Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how The Country Store uses and protects any information that you give The Country Store when you use this website. The Country Store is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. The Country Store may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

Definitions and interpretations

In this Policy the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Account – means collectively the personal information, payment information and credentials used by users to access material and /or any communications system on the website;
Content – means any text, graphics, images, audio, video, software, data compilations and any other form of information capable of being stored in a computer that appears on or forms part of this Website;
Cookie – means a small text file placed on your computer by The Country Store when you visit certain parts of this Website. This allows us to identify recurring visitors and to analyse their browsing habits within the website.
Data – means collectively all information that you submit to the Website. This includes, but is not limited to, Account details and information submitted using any of our Services or Systems;
Service – means collectively any online facilities, tools, services or information that The Country Store makes available through the Website either now or in the future;
System – means any online communications infrastructure that The Country Store makes available through the Website either now or in the future. This includes, but is not limited to, web-based email, message boards, live chat facilities and email links;
User/Users – means any third party that accesses the Website and is not employed by The Country Store and acting in the course of their employment;
Website – means the website that you are currently using (www.thecountrystore.co.uk) and any sub-domains of this site unless expressly excluded by their own terms and conditions.

What we collect

Without limitation, any of the following data may be collected:

Name
Date of Birth
Gender
Job Title
Profession
Contact information including email address and telephone numbers
Demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests, financial information such as credit/debit card numbers
Other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
IP address (automatically collected)
Web browser type and version (automatically collected)
Operating systems (automatically collected)
A list of URLS starting with a referring site, your activity on this Website, and the site you exit to (automatically collected) and
Cookie information

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

Internal record keeping.
Any personal data you submit will be retained by The Country Store for as long as you use the services and systems provided on the website. Data that you may submit through any communications system that we may provide may be retained for a longer period of up to 12 months.
We may use the information to improve our products and services.
We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests.
Unless we are obliged or permitted by law to do so, and subject to point 4, your data will not be disclosed to third parties. This does not include our affiliates and/or other companies within our group.
All personal data is stored securely in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. For more details on security, see point 8 below.
Any or all of the above data may be required by us from time to time in order to provide you with the best possible service and experience when using our website. Specifically, data may be used by us for the following reasons:
1. Improvement of our products/services.
2. Transmission by email of promotional materials that may be of interest to you.
3. Contact for market research purposes which may be done using email, telephone, fax or mail. Such information may be used to customise or update the website.

Controlling access to your data

Wherever you are required to submit Data, you will be given options to restrict our use of that Data. This may include the following:

Use of data for direct marketing purposes.
Sharing data with third parties.

Your right to withhold information

You may access certain areas of the website without providing any data at all. However, to use all services and systems available on the website you may be required to submit or other data.
You may restrict your internet browser’s use of cookies.

Third party websites and services

The Country Store may, from time to time, employ the services of other parties for dealing with matters that may include, but are not limited to, payment handling, delivery of purchased items, search engine facilities, advertising and marketing. The providers of such services do not have access to certain personal Data provided by Users of this Web Site. Any Data used by such parties is used only to the extent required by them to perform the services that The Country Store requests. Any use for other purposes is strictly prohibited. Furthermore, any Data that is processed by third parties must be processed within the terms of this Policy and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Changes of business ownership and control

The Country Store may, from time to time, expand or reduce its business and this may involve the sale of certain departments or the transfer of control of certain departments to other parties. Data provided by Users will, where it is relevant to any department so transferred, be transferred along with that department and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Policy, be permitted to use the Data for the purposes for which it was supplied by you.

In the event that any data submitted by Users will be transferred in such a manner, you will be notified in advance and informed of the changes. When contacted, you will be given the choice to have your data deleted or withheld from the new owner or controller.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Specifically we utilise the following systems:

Password protected data systems.
Only staff and those contracted to the company have permission and access.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

We also use Google Analytics cookies; these assist us in improving and maintaining our website. These cookies store no personal data, only anonymous usage data.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

List of cookies we collect

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

COOKIE Name	COOKIE Description
_ga	Used to distinguish users.
_gat	Used to throttle request rate.
CART	The association with your shopping cart.
CATEGORY_INFO	Stores the category info on the page, that allows to display pages more quickly.
COMPARE	The items that you have in the compare products list.
CURRENCY	Your preferred currency.
CUSTOMER	An encrypted version of your customer ID with the store.
CUSTOMER_AUTH	An indicator if you are currently logged into the store.
CUSTOMER_INFO	An encrypted version of the customer group you belong to.
CUSTOMER_SEGMENT_IDS	Stores the customer segment ID.
EXTERNAL_NO_CACHE	A flag, which indicates whether caching is disabled or not.
FRONTEND	Your session ID on the server.
GUEST-VIEW	Allows guests to edit their orders.
LAST_CATEGORY	The last category you visited.
LAST_PRODUCT	The most recent product you have viewed.
NEWMESSAGE	Indicates whether a new message has been received.
NO_CACHE	Indicates whether it is allowed to use cache.
PERSISTENT_SHOPPING_CART	A link to information about your cart and viewing history if you have asked the site.
POLL	The ID of any polls you have recently voted in.
POLLN	Information on what polls you have voted on.
RECENTLYCOMPARED	The items that you have recently compared.
STF	Information on products you have emailed to friends.
STORE	The store view or language you have selected.
USER_ALLOWED_SAVE_COOKIE	Indicates whether a customer allowed to use cookies.
VIEWED_PRODUCT_IDS	The products that you have recently viewed.
WISHLIST	An encrypted list of products added to your Wish list.
WISHLIST_CNT	The number of items in your Wish list.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes

If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at info@thecountrystore.co.uk

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to;

The Country Store, Unit12a, London Road Industrial Estate, Pampisford, Cambridgeshire, CB22 3EE

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

Changes to this policy

The Country Store reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy as we may deem necessary from time to time or as may be required by law. Any changes will be immediately posted on the Website and you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the Policy on your first use of the Website following the alterations.