Privacy Policy - Progressive Access New site 9.26

We only collect the personal data we genuinely need to respond to enquiries, deliver our services and operate this website.

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Contact details – such as your name, email address, company name and any phone number or other details you choose to provide in our contact forms or emails.
• Project information – brief descriptions of your building, site or project requirements that you share when you ask for a quote or more information.
• Communication records – copies of emails or other messages we exchange with you, including any follow-up notes related to your enquiry or project.
• Technical data – such as your IP address, browser type and version, device information, approximate location and pages viewed, collected automatically through our hosting provider and cookies.
• Usage data – anonymised or aggregated information about how visitors use our website, for example which pages are most visited.

We do not intentionally collect special categories of data (such as health information) or data about children through this website. Please do not share such information with us unless it is strictly necessary and you are authorised to do so.

We use personal data only for clearly defined purposes and only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Typical uses include:

• Responding to enquiries – to read and respond to your messages, answer questions about our services and provide initial advice.
• Preparing and managing quotes – to understand your project requirements, prepare proposals and follow up about potential work.
• Delivering our services – to plan and manage rope access and high-level works, communicate with you during a project and handle any issues.
• Website operation and improvement – to monitor the performance and security of our website, understand how it is used and make improvements.
• Legal, regulatory and security purposes – to comply with legal obligations, exercise or defend legal claims, and protect our business from fraud or misuse.

We will not use your personal data for unrelated purposes without informing you and, where required, obtaining your consent.

Data protection law requires us to have a valid legal basis for each way that we use personal data. Depending on the context, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Contract – when processing is needed to take steps at your request before entering into a contract (for example, providing a quote) or to perform a contract with you (for example, delivering agreed rope access services).
• Legitimate interests – when we use your data in ways that are necessary for our legitimate business interests (such as managing enquiries, improving our website and preventing fraud) and where these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
• Legal obligation – when we are required to process certain information to comply with laws and regulations, for example in relation to taxation, health and safety or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
• Consent – when we ask for your clear permission to use your data for a specific purpose and you are free to withdraw that consent at any time.

If you would like more detail about the legal basis we rely on for a particular activity, you can contact us using the email address in the Contact us about privacy section.

We do not sell your personal data and we only share it when this is genuinely necessary.

We may share personal data with:

• Service providers – such as our website hosting provider, email provider, IT support and other professional advisers who help us run our business. They process data on our behalf and are required to keep it secure and confidential.
• Members of our team – where access is needed to respond to your enquiry, prepare a quote or manage a project safely and effectively.
• Public authorities or other third parties – where we are required to do so by law, to protect our legal rights, or to help prevent fraud or other wrongdoing.

Our website and email services may involve transfers of data outside the UK. Where this happens, we aim to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using providers based in countries that have been recognised as offering an adequate level of protection or using standard contractual clauses approved by data protection authorities.

We keep personal data only for as long as we genuinely need it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

In general:

• Initial enquiries and quotes – are usually kept for up to 2 years from our last meaningful contact with you, in case you return to us or there are follow-up questions.
• Project and service records – may be kept for up to 7 years after the end of the relevant project, to meet legal, tax and insurance requirements.
• Technical and usage data – collected through our website are typically kept for shorter periods needed for security monitoring and analytics, after which they may be deleted or anonymised.

When we no longer need personal data, we will delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked back to you.

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal data we hold from loss, misuse and unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.

Measures we may use include:

• Secure hosting and encryption – using reputable hosting providers and industry-standard security features to help protect data in transit and at rest.
• Access controls – limiting personal data access to those who have a genuine need to know it for their role.
• Data minimisation – collecting only the information we need and keeping it for no longer than necessary.
• Regular updates and monitoring – keeping key systems updated and monitoring for potential issues.

However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If you believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please let us know as soon as possible using the contact details at the end of this policy.

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include the right to:

• Access – ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification – ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Erasure – ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances (the "right to be forgotten").
• Restriction – ask us to restrict the way we use your data in certain situations.
• Objection – object to our processing of your data where we rely on legitimate interests, including in relation to certain types of profiling.
• Data portability – ask us to transfer your data to you or another organisation in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, where technically feasible.
• Withdraw consent – withdraw any consent you have given, at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the Contact us about privacy section. We may need to ask you for some information to confirm your identity before we can act on your request.

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it function properly, to improve your experience and, in some cases, to collect anonymous statistics about how visitors use the site.

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device when you visit a website. Some cookies are essential for the site to work, while others are optional and used for analytics or other features.

For full details of the cookies we use, the purposes they serve and how you can control them, please see our separate Cookie Policy.

You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings and, where available, through any cookie banner or settings tools provided on our website. Please note that blocking certain types of cookies may affect how the site functions.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the law, our services or how we handle personal data.

When we make significant changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and may take additional steps to bring the changes to your attention where appropriate.

We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact us by email.

Email: maintenance@progressiveaccess.uk

When you contact us about your data, please provide enough information for us to identify you and understand your request. We will aim to respond as promptly as we reasonably can.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your query, you also have the right to raise your concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or your local data protection authority.