Introduction
We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the users of our website.
This privacy policy will advise you about how we protect your personal information, and about what choices you have concerning our use of such information. Please read this policy carefully. We may need to change this policy from time to time in order to address new issues and reflect changes on our sites. We will post those changes here so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose that information to anyone. Please refer back to this policy regularly.
If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy, please send an e-mail to: privacy@potteries.org.uk.
Scope Of Privacy Policy
This policy applies to your use of any web pages in the potteries.org.uk domain.
Personal Identification Information
We will collect personal identification information from you only if you voluntarily submit such information to us. We will never intentionally disclose any personal identification information about you as an individual user to any third party.
If you do provide us with personal information, we may use it to provide you with information about what we do. If you identify yourself to us by sending us an e-mail with questions or comments, we may use your personal information to respond to your questions or comments. We may file your comments for future reference, or we may discard the information after we have reviewed it.
If you give us your permission, we may also use personal identification information for promotional purposes. On occasion, for example, we may send you e-mails to introduce a service that we think might be of interest to the users of our website. For us to obtain your permission to send you this information, we will give you an opportunity to "opt-in" at the time our request for your personal information is made. If you do "opt-in," you may choose to "opt-out" at any time, even after you have provided personal information, by following the procedures set forth below at the end of this Privacy Policy.
We have the following exceptions to these policies: We will release specific information about you or your account to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant or court order. We will also release specific information in special cases, such as if there is an attempted breach of the security of the Potteries Heritage Society website.
Non-Personal Identification Information
We may collect non-personal identification information through the use of "cookie" technology and/or IP address tracking. Non-personal identification information might include the browser you use, the type of computer, technical information about your means of connection to our site-such as the operating systems and the Internet service providers utilized, and other similar information. Our system may gather information about the areas you visit and search terms you utilize on our sites and about the links you may select from within our site to other areas of the World Wide Web or elsewhere online.
We use such information to administer the site and, in the aggregate, to understand how our users as a group use the services and resources provided on our sites. This way we know which areas of our sites are popular with our users, which areas need improvement, and what technologies are being used so that we may continually improve our site.
Most browsers are set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you do so, please note that parts of the site requiring you to log in may not function.
The Use of Cookie Technology
A cookie is an element of data that a web site can send to your browser, which may then store it on your system. We may use cookies to permit the completion of the user's current activity on the site, for example when using the shop. We only use cookies to collect personally identifiable information with your consent, as described above under Personal Identification Information.
This site uses a self-hosted copy of Matomo Analytics to record the number of visitors to this site and which pages they visit. The data is aggregated and no details of individual visitors are captured. The data is stored on the same server as the website and nothing is transferred to any other location.
You may choose to prevent this website from aggregating and analyzing the actions you take here. Doing so will protect your privacy, but will also prevent the owner from learning from your actions and creating a better experience for you and other users.
Links To Other Sites
Users may find contents on our site that link to the sites and services of third parties. In many cases, the links represent cooperative projects or are mutual links established with persons or entities connected with us. Although we initially visit the sites or services that are so linked, we do not control the contents or links that appear on these sites. In addition, these sites or services, including their contents and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies, or no policy (policies) at all. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third party sites or services before providing any of them with your personal information.
Security Policy
Protecting your privacy and your information is a top priority. We have taken careful measures to secure both your information and our physical premises. We exercise great care in providing secure transmission of your information from your PC to our servers. Our secure server software encrypts information, ensuring that all Internet transactions remain private (unless sent by an unsecured means, such as e-mail).
Access To/Correction of Information
If you would like to review any personal information we have retained about you in our database, please send us an e-mail request for this information at privacy@potteries.org.uk. To help us address your request, please specify which information you wish to review. Once you have reviewed this information, at your request we will correct personal information about you that you state is erroneous. To request such a correction, please send an e-mail to privacy@potteries.org.uk.
Choice/Opt-Out
If you "opt-in" to receive information from Potteries Heritage Society, you can change your mind later. If at any time you would like to stop receiving such information or opt-out of a feature, you can let us know by sending an e-mail stating your preference to privacy@potteries.org.uk. To help us address your request, please specify the feature from which you wish to opt out.
Where your data is sent
This website is hosted by Akamai in London, United Kingdom.
Details of orders when using the shop are passed to our payment provider to allow them to process card transactions on our behalf. Backups of the website are regularly taken and stored by the Society on a secure storage system, which is physically disconnected from the public Internet, other than when these are being taken. Other than these specific scenarios no data is sent or shared to any other location, or with any third party.
Your Acceptance of These Terms
By using the Potteries Heritage Society website, you signify your acceptance of our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our site. Your continued use of the website following the posting of changes to these terms will mean that you accept those changes.
(Last modified on 3rd January 2025.)