INTRODUCTION

The MCS group of companies (MCS Test Equipment Ltd and MCS Rentals Limited hereinafter referred to as “MCS”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice sets out how we will look after your personal data when you visit our website or when you do business with MCS and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

1.               IMPORTANT NOTICE

1.1            MCS is made up of different legal entities. This privacy notice is used on behalf of the MCS Group so when we mention “MCS”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy notice, we are referring to the relevant company in the MCS group responsible for processing your data.

1.2            MCS is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

1.3            MCS may change this notice from time to time. This notice is effective from 1st February 2019.

1.4            MCS complies with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). For the purposes of the GDPR, to the extent applicable and relevant, MCS is the “data controller”. 

1.5            Please read the following notice to understand how we may collect, use, store, and transfer the personal data you provide or which we collect about you.

2.               THE PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT 

2.1            We may collect the following personal data (“personal data”) about you: 

(a)       personal data you provide if you contact us using the “Information Request” form or by filing in other forms on our website; 

(b)       personal data you provide if you contact us (including by telephone) to register, subscribe, or request information on or to have us provide services or products; 

(c)       personal and payment data you provide when making a purchase or rental; 

(d)       personal data you provide when you apply for a job advertised or submit a speculative job application or your CV; 

(e)       personal data gathered using cookies; 

(f)        details of your visits to our website, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs, and other similar data. 

2.2            The following are some examples of personal data we may collect based upon the above types of data:

(a)       Name;

(b)       Mailing address;

(c)       E-mail address;

(d)       Phone (or mobile) number;

(e)       Date of birth or age;

(f)        GDPR special category data (for job seekers);

(g)       Credit/debit card number; and

(h)       Purchase/return/exchange information.

2.3            If you choose not to provide information, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products, services, or information.

3.               HOW WE USE PERSONAL DATA

3.1            We may use and process the personal data you provide for the purposes outlined below as well as for any purposes specified at the time of collection, to the extent permitted by applicable law and regulations: 

(a)       internal record keeping;

(b)       to fulfil orders which you have placed for products and services; 

(c)       to deal with your enquiries; 

(d)       to send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting (but only to the extent that you have given us your consent to do so);

(e)       to develop, deliver, and improve our products or services or marketing; 

(f)        to help us develop our website to be more useful to you; 

3.2            to send you product information, newsletters, and other relevant and targeted promotional communications (but only to the extent that you have given us your consent to do so); 

(a)       prevent fraudulent transactions, monitor against theft or misuse of service or products, and otherwise protect our interests and those of our customers;

(b)       for consideration of your request to apply for a job at our company;

(c)       for legal compliance such as assist law enforcement or regulatory inquiries;

(d)       for any other legitimate interest allowable under the GDPR which applies to our business.

4.               DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA 

Generally MCS are not allowed to share Personal Data with third parties unless safeguards and contractual arrangements have been put in place. We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.

5.               COOKIES & OTHER TRACKING TECHNIQUES

5.1            What are cookies? 

(a)       A cookie is a small text file containing small amounts of information which asks permission to be placed on your device when you visit a website. The cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

(b)       Cookies can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests. 

(c)       We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

(d)       Overall, cookies help us provide a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives MCS access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

5.2            You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your internet browser which allows you to refuse the setting of cookies. Please be aware that blocking cookies may affect the website’s functionality or restrict how much of the website you can access. 

5.3            Social Media

(a)       We may engage with you on multiple social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. If you contact us on one of our social media platforms, request guest service via social media, or otherwise direct us to communicate with you via social media, we may contact you via direct message or use other social media tools to interact with you. In these instances, your interactions with us are governed by this privacy notice as well as the privacy notice of the social media platform you use.

5.4            Social Media Adverts

(a)       We may display targeted ads to you through social media platforms. These ads are sent to groups of people who share traits such as likely commercial interests and demographics. See the policies of each social media platform for additional information about these types of ads.

6.               YOUR RIGHTS 

6.1            When you use this website or provide us with your personal data you agree that we may use your personal data for the purposes set out in this notice. 

6.2            You have the right to: 

(a)       request that we stop sending you marketing information; 

(b)       apply for a copy of the personal data we hold about you; 

(c)       request that we correct or update any personal data which we hold about you which you believe is inaccurate or out of date; 

(d)       request that we delete any personal data which we hold about you in certain circumstances;

(e)       request that we restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances;

(f)        right to object to processing unless we are able to process your information because of legitimate interests or reason we legally hold to process your information;

You can exercise these rights by submitting a request to the Data Protection Officer (“DPO”), the details of which can be found at clause 11 of this privacy notice.

6.3            You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal data when fill in a form on the website by ticking the box indicating you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes.

7.               TRANSFERRING PERSONAL DATA 

7.1            The personal data we collect from you is currently held within the European Economic Area (“EEA”). It is possible that in the future such personal data may be transferred, stored and/or processed outside the European Economic Area. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing and/or processing. You should be aware that countries outside the EEA may not offer the same level of data protection as the United Kingdom or the United States. However, we will only allow such data transfer outside the EEA if we have a legally allowable method.

8.               LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES 

8.1            This notice only applies to this website. Our website may contain links to other websites of interest however once you have used these links and leave our website, you should note that we do not exercise control over third-party websites. If you link to another website from here, you should exercise caution and look at the privacy notice applicable to the third-party website in question. We are not responsible for any use of your personal data that is made by other websites. 

9.               SECURITY 

9.1            We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

10.            CHANGES TO THIS COOKIES AND PRIVACY NOTICE 

10.1          This notice was last updated on 1st February 2019. We may update this notice from time to time. When we change this notice in a material way, a notice will be sent out to all customers and posted on our website along with a revised privacy notice. By accessing the website after the revised privacy notice is posted, you consent to the revised privacy notice. 

11.            HOW USERS CAN CONTACT US 

11.1          If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the DPO: Michael Gwynne - michael.gwynne@mcs-testequipment.com.