Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

1.1 At Distinctive Group (“Distinctive Group”, “we” or “us”) we understand that privacy and the security of your personal information is extremely important. This Privacy Policy describes the types of information collected through the website at www.distinctive-group.co (the “Site”), how we may use the information, with whom we may share it and the choices available to you regarding our use of the information. We also describe the measures we take to safeguard the information and tell you how to contact us about our privacy practices.

2. How we collect and use information

2.1 Personal Information You Provide Us Through the Site

We may collect and store personal information (such as name and other contact details) that you choose to voluntarily provide to us when you provide them through the Site. The types of personal information may include:

• Contact information such as:
• your name
• your role
• where you work
• email
• phone number
• Other personal information you may submit to us, such as when you contact us.

2.2 Information We Collect by Automated Means

We are committed to making your online experience with our Site informative and relevant. To achieve this, we collect certain information by automated means when you visit this Site, such as your IP address, the type of internet browser you are using, device characteristics, operating system, language preferences, referring URLs, information on actions taken on the Site, how many users visited our Site and dates and times of Site visits. We collect this information by various means, as explained below.

2.2a Cookies

Cookies are bits of text that are placed on your computer’s hard drive or mobile device when you visit certain websites. Cookie technology hold information a site may need to personalise a visitor’s experience. Cookies may also be used for security purposes and to gather website statistical data, such as which pages are visited, what is downloaded, and the paths taken by visitors to our website as they move from page to page. You do have control over cookies, and can refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. Note, however, that by not accepting or deleting the use of cookies, you may affect your website experience and you may not be able to take full advantage of all features on this Site. Most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable existing cookies. Please consult the “Help” section of your browser for more information.

2.2b Web beacons

Web beacons (aka pixels) are small graphic images or other web programming code, which are used for a number of purposes, including without limitation, to count visitors to a website, to track traffic patterns of visitors as they navigate websites, to count how many e-mails that were sent were actually opened or to determine whether content was viewed. As with cookies, the information that web beacons collects is aggregated “click stream” data, and is not associated with you as an individual, unless you have chosen to communicate with us by email.

2.2c Plug-Ins

The providers of third-party apps, tools, widgets and plug-ins on this Site, such as social media sharing tools, also may use automated means to collect information regarding your interactions with these features. This information is collected directly by the providers of the features and is subject to the privacy policies or notices of these providers. Subject to applicable law, we are not responsible for these providers’ information practices

3. How we use the information we collect

3.1 We may use the information we obtain about you both to further our relationship with you and for other purposes, including to:

• Respond to your requests, questions and comments;
• Where we need to fulfil our contract taken out with you;
• Communicate with you about other topics that we think may be of interest to you;
• Provide any white papers or documents you may request;
• Verify your identity to ensure security for the other purposes listed here;
• Operate, evaluate and improve our business (including developing new services; managing our communications; determining the effectiveness of our advertising; learning about our visitors, analysing our website; and facilitating the functionality of our website; and
• Comply with applicable legal requirements and industry standards and our policies

3.2 In addition, we use information collected online through cookies, web beacons and other automated means for purposes such as (i) recognising your computer when you visit the Site, (ii) tracking you as you navigate the Site, (iii) improving the Site’s usability, (iv) analysing use of the Site, (v) managing the Site, and (vi) personalising the Site. We also use this information to help diagnose technical and service problems, administer our Site, identify users of our Site, and gather demographic information about our users. We use clickstream data to determine how much time users spend on web pages of our Site, how users navigate through our Site, and how we may tailor our Site to better meet the needs of our users.

3.3 We may use personal information for other additional purposes. We will identify these additional purposes at the time of collection.

4. How we may share the information we collect

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognise and approve any follow-up

4.1 Online tracking

We may also use third-party analytic services on our Site, such as Google Analytics or Hotjar. Google Analytics is a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc., which uses technologies such as cookies to help analyse how users use this website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this Site (such as your IP address, the URL visited, the date and time the page was viewed) will be transmitted and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information to monitor your use of this Site, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services related to website activity and internet usage. Google may transfer this information to third parties where required by law, or where such third parties process information on Google’s behalf. For more information about Google’s privacy policy in respect of Google Analytics, please refer to

http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html.

