Privacy policy

This privacy policy applies between you, the User of this Website and Melissa Hobson, the owner and provider of this Website. Melissa Hobson takes the privacy of your information very seriously. This privacy policy applies to our use of any and all Data collected by us or provided by you in relation to your use of the Website. This privacy policy should be read alongside, and in addition to, our Terms and Conditions, which can be found at: www.melissahobson.co.uk/website-terms. Please read this privacy policy carefully.

Definitions and interpretation

  • In this privacy policy, the following definitions are used:
  • Data: collectively all information that you submit to Melissa Hobson via the Website. This definition incorporates, where applicable, the definitions provided in the Data Protection Laws;
  • Cookies: a small text file placed on your computer by this Website when you visit certain parts of the Website and/or when you use certain features of the Website. Details of the cookies used by this Website are set out in the clause below ( Cookies);
  • Data Protection Laws: any applicable law relating to the processing of personal Data, including but not limited to the GDPR, and any national implementing and supplementary laws, regulations and secondary legislation;
  • GDPR: the UK General Data Protection Regulation;
  • Melissa Hobson, we or us: Melissa Hobson
  • UK and EU Cookie Law: the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 as amended by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 & the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2018;
  • User or you: any third party that accesses the Website and is not either (i) employed by Melissa Hobson and acting in the course of their employment or (ii) engaged as a consultant or otherwise providing services to Melissa Hobson and accessing the Website in connection with the provision of such services; and
  • Website: the website that you are currently using, www.melissahobson.co.uk, and any sub-domains of this site unless expressly excluded by their own terms and conditions.

In this privacy policy, unless the context requires a different interpretation:

  • the singular includes the plural and vice versa;
  • references to sub-clauses, clauses, schedules or appendices are to sub-clauses, clauses, schedules orappendices of this privacy policy;
  • a reference to a person includes firms, companies, government entities, trusts and partnerships;
  • "including" isunderstood to mean "including without limitation";
  • reference to any statutoryprovision includes any modification or amendment of it;
  • the headings and sub-headingsdo not form part of this privacy policy.

Scope of this privacy policy

This privacy policy applies only to the actions of Melissa Hobson and Users with respect to this Website. It does not extend to any websites that can be accessed from this Website including, but not limited to, any links we may provide to social media websites. For purposes of the applicable Data Protection Laws, Melissa Hobson is the "data controller". This means that Melissa Hobson determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, your Data is processed.

Data collected

We may collect the following Data, which includes personal Data, from you:

  • name;
  • contact Information such asemail addresses and telephone numbers;
  • financial information such ascredit / debit card numbers;
  • a list of URLs starting with a referring site, your activity on this Website, and the site you exit to(automatically collected);

in each case, in accordancewith this privacy policy.

How we collect Data

We collect Data in the following ways:

  • data is given to us by you;
  • data is received from other sources;
  • and data is collected automatically.

Data that is given to us by you

Melissa Hobson will collect your Data in a number of ways, for example:

  • when you contact us through the Website, by telephone, post, e-mail or through any other means;
  • when you make payments to us, through this Website or otherwise;
  • when you elect to receive marketing communications from us; when you use our services;

in each case, in accordance with this privacy policy.

Data that is received from publicly available third parties sources

We will receive Data about you from the following publicly available third party sources:

  • social media.
  • Data that is collected automatically

To the extent that you access the Website, we will collect your Data automatically, for example:

  • we automatically collect some information about your visit to the Website. This information helps us to make improvements to Website content and navigation, and includes your IP address, the date, times and frequency with which you access the Website and the way you use and interact with its content.
  • we will collect your Data automatically via cookies, in line with the cookie settings on your browser. For more information about cookies, and how we use them on the Website, see the section below, headed "Cookies".

Our use of Data

Any or all of the above Data may be required by us from time to time in order to provide you with the best possible service and experience when using our Website. Specifically, Data may be used by us for the following reasons:

  • internal record keeping;
  • improvement of our products /services;
  • transmission by email ofmarketing materials that may be of interest to you;

in each case, in accordance with this privacy policy.

We may use your Data for the above purposes if we deem it necessary to do so for our legitimate interests. If you are not satisfied with this, you have the right to object incertain circumstances (see the section headed "Your rights" below). For the delivery of direct marketing to you via e-mail, we'll need your consent, whether via anopt-in or soft-opt-in:

  • soft opt-in consent is aspecific type of consent which applies when you have previously engaged with us (for example, you contact us to ask us for more details about a particular product/service,and we are marketing similar products/services). Under "soft opt-in"consent, we will take your consent as given unless you opt-out.
  • for other types of e-marketing,we are required to obtain your explicit consent; that is, you need to takepositive and affirmative action when consenting by, for example, checking atick box that we'll provide.
  • if you are not satisfied about our approach to marketing, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time. To find out how to withdraw your consent, see the section headed "Your rights" below.

We may use your Data to show you Melissa Hobson's adverts and other content on other websites. If you do not want us to use your data to show you Melissa Hobson's adverts and other content on other websites, please turn off the relevant cookies (please refer to the section headed "Cookies"below).

Keeping Data secure

We will use technical and organisational measures to safeguard your Data, for example:

  • access to your account is controlled by a password and a user name that is unique to you.
  • we store your Data on secureservers.
  • payment details are encrypted using SSL technology (typically you will see a lock icon or green address bar(or both) in your browser when we use this technology.

Technical and organisationalmeasures include measures to deal with any suspected data breach. If you suspect any misuse or loss or unauthorised access to your Data, please let usknow immediately by contacting us via this e-mail address: melliehobson at gmail dot com. If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your informationand your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and manyother online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online issupported by HM Government and leading businesses.

