Privacy Policy
We promise to keep your personal information safe, but here is all the legal stuff to show you that you can take our word for it.
The Site www.theopenconversations.com (the “Site”) is owned and operated by Dr. James Whittard (“we”, “us”, or “our”). This privacy policy (the “Policy”) sets out the basis on which we collect and use any personal information we collect from customers, visitors and users of the Site (“you” or “your”), or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read this Policy carefully. By accessing and continuing to use this Site, you confirm that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by this Policy in its entirety and that you give us your consent to collect and process your personal information as set out in this Policy.
If you do not accept the terms of this Policy, then you must stop using or accessing this Site. We respect your right to privacy and are committed to responsible information handling practices.
We may amend the Policy from time to time, so you should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are aware of any changes that have been made.
Your privacy is important to us. We value your trust and we are committed to protecting and safeguarding any personal information you give us. The Policy, which we update from time to time, describes how we use and process your personal information and how we use cookies. It also tells you how you can contact us if you have questions about your personal information.
Privacy
What kind of personal information does the Site use?
When you fill out our form online, you’ll be asked for your name and email address.
When you visit our website, we may collect certain information, like your IP address, or browser, and information about your computer’s operating system, application version, language settings and pages that have been shown to you. If you’re using a mobile device, we might also collect data that identifies your mobile device, device-specific settings and characteristics and latitude/longitude details. We treat this data as non-personal information, except where we are compelled to do otherwise by law or legal authority.
We may also receive information about you when you use certain social media services.
As typical of other websites, we may passively collect information regarding country and time of access through use of Google Analytics. This information is not stored, and no personal information (such as your name) is collected.
We may link to other websites which are not within our control. Once you have left the Site, we are not responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the third party’s website in question.
What we do with your personal information
We use your information to provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
- To provide you with services you have requested and notify you about important changes or developments to these services;
- To respond to your inquiries and/or complaints or process your requests in relation to your information;
- To follow up as part of our customer care procedures;
- For internal record keeping;
- To contact you for market research purposes and/or administer offers to you;
- To improve our products and services;
- In relation to competitions and other promotions;
- To evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing and for research, training and statistical analysis with the aim of improving our services; and
- To make our Site easier for you to use and to provide you with access to certain parts of the Site.
We process your personal information for the purposes outlined above where:
- The processing of your personal information is necessary to perform a contract or enter into a contract with you;
- The processing of your personal information is necessary for us to comply with legal and regulatory obligations; or
- The processing is necessary to support our legitimate interests in managing our business (or those of a third party) provided such interests are not overridden by your interests and rights.
Your Right to Object – Please note that you have a right to object to the processing of your personal information where that processing is carried out for our legitimate interests.
Where required by applicable law, where we send you direct marketing, we will obtain your consent for this, which you may withdraw at any time.
How long do we keep your personal information
We are required to ensure that your personal information is accurate and maintained in a secure environment for a period of time no longer than necessary for the purposes for which we are processing your personal information. We generally keep personal information collected via the Site in accordance with the timeframes set out in any relevant legislation which applies to the personal information provided to us. However, in some cases we may need to keep personal information for longer (e.g., where we are required to do so in accordance with legal, regulatory, tax or accounting requirements, or dealing with complaints, legal challenges or prospective litigation).
Sharing your personal information
We may disclose your personal information to the following third parties:
- Selected third parties to provide us with services, including companies that provide us with technical support and assistance in respect of the Site, companies that provide back-office services, companies that provide hosting services or, that track the Site’s activities and analytics, and companies engaged to market and distribute our products and/or services;
- Professional advisers, judicial, regulatory and law enforcement bodies
Accessing your personal information
You have a right in certain circumstances to: (i) request access to and rectification or erasure of your personal information; (ii) obtain restriction of processing or to object to processing of your personal information; and (iii) ask for a copy of your personal information to be provided to you, or a third party, in a digital format. If you wish to exercise any of your rights in this regard please contact us at hello[at]theopenconversations.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint about the processing of your personal information with your local data protection authority.
Cookies
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small amount of data that is placed in the browser of your computer or on your mobile device. This Policy applies to cookies and similar technologies (“cookies”).
Why are cookies used?
Web pages have no memory. If you are surfing from page to page within a website, you will not be recognised as the same user across pages. Cookies enable your browser to be recognised by the website. So cookies are mainly used to remember the choices you have made – choices such as the language you prefer and the currency you use. They will also make sure you are recognised when you return to a website.
Do all cookies do the same thing?
No, there are different types of cookies and different ways of using them. Cookies can be categorised according to their function, their lifespan and according to who places them on a website.
How are cookies used?
Our website uses the following types of cookies:
Technical cookies: We try to provide our visitors with an advanced and user-friendly Site that adapts automatically to their needs and wishes. To achieve this, we use technical cookies to show you the Site and to make it function correctly. These technical cookies are absolutely necessary for the Site to function properly.
Functional cookies: We use functional cookies to remember your preferences and to help you use the Site efficiently and effectively. These functional cookies are not strictly necessary for the functioning of the Site, but they add functionality for you and enhance your experience.
Analytics cookies: We use these cookies to gain insight on how our visitors use the Site, to find out what works and what doesn’t, to optimize and improve the Site and to ensure we continue to be interesting and relevant. The data we gather includes which web pages you viewed, which referring/exit pages you entered and left from, which platform type you used, date and time stamp information and details such as the number of clicks you make on a given page, your mouse movements and scrolling activity, the search words you use and the text you type while using the Site.
Commercial cookies: We use these to show you advertisements on other websites. This is called “retargeting” and it aims to be based on your browsing activities on the Site.
How long does the Site’s cookies stay active?
The cookies we use have varying lifespans. The maximum lifespan we set on some is five years from your last visit to the Site.
How can you recognize and delete the Site’s cookies?
You can find our cookies in your browser settings. If you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by the Site, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings any time you want. Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of the Site.
If you wish to view your cookie code, just click on a cookie to open it. You’ll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.
For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
This means we are able to collect and process your personal information to provide you with the products and services you have selected, where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, and only in cases where your interests are not adversely affected. We are also able to collect and process your personal information in cases where we need to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.
As always, if you have any questions about this, or anything else, our team would love to hear from you.
Updated 2022.