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Privacy Policy

1. INTRODUCTION
This document sets out how Pet Sitter Swap handles data that we collect about you.

You should read it in conjunction with the Pet Sitter Swap Terms and Conditions, of which this Privacy Policy forms a part.

We strongly believe in protecting the privacy of our members' personal information.

Should there be a need to change our Privacy Policy we will notify you in the same way as we notify changes to the Pet Sitter Swap Terms and Conditions.

Our Privacy Policy has been developed with the Data Protection Act 1998 in mind and has resulted in a number of guiding principles:
1. You have control about the information we hold about you, who is allowed to see it and how it is used.

2. We aim to continually improve our website and we use information about you to help us do this.

3. We will not use your information for any other reason unless you specifically allow us to do so by:
a. choosing not to select the opt out boxes in our registration form, or
b. changing your mind by selecting the appropriate boxes in the 'AMEND' section when you log in.

4. We take all reasonable care to safeguard your information through security policies and secure business processes.

2. SHARING INFORMATION
We value your information and will not share any personal data without your consent.

Only if you give your consent might we share some of your information with carefully selected third parties so that they can provide you with information about products and services that may be of interest to you.

We will only deal with third parties that we trust to act in our members' best interests and who treat our members' information with the same stringent controls that we apply ourselves.

We may share your information with third parties when we believe it is necessary to comply with the law or protect our or another person's rights, or safety (eg complying with a court order).

 

3. INFORMATION GATHERED ON REGISTRATION
When you register for the Pet Sitter Swap Service, you provide your:

E-mail address, password, password reminder question & answer, courtesy title, first name, middle name, last name, on-line greeting name, telephone and alternative phone contact, address, how many pets you have, the type of pets you have, and the type of pets you are prepared to look after.

These details are available to you, and can easily be amended by signing in and selecting the appropriate button from the 'My Profile' or 'My Details' pages.

In addition we record the time when you sign in and sign out of using Pet Sitter Swap. The last time you signed in to Pet Sitter Swap together with your first name may be viewed by other members who live within your Search Range.



5. YOUR IP ADDRESS
Whenever you visit the Pet Sitter Swap site we automatically collect your IP address and the web page from which you came. Your IP address is used to help identify you and to gather broad demographic information about you.

 

6. PROTECTING DATA
In order to ensure the protection of your data on the Pet Sitter Swap database we have put in place a variety of security measures. It is also incumbent upon each member to:
  • keep his/her password secret.
  • sign out from the Pet Sitter Swap Service when not using it (by selecting the 'Sign Out' menu option).
  • ensure against use by anyone else of the Pet Sitter Swap Service through the machine which that member uses while they are 'Signed In' to the Pet Sitter Swap Service.

7. E-MAIL
Pet Sitter Swap will not display your e-mail address or contact details for general viewing by other members.

Premium Members can make contact by clicking the SEND MESSAGE icon in the 'List Pet Sitters' page to enter a message that we will send on the Premium Member's behalf. When you send a message your first name will automatically be included in the message that is sent.

Members must not include their e-mail address in their 'Preferences/Requirements' box.

 

8. COOKIES
We use small files known as "cookies" to enhance site security and protect the confidentiality of your data.

We also use cookies to personalise the Pet Sitter Swap Service. For example, cookies enable us to display your online Greeting Name on certain web pages.

We use temporary "session" cookies to keep track of when you have finished using the site and to prevent unauthorised access to certain web pages.

We do not use 'permanent' or 'third party cookies'.

The cookies used by Pet Sitter Swap disappear from your computer's memory when the member's browser session ends, or if the member clicks the 'Sign Out' button.

 

9. DISCLOSURE
We will not normally communicate such of a member's personal information to third parties seeking its disclosure, but reserve the right to do so in satisfying a legally-compliant request (for example, a court order).

 

10. NEWSLETTERS
The Pet Sitter Swap Service prepares newsletters and occasional e-mails. Members may choose whether or not to receive them by ticking the appropriate box during registration or in the 'My Details' page.

 

11. TELEPHONE CALLS
Calls to or from Pet Sitter Swap may be recorded.These recordings are used for training and quality control to ensure that we continuously monitor and improve our customer service standards.

 

12. CREDIT CARD INFORMATION
Pet Sitter Swap's bank (WorldPay plc) operates a secure server to process credit card payments. It encrypts members' credit or debit card information and authorises payment directly. This means that members' credit card details are never revealed to us. WorldPay plc may transfer to, process and hold your credit card information in countries either within or outside the European Economic Area in connection with performing their duties.

 

13. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION FOR
This depends on the context in which you have provided it and whether or not you have opted out on the registration form. You can change your mind about the opt-outs at any time by signing in and choosing the 'Amend' option in the 'My Details' page.

We will keep your information that is necessary for us to provide you with a service while you are a member of Pet Sitter Swap .

We will keep your contact details for as long as we have your consent to send you marketing information and/or pass your contact details to third parties.

We will keep records of changes to the data that you keep on our site for as long as you are a member (This is to protect against misuse of our website by commercial organisations).

Should you decide to delete your account then we will retain your data for a reasonable period purely for administrative purposes (for example to assist us in the event that you might contact us after you have stopped using our service).


14. OTHER PET SITTER SWAP COMPANIES
Data supplied by you (or collected about you) may be shared with any subsidiary of Pet Sitter Swap and other companies in our group, but only for the purposes described in this policy.

 

15. CHANGES IN PET SITTER SWAP BUSINESS
If a third party acquires all of the assets which Pet Sitter Swap uses to operate its business (or substantially all of them) then we may transfer personal data we hold to that party.

 

16. COUNTRY OF PROCESSING
The personal information held by us is held on and processed by computers situated in England.

 

17. ADVERTISING
The Pet Sitter Swap Service may incorporate advertising for other organisations. To target this advertising more appropriately, we may use, and provide to third parties, anonymised demographic data provided by members.

 

18. CONTACTING PET SITTER SWAP
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with Pet Sitter Swap , you can contact us by:

  • clicking on the 'Contact Us' button in the main menu to send us an electronic message, or:
  • writing to us at: Pet Sitter Swap, 53 Bushey Road, Ickenham, Middlesex, UB10 8JX.
You can also use this address if you wish to request from Pet Sitter Swap a copy of the personal data we hold about you or a description of that data. Please note that by English law we are entitled to charge you a small sum for providing this information.