Summary

Both the British Contract Furnishing Association (BCFA) and Excel Publishing Company Limited (Excel) respect individual's rights to personal privacy. We will collect and use information through this web site only in ways disclosed in this statement. This statement applies only to information collected on this website (www.thebcfa.com). Please see the privacy policies for any other websites which are linked to or operated by either the BCFA or Excel.

Information Collection and Usage

We collect the following information about all visitors to this site: IP address, browser, referrer information, search terms used to find the site, and time of visit. These are all used for statistical and optimisation purposes in common with most other websites. These details are not generally personally identifiable, and are kept in collated form which makes extracting individual details impossible (for example, we store IP addresses and visit times, but do not store which IP address visited at a given time).

We collect the following information about visitors who make use of the directory contact form system: IP address, message sending time, message subject, message content, message recipient, email address of sender, a given name of sender, IP address used to validate the email address and validation time. These details are collected to permit us to track and prevent abuse of the message system. Email details are retained for 48 hours before validation, and for 12 months after last use of the system. Other details are archived for records and legal purposes for as long as required by law.

We collect the following information about visitors who log into the site: Name, username, password, email address. This information is used to ensure that information restricted to certain users can be presented safely and securely. Changes to these details should be notified to the BCFA in the first instance.

Neither the BCFA nor Excel actively market to children, and we never knowingly ask a child under 13 to divulge identifiable information.

Collection methods for information include clicktracking of links, input forms and automatic logging. Clicktracking and automatic logging data is collected for all visitors, and is not personally identifiable. Input forms are optional for users and all data entered should be considered collectable. If you prefer not to have this information collected, please do not use input forms on this site (including the contact form system in the directory).

We may employ cookies for session tracking of logged in users. These do not contain personally identifiable information, and have an expiration date of 6 months from last visit.

Banner advertising appearing on our web site may collect: IP address, browser, referrer information, search terms used to find the site, and time of visit. This information is generally used for statistical purposes only.

Registered users may receive additional announcements from us about major changes to the website, or other urgent information as supplied by the BCFA. These are a condition of membership of the BCFA, and enquiries about such messages should be directed to the BCFA.

We offer links to other websites which may have different privacy policies. It is the users responsibility to ensure that privacy policies on third party websites are acceptable. Neither Excel nor the BCFA can be held responsible for third party sites or their content.

Changes to our policies on information collection and usage will be advised on this page, and via announcements through regular BCFA mailings.

Access to Information

Excel and the BCFA maintain the accuracy of information by annual requests for updates from members. Users may access their own personal information and contact us about any inaccuracies they may find by contacting the BCFA and requesting relevent information. Please note that we will not delete message contents under any circumstances, and that we consider it the responsibility of the sender to ensure that message content is not abusive or libelous.

Problem Resolution

If problems arise, users may contact either the BCFA or Excel through the details listed on the Contact page, and on the Legal Information page. We will attempt to resolve any disputes within 28 days of initial contact.

Data Storage and Security

Information collected from users via this site is stored on a password protected database system housed in a secure data centre in London, UK. Access to this database is restricted to members of the Excel development group. The system is protected by industry standard or better level firewalls (both hardware and software), and all access to the main server is through secured channels. The web site itself runs on a self-contained server which is kept up-to-date with all relevant security patches and regularly tested. Physical access to the systems is only permitted to data centre staff with high levels of security clearance.