Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. This privacy statement explains the personal data Discount Hunters processes, how it is processed and for what purpose. We encourage you to read this Privacy Statement before providing us with any personal information and before using the site. By providing us with any personal information, you are signifying that you agree with all of the terms of this Privacy Statement, so please do not do so if you disagree with any part of this Privacy Statement.
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT AND WHEN?

Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data). We only collect information that we will use for the purposes set out in this policy. Specifically, we collect:

• Information you submit to us You can submit information to us in the following ways:
  • Through forms, for example signing up to an offer, news or a competition;
  • By sending us emails and text messages (SMS or MMS);
  • By adding posts, reviews and other comments to the Websites, any Sandhills' mobile phone applications, or other community forums;
  • By interacting with us on social media platforms (such as Facebook or Twitter);
  • By speaking to us over the telephone; or
  • By registering accounts on the Websites or any Sandhills' mobile phone applications, including setting up passwords and preferred user names, contact details, account details, your preferences and interests. (Please note: If you submit details to us of any other person (e.g. a friend), please make sure you have their permission before doing so.)
• Information we collect about you
  • Full details of the purchases you make on the Websites or on the telephone, including the time and date of purchase, the products you purchase from us, any relevant delivery address and details of any relevant payment card.
  • Information on what you search for, view, click on and access in and through the Websites, our marketing emails and text messages (SMS or MMS). We may collect the time and geographic location of your device when you do so. This information may also include where you came to the Websites from, and where you went when you left it. We also track how often you visit and use the Websites. We do this through the use of email and website cookies (see our Cookie Policy).
  • Technical information about the devices you use to access the Websites. We collect each device’s unique identifying code (MAC address), relevant IP address, operating system and version, web browser and version, and geographic location
  • Your social media content (where this is in the public domain) and any messages you send us via social media. This information can include posts, comments, pictures and video (see paragraph 4 for more information)
  • Information from banking, credit card and credit reference agencies about your financial status and the status of any payment card presented to us (for example, if it has been reported stolen) to check we are likely to be paid for any transaction and to reduce the risk of fraud.
  • Profile information and insight from companies who already have information on you, such as credit reference agencies (customer insight companies). They give us their views on what your household may look like, your status, likely preferences and behaviours.

  We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.

  2. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION? 

  We will only use your personal data for the purposes and legal bases set out in the table below.

  Why we use your personal data

  What our legal basis is for doing so.

  To provide you with the Website, which requires a certain amount of technical information to be collected in order to work properly. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to study how Website users use our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To power security measures and related services relating to your access to the Website, for example, to enable us to recognize your username and password and reset these if you forget them. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to study how Website users use our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To enable you to order products from us on the Website, which again requires a certain amount of personal data to be collected, for example your payment card details so we can take payment and the products you buy so we can provide you with an invoice and receipt. The processing is necessary to perform a contract or enter into a contract with you.

  To enable us to run competitions and offers for which you have signed up, about which we need to be able to communicate with you. Where you have given consent to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing – which you may withdraw at any time.

  To gather feedback from you about the Website, our products, other services and activities from time to time. We may invite you to provide this feedback on occasion, for example by emailing you to ask if you would like to review a product you have bought. We may use independent research and feedback providers to do so on our behalf. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our Site updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To contact you from time to time about things you have told us you want to hear about, for example, our products, news, offers, new competitions and sponsored events. Where you have given consent to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing – which you may withdraw at any time.

  To respond to any questions, suggestions, issues or complaints you have raised with us. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to review issues with our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.  The processing is necessary to perform a contract or enter into a contract with you.

  To respond to any social media posts or other public comments you make where these are made to or about us, the Website, our products, services or other activities. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to review issues with our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To communicate with you about operational changes to the Website, our products, services, for example if we were to withdraw or change this privacy policy. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to review issues with our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.  The processing is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

  To perform any contract we have entered into with you but also to enforce a contract against you if you do not honour it, including seeking to collect any debts that you may owe us. The processing is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to recover debts due to us) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights. The processing is necessary to perform a contract or enter into a contract with you.

