Specky & Ginge's Pointedly Particular Privacy Policy

Right, let's get down to it. What you need to do - Grab yourself a cuppa, read this through, and let us know if there is anything that causes you worry. If it does, stop using our website and call us.

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Specky & Ginge, are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. It's important to us and we are trying to take care of you. One of the values of Specky & Ginge as an agency is to guard your information with our life, and never to share without your permission.

From the birth of Specky & Ginge, this has been right at the heart of what we do long before GDPR was mentioned. So, nothing changes from this perspective. We never share info and the only time we would ever need to ask your permission to do so, would be if we had a business lead for you. At this point it’s entirely up to you if you agree or not.

With regards to social media and GDPR you will be pleased to hear that as far as consent and data use is concerned, these will be effectively covered by the terms and conditions and privacy notices of each of these software tools.

We have ensured that all the software we use within the agency are all GDPR complaint, privacy shield certified and that we have signed the updated agreements. For example, all the social media platforms, Mailchimp, Sprout Social, Campaign Monitor etc.

- We will tell you what data we hold about you, and you can ask us to change that at any time.

- We don’t sell, rent or do despicable things with your data.

- We don’t share your data without your permission.

- We don’t use your data in ways you would find intrusive or which could cause you harm.

- We keep your data as safe as we possibly can.

Specky & Ginge - Who are We?
We are an online marketing company, taking care of online marketing requirements for businesses in the UK. Our office address is: Unit 14, Earlstrees Court, Earlstrees Industrial Estate, Corby, Northants, NN17 4AX.

The Team
Meet the team here and, we're always up for a cuppa and a chat.

Why Do We Safely Collect Data?
That's a good question, given the increasing concerns we all have about privacy. We do it because without up-to-date and accurate data we’d be pretty pants at our job. But to ensure compliance with the GDPR, Specky & Ginge uses one or more legal bases for processing your data:

1. As necessary to perform our contract with you.

- To take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract;

- To conduct negotiations and decide whether to enter into it;

- To manage and perform the contract, and carry out any obligations arising from the contract;

- To update our records and contact you after the contract is completed.

2. As necessary for our own legitimate interests and those of other persons and organisations, ie. where it is in yours and our legitimate business interests that we process your data, we’re using that data in ways you would reasonably expect, and this doesn’t materially affect your rights, freedom or interests and has a minimal privacy impact. The only time we would ever ask you if we could share your data would be if we had a business lead for you.

- For good governance, managing and auditing our business operations;

For market research, analysis and developing statistics, including seeking your views on the services we provide;

- To explore collaborative opportunities;

- To inform you on new developments and activities at Specky & Ginge and our clients’ news;

- To send you marketing communications.

3. As necessary to comply with a legal obligation.

- To comply with legal and regulatory requirements;

- When you exercise your rights under data protection law and make requests.

4. Based on your consent.

- To send you Specky & Ginge marketing communications where you have given us your consent to do so;

- To deal with entries into a promotion or competition;

- To process a job or internship application.

What Data Do We Collect?

We collect very little personal information from this website, other than anything you supply via the Contact form or in an email to us. We may collect information about your computer, such as your IP address, operating system, mobile device and browser type, but most of this sort of web data is anonymised, and we only get the usual insights provided by Google Analytics, nothing creepy.

Within Specky & Ginge as a whole, the sorts of personal information we store might include your name, address, contact numbers, email address, IP address, social media accounts, job title and biography and photo.

If you have applied for a job with Specky & Ginge, you are obviously supplying a lot of personal data, so we keep that safely and only use it for processing your application. For team members, we may collect more information and you will be asked for your consent for this.

If you are a journalist, we may collect information on what you’ve been interested in before, and what stories and topics you’ve covered in the past. This is so we can tailor our approaches to you as accurately as possible and not waste your time on stuff you’re just not interested in. We get this information mostly from our own research and from what you disclose to us.

You may be on our media lists because you’re linked to our client and its business interests, we’re already connected or social media or we’ve been speaking about a possible story.

If for whatever reason (I can't think of one unless you want to invite us for tea and cake!) you've shared your home address with us, we will be particularly careful to keep that private. No one wants stalkers..... Or restraining orders!

How Long Do We Keep Information?