You may opt out of Google Analytics by visiting https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl+en=GB.

Hotjar is a tracking tool that allows us to view anonymised heatmaps, scroll-depth and screen captures of users. Their privacy information can be found here:

https://help.hotjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/115011639887
This Site is not designed to respond to “do not track” signals received from browsers.

ActiveCampaign is a software service used to provide customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation services. Their privacy information can be found here:
https://www.activecampaign.com/legal/privacy-policy

This Site is not designed to respond to “do not track” signals received from browsers.

4.2 We do not sell or otherwise disclose personal information we collect about you, except as described herein or otherwise disclose to you at the time the data is collected.

4.3 We may share your information among Distinctive Group related entities. We may also share information provided by our visitors to this Site with service providers we have retained to perform services on our behalf, including without limitation, hosting or operating this Site, carrying out your requests, responding to your inquiries, and analysing data. We require these service providers by contract to appropriately safeguard the privacy and security of personal information they process on our behalf.

4.4 We may disclose information about you (i) if we are required to do so by law, regulation or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena), (ii) in response to requests by government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities, or (iii) when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity.

4.5 We reserve the right to transfer any information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets (including in the event of a reorganization, dissolution or liquidation).

4.6 Data transfer

We may transfer the information we collect on this Site to other countries other than in which the information was originally collected. Those countries may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially provided the information. By submitting your personal data, you consent to this transfer. When we transfer your information to other countries, we will protect that information as described in this Privacy Notice.

5. How we protect your data

5.1 We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information you provide against accidental, unlawful or unauthorised destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure or use. However, due to the inherent open nature of the Internet, we cannot guarantee that communications between you and us or the information stored on this Site is absolutely secure.

This seems a bit vague to me – should we include more here??

6. How long do we keep your information for

6.1 We will retain a record of your personal information. This is done in order to provide you with the highest quality, consistent service across our Group. We will only retain this information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

When deciding what the correct time is to keep the data for, we look at its amount, nature and sensitivity, potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure, the processing purposes, if these can be achieved by other means and legal requirements.

For tax purposes the law requires us to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they stop being customers.

7. Links to other websites

7.1 The Site may provide links to other websites for your convenience and information. These websites may operate independently from us. Linked sites may have their own privacy notices or policies, which we strongly encourage you to review to better understand their procedures for collecting, using and disclosing personal information. We are not responsible for the content of the linked websites, any use of these sites, or the privacy practices of these sites.

8. Children’s privacy

8.1 The Site is not directed to children under the age of 16 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16 on the Site.

9. Your rights and choices

9.1 Under data protection laws you have rights in relation to your personal data that include the right to request access, correction, erasure, restriction, transfer, to object to processing, to portability of data and (where the lawful ground of processing is consent) to withdraw consent. You can see more about these rights at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/

To exercise your rights or submit a request, please contact us as indicated in the “How to Contact Us” section of this Privacy Notice. You can also unsubscribe from our mailing lists by following the “Unsubscribe” link in our emails.

9.2 You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data. However, we may charge a fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive, or we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

9.3 We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data or to exercise any of your other rights. This is for security to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who does not have the right to receive it.

9.4 We will try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, you will be notified.

9.5 If you are not happy with any aspect of how we collect and use your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would be grateful if you would contact us first if you do have an issue, so that we can try to resolve it for you.

10. Changes to this privacy notice

10.1 We monitor our privacy policy regularly and reserve the right to change or add to this Privacy Notice from time to time. When we do we will indicate at the top of the Privacy Notice when it was most recently updated. Your continued use of the Site subsequent to any change to this Privacy Notice constitutes your acceptance of the change. Please review this statement periodically to ensure you are aware of any changes or updates to this Privacy Notice.

10.2 This policy was last updated on May 10th 2024.

11. Acceptance of our terms

11.1 By using our Site you signify acceptance of the terms of our policy. If you do not agree with this policy please don’t use our site.

12. How to contact us

12.1 If you would like to exercise one of your rights as set out above, or you have a question about this policy and the way your personal information is processed, please contact us by one of the following means:

By email:
info@distinctive-group.co

By post:
Distinctive Group (C/O Wilson Partners)
TOR St. Cloud Way
Maidenhead
Berkshire
SL64UY