Privacy Policy

1. General

The PPMA is committed to protecting your privacy.

This Privacy Notice sets out how we treat your personal information, allowing you to make informed choices about the personal information that you provide to us or that we collect from you.

By accessing and using the PPMA Website (‘Website’)and submitting any personal information to us via the Website you will automatically be taken to have read, understood and accepted this Privacy Notice.

If you do not want us to collect, use and transfer your personal information in this way then you should (depending on what it is you object to) Contact Us and ask for your information to be deleted.

We may make changes to this Privacy Notice at any time and such changes will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Therefore, you should check this Privacy Notice regularly.

2. What we mean by Personal Information

Personal information means any data from which you can be identified (including information such as your name, postal and email addresses, career or employment details, date of birth, and financial information such as bank details) and which concerns you. All personal information that we obtain from you, including IP address data that we may collect via the Website and in relation to the Website will be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Privacy Notice and the Data Protection Act (as amended by the General Data Protection Regulation).

3. Personal Information that we collect

The PPMA may collect and process the following data about you:

• • information you provide via the “Registration” page when registering to join the PPMA and use restricted membership parts of the Website including your name, email address, job title and any updated information you provide from time to time;
• • any comments you may have about your application to register with the PPMA;
• • Information you provide when you submit or post content to the Website or when you contact us (including when you report a problem with the Website to us).
• • additional information we may request from you from time to time either by contacting you directly or through the Website, although there will be no obligation on you to provide this additional information.
• • Details of your visits to the Website including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, whether this is required for our own purposes or otherwise and the resources that you access.

We may collect information from your computer/ electronic device and browser including your IP address and cookies information. This is statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns and does not identify any individual.

We will let you know when you register membership with us if the provision of certain information is optional.

If you provide us with information about another person you confirm that they have appointed you to act for them, consent to the processing of their personal data including sensitive personal data and that you have informed them of our identity and the purposes (as set out below) for which their personal data will be processed.

By becoming a PPMA member and providing us with your personal information, you consent to our processing your personal data for the purposes set out below.

4. How we use your personal information

We use personal information held about you in the following ways:

• • to update and enhance our records
• • to ensure the content from the Website is presented in the most effective manner for you and your information and communications technology.
• • to provide you with access to the appropriate areas and functions of the Website (including to particular content);
• • to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us to provide you with the information, products and services that you request or expect from us
• • to update your records, tracing your whereabouts and recovering debt
• • to provide you, or permit selected third parties (e.g. HPMA, UHR or CIPD with whom we have a memorandum of understanding) to provide you, with information about PPMA events and services which may interest you.
• • we may analyse your data to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you in the most appropriate way and with the most relevant information; to respond to queries from members of the public about your membership status
• • to provide information about and communications from your local regional network
• • for other purposes to which you have given your consent

We may also use information provided by you or statistical information collected, so that we can improve the Website or make your visits to the Website more rewarding.

We do not sell, trade or rent your information to other parties unless we have first obtained your consent. If you do give us permission, we will only share information with organisations we have carefully selected and believe to be reputable. We may provide statistics about our customer usage, traffic patterns and related site information to third parties, but we will not supply any personal information that would enable you to be identified.

Except in very specific circumstances, we do not disclose any of your information to other parties, except where you have given your consent. In this respect we may need to share your information with our service providers and agents for the above purposes. We may also disclose your information to other members of the Policy Board of the PPMA, and any successor body to us.

Otherwise, we reserve the right to give your personal information to a third party without your consent where we believe that such disclosure is (i) required by law or (ii) necessary to assist in the prevention or detection of any criminal action (including fraud) or (iii) is in the overriding public interest and is permitted by law.

5. How we Protect your Personal Information

We are strongly committed to data security and we take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to seek to safeguard the information you provide to us.

However, owing to the nature of the internet we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us. We recommend that you take every precaution to protect your personal information while you are using the Website and the internet.

6. How long we keep your Personal Information

Unless we explain otherwise to you, we’ll hold your personal information based on the following criteria:

• • For as long as we have reasonable business needs, such as managing our relationship with you and managing our operations
• • For as long as we provide products and/or services to you and then for as long as someone could bring a claim against us; and/or
• • Retention periods in line with legal and regulatory requirements or guidance.

