Law

Privacy Policy

At Vancols, we’re committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, and how we keep it secure.

Any questions regarding this Policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to gdpr@vancols.com or by writing to:

The Data Protection Officer, Vancols, The Old School, School Lane, CO6 4BN. Alternatively, you can telephone 01206 271 521.

We may change this Policy from time to time, so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy, and are giving Consent for us to use your details to process your order, use cookies, and to contact you about exciting offers, promotions and discounts.

We want you to know that you can unsubscribe from our services at any time.

To do this please email gdpr@vancols.com, making sure you tell us the email address that you used to register, and we will delete your details from our records or unsubscribe you as required, just let us know. More details further into this document – see Your choices section.

Who are we?

We’re Vancols, and we’ve specialised in School Photography for sixty years. You can write to us / send us postcard / or call us using these details should you want to get in touch: Vancols Ltd (Comp no 00789570), The Old School, School Lane, CO6 4BN. Phone: 01206 271 521.

How do we collect information from you and what Vancols do with it?

Before we get into the detail below. We want to let you know that Vancols will always treat your information with the utmost care and we’ll never sell them to other third parties for marketing / other purposes. We say this a few times in this Privacy Policy, forgive us for labouring the point…

Van Cols Ltd may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information:

1) Customer visits to and use of this website (which may include your, browser type and version, referral source, entry page, exit page, length of visit, number of page views, route taken through this website, and similar information)

What does Vancols do with this?
This helps us make sure our website is working properly for you, that the speed of the website is quick enough, and it helps us make sure we are serving customers what they want to access. Nobody likes hard to use websites, so we try to continually improve ours!

We use Google Analytics for this.

2) Information relating to any transactions carried out between you and us on or in relation to this website, including information relating to any purchases you make of our goods or services.

What does Vancols do with this?
This allows us to fulfil and manage your order with us whilst we prepare it for posting / delivery to you at your home address or at school. If you purchase a product from us, your card information is not held by us, it is collected by our third-party payment processors, who specialise in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions. It also allows us to manage any issues / questions / complaints about the website – should you get in touch with us.

3) Information that you provide to us for registering with us.

What does Vancols do with this?
This information allows us to set up your online account and lets you access your child’s photographs to view online. Should you order, we then confirm orders and order status by email, so you know where your order is and how to get back in touch if you have any questions.

We collect:

Name / Address / Email / Contact Number & any other information you provide us with. Payment details are not stored.

4) Information that you provide to us, for marketing communications.

You will get order notifications, and account specific communications (request password change & marketing emails (discounts / offers) but that’s all.

What does Vancols do with this?
We often find that parents like to order pictures from their Child’s time at a school, especially when the child is leaving for the next stage of their education, or for special events such as big birthdays; we like to stay in touch occasionally by email to let you know where to find them should you ever want to order. You know what it’s like when you can’t remember the name of a company and you want to get in touch!

We are not the type of company that sends out numerous emails to our customers, as we allow the quality of our images to market Vancols. However, we may email you reminders occasionally, some examples being: ‘Your free postage to School period is about to end’ or ‘You are still able to order before the end of the School Term’ or ‘We have placed your images in your account for future reference’. We never market you by post or call you, we only send emails.

As mentioned you can unsubscribe at any point by emailing gdpr@vancols.com, and every email will have an unsubscribe link available for you to use.

How long do we keep information?

We will hold your personal information on our systems whilst we process your order. Then your online account will remain active for up to five years, so you can access and order images whenever you wish. However, you can ask us to delete your online account at any time, please see instructions on how to do this under your choices section below.

You can opt out of marketing communications at any time, if you feel that it is no longer of interest to you. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link to click if you wish to unsubscribe, or you can see your choices section below for further information.

Google Analytics info is deleted after 2 years – this data is anonymous.

Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties or marketers.

When processing your order data, the only people who have access are approved Vancols Staff, who need access to fulfil your order and contact you if required. All orders are processed in house at our UK site, based in Colchester.

If we are legally required by an enforcement agency in the context of actual or threatened legal proceedings, we may supply data as long as it does not breach data protection laws. All appropriate checks will be made.

Your choices – Subject Access Requests

You are entitled to view, amend or delete the personal information that we hold. Subject Access Requests (SAR) can be made verbally (01206 271 521) and ask for the Data Protection Officer (DPO) Mark Misquitta, or by email to GDPR@vancols.com

Feel free to get in touch with any questions, we’re a friendly bunch!

You are entitled to unsubscribe at any point from marketing communications – just email gdpr@vancols.com letting us know or click the unsubscribe link in the email.

There is no charge for this service.

We can provide you with a form to complete and return, but you don’t have to use this.

The DPO will provide the data within 28 days.

How you can access and update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. If you change email address, or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us at: gdpr@vancols.com, or write to us at: The Data Protection Officer, Vancols, The Old School, School Lane, CO6 4BN. Alternatively, you can telephone 01206 271 521 and let us know.

Security precautions

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any sensitive information (such as credit or debit card details) are encrypted. Any postal information received is processed and destroyed securely.

Our data is stored on protected UK servers, onsite – with layers of physical and digital security.

Use of "cookies"

Unfortunately, we’re not talking about the delicious eatable type…

Like many other websites, our Getphotos website uses cookies. "Cookies" are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual. This helps us to improve our website and deliver a better more personalised service.

It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. Turning cookies off may result in a loss of functionality when using our website.

Thanks for reading, you made it to the end! Any questions, please feel free to get in touch > gdpr@vancols.com

Kind Regards

The Vancols Team.