Here at Gaugemaster we understand the importance of security when it comes to Personal Data. This policy sets out what we do with your information and how we keep it secure. It also explains where and how we collect your personal information and what rights you have over any information that we hold about you.

This policy applies to you if you use our products or services in store, over the phone, online, at a show or event, or if you use any of our websites or interact with our social media accounts.

Who are we?

When we refer to ‘we’ or ‘us’ in our privacy policy, we’re referring to any of the constituent parts of our business Gaugemaster Controls Ltd., all registered at Gaugemaster House, Ford Road, Arundel, BN18 0BN:

• The Engine Shed Model Railway Superstore
• www.gaugemastertrade.com
• www.gaugemaster.com

What sorts of information do we hold?

• Personal information that you provide to us such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, and any enquiries or feedback from you, including by phone, email, post, or when you communicate with us via social media;
• Although we take payment details when you place an order, these details are held by our payment processor SagePay, and we only have access to the last four digits of your payment card for identification purposes.
• Information about services or products that we have provided to you in the past, including the service(s) or product(s) provided, when and where, the amount that you paid, billing address and where the item was sent (if applicable), and any other information required to process a transaction;
• Your account login details, including name, email address, and password;
• Information on how you use our website(s);

Email Mailshots

• When signing up to our retail mailing lists, you agree to receive marketing emails form us; Gaugemaster Controls ltd. Registered address: Gaugemaster Controls Ltd, Gaugemaster House, Ford Road, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0BN.
• We will only use your data submitted when signing up for the distribution of email marketing relating to the products we sell and the business we undertake. The data that is collected here, and from interactions with our emails including feedback information such as email responses, opens, and clicks, is stored solely for the purposes of enhancing and providing this service and to monitor its effectiveness in providing information and improve communication to you. We do not sell any data collected or pass this onto any third parties outside those required to operate this service, and those deemed necessary by law.
• We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform, and by signing up to any of our marketing services, you acknowledge your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. You can learn more about Mailchimp’s privacy police and their use of data here.
• The frequency of the emails sent will differ day to day, but we will not send out excessive amounts on any given day. Regular emails are also sent, with varying frequency.
• We reserve the right to amend and withdraw any email marketing whether in part or in full without notification as well as reserving the right to change, add or augment any feature that we deem would enhance the final mailing without notification.
• At any time you are able to change your preferences for email marketing as well as opting out completely. This can be done using the links at the bottom of any marketing email sent to you, or by contacting us directly. Any questions you have regarding our marketing emails, please contact the marketing department.

How do we use your information?

The information that we collect may be used to:

• Make available our services to you;
• Process your order or transaction;
• Take a payment from you or refund you;
• Ensure our customers are genuine to help prevent fraud;
• Conduct statistical analysis;
• Send tailored email marketing to those who opt in.

Fraud Prevention

We have systems in place to help protect our customers and ourselves from fraud. If false or incorrect information is provided and fraud identified, personal information may be passed to fraud prevention agencies. This data may be accessed by law enforcement agencies. Please Contact Us if you want to receive details of the fraud prevention organisations that we work with.

Who might we share your information with?

• Our service providers – We work with various other organisations to process transactions and orders, and to answer enquiries. We only share relevant information with them for them to provide their services to us or you. For example, only your delivery address, phone number, and email address will be provided to our logistics partners to help them deliver your order accurately;
• Other organisations or individuals – We may provide your personal details to outside organisations or individuals if required to by law, if we need to exercise or protect our legal rights, users, systems and services, or in response to requests seeking to protect the legal rights of themselves or others;
• Sending you information about our products and services – If you are signed up to receive our email newsletters your name, email address, and information preferences are provided to the organisation that processes them for us. You can amend your preferences or unsubscribe by clicking the relevant link on the email, or Contact Us.

International transfers of your personal information

We may transfer your personal information to our suppliers or service providers based outside of the EEA for the purposes described in this privacy policy. If we do this your personal information will continue to be subject to one or more appropriate safeguards set out in the law. These might be the use of model contracts in a form approved by regulators, or having our suppliers sign up to an independent privacy scheme approved by regulators (like the US 'Privacy Shield' scheme).

