Privacy Policy (revised April 2018)
ABE’s policy is to only collect personal information that is relevant, to store it securely and not to disclose it to third parties unless it is necessary in the discharge of our services. Examples this might be passing addresses to a postal service in order to deliver certificates or passing contact details to a local representative in order to honour a prize winner.
Why do we store information?
The main reason we store information about our members is so that we can identify them and verify academic achievements. This information is stored in perpetuity as people can come back to us many years after completing and request a replacement certificate or qualification details.
We also hold on to members and alumni contact information in order to advise them of benefits, news, updates and products that may be of interest, as well as inviting feedback for market research.
If you are not a member, and have opted in to hear from us, we may send you further details or updates about study options or qualifications in your region.
If you are from an accredited centre we will send you regular updates and information to help you deliver and market our qualifications and also news of developments and products that may be of interest.
If you are from an organisation, that is not an ABE accredited centre, and have opted in to receive updates, from time to time we may send you news of products and services that could be of interest.
What information does ABE collect about me?
Personal information that we collect may include your name, contact details (ie phone number, email and address), your date of birth, course information, credit card or billing information, shopping selections and data about the pages you visit on our site, as well as any other personal information, such as your job, should you provide that to us.
How does ABE collect my personal information?
We collect your information in two ways:
1. Personal information you choose to disclose. You may, for example, provide us with your information when you post something on our site, when you register for downloads on our site, when you contact us (online or offline) or when you become a member. If you are not a member and have no business interactions we will not keep your details unless you opt in to receive updates from us
2. Information collected by us when you interact with our site, our mobile applications or when you open our email communications. We use cookies (a small piece of computer code that we store for a period of time on your computer or mobile device) and other similar technologies to collect this information.
- In a separate automatic operation, the web server will collect your IP address and browser type and details of the website, mobile application or email communication you came from before entering our site. This information is used to work out how many times our site has been visited and what channels people use
- record which parts of our site have been visited so we can improve the content and layout of the site
- understand the effectiveness of our email communications.
We may from time to time supply this data to third parties in an anonymised form for uses in connection with our site.
What will ABE do with my personal information?
In particular, we may use your information to:
Contact you with more information on our products and services and those of our group companies, if you are a member, alumni or have opted in to receive this information we may invite you to participate in surveys, discussions and prize draws and ask for your views on our services via online surveys and discussion forums.
We also use personal information in aggregate form (so that no individual user is identified by name) to build marketing profiles, audit how our sites are used, and to help with the strategic development of our sites.
Participation in surveys and discussion forums is entirely voluntary. You may unsubscribe from being contacted for these purposes at any time. Survey information will be used for market research with the aim of improving our services.
We will show your username on any content you submit or post on our sites (including discussions, bulletin boards and forums).
Email marketing and opt-out
We will not send you marketing emails if you have opted out of receiving them. Any marketing emails we send you will include an unsubscribe link at the end of the email.
Some ABE sites also provide contact details you may use if you want to contact us by email, post or telephone in order to unsubscribe.
How does ABE keep my personal information safe?
We seek to protect the safety of all your personal information. In particular, provided your browser accepts Secure Sockets Layer encryption, we seek to protect your payment information against unauthorised access through a secure server. Where we use third parties to process personal information, we require them to ensure the safety of your information. We use appropriate security measures on our own systems, but the internet is not a secure medium and we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted via the internet.
Any personal information that you voluntarily post on a public area of our site, such as a bulletin board or discussion forum, or an interactive area requiring registration and/or subscription, may be collected and used by others. Please be careful what personal information you disclose in this way. You understand that we cannot control the actions of other users.
Will ABE share my personal information with anyone else?
We will never sell your personal information. We may disclose and share personal information with the third parties listed below. Because the internet is a global environment, you accept and agree that this will include the transfer of your personal information to other countries, including countries outside of the European Economic Area which may not have the same data protection laws as the UK.
We may share your personal information:
- with our group companies or any entity which acquires any part of our business
- with our service providers (including, for example, credit reference agencies and payment processors, distributors/agents of our products, suppliers who develop or host our sites)
- with third-party search engines that may index user profile pages and usernames as part of the URL of the user profile page by default if required or permitted by law
- with relevant third parties (such as your employer, your school, your internet service provider, law enforcement agencies) if we reasonably believe you may be in breach of the law (e.g. if you have posted defamatory content on our sites)
- with other third parties with your consent.
What if I am under 18 years old?
If you are under 18, please be sure to read this Privacy Policy with your parent or guardian and ask them questions about anything you don’t understand. Please get their permission before you provide ABE with any personal information.
Abuses of this Privacy Policy
Any improper collection or misuse of personal information is in violation of this Privacy Policy and of our Legal Notice. Please report it by emailing [email protected].
You agree not to misuse any personal information available on our Site or to gather it or use robots or other automated scripts, codes or functionalities to do so.
We may immediately suspend or terminate your access to our site without notice if we become aware that you are in breach of applicable terms and conditions of use or of this Privacy Policy.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will always include the date of a new version so that you know when there has been a change.
Contacting ABE
If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or the data we hold about you, or you wish to ensure that the data we hold about you is accurate and kept up to date, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
Data Protection Officer
ABE
New Malden Business Centre
46/50 Coombe Road
New Malden, Surrey, KT3 4QF
or email us at [email protected].
The ABE website contains links to other websites that we do not have any control. You may need to look at the privacy statements on those websites, too. Our website uses cookies - read more here.
This Privacy Policy is provided by ABE Global LTD a private company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 01096719. The registered office is at New Malden Business Centre, 46/50 Coombe Road, New Malden, England, KT3 4QF.”