Privacy and cookies policy

  1. Introduction

1.1 We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors.

1.2 This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of such persons; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.

1.3 We use cookies on our website. 

1.4 In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to DirtCheapCentral.com.

  1. The personal data that we collect

2.1 In this Section 2 we have set out the general categories of personal data that we process and, in the case of personal data that we did not obtain directly from you, information about the source and specific categories of that data.

2.2 We may process data enabling us to get in touch with you (“contact data“). The contact data may include your name and email address. The source of the contact data is you.

2.3 We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us or that we send to you (“communication data“). The communication data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. Our website will generate the metadata associated with communications made using the website contact forms.

2.4 We may process data about your use of our website and services (“usage data“). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is our analytics tracking system.

2.5 Please do not supply any other person’s personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.

  1. Purposes of processing and legal bases

3.1 In this Section 3, we have set out the purposes for which we may process personal data and the legal bases of the processing.

3.2 Relationships and communications – We may process contact data and/or communication data for the purposes of managing our relationships, communicating with you (excluding communicating for the purposes of direct marketing) by email, SMS, post, fax and/or telephone, providing support services and compliant handling. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely communications with our website visitors, the maintenance of our relationships, enabling the use of our services, and the proper administration of our website, services and business.

3.3 Research and analysis – We may process usage data, service data and/or transaction data for the purposes of researching and analyzing the use of our website and services, as well as researching and analyzing other interactions with our business. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring, supporting, improving and securing our website, services and business generally.

3.4 Record keeping – We may process your personal data for the purposes of creating and maintaining our databases, back-up copies of our databases and our business records generally. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely ensuring that we have access to all the information we need to properly and efficiently run our business in accordance with this policy.

3.5 Security – We may process your personal data for the purposes of security and the prevention of fraud and other criminal activity. The legal basis of this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection of our website, services and business, and the protection of others.

3.6 Insurance and risk management – We may process your personal data where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks and/or obtaining professional advice. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks.

3.7 Legal claims – We may process your personal data where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.

3.8 Legal compliance and vital interests – We may also process your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

  1. Providing your personal data to others

4.1 We may disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your personal data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.

  1. Retaining and deleting personal data

5.1 This Section 5 sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal data.

5.2 Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.

5.3 We will retain your personal data as follows:

(a) contact data will be retained for a minimum period of one month following the date of the most recent contact between you and us, and for a maximum period of one year following that date;

(b) communication data will be retained for a minimum period of one month following the date of the communication in question, and for a maximum period of one year following that date;

(c) usage data will be retained for an indefinite period of time following the date of collection;

5.4 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 5, we may retain your personal data where such retention is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

  1. Security of personal data

6.1 We will take appropriate technical and organizational precautions to secure your personal data and to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal data.

6.2 We will store your personal data on secure servers, personal computers and mobile devices, and in secure manual record-keeping systems.

6.3 You acknowledge that the transmission of unencrypted (or inadequately encrypted) data over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

  1. Third party websites

7.1 Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.

7.2 In general we have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.

  1. Personal data of children

8.1 Our website and services are targeted at persons over the age of 18.

8.2 If we have reason to believe that we hold personal data of a person under that age in our databases, we will delete that personal data.

8.3 Consistent with the Federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13 without requesting parental consent.

  1. Updating information

9.1 Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.

  1. About cookies

10.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

10.2 Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

10.3 Cookies may not contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal data that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

  1. Cookies that we use

11.1 We use cookies for the following purposes:

(a) authentication and status – we use cookies to identify you when you visit our website and as you navigate our website, and to help us determine if you are logged into our website.

(b) security – we use cookies as an element of the security measures used to protect user accounts, including preventing fraudulent use of login credentials, and to protect our website and services generally;

(c) analysis – we use cookies to help us to analyze the use and performance of our website.

  1. Cookies used by our service providers

12.1 Our service providers use cookies and those cookies may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.

12.2 We use an analytics software, which gathers information about the use of our website by means of cookies. The information gathered is used to create reports about the use of our website

  1. Managing cookies

13.1 Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. You can however obtain up-to-date information about blocking and deleting cookies via the different browsers’ websites.

13.2 Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.

13.3 If you block cookies, you may not be able to use all the features on our website.

  1. Amendments

14.1 We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.

14.2 You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.