How we use your personal information
Privacy Policy Summary
Dixons Carphone PLC ("we", ''us'', ''our'') are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This summary, together with our full privacy policy and terms of use (which can be found at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/help/termsandconditions) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.
For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the ''Act''), the data controller is Dixons Carphone PLC (company number 0214673) of 1 Portal Way, London, W3 6RS.
Information we may collect from you
We may collect and process the following data about you:
- Information that you provide to us in your dealings with us. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our site, subscribing to our services or requesting further services and/or information from us.
- We may also ask you for information when you enter a competition or promotion sponsored by us, and when you report a problem with our site.
- If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
- Details of transactions you carry out through our site and of the fulfilment of your orders.
- Details we receive from credit reference and fraud detection agencies.
- Details of your visits to our site including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data and the resources that you access.
Please see our full privacy policy and terms of use at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/help/termsandconditions for further details.
IP addresses
We may collect information about your computer, including where relevant your IP address, operating system and browser type. This data is processed for the purposes of fraud prevention, for various administrative purposes and may also be used by us to promote certain offers and advertisements according to your general location.
Cookies
For the same reason, we may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a cookie which is stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Cookies are text files which contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive. They help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. Some of the cookies we use are essential for the site to operate, whereas others are aimed at enhancing and personalising your user experience.
The information gathered by cookies on our site(s) may be used in the following ways:
- To tailor advertisements or promotions you receive. For example, if you have looked at a specific type of mobile handset, we might use this information to personalise any subsequent advertisements you see. We may also personalise our service based on the type of computer system you use, together with the purchase pattern of other customers who may have looked at similar products to you. We may also provide you with advertisements which may be customised using information such as the search terms you use on our site. For example, if you searched for a specific product or accessed our site via a specific banner ad or search word, we may present you with content and/or offers linked to that banner ad or searchword.
- We may use navigational information about where you go on our site to better understand how our site is used and to ensure that the product offerings that are presented to you are relevant.
- We do not use any data about where you go, or present you with advertisements outside of our site other than on sites which provide for such use in their respective privacy policies.
- We may collect information on how frequently you visit the site and the type of products and/or services that you view to enable us to measure the popularity of our sites and our product offerings.
Types of Cookie
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website, remembering how far you are through your pay as you go order, making sure that the carphonewarehouse.com website looks consistent or remembering what's in your basket when you're looking to buy that new cool smartphone. Without these cookies, many of the basic functionalities of our website - the stuff you expect the site to enable you to do like filling in your shopping basket, we simply can't provide.
Tip - these cookies make the basic functions of the website work.
Performance Cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and the pages that they don't. This understanding enables Carphone Warehouse to continually improve the experience we deliver to you (and other visitors like you) so that the site is easy to use and includes content that you find helpful (for instance, performance cookies indicated that users find reviews really helpful and so that gave us confidence that we should provide more reviews on each smartphone product page) These cookies don't collect information that identifies a visitor - so we can't identify you individually. All the information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. This information is only used to improve how the Carphone Warehouse website works.
Tip - these cookies collect anonymous information on the pages visited.
Functionality Cookies
These cookies allow the website to remember the choices you make as you browse the site (for instance, your login details to enable you to provide your comments in our new community forums). They provide more enhanced and personal features. The information they collect is anonymised and the usage only relates to www.carphonewarehouse.com - they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites once you've departed carphonewarehouse.com
Tip - these cookies remember choices you have made to improve your website experience on www.carphonewarehouse.com
Advertising or Targeting Cookies
These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you, and your interests (assumed by analysing your onsite browsing behaviour). They can also provide caps on the number of times you might see an advert - to hopefully stop them becoming annoying and repetitive. These cookies remember that you have visited CarphoneWarehouse.com, track what products you may have looked at, and this information may be shared with our advertising partners. If you see an advert from Carphone Warehouse, once you have left our site and are browsing other sites on the internet, that magically seems to understand what previously interested you (you browsed a specific smartphone handset and then see deals for that handset) then this is enabled by targeting cookies.
Tip - these cookies collect information about your browsing habits in order to make advertising more relevant for you.
By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies in the manner outlined above. If you do not wish to receive tailored advertising, you can withdraw this consent at any time by changing your browser settings to reject cookies.
Please note that it is not a good idea to reject all cookies as this could prevent you from gaining full use of this site. To learn more about cookies click here, or to disable them click here.
Where we store your personal data
The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"). It may also be processed by employees operating outside the EEA who work for us or for our suppliers. Such employees maybe engaged in, among other things, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services. Here we will ensure that we have the necessary contracts and other mechanisms in place to make sure your data continues to be treated in accordance with the provisions of the Act. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing.
All information you provide to us is stored on secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL technology. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.
Uses made of the information
We use information held about you in the following ways:
- to provide you with goods and/or services that you have ordered
- to prevent and detect fraud, crime and money laundering
- to check your identity
- to trace and recover debts
- for credit and credit related services and to manage your accounts
- to update our records about you
- to make credit, fraud and identity checks on you (when applicable)
In addition, CPW may use your Personal Information for research and statistical analysis to develop and improve our products and services.
You will also have the opportunity to consent to us contacting you by post, e-mail, phone, SMS or MMS from time to time occasionally about products and services which the Dixons Carphone PLC group of companies and carefully selected third parties believe may be of interest to you. The Dixons Carphone PLC consists of The Carphone Warehouse Limited, together with its subsidiary and holding companies and any subsidiaries of such holding companies whether direct or indirect from time to time, including Best Buy Co. Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiary companies from time to time.
If you are an existing customer, we may also contact you by electronic means (e-mail or SMS) with information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale to you.
If you do not want us to use your data in this way please call us on 0370 111 6565. Alternatively, you can write to us at us c/o The Data Protection Office, The Carphone Warehouse Limited at PO Box 375, Southampton, SO30 2PU. Please note that it may take up to 28 days for such changes to take effect.
Disclosure of your information
We may disclose your personal information to any member of the Dixons Carphone PLC group of Companies.
We may disclose your personal information to third parties:
- In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets; and
- if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use.
We may also provide information about our dealings with you to credit reference and fraud prevention agencies. For full details about the third parties to which your data may be disclosed and how they may process this data, please see our privacy policy and terms of use at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/help/termsandconditions
Access to information
The Act gives you the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the Act. Any access request may be subject to a fee of £10 to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you. Details of how to request a copy of your information can be found at How can I see a copy of the information you hold about me?
Changes to our privacy policy
Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and/or in our privacy policy and terms of use at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/help/termsandconditions and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.
Contact
Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to The Data Protection Office, The Carphone Warehouse Limited at PO Box 375, Southampton, SO30 2PU.
