Privacy Notice

Introduction

This Privacy Notice covers all of the ways in which your personal data is collected and managed by NHBS. It also explains how the data is used, the measures we take to keep it safe, and what your rights are as one of our customers

The following information should answer most of the questions you have, but if you would like to contact us about anything further, please do get in touch by emailing privacy@nhbs.com.

The information in this notice may be updated occasionally, but we will always notify you if we make any significant changes.

Throughout this notice, the terms ‘we’ and ‘us’ refer to NHBS Ltd. The term ‘customer’ refers to any individual or organisation that has purchased goods or services from us at any time in the past.

We may collect data from individuals who browse www.nhbs.com, sign up to our mailing list or interact with us via phone, email, fax, social media or in person.

About NHBS

NHBS started life as the Natural History Book Service in London in 1985 with a paper catalogue of around 500 ornithology books. Since this time we have moved our business to www.nhbs.com where we showcase and sell our range of books, equipment, gifts and magazines.

In 2011 NHBS acquired Alana Ecology, the UK’s foremost supplier of ecology and conservation equipment. Following this, in 2016, we also took over EFE & GB Nets which specialised in the manufacture of high-quality entomology and aquatic ecology tools. These two companies are now managed entirely under the NHBS brand. NHBS also publishes the magazines British Wildlife and Conservation Land Management.

In September 2019 NHBS Ltd founded a wholly-owned subsidiary in Germany, NHBS GmbH, to serve our customers in Europe better. Customer data is held by NHBS Ltd and is accessible to both companies.

The legal basis for data collection

There are several reasons why a company such as NHBS may legally collect and process personal data. These include:

Consent: This covers all instances whereby you give your consent for data to be collected. For example, this may occur if you tick a box to indicate that you would like to receive an email newsletter.

Contractual obligations: This includes situations where we are obliged to collect personal data in order to carry out contractual obligations. For example, for us to process an order that you have placed on our website, we will need to collect your delivery and billing addresses, as well as your payment information.

Legal compliance: In rare situations we are obliged to collect data for legal reasons. An example of this is if we are subject to fraudulent activity, then data may need to be provided to the appropriate legal authority or law enforcement body.

Legitimate interest:This includes all situations whereby we collect data that is reasonably required for the running of our business. For example, we collect and analyse the shopping history and trends of our customers to make sure that our stock levels are sufficient and to identify the need for new products. We will never collect, use or sell information that could impact your rights, freedom or interests in any way.

When do we collect personal data from you?

• When you create an account with us, either online or by phone, email or fax.
• When you visit www.nhbs.com and use your account to buy products.
• When you place an order with us over the phone or via email or fax.
• When you purchase items from us in person at our warehouse in Totnes or at one of our conference stalls.
• When you contact us by email with a query or complaint.
• When you enter a prize draw or competition at a conference attended by NHBS.
• When you comment on or review our products.
• When you have given a third-party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.
• When you have been the recipient of a gift subscription of British Wildlife magazine.
• When you use the car park at our offices in Totnes, our CCTV systems may record your image during your visit.

What kinds of personal data do we collect?

• If you have an account with us: your name, billing and delivery addresses, orders and receipts, email address and telephone number. For your security, we’ll also keep an encrypted record of your login password.
• We never store your credit card information. Your credit card information is securely processed by a trusted third-party and never passes through our servers.
• Copies of documents you provide to us. This includes items such as ringing licenses which we request prior to the sale of mist nets.
• Details of your visits to our website.
• Information gathered by the use of cookies in your web browser. Learn more about how we use cookies here.
• Details of your shopping history.
• Your comments and product reviews.
• To deliver the best possible experience while you are browsing and ordering from our website, we collect technical information about your internet connection and browser as well as the country where your computer is located, the web pages viewed during your visit, the advertisements you clicked on and any search terms you entered.
• Your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments, questions or feedback.
• Your phone calls with NHBS may be recorded where we have a legitimate interest in the content of the call, as well as for security and training purposes.

Why do we need this data and how do we use it?

One of our main goals as an online retailer is to ensure that our customers have the best possible experience when using our website or interacting with us by phone, email or in person. One way that we do this is to use the data we collect to tailor our services, promotions and products effectively. This type of data collection and usage is covered by data privacy laws as a ‘legitimate interest’ as understanding our customers is vital to us operating a successful business.

