcome of promotional campaigns in which you voluntarily participated. We may contact you if we have questions about your order or to notify you of the status of an order. We may also use your e-mail address to identify you on our internal systems. The personally identifiable information that we store in cookies is used to track your activity at our web site and to remember your individualized settings (such as your password, your online shopping cart, and the configuration of your Internet browser software) to make your visit more convenient and to make it unnecessary for you to re-enter such information when you make return visits to our site.

With whom might Dir Group share personally identifiable information about me?

We will not disclose personally-identifiable information about you to others except as disclosed in this Privacy Statement or as specifically authorized by you at the time such information is collected.

We contract with other companies to fulfill your order and provide the specific products or services to you. For example, we use a credit card processing company to process applications, issue credit, verify, bill, and collect payments when you make a purchase with a credit card; an independent financial institution to administer the Dir Group credit card program; an outside or internal shipping company to ship orders; and we use outside service providers to host our web site, to send e-mails to customers and prospective customers, and to provide direct mailing services. These service providers are provided with only the information that they need to perform their functions and are not permitted to use or disclose your personally-identifiable information for other purposes without your authorization.

We may share your personally identifiable information within the Dir Group family of businesses - including our retail, mail-order catalogue, and online operations - in order to send you information that you request, to cater to your shopping preferences, and to extend Dir Group offers that we believe may be of interest to you.

If you shop at a retail store, through our catalogue, or via Dirstore.co.uk, we may share your name and mailing address (but not your e–mail address or telephone number) for external direct mail campaigns conducted by companies or organizations which offer products or services we believe may be of interest to our customers.

To make online shopping more convenient for you, our web site may provide access to other companies' web sites or co-branded web sites that may be displayed in "frames" through our web site. If you request additional information from one of the companies featured on our web site, we will provide that company with your e-mail address so that your request can be fulfilled. We are not responsible for the content appearing on these companies' web sites or for the privacy practices of these companies. We encourage you to read the privacy policy on the other company's web site if you have any concerns about how personally identifiable information may be collected or used. If you make a purchase or request a service from a featured company that you access through a frame on our web site, all information relating to that transaction will be available to us as well as the featured company.

We also have information about visitors to our web site, notably but not limited to those who have received a targeted promotional campaign or have reacted to any advertisement referring to our web site or products and/or services, processed by reputable third-party advertising companies, including but not limited to Emailing Solutions, for the purpose of managing the content of our web site and of our advertising, learning which promotion or advertisement brings you to our web site, targeting our future campaigns, and upgrading visitor information used in reporting statistics. For these purposes, we make use of interactive technologies, such as (i) pixel tags (also called clear gifs or transparent gif files) that are integrated in e-mails to your attention or advertisings published on web sites but that are not apparent for your visual comfort, (ii) cookies and/or web beacons placed by us, one of the above mentioned third-party advertising companies or another vendor working with one of them. The data generated through this technique helps us to understand what you like and do not like about our site so that we can make your visits more interesting and relevant. Personal information, if any generated by said techniques, is exclusively controlled by us and is subject to this Privacy Statement, this without prejudice to certain strictly anonymous and not personally identifiable data being shared with third-party advertising companies and/or other third parties. You may elect not to receive any promotional e-mail when registering on our web site for the first time or by changing your personal details at any time by calling the web helpline on 0208 5919310

We may share personally identifiable information with law enforcement or other entities as required by law or as we reasonably determine to be necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others, to prevent harm to persons or property, to fight fraud, or to enforce our web site terms of use. Personally identifiable Information may be transferred as an asset in connection with a merger or sale (including any transfers made as part of an insolvency or bankruptcy proceeding) involving all or part of our businesses.

Does Dir Group conduct special programs that use personally identifiable information?

We occasionally conduct surveys, contests, or other promotional programs that involve the collection of personally-identifiable information. Participation in these programs is completely voluntary, so that you have a choice whether to disclose the requested information without limiting your ability to place orders for products and services. Personally identifiable information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as gender, postal code, or age). Contact information will be used to notify you of the outcome of such programs and to award prizes. Survey information may be used or disclosed for purposes of monitoring or improving the performance of our retail, catalogue, or web site operations.

We generally do not intend to collect information through our web site from minors. If we conduct a special online program that is open to minors, then minors will be permitted to participate only with the consent of a parent or guardian or will otherwise be given the opportunity to participate without the need to provide personally identifying information.

How can I limit the use and sharing of personally identifiable information about me?

If your contact information indicates that you are located in an EU country which requires prior consent for sending information which is strictly promotional in nature and without prejudice to more stringent rules under any applicable law, we will not send you such strictly promotional information unless you have requested it. In all events, you may decline at any time and for free to receive promotional e-mail from us by calling us on 0208 5919310, by writing to us at Dir 66 Rea Street South, Birmingham B5 6LB or by sending an e-mail to customersupport@dirgroup.co.uk. If your contact information indicates that you are located in an EU country which requires prior consent for using and/or sharing your information solely for marketing purposes nature, and without prejudice to more stringent rules under any applicable law, we will not use and/or share your personally identifiable information solely for marketing purposes unless you have permitted it. In all events, you may ask us at any time and for free to refrain from using personally identifiable information about you for marketing purposes and/or sharing it for the same purpose with other companies with which we have marketing relationships, by calling us on 02085919310, by writing to us at DIR 66 Rea Street South, Birmingham B5 6LB or, by faxing your instructions to us on 02085944147, or by sending an e-mail to customersupport@dirgroup.co.uk. This Privacy Statement was posted on 22nd February 2010. We reserve the right to change our data practices from time to time. If we revise our European Union Privacy Statement, you may decline to permit us to use your personally identifiable information under the new policy by notifying us as described above.

How is my personally identifiable information protected?

We have implemented numerous safeguards to protect reasonably and adequately personally-identifiable information.

Our databases are protected by physical, technical, and procedural measures that restrict information access to authorized persons in accordance with this Privacy Statement. Our information systems are maintained behind a software firewall to isolate them from access by other networks connected to the Internet. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. Our employees are kept up to date on our security and privacy practices.

When personally-identifiable information is collected through our web site, the transmission is encrypted using industry-standard Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") technology and sensitive information such as credit card numbers or account information is encrypted for further protection. Our web site is a "Secure Site” which uses ssl128 bit encryption a recognized, leading computer network security system.

You also play a valuable part in security. Your password to access our web site should never be shared with anyone and should be changed frequently. After you have finished using our site, you should log out and exit your browser to prevent unauthorized users from returning to your online Staples account. If you believe that someone has improperly used information about you or has made purchases that you did not authorize, please contact us immediately.

How may I contact Dir Group?

If you have any questions about our handling of personally-identifiable information relating to you, please contact us at customerservice@dirgroup.co.uk. Alternatively, you may call us on 0121 6433877, fax us on 0121 6333291 or write to us at DIR 66 Rea Street South, Birmingham B5 6LB.