Privacy Policy
Homebase Financial Services Website
(Updated 14/12/04)
Homebase Limited ("Homebase") a company incorporated in England, is an appointed representative of Home Retail Group Insurance Service Limited. Both are members of Home Retail Group ("the Group"). The Group ("we","us") also includes Argos Limited, Home Retail Group Card Services Limited, ARG Personal Loans Limited and their associated companies. A full list of companies is available upon request from the Data Protection Compliance Manager, Argos Retail Group, Avebury, 488-499 Avebury Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 2NW.
The purpose of this Privacy Policy statement is to explain how we use personal
information that we may obtain about you on this Homebase Financial Services
website. By using the web site you agree to the use of your information
as set out below.
Use of your Personal Information
When you use certain products and services, you may be required to provide
your details, for example, in applying for a home insurance quotation.
For an explanation
of how your information will be used, please refer to the specific privacy
policy statements, which will be brought to your attention for such specific
products
and services.
We may also use your information for the following purposes:
• To administer our website services
• For assessment and analysis (e.g. market, customer and product analysis)
to enable us to review, develop and improve the services which we offer
and to enable
us to provide you and other customers with relevant information through
our marketing programme.
• To administer any prize draws or competitions you may enter.
Marketing Programme
When you provide us with your information, the specific privacy policy
for any product or service will explain to you how we may use information
to select products
or services which we think will interest you. We may keep you informed
of such products and services (including special offers, discounts, offers,
competitions
and so on by any of the following methods: e-mail, telephone, SMS text
message, post, or otherwise (including products and services of other
companies and organisations)
which we consider may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive
such information you will be provided with the means to indicate this
when you use
the particular products or services on this website.
Disclosure of Your Information
We may give information about you to the following, who may use it for
the same purposes as set out above:
• to other companies in the Group
• to employees and agents of the Group to administer any accounts, products
and services provided to you by the Group now or in the future
• agents who (on our behalf) profile your data so that we may tailor
the goods/services we offer to your specific needs
• to other organisations for the administration of prize draws or competitions
• to anyone to whom we transfer or may transfer our rights and duties
under our agreement with you
• if we have a duty to do so or if the law allows us to do so
In carrying out any of the above activities, we may transfer data outside
the European Economic Area to countries which may not necessarily give
you the same
level of protection in the use of your personal information.
Cookies
A cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your internet
browser, which may then store it on your system. You can find out more
about how cookies
work at www.allaboutcookies.org. Cookies may be used by us to provide
you with, for example, customised information from our website. Cookies
allow us to understand
who has seen which pages and advertisements, to determine how frequently
particular pages are visited and to determine the most popular areas
of our website. Depending
on the type of cookie we use, cookies also allow us to make our website
more user friendly, for example, permanent cookies allow us to save your
password
so that you do not have to re-enter it every time you visit our website.
If you wish, you can usually adjust your browser so that your computer
does not accept cookies. Alternatively you can adjust your browser to
tell you when a
website tries to put a cookie on your computer. If you click on the help
menu of your browser and search under 'cookies' you will be able to find
out how to
adjust your browser in these ways.
Please remember, cookies do not contain confidential information such
as your home address, telephone number or credit card details. We do
not exchange cookies
with any third party websites or external data suppliers.
Your browser also generates other information, including which language
the site is displayed in, and your Internet Protocol address ("IP address").
Your IP address is automatically logged by our servers and used to
collect traffic data about visitors to our web sites. We do not use
your IP address
to identify
you personally.
Security
We will treat all of your information in strict confidence and in accordance
with all applicable data protection and privacy laws and we will endeavour
to take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information. However,
we cannot
guarantee the security of any data you disclose online. You accept the
inherent security risks of providing information and dealing online over
the Internet
and will not hold us responsible for any breach of security unless this
is due to our negligence or wilful default.
When you enter personal details on this site you may see your browser
show a padlock or key at the bottom right hand side of your screen. For
more information
about the security settings double click on this icon when it appears.
General
Please be aware that our site may link to web sites belonging to third
parties outside of the Group which may be accessed through our site.
We are not responsible
for the data policies or procedures or the content of these linked web
sites
You have the right to see a copy of any personal data (as defined in
the Data Protection Act 1998) that we keep about you, upon receipt
of a written request
and payment of a fee. If you wish to see your information or
are concerned that any of the information we hold on you is incorrect please
contact
us at: Homebase
Website Customer Services, Acton Gate, Stafford ST18 9AR. Email:
enquiries@homebase.co.uk