Only as long as we need it, and it’s still sufficiently up-to-date. If we’ve not been in touch with each other for a couple of years, it’s probably time to say bye, bye, sorry. Of course, we are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations, or to enforce or apply our terms of use or to protect the rights, property or safety of our staff and clients. But otherwise we will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or for as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with us.

Who Else Has Access To Your Information?

Very few, you’ll be glad to know, and Cary's has personally shone a bright light in their eyes as part of her interrogation of the team! Specky & Ginge has some wonderful associates, designers, photographers, videographers and freelancers who supplement our team. They may get access to your information so they can do the work we’ve asked them to do and to provide services to you on our behalf. They are required to keep that data safe and not use it for their own direct marketing.

If you’re a client (and especially if you’re the spokesperson for your organisation), we may provide your details to a journalist, industry representative or influencer who wants to contact you.

If you submit personal information to Specky & Ginge as part of applying for a job, we may share this information with third parties as necessary to evaluate your application and consider your appropriateness for work here. The only other people we can think of are the police, courts or other authorities if we suspect something dodgy and we are required to share information by law, for example for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.

Whoop! You Have Choices!

You have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us. For example:

- If you are a journalist and want to be removed from our media lists, just say and we’ll sort that straightaway.

- If you receive Specky & Ginge marketing or e-newsletter from us, just click on the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom and you’ll instantly come off our lists.

- If you think we might hold on file a photo or video of you which might have been used for a PR campaign but now you want that deleted so it can’t be used in future, please let us know and we’ll sort that for you too.

You’re in control, and can ask us to amend, update or delete and ‘forget’ your data at any time.

If you change email address, or you think any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, you can get us to update it by emailing us at [email protected]. You have the right to ask for a copy of the information Specky & Ginge holds about you, we will not charge for this service.

Security Precautions
When passwords cause 81% of breaches, they need to be our #1 security priority. As we require access to your social media platforms it’s our responsibility to protect it. You should know that any information shared internally is always password protected even if it’s via a document such as a PDF. All passwords for all clients are unique, we never use the same password for multiple uses.

We also use a password protector called Last Pass (https://www.lastpass.com/business-password-manager), which is used by Harvard University, Mailchimp and many other large companies. This allows us to safely gain and share access internally to your accounts.
In addition to the above no one joins the Specky & Ginge team without proving they have strong anti-virus and firewalls installed on their PC’s and laptops.

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. There are various firewalls, levels of encryption and backup data retention systems in place with our IT providers, so if you want more information on this contact [email protected]. We train all staff on data protection issues. But obviously, due to the inherent open nature of the Internet, we cannot guarantee that communications between you and Specky & Ginge, or information stored on site on or our servers, will be free from unauthorised access by hackers. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

Yummy, Cookies

Like many other websites, the Specky & Ginge website uses cookies. Cookies are yummy with a cuppa! And also small pieces of information sent by us to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow our website to recognise you when you visit. Cookies collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns. They don’t identify you as an individual.

This site offers newsletter or email subscription services, so cookies may be on the menu. For example, when you submit data to us through a form such as the one found on our Contact page, cookies may be set to remember your user details for the future.

We also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. For example, this site uses Google Analytics, which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solutions on the web, to help us understand how you use the site and whether we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content.

It is possible to switch off cookies by setting preferences on your computer or mobile device. For more information on how to do that, check your device’s browser help pages.

Links To Other Websites

Our website may at times contain useful links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website. In addition, if you linked to our website from a third-party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third-party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third-party site too.

16 or Under?

We have kids ourselves, so we’re completely committed to protect the privacy of children aged 16 or under. If you are aged 16 or under‚ you probably won’t even bother reading this page. But if you are reading this, please remember to get your parent/guardian’s permission beforehand whenever you provide us with personal information.

Transferring Your Information Outside of Europe

As part of the services offered to you through this website, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the European Union. Yes, even after Brexit. For example, this could happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EU. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this policy. If you use our services while you are outside the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU to provide you with those services.

How Often Will We Rewrite This Policy?

We really, really hope not too often. But we may change this policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this policy.

Have we screwed up?

Any questions or concerns regarding this policy and our privacy practices should be sent to [email protected]. Or if we have made a complete, catastrophic or deliberate mess of data protection, you can report us. (pulls horror face emoji)

Thank you for reading this Privacy Policy. You’ve made it to the end! What to do now - Take a nap or eat cake to celebrate!