Nikwax Privacy Policy
Nikwax and Páramo are part of the GearForm Group, wholly owned and controlled by GearForm Holdings Ltd (Company number 13372386). This policy explains how the Group as a whole works to protect your privacy. At the GearForm Group [which encompasses Nikwax Limited (Company number 3101664); Páramo Limited (also known as Páramo Directional Clothing Systems; Company number 02708706); Nikwax North America, Inc. (Company Number 602382903). We are committed to protecting the privacy of our clients, so that they can continue to use our products and engage with us as a brand, having the confidence that the data we process is not misused and is afforded appropriate data protection.
This policy will explain how we process your data and the various activity that supports the processing of your data, how we keep it secure and respect your privacy throughout.
The data you provide to us is only used for the purposes it is collected for and our ethos is to ensure that we provide you with the best customer experience, whilst ensuring you are always in control of your personal data.
Who is the data controller?
When you provide data to the GearForm Group or engage in our online activities, we are the data controller for your information and our full address is:
Nikwax Ltd, based at Unit F, Durgates Industrial Estate, Wadhurst, East Sussex TN5 6DF.
Telephone: 01892 786400
Email: dataprotection@nikwax.co.uk
Data Controller Registration Number: Z5322314
Any queries, complaints or request should therefore be directed to Nikwax Ltd in the first instance.
What information we collect and why?
We are committed to delivering outstanding products and customer service. The processing of personal data is key to these commitments and is used in areas such as:
Providing Customer Services
We will process small amounts of personal data such as your name and contact details to deal with a question, query or complaint you may have. We will only take the minimum required information in order to fulfil your request and our obligations. When we process data in this manner it tends to be as part of a contract, meeting our legal obligations under the Sales of Goods Act or in our Legitimate Interests.
Providing Competitions
We process your personal details such as your name, email address and contact details when you take part in one of our competitions. This allows users to interact with us and win free prizes. We process this as part of providing a service and under our Legitimate Interests. Please note, when you provide your data, we only process your data for that purpose.
Latest News, Offers and Surveys
We process your data, mainly your name, email address and contact details when sending you personalised emails or post on our latest news, offers, events and surveys, which consist of marketing material and also allow us the opportunity to understand our customers more. We will only process data in this manner when you have provided consent or if it is in our Legitimate Interests. In all cases you can object to this processing easily by hitting the unsubscribe link.
Páramo is our sister company and we are clear in all of our information capture points that when we obtain your consent, we are also obtaining consent for Páramo to send you marketing material. We know you’ll love their products too, as they offer similar products and services to us, in addition to working very closely with our team at Nikwax. However, if you would just prefer Nikwax communications then please let us know by using the link on our website here.
Trade Shows and Competitions
We often attend Trade Shows and industry events whereby we will link up with some of our trusted partners and offer someone the opportunity to win an exciting prize. Engaging with our partners and giving back to our customers is something we are passionate about and we also use this opportunity to request from you the opportunity to stay in touch and keep you updated with our latest news, offers and events. When we do this, we will clearly distinguish which company you are providing consent for and Nikwax and Páramo will be separate from any of our partners to ensure you have the ability to choose.
Subscribing to our Newsletter
When you subscribe to our newsletters, they often include offers and promotional material, which could be classed as marketing. By providing your email address to us and basic contact details, you are requesting our newsletters and we will send them to you, until you decide you may want to unsubscribe, which is easily done by clicking the link within the newsletter.
Sales of Products and Services
We will process personal data of individuals when Nikwax or Páramo product purchase have been made or services have been registered for. This consists of name, age/age range, address, contact details such as email address and phone number in addition to payment information to fulfil the purchase. This data will generally consist of basic personal information to facilitate the performance of a contract which can also include providing you a guarantee on your purchase.
Financial, Human Resources and Administration
We process a large amount of personal data in order to simply run the business. This ranges from Sales and Invoicing to clients, which could include individual consumers but primarily relates to business points of contact. We also process employee data to deliver standard employment services and benefits to our employees. This data consists of personal details such as name, address, contact details, company addresses, company contact details, individual and company bank account details in addition to health information, particularly for employment purposes. We have an internal policy that describes this in more detail to our employees but primarily this data is processed under an employment contact or to ensure we met our various legal obligations.
