THE LEGALS
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE
Who we are and how to contact us
www.hoodcorporate.com (“site”) is a site operated by Hood Corporate (“We” or “our” or “us” ) which is the trading name of Ross Hood LLb (Hons), Dip LP, NP, who is regulated by The Law Society of Scotland and has a place of business at 19 Rutland Square, Edinburgh EH1 2BB. To contact us, please email legal@hoodcorporate.com or telephone us on (+44) 0131 212 5888.
By using our site you accept these terms
By using our site, you (“you”) confirm that you accept these terms of use (“terms”) and that you agree to comply with them. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not use our site. We recommend that you print a copy of these terms for future reference.
There are other terms that may apply to you
These terms of use include the following specific Policies, which also apply to your use of our site:
Our Privacy Policy, below.
Our Acceptable Use Policy, below, which sets out the permitted uses and prohibited uses of our site.
Our Cookie Policy, below, which sets out information about the cookies on our site.
We may make changes to these terms
We amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use our site, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms which apply at that time. These terms were current as at 10th April 2019.
We may make changes to our site
We may update and change our site from time to time. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any major changes.
We may suspend or withdraw our site
Our site is made available free of charge. We do not guarantee that our site, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our site for business and operational reasons. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any suspension or withdrawal. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our site through your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.
Our site is only for users in the UK
Our site is directed to people residing in the United Kingdom. We do not represent that content available on or through our site is appropriate for use or available in other locations.
You must keep your account details safe
If you choose, or you are provided with, a user identification code, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose it to any third party. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these terms of use. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify us, as noted above.
How you may use material on our site
We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our site, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved. You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our site for your personal use and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to content posted on our site. You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text. Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our site must always be acknowledged. You must not use any part of the content on our site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors. If you print off, copy or download any part of our site in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our site will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.
Do not rely on information on this site
The content on our site is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up to date.
We are not responsible for websites we link to
Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.
User-generated content is not approved by us
This website may include information and materials uploaded by other users of the site, including to bulletin boards and chat rooms. This information and these materials have not been verified or approved by us. The views expressed by other users on our site do not represent our views or values.
Acceptable Use Policy
This acceptable use policy sets out the content standards that apply when you upload content to our site, make contact with other users on our site, link to our site, or interact with our site in any other way,
Prohibited uses:
You may use our site only for lawful purposes. You may not use our site:
In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect.
For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.
You also agree:
Not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of our site in contravention of the provisions of our terms;
Not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
any part of our site;
any equipment or network on which our site is stored;
any software used in the provision of our site; or
any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.
Breach of this Acceptable Use Policy
When we consider that a breach of this Acceptable Use Policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate. We exclude our liability for all action we may take in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy.
Rules about linking to our site
You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it. You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists. You must not establish a link to our site in any website that is not owned by you. Our site must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our site other than the home page. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website in which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in our Acceptable Use Policy above. If you wish to link to or make any use of content on our site other than that set out above, please contact legal@hoodcorporate.com
Privacy Policy
We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you as to how we look after your personal data when you visit our site (regardless of where you visit it from) and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
Purpose of this privacy policy
This privacy policy aims to give you information on how we collect and process your personal data through your use of this site, including any data you may provide through this site. This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children. It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing policy we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.
Controller
Ross Hood is the controller and responsible for your personal data and is our data protection officer who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy policy. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights please contact us using the details set out above. You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (“ICO”), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes
We keep our privacy policy under regular review. [It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
Third-party links
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit
The data we collect about you
Personal data, or personal information, 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 may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:
Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender.
Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
Financial Data includes bank account and payment card details.
Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of services you have purchased from us.
Technical Data includes internet protocol (“IP”) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
Profile Data includes your username and password, purchases of services made by you, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.
Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products and services.
Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.
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.
If you fail to provide personal data
Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with goods or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.
How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you apply for our services or:
create an account on our website;
subscribe to our service or publications;
request marketing to be sent to you;
enter a competition, promotion or survey; or
give us feedback or contact us.
Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our site, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies.
Third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
Technical Data from the following parties:
Analytics providers such as Google based outside the EU.
Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services such as Mastercard based inside the EU.
Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources such as Companies House and the Electoral Register based inside the EU.
How we will use your personal data
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we will get your consent before sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.
Purposes for which we will use your personal data
We have set out below a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out below:
If we wish to take you on as a new client then we will collect and use your (a) Identity and (b) Contact data, and our lawful basis for processing that data (including the basis of our legitimate interest in doing so) is our ability to perform a contract with you.
If we wish to process and deliver our services to you as a client then we will collect and use your (a) Identity, (b) Contact, (c) Financial, (d) Transaction and (e) Marketing and Communications data, and our lawful basis for processing that data (including the basis of our legitimate interest in doing so) is our ability to (i) perform a contract with you and (ii) protect our legitimate interests in dealing with you as a client (including our ability to recover debts which may become due to us by you.
If we wish to manage our relationship with you as a client including notifying you about changes to our terms or this Privacy Policy then we will collect and use your (a) Identity, (b) Contact, (c) Profile data, and our lawful basis for processing that data (including the basis of our legitimate interest in doing so) is our ability to (i) perform a contract with you and (ii) comply with a legitimate interest to keep our records updated.
If we wish to administer and protect our business and this site (including without limitation troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data) then we will collect and use your (a) Identity, (b) Contact data, (c) Technical data, and our lawful basis for processing that data (including the basis of our legitimate interest in doing so) is our ability to (i) legitimately protect our business interests in running our business, providing administration and IT services, network security and to prevent fraud and (ii) protect our legitimate interests in complying dealing with you as a client (including our ability to recover debts which may become due to us by you).
Marketing
We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.
Promotional offers from us
We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which products, services and offers may be relevant for you (we call this marketing).
You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or purchased services from us and you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.
Third-party marketing
We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.
Cookies
You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please see our Cookies Policy.
Change of purpose
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.
If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
Disclosures of your personal data
We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above. We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
International transfers
Many of our external third party service providers are based outside the EEA so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the EEA.
Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:
We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission.
Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe.
Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them if they are part of the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between Europe and the US.
Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the EEA.
Data Security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
Data retention
How long will you use my personal data for?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.
By law we have to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they cease being customers for tax]purposes.]
In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data.
In some circumstances we will anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
Your legal rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data, as set out below.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
What we may need from you
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response. Hood Corporate employs third party suppliers to provide services including utilising the services of a credit reference agency (https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal-information/bureau-privacy-notice).
Time limit to respond
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
Glossary
LAWFUL BASIS
Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us.
Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
Comply with a legal obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to.
YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS
You have the right to:
Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:
If you want us to establish the data's accuracy.
Where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it.
Where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
You have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
Which country's laws apply to any disputes?
If you are a consumer, please note that these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation, are governed by Scottish law. You and we both agree that the courts of Scotland will have exclusive jurisdiction except that if you are a resident of England and Wales or Northern Ireland you may, as the case may be, also bring proceedings in England and Wales or Northern Ireland.
If you are a business, these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by Scottish law. By your use of our site, we both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland.
Our trade mark is protected
“minding your business” is our trademark and you are not permitted to use it without our approval.
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