Data retention

Unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, we will only hold your Data on our systems for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in thisprivacy policy or until you request that the Data be deleted. Even if wedelete your Data, it may persist on backup or archival media for legal, tax or regulatory purposes.

Your rights

You have the following rights in relation to your Data:

  • Right to access - the right to request (i) copies of the information we hold about you at any time, or (ii) that we modify, update or delete such information. If we provide you with access to the information we hold about you, we will not charge you for this, unless your request is "manifestly unfounded or excessive."Where we are legally permitted to do so, we may refuse your request. If we refuse your request, we will tell you the reasons why.
  • Right to correct - theright to have your Data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • Right to erase - the rightto request that we delete or remove your Data from our systems.
  • Right to restrict our use ofyour Data - the right to "block" us from using your Data orlimit the way in which we can use it.
  • Right to data portability -the right to request that we move, copy or transfer your Data.
  • Right to object - theright to object to our use of your Data including where we use it for our legitimate interests.

To make enquiries, exercise any of your rights set out above, or withdraw your consent to the processing of your Data (where consent is our legal basis for processingyour Data), please contact us via this e-mail address: melliehobson at gmail dot com. If you are not satisfied with the way a complaint you make in relation to your Data is handled by us, you may be able to refer your complaint to the relevant data protectionauthority. For the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO's contact details can be found on their website at https://ico.org.uk/. It is importantthat the Data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep usinformed if your Data changes during the period for which we hold it.

Transfers outside the United Kingdom and European Economic Area

Data which we collect from you may be stored and processed in and transferred to countries outside of the UK and European Economic Area (EEA). For example, this could occur if our servers are located in a country outside the UK or EEA or one of our service providers is situated in a country outside the UK or EEA.  We also share information with our group companies, some of which are located outside the UK or EEA. We will only transfer Data outside the UK or EEA where it is compliant with data protection legislation and the means of transfer provides adequate safeguards in relationto your data, eg by way of data transfer agreement, incorporating the current standard contractual clauses adopted by the European Commission. To ensure thatyour Data receives an adequate level of protection, we have put in place appropriate safeguards and procedures with the third parties we share your Data with. This ensures your Data is treated by those third parties in a way that is consistent with the Data Protection Laws.

Links to other websites

This Website may, from time to time, provide links to other websites. We have no control over such websites and are not responsible for the content of these websites. This privacy policy does not extend to your use of such websites. You are advised to read the privacy policy or statement of other websites prior to using them.

Changes of business ownership and control

Melissa Hobson may, from time to time, expand or reduce our business and this may involve the saleand/or the transfer of control of all or part of Melissa Hobson. Data provided by Users will, where it is relevant to any part of our business so transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newlycontrolling party will, under the terms of this privacy policy, be permitted to use the Data for the purposes for which it was originally supplied to us. We may also disclose Data to a prospective purchaser of our business or any part of it. In the above instances, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring your privacy is protected.

Cookies

This Website may place and access certain Cookies on your computer. Melissa Hobson uses Cookies to improve your experience of using the Website and to improve our range of products and services. Melissa Hobson has carefully chosen these Cookies and has taken steps to ensure that your privacy is protected and respected at all times. All Cookies used by this Website are used in accordance with current UK and EU Cookie Law. Before the Website places Cookies on your computer, you will be presented with a message bar requesting your consent to set those Cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of Cookies, you are enabling Melissa Hobson to provide a better experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of Cookies; however certain features of the Website may not function fully or as intended. This Website may place the following Cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies: These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website, usea shopping cart or make use of e-billing services.

Analytical/performance cookies: They allow usto recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what theyare looking for easily.

Functionality cookies: These are usedto recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).

Targeting cookies: These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.

You can find a list of Cookies that we use in the Cookies Schedule. You can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details,please consult the help menu in your internet browser. You can choose to delete Cookies at any time; however you may lose any information that enables you to access the Website more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, personalisation settings. It is recommended that you ensure that your internet browser is up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings. For more information generally on cookies, including how to disable them, please refer to aboutcookies.org. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer.

General

You may not transfer any of your rights under this privacy policy to any other person. We may transfer our rights under this privacy policy where we reasonably believe your rights will not be affected. If any court or competent authority finds that any provision of this privacy policy (or part of any provision) is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part-provision will, to the extent required, be deemed to be deleted, and the validity and enforceability of the other provisions of this privacy policy will not be affected. Unless otherwise agreed, no delay, act or omission by a party in exercising any right or remedy will be deemed a waiver of that, or any other, right or remedy. This Agreement will be governed by and interpreted according to the law of England and Wales. All disputes arising under the Agreement will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English and Welsh courts. Changes to this privacy policy Melissa Hobson reserves the right to change this privacy policy as we may deem necessary from time to time or as may be required by law. Any changes will be immediately posted on the Website and you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the privacy policy on your first use of the Website following the alterations. You may contact Melissa Hobson by email at melliehobson at gmail dot com.

Attribution

This privacy policy was created using a document from Rocket Lawyer (https://www.rocketlawyer.com/gb/en).

The Ocean Writer Ltd. Registered company number: 14772669

Black text on a white background reading Proudly Supporting Project Seagrass. There are green circles swirling around the word project

I support Project Seagrass by donating 1% of every cleared payment from my services via Work for Good

N.B. I do not work with the fossil fuel industry. If that's you, please look for support elsewhere. Thank you.

Wind powered Green Hosting
Banner readers ABSW (Association of British Science Writers) member 2023