Researching potential sales opportunities
We often use publicly available resources to identify potential business contacts with a view to approaching them and discussing business opportunities. We sometimes collect and store personal details on our internal systems such as name, contact details, job role and company worked for. This is to enable us to approach individuals working within companies to discuss and explore business opportunities and log key milestones to enable an effective business relationship. This data is processed under our Legitimate Interests but you, as an individual have the right to request access to your personal data and subsequent removal should you wish to do so.
Website statistics, cookies and device-based data
When you visit our websites, we record your IP address in server logs, which are required for you to connect to our websites and for security and trouble-shooting purposes. In addition to this we will gather basic device data such as operating system and basic device data, which enables us to understand how individuals engage and interact with our digital content. This data is processed under our Legitimate Interests.
We also use cookies on this site to enhance user experience, help us understand how you interact with our site and inform our future strategies. We have given you full control over cookies on our websites, which should be shown as a banner.
Where is your information processed?
We mainly process personal data within the United Kingdom and within the European Economic Area (EEA). However, we also use a number of third party systems that may have servers outside of Europe and in countries that are deemed to have inadequate safeguards. When we process data in these countries, we will always ensure that this is done in accordance with Data Protection Law and make use of standard contractual clauses and other provisions within the GDPR.
How long is your data retained?
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary. In order to determine how long is necessary we have implemented an internal data retention policy and there are several factors that are used to determine how long data is required to be kept, they are:
- Is there a legal requirement? Examples of this could be data retained for financial accounting purposes.
- Is there a business requirement? Is data required to be retained in order to contact clients for product recalls or so that we are able to fulfil a guarantee if required?
- Is there an external requirement? Is data required to be retained for health and safety purposes or for another organisation, which Nikwax and Páramo have reporting requirements into?
These factors assist us in determining how long personal information is kept for. If there is no legal basis or justification for retaining data then we will ensure it is erased. Individuals can also contact us at dataprotection@nikwax.co.uk or dataprotection@paramo.co.uk and this can also instigate removal of your data from our systems if we feel there is no justification for retaining the data.
How we secure your personal information
At the GearForm group, we take security very seriously and use multiple layers of security to keep your data protected. We have implemented technical and organisational controls to protect against unauthorised access, unauthorised disclosure or use of data. Sensitive and personal data exchanged between our website and users takes place using an encrypted connection, ensuring that data is not accessible to others. We also use security controls such as Anti-Virus software, mail filtering, URL filtering and penetration testing to ensure our systems are robust to withstand a malicious attack. Paper documentation is kept in secure areas, which are restricted to only approved personnel.
We are constantly monitoring the latest security threats, so that we can ensure we take steps to protect the personal data we process, as we see this as critical to maintaining our clients’ trust and confidence in our brands.
Sharing your personal information
We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal data to other companies. We will share generic aggregated demographic information not linked to any personal identification information regarding visitors and users with our business partners, trusted affiliates and advertisers for the purposes outlined above. We will use third party service providers to help us operate our business and the deliver our services, such as sending out newsletters or surveys. We will share your information with these third parties for those limited purposes but will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data.
Third party websites & Links
Users may find advertising or other content on our Sites that link to the sites and services of our partners, suppliers, advertisers, sponsors, licensors and other third parties. We do not control the content or links that appear on these sites and are not responsible for the practices employed by websites linked to or from our Sites. In addition, these sites or services, including their content and links, may be constantly changing. These sites and services may have their own privacy policies and customer service policies. Browsing and interaction on any other website, including websites that have a link to our Sites, is subject to that website’s own terms and policies.
