PRIVACY POLICY – COOKIES AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

Cookies and Other Similar Technologies

We use cookies, web beacons, unique identifiers and similar technologies to collect and store information (which may include your personal information) about how you interact with our websites, communications and services and selected third party websites which belong to our partner advertising networks. We may use these technologies to show you relevant adverts based upon this information, this is called interest-based advertising.

Cookies are small text files placed on your device which uniquely identify your device. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your device.

Web beacons (also known as “Pixel tags“) are small blocks of code on webpages or in our emails that allow us to read and set cookies. Web beacons are often used in connection with cookies to help operate our websites, emails and collect information about online activity.

For more information about our use of these technologies, interest-based advertising and your choices, please refer to our Cookies Policy.

 Our Cookies Policy

We use cookies, web beacons, unique identifiers and other similar technologies (collectively “cookies”) to provide our services and help collect data. We do this to understand your use of our websites, emails, mobile applications and services; improve your user experience and enable personalized features and content; optimize our advertisements and marketing; and to enable third-party advertising companies to assist us in serving ads specific to your interests across the Internet. By using our website, you consent to our use of these cookies.

Different cookies are used to perform different functions. We detail below our use of cookies. You do have choices about how cookies are used.

Our use of cookies & similar technologies

We use cookies that are essential

Some cookies are essential for us to use in order to provide you with the services you have requested.  These cookies will be used to manage the delivery of any web services requested by you and if you do not accept these cookies, the services may not be so easy to access and you may not be able to receive some services that you have requested e.g. pay for goods and services or access secure areas of our websites. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing purposes or remembering where you have been on the internet.

We use cookies to remember your selections

We also use cookies to remember your selections that change the way our websites behave or look e.g. the font sizes or layout you have chosen etc. These types of cookies can also be used to deliver a specific function requested by you which is not core to the usage of the website e.g. streaming a video.  Please note that if you delete these cookies, we will no longer be able to remember your preferences or remember your log in details or provide you with the content you have requested. When selecting your choices for the first time, we may ask you whether you want us to remember your choices and if you do this it will constitute consent of our use of cookies for these purposes. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing purposes or remembering where you have been on the internet. If you opt out of interest based advertising, we store your opt out preference in a cookie on your device.

We use cookies to personalise your experience

We also use cookies to change the way our website behave or look in order to personalise your experience from information we infer from your behaviour on our websites or information we already know about you e.g. because you are a registered customer. These cookies may be used to tailor the services you receive from us or the content, look and feel delivered to you on subsequent sessions to our websites. For example, if you personalise webpages, or register for products or services, a cookie helps our webpage server to recall your specific information. When you next visit our website, the information you previously provided can be retrieved, so you can easily use the website features that you previously chose.  Even if you use more than one device or computer on a regular basis, we can link cookies together so you will still receive a personalised online experience. We can also personalise the information you see based on what we already know about you, so that you spend less time looking for things. So, instead of one website for all website visitors, each visitor can have a website experience which is unique to them.

We use cookies for analytics purposes

We also use our own cookies and/or third party cookies and other identifiers (such as web beacons) to see how you use our websites and services in order to enhance their performance and develop them according to the taste of our customers and visitors. For example, cookies may be used to: test different designs and ensure that a consistent look and feel is maintained for users of our websites; track and provide trend analysis on how our users interact with our websites; track errors and measure the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns.  We also include web beacons in our promotional email messages or newsletters to determine whether you open and act on them and whether our mailing tools are working correctly.

The data collected will generally be aggregated to provide trends and usage patterns for business analysis, site/platform improvement and performance metrics. This analysis may be performed by third parties but will be for the review and benefit of EE only.  The type of information we collect includes how many visitors visit our websites, how many customers log in, when they visited, for how long and which areas of our websites and services.

We use cookies for advertising purposes

We use cookies to collect and store information about how you interact with our websites, communications and services and selected partner websites and to identify your interests so that we can provide advertising that is most relevant and useful to you. Cookies enable us to learn about what ads you see, what ads you click, and other actions you take on our sites and other sites. We do not associate your interaction with unaffiliated sites with your identity in providing you with interest-based adverts.

In addition, we may work with third party companies, known as service providers who are authorised to place third party cookies or use other technologies on our websites or in our services, applications and tools with our permission. These service providers may use these technologies to help us deliver our own content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. If you are a registered user, the information collected from our websites is not anonymous and we may use this information along with other information we know or infer about you including your preferences to tailor content, services, advertising and offers for you. The information we collect and share with third parties through these cookies does not directly identify you. You can opt out of receiving interest based advertising on our website by blocking these cookies as described in the How to refuse or opt out of cookies section . Please also read below about advertising cookies used by third parties.

Advertising cookies used by third parties

We do allow advertisers and other third parties to place cookies on our websites to allow them to show you adverts that are more relevant and useful to you.  However, we do not share any information with these advertisers and third parties that will directly identify you. These advertisers and other third-parties (including the ad networks, ad-serving companies, and other service providers they may use) may assume that users who interact with or click on a personalized ad or content are part of the group that the ad or content is directed towards.

Other similar technologies

In addition to standard cookies and web beacons, our services may use other similar technologies to store and read data files from your computer. This includes the use of flash cookies which are created by Adobe Flash.  To manage these cookies, visit the Website Storage Settings Panel on www.adobe.com.  We are minimising our use of flash cookies but they may be used by third parties on our websites and services.

Session cookies and persistent cookies

Our servers use two different types of cookies.

