Privacy Policy

Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd is committed to protecting your right to personal privacy. That is why we have drafted this notice to explain the type of information we collect on this web site (the "Site") and how we use this information. This Policy also explains the choices that you can make about the way your information is collected and used.

By submitting personal details to us, you are deemed as agreeing to use of these details as described in this Policy. We appreciate that this Policy may seem long, however, we have created a thorough privacy statement to fully explain our information handling practices. Should you have any questions however, please feel free to direct these to online@theherald.co.uk.

The Information We Collect

The ‘It's Christmas Time’ website does not collect any personal information except in the Christmas Quiz section. We collect this information to enter you into the prize draw and use it to contact you if you are the lucky winner.

If you click the box stating, “I would like to be kept up-to-date by House of Fraser” then we will ensure we pass your details to this carefully selected third party, whom may choose to contact you. Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd will not store any personal details resulting from the ‘It's Christmas Time’ website.

Send a Virtual Christmas card

The information entered in this area of our site is used only for the purposes of sending the Virtual Christmas card. It is not stored, or distributed to any third party.

Your participation is voluntary and you will not be required to provide more information than is necessary to participate in any of the Site's activities. In any instance where non-mandatory information is sought, you will be notified of this at the point of collection.

In some instances, we may ask you questions on an aggregate basis (we don't identify you personally with the information) and such questions will be identified on the site.

The Way We Use Information

We use information that you provide (individual and aggregate) to better design the Site and to improve our marketing strategy and our products. One method through which the Site collects aggregate information is the collection of IP addresses. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web. Web servers, the computers that "serve up" Web pages, automatically identify your computer by its IP address. When you request a page from this site, our servers log your IP address. We do not link IP addresses to anything personally identifiable, so although your session will be logged, you will remain anonymous to us.

You will have the opportunity to forward pages or information on the Site to friends. The information you provide to facilitate this email communication is used on a one-time basis and is not collected or retained by us.

We make every practical effort to avoid excessive or irrelevant collection of data. If you believe the Site has collected excessive information, we encourage you to contact us online@theherald.co.uk.

Use of Cookies

Cookies are files or pieces of information that may be stored in your computer's hard drive when you visit a site. We use cookies to better tailor the Site and our products to your interests and needs. Cookies may also be used to help speed up your future activities or to improve your user experience by remembering the information that you have already provided to us. We do not use cookies to retrieve information from your computer that was not voluntarily provided by you (i.e., during registration or a competition). The use of cookies is an industry standard and you will find them at most sites. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. However, you can set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent so that you can flush them from your browser if you object to their presence.

Our Privacy Practices with Third Parties

It is our policy to only disclose information to third parties under the following circumstances:

• As required by law
• When explicitly requested by a visitor
• When required to deliver products or services requested by a visitor

We share aggregate, non-personally identifiable information about our users with advertisers, business partners, sponsors, and other third parties. In the case of the Christmas Quiz and where a user has agreed to receive notifications of products and services from our Quiz sponsor, Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd accepts no responsibility or liability for the management and storage of this data.

Access by our employees and agents to your personally identifiable information are only on a need to know basis on the understanding that this is confidential business information.

Our intention is never to use or share personally identifiable information provided to us in ways that are different than the ways described above without also providing you with an opportunity to "unsubscribe" or prohibit such unrelated uses.

Links to Other Sites

Because we want your experience of the Site to be as informative and useful as possible, we provide a number of links to third party sites. Always be aware of where you end up. These other sites may send their own cookies to users, or otherwise collect data or solicit personal information. We assume no responsibility for the information practices of sites that you are able to access through ours, and we encourage you to review each site's privacy policy before disclosing any personally identifiable information.

Our Commitment to Data Security

We take reasonable precautions to keep your personal information secure. We have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard the information we collect. We cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online, and you do so at your own risk.

Changes in Our Policy

We reserve the right to change or remove this Privacy Policy at our discretion. If we decide to change our Privacy Policy we will post those changes here. We encourage you to visit this area frequently so as to stay informed. If there is any material change in the type of information we collect, we will obtain your permission before we attempt to collect the additional personal information. We will not make any changes that allow us to give personal information to a third party without obtaining permission from you first.

Your Consent to this Privacy Policy

By using the Site, you signify your agreement to be bound by the Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any term in this Policy, please do not use the Site or submit any personally identifiable information.

How to Contact Us

Should you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or the collection of information, please e-mail us at online@theherald.co.uk