Your Rights

Accessing and correcting your personal information

By law, you can request access to the information that we hold about you. If we agree that we are obliged to fulfil the request, we will provide it free of charge and within 30 days of receiving the request. Before doing so we may ask for further information or proof of identity so that we can correctly identify you on our database.

If any of the information that we retain is incorrect or out of date you may ask us to correct it.

Contact us via one of the methods shown below if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

Right to limit or stop us using your data

You have the right to request that we stop processing and/or delete your personal information if we are not entitled to use it any more or are keeping it too long, if this does not conflict with any data retention regulations.

Contact us via one of the methods shown below if you wish to exercise this right.

How long do we keep your information?

We retain your personal information for as long as required, to provide you with high quality service whenever you contact us regarding our goods or services. Your information is in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, and not longer than necessary.

Social Media

When you interact with our social media accounts (e.g. liking or sharing posts, leaving reviews) please note that your information may be visible to the providers of the social media account, as well as other users. It is your responsibility to ensure your privacy settings are set to an appropriate level that you are comfortable with.

Security

Gaugemaster has various security measures in place to make sure that your data is protected.

• Access to the non-public areas of our building is restricted to those who are meant to be there, and all visitors are supervised in areas where they may be able to gain access to personal data.
• Computers in the public areas of our building are password protected, and locked when not in use or unattended by staff.
• Access controls to our information technology, such as firewalls etc.
• We will never ask for your login password by email, phone, or face to face.
• We will never ask you for any personal information that is not required to carry out the specific service requested.

Contact us

If you would like to exercise one of the rights above, or have a question or complaint about this policy, please contact us by one of the methods below.

Online – Contact Us

By Post – Data Protection Officer, Gaugemaster Controls Ltd., Ford Road, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 0BN, United Kingdom

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK regulator, the Information Commissioner. Go to ico.org.uk/concerns to find out more.

Policy Change

This version of the Gaugemaster Controls Ltd. Privacy Policy was implemented in February 2018.

Cookies

In order to help us with development and evolution of the site, we collect certain types of information about the way in which the site is used. This information is collected through the use of cookies. A cookie is a small text file - not a program - that is used to store information, and which can then be used to analyse traffic patterns, visitor behaviour and compile aggregated data which we can analyse in order to improve the site.

We also use cookies to automatically pass information to other sections of the site, enabling us to improve the user journey around the site. For example, we use cookies to automatically reconstruct product searches you may have performed, enabling you to revisit the results of that search more easily.

However, we appreciate that some users may prefer not to allow the use of cookies on their browser. Blocking these cookies will not prevent you from accessing or using the site, although certain features may not be fully available. Currently, most of the cookies in use on the site are "session cookies", meaning that they are automatically deleted from your hard drive at the termination of your visit.

Session Cookies are used for the following:

• Passing data between different parts of the site
• Maintaining your recently viewed list
• Search history
• Tracking the items in your shopping basket

The only exceptions to this are the Persistent Cookies (cookies that stay on your computer) that are used for the following:

• Maintaining your shopping basket between visits
• For analytical purposes to show if you have visited the site before and the time you spent on the site

None of these cookies are used to store any sensitive details and are mainly there to enhance your visit to our website.

Most of the cookies that are generated by the site are set by us (Gaugemaster Controls Ltd.) The only exception to this is that we use the widely adopted Google Analytic/Adwords s to gather information about your visit(s), these cookies are Third Party cookies generated by Google on our behalf.

As the website has a secured HTTPS area where you login and enter personal information, some of the cookies mentioned above will be duplicated for the secure area. No additional information to that already mentioned is stored.

If you wish to disable cookies, or get notifications when you receive a new cookie then please use your browser help menu to identify how to do this for your specific browser.

By continuing to use this website we assume that you have given permission for the use of cookies as outlined above.

List of cookies we collect

NOTICE: We might need to add an additional cookie to our website - Google Analytics.

The table below lists the cookies we collect and what information they store.