The first type is known as a ‘session-based’ cookie and is allocated to your computer only for the duration of your visit to our Web site. It helps you to move around the Web site faster and, if you’re a registered customer, it allows us to give you information relevant to your selected service. This cookie automatically expires when you close down your browser.

The second type of cookie is known as a ‘persistent’ cookie. These cookies will remain on your computer for a period of time set for each cookie. These cookies allow us to:

  • limit how often you see a particular advertisement or announcement on our web site;
  • identify your preferences when customising content for you;
  • provide you with relevant self-help information;
  • record how many times you visit a page or advertisement;
  • limit and record how often you can vote in our polls;
  • confirm you are a registered user and save your login details when accessing certain services on our websites; and
  • collect statistics on the use of our services.

How to refuse or opt out of cookies

Most browsers automatically accept cookies but provide controls that allow you to block or delete them. If you wish to block cookies from your browser software, please check the browser help menu for relevant instructions. Take care to ensure that you select the correct type and version of your browser software:

Unfortunately, if you choose to decline cookies, some of the interactive features and some functionality of our websites and our services may not be available to you. We advise regular users of our websites and services to accept cookies from us.

If you want to know more about cookies, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

For more information about interest based advertising and how to opt out, please visit www.youronlinechoices.com/uk

How to change your browser settings to disable cookies

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 (Windows XP/Vista)

1.            Select Tools from the main task bar, then Internet Options.

2.            Click the Privacy tab.

3.            Choose the settings you want.

4.            Click OK.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8,9 (Windows 7)

1.            Click on the Settings cog icon (top right).

2.            Click on Internet Options.

3.            Click on Privacy and choose your options.

4.            Click Apply and then OK.

Firefox 3.0+, 4.0+, 5.0+,6.0+

1.            Choose Tools from the main task bar, then options.

2.            Click the privacy tab.

3.            Choose the settings you want.

4.            Click OK.

Safari 5 & 6

1.            Choose Safari from the main task bar, then preferences.

2.            Click on the privacy panel.

3.            Choose the settings you want.

4.            Click X to close

Google Chrome

1.            Click the menu icon and select Settings from the list.

2.            Click the Show the advance settings.

3.            Click Content Settings in the Privacy section.

4.            Choose the settings you want.

5.            Click X to close.

Mobile Devices

iOS

1.            From the home screen, choose Settings.

2.            Select Safari.

3.            Click Accept Cookies.

4.            Choose your preferred settings.

Android

1.            Start the browser application.

2.            Click the Menu button.

3.            Select the More option, then Settings.

4.            Tick or clear Accept cookies.

Windows Phone 7

1.            From the home screen, click on the right arrow.

2.            Scroll down to Settings.

3.            Swipe across and select Internet Explorer.

4.            Tick or clear Accept cookies.

Your Personal Information: What We Collect

The personal information we collect about you will depend on the products and services you use and subscribe to. It includes (but isn’t limited to):

  • your name, address, telephone number, date of birth, gender and email address;
  • your debit or credit card information, information about your bank account number, sort code and other banking information, and other information required to validate your identity;
  • your account information such as how you purchased or signed up to our products and services, your billing history, the products and services you use and anything else relating your account;
  • your preferences and interests both when you tell us what they are or when we deduce them from what we know about you;
  • your demographic information (which we may acquire from third parties);
  • information you provide to us when entering prize draws or competitions or participate in surveys or consumer panels;
  • your credit rating information (which we acquire from credit reference agencies); and
  • your communications with us.

We’ll also get information on how you use our products and services, such as:

  • the date, time, duration and cost of your communications including your phone location at the time these communications are made;
  • the phone numbers that you call and send messages to (and the phone numbers that you receive calls and messages from);
  • the types of websites that you visit and how you use them (such as the date, time, duration of your internet session, your IP address, and your approximate location at the time of browsing);
  • your activity on EE websites;
  • your device details (such as your hardware model, operating system version, unique device identifier (also known as IMEI) and advertising identifiers on your device);
  • your phone or device usage (including voice, messaging, web/ WAP use, application use);
  • your amount of data usage (MBs used);
  • your roaming information (such as the country you are in and the network used when making communications including dates and times); and
  • your network experience (including your location information).

If you give us personal information about another person (e.g. when they receive a service you are paying for) or allow another person to use your device, we expect you to be responsible for ensuring that they know we are using their personal information in accordance with this privacy policy and have obtained their consent to this.

We may collect information about you from other organisations including from:

  • credit reference and fraud prevention agencies;
  • data brokers;
  • our partners; and
  • business directories

How Long We Keep Your Personal Information

The periods for which we keep your information depend on the purpose for which your information was collected and the use to which it is put.  We will not keep your personal information for longer than necessary for our business purposes or for legal requirements.

Data relating to the destination, routing, timing or duration of your communications are kept for 12 months to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations (even if you stop using our services).

Some account information will be held for 6 years from the end of your contract with us.

We will keep your contact information for a reasonable period after your contract with us has finished in case you decide to use our services again and may contact you about our services during this time if you have not opted out of marketing.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

We maintain the highest standards of data privacy and security to protect your personal details and other information about your account because we want you to feel completely confident about using our services. We regularly review our processes and procedures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access and use, accidental loss and/or destruction.

We may monitor or record any conversations between you and our staff for authentication, security, quality and training purposes.

Sometimes we use other organisations to process your personal information on our behalf. We don’t allow them to use this information for their own commercial purposes and they have to follow our strict instructions and comply with appropriate security measures. We assess the security measures in these organisations when we bring them on board and we continue to monitor their compliance while they process your personal information.