Introduction
This Privacy Policy gives you a clear view of how we use personal information that you provide, our dedication to protecting it and your rights and the options you have to control your personal information and protect your privacy. It also outlines what personal information we collect about you when you visit our website or speak to us and how we use your personal information and the third parties we will share it with.
What information do we collect about you?
When you use our products and services we will ask for personal information (at the moment of collection we will explain what information is required in order for us to provide the particular product or service, and what information you may choose to provide), such as:
your postal address and payment details;
your name;
your email addresses;
your telephone numbers;
your IP address;
your date of birth.
How we protect your personal information
We are committed to protecting your personal information and implementing appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect it against any unauthorised or unlawful processing and against any accidental loss, destruction or damage.
How will we use the information about you?
Processing your transaction: we use relevant personal information described above to process and deliver your transaction and to notify you of the status of your transaction. This includes passing your information to third parties, for example, YOTI (see below).
Preventing money laundering: we will also use your personal information at the appropriate time to conduct an identification check as we have a legal obligation to do so in accordance with the anti-money laundering regulations (see our Terms of Use for more detail). We will share your personal information with our electronic identification check providers YOTI.
Ability to proceed with an offer on a property: if you are a potential buyer we are obliged to contact you to clarify your financial position i.e. do you have a mortgage agreed in principle or are you a cash buyer and whether you have a property to sell to enable you to purchase another property. We will process your personal information for the purposes of our legitimate interests in determining your ability to proceed with a purchase so that the seller has an informed choice should there be an offer. This also has the potential to speed up any subsequent transaction.
To engage with you in relation to our products and services: we will use your personal information to provide you with the products and services you have requested from us. We will process your personal information in this way if it is necessary for the performance of the contract with us.
Voice Recordings: we shall record calls to and from our Head Office in order to ensure that we comply with our customers’ instructions and our legal obligations to our customers (including those under privacy legislation such as GDPR).
How will we contact you?
We would like to send you information about products and services of ours, which may be of interest to you. If you have consented to receive marketing communications, you may opt out at a later date.
You have a right at any time to stop us from contacting you for marketing purposes.
Thistles will not share your information for marketing purposes with other companies unless you have consented to us doing so.
Access to your information and correction
You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email or write to us at the Registered Office address.
How long will we keep your personal information?
We retain your personal data only for as long as we need to to comply with our obligations under The Property Redress Scheme Code of Practice and rules set by HMRC. The retention periods are:
- Seven years for data related to a financial transaction with Purplebricks (such as an Instruction to market a property)
- Six years for data related to a property transaction (such as a Valuation, Offer or Viewing)
- Five years for data related to our obligations under Anti-Money Laundering regulations
- 18 months for other personal data not covered by one of the above.
Cookies
This policy explains what cookies are and how they are used on Thistles websites and applications. We encourage you to read the policy in full so that you understand what information we collect using cookies.
What is a Cookie?
A “cookie” is a simple ‘text file’ which typically contains two pieces of information: a site name and a unique user identifier using your Internet Protocol (IP) address. If you agree, we will store these cookies on your browser or hard drive when you visit our website. We use the following four types of cookie:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential to make our website work. Without these cookies, our website cannot operate effectively - Examples are; ‘Book a Valuation’, ‘Book a Viewing’ and ‘Make an Offer’.
Analytical and Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to measure and analyse how our customers use the site, to improve both its functionality and your website experience. These cookies do not collect information that identifies you, instead they aggregate masses of data to provide information about how our website is performing.
Functionality Cookies
When you are browsing these cookies remember your preferences and help improve your website experience. These include things like remembering your browsing and language preferences or your chosen image size, meaning we can serve you the best possible experience each time you visit our site.
Targeted Advertising Cookies
These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We use this information to deliver advertisements which are more relevant to you. For example; location information, buying or selling status. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose and you may see our advertisements while using other third-party websites.
By using our website, you agree to us placing these sorts of cookies on your device and accessing them when you visit our website in the future. You can delete any cookies that are already on your device through your browser and opt-out of targeted advertising cookies here.
Our Cookies
To make full use of your online experience, your computer or device will need to accept cookies. If cookies are not enabled on your computer or device you will be unable to log in, request a valuation, book viewings, or receive an experience personalised to you.
Controlling the Use of Cookies
You can enable, disable and delete cookies through your browser. If you choose to disable cookies, our website may not operate correctly, and you may not be able to access secure areas of our website, make bookings or accept viewings. If you choose to delete your cookies, you may have to update your preferences with us again and the experience you receive upon returning to our site for the first time may be slightly degraded until our cookies update with your preferences again.
We use Targeted Advertising Cookies to remember the services you are interested in when browsing our website. If you later view certain selected third-party websites or social media platforms, we are able to provide advertisements relating to those products and services that you have shown interest.
You can opt out of targeted advertising shown on third party websites at any time on the Your Online Choices Website or clicking the double lines in the bottom corner of the advertisement. If you decide to remove all your browser information including cookies the adverts will appear again following your visit to our website as the information will have been lost.
Other websites
Our website contains links to other websites. This Privacy Policy only applies to this website so when you link to other websites you should read their own privacy policies.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
We keep our Privacy Policy under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page. This Privacy Policy was last updated on 21 September 2020.
How to contact us
Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy or information we hold about you:
By email
DPO@thistlesestateagents.co.uk or write to us at:
Data Protection Officer
159 King Street
Rutherglen
Glasgow
G73 1BZ
We are committed to working with you to obtain a fair resolution of any complaint or concern about privacy. We comply with The Property Redress Scheme Codes of Practice. If, however, you believe that we have not been able to assist with your complaint or concern, you have the right to make a complaint to your local data protection authority the Information Commissioners Office using their website.