This is the Privacy Notice of Marc Fowler, operating as a Sole Trader under the name FowlerWeb. This Privacy Notice describes how I handle information about my customers and other contacts for the purposes of running my computer support business.
The information I may collect
I may collect the following personal information about my customers and other contacts:
No other agency or person collects or accesses this information on my behalf, apart from IP Addresses – please see “Cookies & Tracking” below.
I do not store any financial information, such as credit card numbers or bank account details. Please see below for details of how I handle passwords.
How the information is stored
This information is stored on my own password protected computers and access protected mobile phones. Often this information will be contained in emails on the servers of my email hosting company. Backup copies of information are made by me onto secured hard drives and a heavily encrypted online backup system. The online backup servers are located in the United States of America. Some contact information is also kept on paper, again, stored securely.
My entire website uses an SSL encrypted connection. Any information you submit via my website contact forms is encrypted before it leaves your computer and is sent to me by email.
I make every effort to keep your information secure.
How information is used
This information is used only for the purpose of carrying out my business, enabling me to contact and support my customers and other contacts.
How long information is kept
The contact information I collect stays saved on my computers and backups. Any highly sensitive information like passwords is kept only as long as needed to carry out the job it was acquired for. Information about a person will be removed from my systems if requested by them in writing. A follow up phone call will be made first to ensure the request is genuine.
Information is never shared
Your information will never be shared with any other business or individual without your express consent.
I never have, and never will, sell your information to another business, organisation or individual.
Passwords
As you would expect, passwords crop up often in my line of work. I will only ever ask for a password if it is necessary. I will explain why it is required. Refusal to give a password is perfectly acceptable and will not cause offence, but may impede or prevent me from solving some of your issues. I rarely write passwords down. Any password you share will not be stored with anything identifying it as yours. Any note of a password will be destroyed or given back to you as soon as it is no longer needed. I will never tell anyone a password of yours without your explicit consent.
You have the right to request
In order to carry out any of these requests I may need to ask for proof that it really is you asking.
To make any of these requests please get in touch with me. If you are not satisfied with my response or believe I am processing your personal data not in accordance with the law you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Every effort is made to keep your data secure and out of the wrong hands. However, should there be a breach at any time and your data has been involved, I will contact both you and the relevant authorities directly.
Your data will never be sold or passed on to third parties.
If you have consented, I may contact you with occasional emails. These emails will be designed to be informative. On occasion they may promote my services.
If you have been receiving marketing emails from me and would now prefer to opt-out, please contact me and I will remove you from my mailing list. You will also find a link to unsubscribe directly within any marketing email you receive.
My website uses Google Analytics. This saves basic tracking cookies on the computers which view it. The analytics data is seen only by myself, purely to help me understand how people are using my website. It gives me statistics on which pages are visited, dates and times of page views, web browsers used – that sort of thing. No names or identifiable information is collected. The data is held on the Google Analytics platform.
Your IP address will also be recorded if you send me a message using a contact form on my website. This is purely to help me prevent spam submissions.
Marketing emails I send will give me some information about which emails have been opened.
If you have any questions about how I collect, store or use information, please contact me.
This Privacy Notice was last updated on 7th July 2023.