and to protecting any personal information that you may provide to us. In particular, we believe it is important for you to know how we treat information about you that we may receive from these websites ("
Site") and how we carry out data processing practices through the use of the Internet and any other electronic communications networks. Please read the following privacy policy to understand how we use and protect the information that you provide to us or how we may use and protect it in the future.
By registering for any services on this Site, by requesting receipt of our publications or by providing any information to us, you consent to the collection, use and transfer of your information under the terms of this policy.
2. Information that we collect from you.
In general, you can visit this Site without telling us who you are or revealing any information about yourself. Our web servers collect the domain names, not the e-mail addresses, of visitors. In addition, there are parts of this Site where we may need to collect personal information from you for a specific purpose, such as to provide you with certain information or publications you request. We do this through the use of online forms and every time you email us or provide us with your details in other ways (i.e. over the telephone, by fax, by mail etc.). The information collected from you may include but is not limited to:
- your salutation, name, address, landline or mobile telephone numbers, fax number and e-mail address;
- company name, job title, business sector and contact details;
- details of the ways in which you are happy to receive information from us and/or selected third parties;
- information collected to send information packs about our campaigns (such as our strategic campaign to manage the business impact of climate change; our operational campaign to cut carbon emissions and costs; and our campaign to make a personal difference); and
- information collected to send information about our energy efficiency related services and products.
CT may :
- require the selection of a user ID and password for the use of some of our programmes or services such as where you register to gain access to our web tools and publications;
- offer you the opportunity to receive email updates and announcements concerning our programmes and activities. Personal information you have provided to us may be used to facilitate those communications;
- collect information about you from e-mails, letters, telephone calls or from any other communications you send to or have with us;
- collect additional information automatically about your visit to our Site (e.g. our web server logs your IP address when you view a page on our Site);
CT encourages visitors to its Site to contact us with questions and comments. Email addresses and other information in relation to persons doing so may also be collected in order to facilitate our responses to those inquiries.
You will find that it is not compulsory to provide us with any additional information we request which is not necessary or reasonable in order to provide you with the services you have requested. Furthermore, please note that our policy is not to ask for sensitive personal data - that is, data relating to: race or ethnic origin; political opinion; religious or other similar beliefs; trade union membership; physical or mental health; sexual orientation; criminal records. We recommend that you do not provide such information to us. If you choose to do so for any reason, this will mean that you have given (and we accept) your explicit consent for us to use that information for the reasons described in this policy, or as explained at the time you provide the information.
3. Use of Information Collected.
Domain name information that we collect is not used to personally identify you and instead is aggregated to measure the number of visits, average time spent on the Site, pages viewed, etc. We use this information for system administration, to prepare statistics on the use of our Site and to improve its content.
When other personal information, such as your name and e-mail address, is collected from you with your consent (for example, through the use of on-line forms or via e-mail etc.) we generally let you know at the time of collection how we will use that personal information. We may also use the personal information you provide or which we collect via this Site for the purposes of:
- providing any publications, information or other services that you have requested from us (including subscribing to receive information in relation to our campaigns and activities (such as our strategic campaign to manage the business impact of climate change; our operational campaign to cut carbon emissions and costs; and our campaign to make a personal difference), registering to gain access to CT’s web tools and publications;
- responding to your inquiries or to process your requests in relation to your information;
- providing and personalising our services generally;
- account management and administering records of our subscription services;
- promotion of the Carbon Trust and its programmes, including carrying out market research campaigns (e.g. on the effectiveness of the programmes);
- maintaining information as a reference tool or general resource;
- making the Site easier for you to use and providing you with access to all parts of the Site;
- helping you to quickly find services and information on the Site;
- where necessary, crime prevention and prosecution of offenders; and
Except with your permission or as provided herein, CT will not sell, trade or rent personal information about you to unaffiliated third parties.
We may also use and disclose information in aggregate (so that no individuals are identified) for marketing and strategic development purposes or use and analyse the information we collect so that we can administer, support, improve and develop our business.
In particular, we may use your information to contact you for your views on our services and to notify you occasionally about important changes or developments to the Site or our services. Further we might also use your information to contact you by post, telephone, or by e-mail (where you have consented to us doing so) to let you know about other products and services which we offer and which may be of interest to you or which are offered jointly with or on behalf of other organisations.
You will always be offered the opportunity to opt-out of future direct marketing from the Carbon Trust should you not wish to receive any. If you change your mind about being contacted in the future, please let us know by emailing us at customercentre@carbontrust.co.uk.
By using the Site you consent to us using your personal information for the purposes described above.