Any references to you in any current records and any statistical or anonymised information  (from which you cannot be identified) may be kept for longer periods.

7. Updating your Personal Information

If you are a registered as a Member of the PPMA, you can access all the information we hold about you and you can amend or update any inaccuracies in your personal information by logging on to your ‘My Account’ on the Website.

8. IP addresses and Cookies

We may collect information about your computer or electronic device, including where available your IP address (which is a unique identifier of the user’s computer or other access device), operating system and browser type, for system administration and to report aggregate information. This is statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual.

For the same reason, we may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a cookie file which is stored on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies are small files stored in your computer/ electronic device’s hard drive by your web browser. When you access the Website, if you have enabled cookies, our computer server will access these cookies so that it can recognise your computer. These cookies help us to improve the Website and deliver a better and more personalised service. They enable us:

• • to estimate our audience size and usage pattern;
• • to store information about your preferences, and so allow us to customise the Website according to your individual interests;
• • to speed up your searches; and
• • to recognise you when you return to the Website.

When you first access the sites, we will give you the option to choose not to receive cookies, or to allow you to be prompted every time a cookie is sent to you. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, and you can change your cookie settings at any time. Please note that in a few cases some features of the Website may not function if you remove cookies from your browser.

Please note that external sites including social media sites linked from the Website may also use cookies, and you should check carefully with these external sites what information is being collected using cookies.

9. Contact Us

If you have any queries about how we use your information you can contact us by emailing [email protected] or by writing to us at PPMA, D&B Electrical, Unit 3 Enterprise Park, Linden Way, Coalville, LE67 3JY.

10. What are the legal grounds for our processing of your personal information (including when we share it with others)?

We rely on the following legal bases to use your personal data:

1. Where it is needed to provide you with our products or services, such as:

a) Managing products and services, or an application for one

b) Updating your records, tracing your whereabouts to contact you about your account and doing this for recovering debt (where appropriate)

c) All stages and activities relevant to managing the product or service including enquiry, application, administration and management of accounts

d) For some of our profiling and other automated decision making to decide whether to offer you a product and/or service

2. Where it is in our legitimate interests to do so, such as:

a) Managing your products and services relating to that, updating your records, tracing your whereabouts to contact you about your account and doing this for recovering debt (where appropriate)

b) To perform and/or test the performance of, our products, services and internal processes

c) To follow guidance and recommended best practice of government and regulatory bodies

d) For management and audit of our business operations including accounting

e) To carry out monitoring and to keep records of our communications with you and our staff

f) To administer our good governance requirements, such as internal reporting and compliance obligations or administration required for AGM processes

g) For PPMA research and analysis and developing statistics

h) Subject to the appropriate controls, to provide insight and analysis of our members to business partners either as part of providing products or services, helping us improve products or services, or to assess or to improve the operating of the association.

i) For some of our profiling and other automated decision making

j) Where we need to share your personal information with people or organisations in order to run our business or comply with any legal and/or regulatory obligations

3. To comply with our legal obligations

4. With your consent or explicit consent:

a) For some direct marketing communications via specific sponsors

b) For some of our profiling and other automated decision making

11. What are your rights under data protection laws

Here is a list of the rights that all individuals have under data protection laws. They don’t apply in all circumstances. If you wish to use any of them, we’ll explain at that time if they are engaged or not. The right of data portability is only relevant from 25 May 2018.

• • The right to be informed about the processing of your personal information
• • The right to have your personal information corrected if it is inaccurate and to have incomplete personal information completed
• • The right to object to processing of your personal information
• • The right to restrict processing of your personal information
• • The right to have your personal information erased (the “right to be forgotten”)
• • The right to request access to your personal information and to obtain information about how we process it
• • The right to move, copy or transfer your personal information (“data portability”)
• • Rights in relation to automated decision making which has a legal effect or otherwise significantly affects you

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office which enforces data protection laws: https://ico.org.uk/.