Here is a breakdown of the ways in which we use your data:

• To process orders that you place at www.nhbs.com, by phone / email, in person at our premises in Totnes or at a conference. If we don’t collect data such as billing and delivery addresses and payment details at this time, we won’t be able to bill you for your order or deliver it to you. Some of these details may also need to be passed to a third-party. For example, your delivery address will need to be provided to our courier so that they can deliver your items. See the section below titled ‘Who do we share your personal data with?’ for more information about this.
• To respond to queries, complaints and refund/return requests. We use the data you provide to us to efficiently respond to any queries you have and to make sure that you can return any items to us for replacement or a refund. Copies of the email conversations we have with you are also stored so that, should we need to refer to them in the future, we can do so easily. We believe this helps us to interact with you more efficiently and to resolve any problems more quickly.
• To protect your account and our business from fraud or other illegal activities. To do this we use your personal data to safeguard your account and we also monitor your browsing activity to make sure our website is as secure as possible. By checking your password when you log in to your account and monitoring IP addresses to identify potentially fraudulent logins from unexpected locations, we can minimise the risk of your account being used fraudulently.
• We use your contact information, along with data about your shopping preferences and previous transactions, to contact you about products and promotions with your permission. You are free to opt out of hearing from us by any or all channels at any time. Please be aware, however, that if you opt out of all email marketing, you will still continue to receive order confirmation emails, dispatch notes and invoices from us.
• To administer any prize draws or competitions that you may have entered at a conference attended by NHBS.

How do we protect your personal data?

Protecting your personal data is extremely important to us, and we take the utmost care to ensure that it is safe at all times.

All transactional areas of our website are secured using https technology.

Access to your personal data is password-protected and internet traffic to www.nhbs.com is secured by SSL encryption.

Our system is regularly monitored for potential vulnerabilities and we carry out penetration testing as a way of determining the best methods of maximising our security.

Who do we share your personal data with?

Sometimes it is necessary for us to share your data with trusted third parties. For example, when dispatching your order we have to provide your delivery address details to a courier. In these situations we will only ever provide the minimum amount of information required for them to perform the service they are contracted for.

We will never sell your personal data or share it with third-parties who are not compliant with UK/EU data protection legislation, unless it is a legal requirement (e.g. to law enforcement bodies for fraud prevention).

Examples of organisations with which we might share your personal data are:

• Delivery companies such as Royal Mail, DPD, UPS, TNT and Parcelforce. These delivery companies are provided with your name, delivery address and, if required, a contact telephone number and/or email address. Your contact details will only be used by them to update you about your delivery and to provide tracking information.
• We sometimes dispatch orders directly from third-party warehouses. In this situation we need to provide the third-party with your name, address and contact details for them to deliver the products to you. We have a strict agreement with all of these companies that your details are never to be used for their own marketing or for any other purposes.
• Our email marketing platform, Mailchimp. So that we can send carefully tailored marketing emails, we provide Mailchimp with contact email addresses of customers who have subscribed to our newsletters and emails.
• NHBS partners with several trusts, societies, or other institutions which have a conservation, ecology or natural history mission and purpose, and we provide shop services on their behalf. In return, NHBS share the name, address and email address of customers who enter the NHBS shop via the dedicated partnership page with the trust, society or other institution. You can find a list of them here

What are your rights?

You have the right to request the following things:

• Details of all of the personal data we hold about you.
• The correction of any personal data that we currently possess, should you find this to be incorrect or incomplete.
• That we stop using any or all of your personal data as soon as you request us to do so. Even if you have previously given us consent to use your personal data, you may withdraw this consent at any time.
• That we stop using your personal data for direct marketing through email and/or post. The easiest way to do this is to click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of any of the marketing emails that we send to you. This will unsubscribe you from all of our emails. Alternatively, by clicking ‘Update my subscription preferences’, you can choose the specific emails that you would like to receive from us. To ensure that you do not continue to receive our catalogues by post, please email customer.services@nhbs.com.

NHBS is registered with the ICO to control data. Our registration reference is Z4983358.

If you have concerns that your data has been handled inappropriately or you are unhappy with how we have dealt with any requests regarding your personal data, you can lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. Contact them by calling 0303 123 1113 or visit their website at www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

International customers

By shopping with us or otherwise providing your personal data to us, you expressly consent to us processing your personal data. You have the right to ask us not to process your data in certain ways and, if you do so, we will respect your wishes.

Sometimes we will need to transfer your personal data between countries to enable us to deliver the products that you have purchased from us. As part of our day-to-day business, we may transfer your personal data from your country of residence to ourselves and to third parties located in the UK or elsewhere.

By dealing with us, you are giving your consent to this overseas use, transfer and disclosure of your personal data outside your country of residence for our ordinary business purposes. This includes storage of your personal data on servers in the UK.

We’ll ensure that reasonable steps are taken to prevent third parties outside your country of residence using your personal data in any way that’s not set out in this Privacy Notice. We’ll also make sure we adequately protect the confidentiality and privacy of your personal data.

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