Other Data Controllers
Nikwax and Páramo, are both part of the GearForm Group. Our employees work closely together, we operate the same systems and share the same visions and goals for our customers. When collecting personal information as part of consent to send direct marketing communications, we collect and process on behalf of both Nikwax & Páramo. We ensure that marketing is not duplicated as we work together to develop marketing strategies, so that you have one seamless experience with our companies. Exercising your rights will be undertaken by the Data Controller but should you wish not to be marketed to by either organisation then please contact;
Nikwax Ltd, Unit F, Durgates Industrial Estate, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 6DF
Telephone: 01892 786444
Email: dataprotection@nikwax.co.uk
Data Controller Registration Number: Z5322314
Your Rights under Data Protection Law
You have a great deal of rights over your personal information and we are committed to ensuring those rights are upheld. This section of our policy provides you with information on your rights, how you can exercise them and how we will deal with them. This applies not just to data processed through this site but for data processed across our organisation.
Pre-requisites and some general pointers for exercising your rights.
In order to correctly process your request, we will need to verify your identity, which may be a photographic identity and a proof of address. Some examples are passport or driving licence and a recent utility bill. If we can verify without requesting any additional information we will.
This process will be provided free of charge with responses being made without undue delay and within a calendar month. If we cannot respond within a calendar month, we will communicate this to you, explaining the reasoning.
All requests to exercise any of your rights should be made to dataprotection@nikwax.co.uk or dataprotection@paramo.co.uk
Try to ensure your request is as specific as possible, so that we are able to deal with your request as effectively as possible. If we refuse to deal with any of your requests, we will inform you and explaining our decision. You then have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
Your Rights explained
Right to Rectification
You have the right to have data rectified if you believe it to be inaccurate. If your data rectification request is valid, we will amend our records to ensure that they are accurate and take reasonable steps to notify relevant third parties of the alterations.
We will automatically restrict processing whilst we consider the accuracy of the data or the legitimate grounds for processing it, in line with your rights.
Right to Access
You have the right to request access to the personal data held by Nikwax. The more specific and targeted your request, the more this helps us deal with it efficiently.
Right to Erasure
This is not the music band, rather you have the right to have your data erased from our systems, providing we do not have a legal reason to retain it.
Right to Restriction
You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your data, which means that we will not process your data, whilst we deal with your request to restrict processing of your data is made.
Right to Data Portability
You have the right to data portability that allows you to move, copy or transfer your personal data from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way without any interruption to usability.
Right to Object
You are able to exercise your right to object to us processing your data. This may be because you no longer wish to receive the latest news, offers and events from us or may be other reasons. Unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights and freedoms or we are processing the data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, we will stop processing your personal data.
Right to challenge automated decision making
Whilst we do not make any decisions based on automated means, you have this right under data protection law, so we feel it is only fair and informative to let you know.
Right to complain to your data protection regulator
You have the right to complain to the data protection regulator, which in the United Kingdom is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who can be contacted directly on 0303 123 1113 or you can raise concerns by visiting their website here.
The ICO also provides a substantial amount of information regarding the processing of personal data and has specific pages and guidance for individuals and we would encourage you to make use of this free information to assist you in exercising your rights.
How can you raise a concern or make a complaint?
We’re here to make things right and if you wish to make a complaint or provide us with any feedback then please contact us with details of the complaint at;
dataprotection@nikwax.co.uk
or
dataprotection@paramo.co.uk
If you are subsequently not satisfied with our response, you can contact our supervisory authority, which is the United Kingdom, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who can be contacted directly on 0303 123 1113 or by visiting their website here.
EEA Representation
Our local representative in the EEA; Nikwax Europe Sp. z.o.o, can be contacted via email at biuro@nikwax.com or at the following address:
Nikwax Europe Sp. z.o.o
Proznańska 5
62-081 Przeźmierowo
Poland
Changes to the way we process data and this policy.
We will update this policy in order to improve our communication with you or simply because something has changed in the way we process personal data. This policy is our main communication method in relation to how we process data, so we encourage you to check regularly for updated content. Policy revision dates will be included at the bottom of this page. We will send you specific electronic communication or mail informing you of any key changes but this decision will be taken on a case by case basis.
This document was last updated on July 12 2024