  To gather statistics about how you and other people use the Website, and what you think of our adverts, offers, news, product information, competitions, sponsored events, social media and other digital content. We then analyze these statistics to understand if these things meet most people’s needs, or if they should be improved, and if so, what design or other changes (for example, around the nature and timing of communications) would be most beneficial for our customers and our business. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our Site updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To check that you have or are likely to have the means to pay us for any products you have ordered from us on the Website. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to recover debts due to us) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights. The processing is necessary to perform a contract or enter into a contract with you.

  To monitor use of the Website to see if it is being abused or threatened for example by people posting inappropriate comments in review areas or by potential hackers looking to undermine their security. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to review issues with our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights. The processing is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

  To protect you and our business against any other criminal behaviour, including identity theft and fraud. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to review issues with our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights. The processing is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

  To understand you better and, in particular, your habits, your location from time to time and your personal circumstances. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our Site updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To maintain administrative and legal records about our business to enable us to understand what we have sold, how, when, where and at what price and account to the Revenue Commissioners for the related taxes that we have to pay. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights. The processing is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

  To enable us and our third party service providers to plan and manage our day-to-day business and related services as effectively as possible, for example in predicting likely sales volumes of each product, so we can try and make sure we have enough stock to meet likely demand. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to study how Website users use our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To enable us to understand what our customer and user base looks like across our business. We do this by combining your information with information about our other customers and users of the Website, so we can spot trends and common factors. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to keep our records updated and to study how Website users use our products/services) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To enable us to conduct focused market research based on trends that we identify, which we can then use to further improve our products and services for all our customers. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them and grow our business) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  In the process of anonymizing your information so that you are no longer identifiable to us. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to ensure data minimization) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To test new systems and processes as we roll them out to make sure they work and will meet the high expectations we set for ourselves. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganization or group restructuring exercise) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To assist us in the development of new products and services over time, for example to gauge whether a new product is likely to appeal to a large proportion of our customer base. The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (to develop our products/services and grow our business) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.

  To analyze whether the money we spend on advertising on trade publications and trade websites, online and in search engines represents good value. Where you have given consent to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing – which you may withdraw at any time.

  Where we rely on our legitimate business interests to allow us to process your personal data or we process your personal data for direct marketing, you have the right, at any time, to object.3. WHO DO WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH? We cannot run our business or provide many of our services and benefits without involving other people and businesses and sometimes we pass your information to these other people and businesses as set out below. We only share your information where we can do so in accordance with our legal data protection and privacy obligations. We share the information we collect with:

• Sandhills Group Companies and Brands and Services We do so because we hope to have a relationship with you across all these different brands and businesses, if not now, then in the future, and we want to be able to provide you with the same value and high quality of experience wherever you choose to interact with us.
• Other people and businesses who help us provide the Websites, and related services to you, for example, information technology companies who design and host the Websites and payment services companies who enable you to use payment cards with us.
• Advertiser and advertising networks which require the data to select and serve relevant adverts to you and others. We may use the information we have collected from you to enable us to comply with our advertisers' wishes by displaying their advert to that target audience.
• Third parties who in our reasonable opinion make a claim that any content posted or uploaded by you to the Website constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.
• Analytics and search engine providers who assist us in the improvement and optimization of the Websites.
• Our insurers and insurance brokers where required in order for us to be able to obtain insurance against risks we face in running our business. They may retain this information for the purpose of ongoing risk assessment and insurance broking and underwriting services.
• Banks and finance companies where we have allowed them to offer you the possibility of purchasing our products on credit or through a loan arranged online. They may retain this information, for example if you take any service they offer, for the purpose of providing you with that service.
• Credit reference agencies who provide anti-fraud and credit score information to us, banks and finance companies who also provide anti-fraud services and customer insight companies (as set out above), in each case as necessary in order to benefit from their services. Where we do so for anti-fraud purposes, the recipient organization may hold your information on file for the purpose of their fraud prevention services in future.
• Business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you.
• The prospective buyer of any part of our business or assets that we may sell.
• Our professional advisers for example our lawyers, accountants and technology consultants when they need it to provide advice to us.
• The police, local authorities, the courts and any other central or local government bodies where they request it and we may lawfully disclose it, for example for the prevention and detection of crime.
• Other people who make a subject access request to us, where we are allowed to do so by law (see Managing Your Information below for what we mean by a subject access request).

We may also share the information we collect where we are legally obliged to do so, for example, to comply with a court order.