4. Use of Cookies.
Cookies are small amounts of information which we may store on your computer (after you register on our Sites) to enable our server to collect certain information from your web browser. Cookies in themselves do not identify the individual user, just the computer used. Cookies and other similar technology make it easier for you to log on to and use the Site during future visits (e.g. they may maintain a shopping basket for your publication orders and event bookings). It also allows us to monitor website traffic, to identify you when you visit this Site, to personalise the content of the Site for you and to enable you to both carry out transactions and have access to information about your account. Cookies themselves only record which areas of the site have been visited by the computer in question, and for how long. Allowing us to create a cookie does not give us access to the rest of your computer and we will not use cookies to track your online activity once you leave our site. Cookies are read only by the server that placed them, and are unable to execute any code or virus.
This site uses pixels, or transparent GIF files, to help manage online advertising. These GIF files are provided by our ad management partner, DoubleClick. These files enable DoubleClick to recognize a unique cookie on your Web browser, which in turn enables us to learn which advertisements bring users to our website. The cookie was placed by us, or by another advertiser who works with DoubleClick. With both cookies and Spotlight technology, the information that we collect and share is anonymous and not personally identifiable. It does not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address. For more information about DoubleClick, including information about how to opt out of these technologies, go to [http://www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/privacy].
5. Disclosures.
The information you provide to us will be held on our server in the United Kingdom and may be accessed by or given to our staff and to third parties including our business partners (such as CT’s lead contractors which include those providing web, IT and Marketing services, administration services to support CT’s delivery programme and its loan scheme, account management services and support, and technical support and training, accreditation and consultant sourcing services) none of whom are located outside the European Economic Area, and government bodies and law enforcement agencies, successors in title to our business and suppliers we engage to process data on our behalf, who act for us for the purposes set out in this policy or for other purposes approved by you. Those parties process information, fulfil and deliver orders and provide support and other services on our behalf. We may also:
- disclose personal information you have provided through our Site to persons or companies that we retain to carry out promotions and other activities for which you have registered or in which you have otherwise asked to participate;
- pass aggregate information on the usage of our Site (e.g. we might disclose the numbers of visitors to our Site that come from different geographic areas) to third parties but this will not include information that can be used to identify you personally;
- allow carefully selected third parties to contact you occasionally about our programmes or services which may be of interest to you (where you have consented to us doing so) including CT’s energy efficiency related services and related publications. They may contact you by post, telephone and e-mail. If you change your mind about being contacted by these companies in the future, please let us or them know.
Finally, if our business enters into a joint venture with or is sold to or merged with another business entity, your information may be disclosed to our new business partners or owners.
We will always take steps to ensure that your information is used by third parties in accordance with this policy.
Unless required to do so by law, we will not otherwise share, sell or distribute any of the information you provide to us without your consent.
6. Users 16 and Under.
If you are aged 16 or under, please get your parent or guardian's permission before you provide any personal information to us. Users without this consent are not allowed to provide us with personal information.
7. Other websites.
Our Site may contain links to other websites which are outside our control and are not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you access other websites using the links provided, the operators of these websites may collect information from you which will be used by them in accordance with their privacy policy, which may differ from ours.
8. Data retention, security of information collected, internet based transfers and disclaimer.
We (and our third party suppliers) will retain your information for a reasonable period or as long as the law requires. In accordance with the UK's Data Protection Act 1998, we employ strict physical, electronic, and administrative security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage both on-line and off-line.
Given that the Internet is a global environment, using the Internet to collect and process personal information necessarily involves the transmission of data on an international basis. Therefore by browsing this Site and communicating electronically with us, you acknowledge and agree to our processing of personal information in this way.
Whereas CT employs reasonable measures to protect against viruses and other harmful components, the nature of the internet is such that it is impossible to ensure that your access to the Site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that this Site, its servers or emails which may be sent by us are free of viruses or other harmful components.
The contents of this Site are designed to comply with the general obligations of the European Directives on Data Protection and E-Privacy. We cannot be responsible for non-compliance with any local advertising or other laws in relation to this Site or its contents.
9. Accessing and updating.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are entitled to see the personal information we hold about you and you may ask us to make any necessary changes to ensure that it is accurate and kept up to date. If you wish to correct or update the personal information that you have provided to us of if you choose to opt out of any communications that you may have initially agreed to receive, please contact us by e-mail at
info@thecarbontrust.co.uk , by using the unsubscribe link offered by email following registration (where relevant) or by using the contact details provided at the
Contact Us page. We are entitled by law to charge a small administrative fee to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you and we may require proof of your identity before we supply the information to you.
10. Contacting Us.
If you have any comments, queries or requests relating to our use of your personal information or any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us [using the details provided on the Contact Us] page. We welcome your questions and any suggestions you may have about our privacy policy.
11. Changes to this Policy.
The Trust reserves the right to revise or supplement this Privacy Policy from time to time. You should bookmark and periodically review this page to ensure that you are familiar with the most current version of this Privacy Policy and so you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances we disclose it. You can determine when this Privacy Policy was last revised by checking the "Last Updated" legend at the top of the Policy.
Copyright © 2010 The Carbon Trust. All rights reserved.