Privacy Policy
What is GDPR?
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) is European legislation that has been designed to try and harmonise data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens’ data privacy and to reshape the way organisations across the EU approach data privacy.
The GDPR comes into force on 25 May 2018 and introduces an enhanced EU-wide data protection regime that will have a direct effect on member states and any companies established outside the EU who wish to trade with within the EU.
Who is this Statement for?
This Statement is intended to provide information relating to the steps that The Unite Group is taking to ensure compliance with the GDPR.
What is The Unite Group doing?
The Unite Group has been investigating our own systems, procedures, working practices and policies to ensure that internally we meet the requirements expected under GDPR. We have mapped data and information flows in order to assess their privacy risks.
The Unite Group is currently undergoing ISO9001 compliance audits, so work is running in parallel.
The key sound bites to understand are that The Unite Group can be both the Data Controller and the Data Processor as defined below but in the context of our customers, we are considered the Data Processor.
Data Controller – where The Unite Groups is the organisation responsible for determining the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; and/or
Data Processor – where The Unite Group processes personal data on behalf of our customers
How do you use and store customer data?
Details in our privacy policy which can be found on our website.
Where is my personally identifiable data stored and how secure is it?
Your data is stored in secure UK data centres in London and Manchester. All data is encrypted at rest.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations from 25/05/2018)
Please contact us for details on Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) and for further information and details for the data protection officer (DPA)
Last Updated: 08/02/2018
The Unite Group Limited Privacy and Customer Data Retention Policy
This privacy policy is here to help you understand what information we collect and how we use it. This policy only describes how The Unite Group treats your information; not how other organisations treat your information. If you are using The Unite Group in a workplace or on a device or account issued to you by your employer or another organisation, that company or organisation likely has its own policies regarding storage, access, modification, deletion, and retention of communications and content which may apply to your use of any The Unite Group service. Content that would otherwise be considered private to you or to a limited group of people may, in some cases, be accessible by your account owner or administrator. Please check with your employer or account administrator about the policies it has in place regarding your communications.
Fair and Lawful Processing
Many of the current regulations and processes The Unite Group adhere to require a person to be named as the subscriber for the service. An example of this may be a telephone number or broadband service that cannot be anonymous or unnamed or without an address for installation or emergency services purposes. Person(s) wishing to continue with services should, therefore, offer an alternative to allow The Unite Group to continue being able to continue providing existing services.
Information we collect
The Unite Group collects different kinds of information. Some of it is personally identifiable and some are non-identifying or aggregated. Here are the types of information we collect or receive:
Account Information – This includes all the information under your account details within our web portal. It includes names and full contact details for the individual or business that created the account. This is vital for accounting purposes and conforming to our regulatory provisions for providing accurate access to the emergency services.
Call detail records (CDRs) – This is a record of the communication that has traversed the Unite Group network. It typically includes a source, destination and duration although it can also include quality metrics and fraud prevention data too. CDRs allow us to create an itemised bill for you which forms part of our accounting procedures.
Payment Records – The Unite Group retains a transaction history of purchases made for products and services. This is fundamental to our accounting processes.
Radius Logs – The Unite Group retains data on Broadband sessions such as the time the connection commenced and duration. The Unite Group may also log metrics such as sync data and bandwidth used.
Websites and portals – Our websites use cookies in order to offer users functionality. We also use cookies for analytical and service improvements. The Unite Group monitors login data for fraud and security protection.
Communicating with The Unite Group – We operate systems which log details of calls, emails and web chat correspondence. This allows us to deal with our customers effectively.
Call Recordings – Call recordings are disabled by default and are opt-in only.
Cookies – Cookies enable you to use shopping carts and to personalize your experience on our sites, tell us which parts of our websites people have visited, help us measure the effectiveness of ads and web searches, and give us insights into user behaviour so we can improve our communications and products. The Unite Group websites use cookies.
