GDPR - Privacy Notice

Policy Document

Dave Schneider

Cooper Barnes Ltd

Date: 21st May 2018

Cooper Barnes Privacy Notice

Cooper Barnes takes its obligations concerning data protection seriously. We are providing this notice so you have information about how we collect and process your personal information. We ask you to please read this Privacy Notice as it has important information you need to know.

What does our company do?

Cooper Barnes is an approved and accredited vehicle body repairer and general car meachanics. We work with contracted specialists and vehicle manufacturers that supply parts, paint, materials, and services to enable the repair of your vehicle.

How do we use your personal information?

This privacy notice is to let you know how Cooper Barnes and our specialist supply chain promise to look after your personal information. This includes what has been passed on to us via your insurer, what you tell us about yourself, what we learn by having you as a client or customer, and the choices you give us about what you want us to send to you. This notice explains how we do this and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

We promise:

• To keep your data safe and private
• To manage your data based on your rights
• Not to sell your data

How the law protects you

• As well as our privacy promise, your privacy is protected by law. Data Protection law says that we are allowed to use personal information only if we have a proper reason to do so. This includes sharing outside Cooper Barnes. The law says we must have one or more of these reasons:
• To fulfil a contract we have with you, or
• When it is in our legitimate interest, or
• When it is our legal duty, or
• When you consent to it

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information. But even then, it must not unfairly go against what is right and best for you. If we rely on our legitimate interest, we will tell you what it is. In most cases it will be to repair your vehicle.

What information do we collect and process? 

In order for us to repair your vehicle it is legitimate and necessary to receive from you and/or your insurer necessary personal data. “Personal Data” is information about you which, either on its own or when connected with other data, allows us to identify you as an individual customer to provide you with our services. The personal data we hold may include the following:

• Your full name and contact information (address, town, postcode, email and phone number)
• Your purchase details (including time, date and cost, and VAT status and insurance excess)
• Your insurance company (if our work is part of an insurance claim)
• Your vehicle information (make, model, registration number)
• Your proof of identity (valid driving licence and/or passport)
• Your image on security CCTV around our premises
• Your work address and contact information
• Your calls and correspondence with us
• Your feedback

Personal data will be collected from you or passed to us by your insurance company/fleet manager/vehicle recovery agent. However, some personal data may, where lawful to do so, or with your consent, be collected by us from third parties (e.g. DVLA to check speeding offences for use of courtesy vehicles).

Data Minimisation

Data minimisation is a principle that states that data collected or processed should not be held or further used unless for essential reasons clearly stated in advance. This is defined as information that is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which its processed. This approach represents best practice for reducing the risk of unauthorised access and maintaining customer trust.

When processing and collecting data from our clients and customers we ask ourselves the following questions:

• How are we planning to use the data?
• Is there a way of achieving the purpose without having to collect the data?
• Does the individual know we are processing or collecting the data?
• Does the individual know why we are processing or collecting the data?
• How long will we need the data for to achieve the purpose?

If you choose not to give personal information

Please note that you are under no obligation to provide us with your personal information, but not providing certain data could prevent us from serving you, which could lead to cancellation of the service.

Why do we need your personal data? 

Cooper Barnes processes personal data about you for a number of purposes, including:

• To organise specialist repair functions such as system recalibration with contracted third parties
• To follow up with you shortly after the repair to your vehicle to check everything is satisfactory
• For internal record keeping (to be able to respond to customer enquiry and invoicing)
• To make an appointment with you to assess the accident damage on your vehicle
• For number plate recognition as part of our customer service and site security
• To process payments by credit/debit card or bank account details
• To remind or update you of progress or completion date
• To provide our services to you as requested or agreed
• To help us improve the services we offer

This list is not exhaustive and may be updated from time to time. We do not ‘trade’ in your personal data and will not sell or rent your details.

Who will your personal data be shared with?

Cooper Barnes works with vehicle manufacturers, insurance companies and accident management companies. We may share your basic personal data, such as name, contact details, claim number and vehicle details with the relevant company you are connected with to provide the service you have requested.

Limited personal information may also be made available to third parties providing relevant services under contract to Cooper Barnes, such as vehicle specialists, engineers, auditors, compliance managers, insurance companies, IT hosting, and maintenance providers. These companies may use information about you to perform their functions in accordance with the services we have requested and contract terms agreed as part of our service to you.

We may also disclose specific information upon lawful request by government authorities, law enforcement and regulatory authorities where required or permitted by law. Also in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).

We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information. We store all the personal information you provide on our secure servers. All electronic transactions you make to or receive from us will be encrypted using SSL technology.

In the event that we sell our business, we may share your details with the buyer to enable them to fulfil the service we have agreed with you.

Your personal information will not be transferred to, stored or otherwise processed outside the EU. Our data minimisation policy limits information to what is necessary for the purposes for which they are processed. International transfers of data between any of the countries we operate in is limited to operational and financial information. Personal information is not transferred.

Do we get involved in direct marketing?

Cooper Barnes does not take part in any direct marketing activities apart from requests for optional customer service feedback. We hope that the quality of our service and people will be enough for you to recommend us to others and view our website.

What rights do you have to amend personal information?

You have the right to review the personal data held by us and have inaccurate information about you corrected. To understand more about our data processing activities or to request access to your personal information, please contact our customer support team or email info@cooperbarnes.co.uk.

What if you want us to stop using your personal information?

You have the right to object to our use of your personal information, or to ask us to delete, remove, or to stop using your personal information if there is no need for us to keep it. This is known and the ‘right of erasure’ or the ‘right to be forgotten’. There may be legal, warranty related or other reasons why we need to keep or use your data, but please tell us if you think that we should not be using it.

How long do we keep your personal information?

Cooper Barnes will keep your details on record for as long as it is necessary to meet record keeping requirements. We hold booking, invoice and email details for seven years. They are then deleted in accordance with data protection and other applicable legislation. Should you wish to make a warranty claim after this period, you will need to provide a copy of our invoice or our completed guarantee.

Website and Cookies

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information on our website:

Information about your computer and about your visits to and use of our website, such as your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views.

Information that you provide to us for the purpose of contacting us.

We use cookies on our website. A cookie is a text file sent by a web server to a web browser, and stored by the browser. The text file is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server, which enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.

We may send a cookie, which may be stored on your browser on your computer’s hard drive. We may use the information we obtain from the cookie in the administration of our website, to improve the website’s usability and for marketing purposes. We may also use that information to recognise your computer when you visit our website, and to personalise our website for you.

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. For example, in Internet Explorer you can refuse all cookies by clicking ‘Tools’, ‘Internet Options’, ‘Privacy’, and selecting ‘Block all Cookies’ using the sliding selector. However, this will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites, including ours.

We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Google Analytics generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies which are stored on user’s computers. The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of the website. Google will store this information and their privacy policy is available at: http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html

Personal information submitted on this website will be used for the purposes specified in this privacy notice or in relevant parts of our website. We may use your personal information to:

• Administer our website
• Improve your browsing experience by personalising the website
• Enable your use of the services available on our website
• Send you general (non-marketing) commercial communications
• Send you email notifications which you have specifically requested
• Deal with any enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to the website

We will not, without your express consent, provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing. Except as provided in this privacy notice, we will not provide your information to third parties.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy notice or our treatment of your personal information, please write to us by email at repairs@cooper barnes.co.uk or by post to The Data Protection Officer, Cooper Barnes Ltd, Unit 4, The Grip Ind Est. Hadstock Road, Linton, Cambridge, CB21 4XN

Version History

01 – Privacy Notice 20180521 – initial document approved by M. Cooper.