How we use your information (Processing your data)
The Unite Group uses your information for the following:
Providing the Unite Group service and improving our products – To make the product better we have to understand how users are using it.
Investigating and preventing bad stuff from happening – We work hard to keep The Unite Group secure and to prevent abuse and fraud. This may also include requests from the authorities or courts.
Communicating with you – Solving your problems and responding to your requests. If you contact us with a problem or question, we will use your information to respond to that request and address your problems or concerns.
Email messages – We may send you service and administrative emails, such as when we notice that you are nearing credit limits. We may also contact you to inform you about changes in our services, our service offerings and important service-related notices, such as changes to this policy or security and fraud notices. These messages are considered part of the service and you may not opt-out of them.
Data Retention
Call Recordings – If activated are stored for 30 calendar days unless specified to be longer by you.
Call Detail Records (CDRs) – Are stored for 12 calendar months and then deleted.
Radius Data – Stored for 6 calendar months and then deleted.
Account Data – If the authorised account holder chooses to deactivate the account. The data will be archived for no more than 15 years.
< > – This includes but is not limited to emails, call-recordings, CDRs, webchats, Fax transmissions and post. The data may be kept for no more than 15 years.
Payment Data – The Unite Group does not process nor retain card payment data. All sensitive transactional payment data is processed and stored in accordance with PCI-DSS regulations by payment providers such as Netbanx or PayPal. The Unite Group does store Active Direct Debit details.
LDAP Data – Customers are in control of LDAP (Hosted Address Directory) data which can be removed permanently via the web-portal.
Sharing and Disclosure
There are times when communications and related content and other user information may be shared by The Unite Group. With consent, to comply with legal process, or to protect The Unite Group and our users. When we have your consent or if we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation or legal request; to protect the safety, rights, or property of the public, any person, or The Unite Group; or to detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues. If we receive a law enforcement or other third-party request for information, we will provide prior notice to the subject of the request where we are legally permitted to do so.
Examples of sharing and disclosure are below and but not strictly limited to the following:
< >: Telephone number subscriber information is shared between the companies involved in a telephone number port as validation. (Openreach/BT along with the RH, LCP and GCP)< > Fixed line services (Broadband and WLR) require installation addresses, therefore, disclose of this information is given to those involved in the provision and installation of these services.< > Fault finding such as UK PTSN based services sometimes require engineer visits in which case we would ask your permission to provide a contact telephone number and name. These can be from BT Group companies or subcontractors or LLU providers and their subcontractors.< > Direct Debit data is stored and processed with the BACSTEL interbank payment network.< > Some international telephone number rentals require the subscriber to provide official identity documents as a regulatory requirement in that country.
Security
The Unite Group takes reasonable steps to protect the information you provide to us as part of your use of The Unite Group service from loss, misuse, and unauthorised access or disclosure. These steps take into account the sensitivity of the information we collect, process and store and the current state of technology. When you enter sensitive information (such as sign-in credentials) we encrypt the transmission of that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and encrypt all data at rest. We follow generally accepted standards to protect the personal data submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. All of The Unite Group staff are trained and partake in refresher training in data protection.
Data Storage and Transfers
The Unite Group does not store or process data outside of the United Kingdom.
Data Subjects Rights
Data Subjects have the rights in relation to their personal data under the Privacy Legislation. Those rights include:
The right to be informed
The right of access
The right to rectification
The right to erasure
The right to restrict processing
The right to data portability
The right to object
Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
Changes to this Privacy Policy
The Unite Group may change this policy from time to time, and if we do, we’ll post any changes on this page. If you continue to use The Unite Group after those changes are in effect, you agree to the revised policy. If the changes are material, we may provide more prominent notice or seek your consent to the new policy.
This privacy policy does not cover third party websites that you can link to through the Website. We accept no liability for these sites. If you have any complaints, questions or comments about this privacy policy or The Unite Group Limited’s use of your personal information, you can contact The Unite Group at info@theunitegroup.co.uk