Privacy Policy

1.    INTRODUCTION

VCL Consultants is committed to protecting and respecting your right to privacy. This policy details how we collect and process your personal data and is written in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679.  This Online Privacy Policy relates to personal data collected through our website and associated technologies.

By visiting this website and willingly providing personal and any other information to us, you are accepting the terms of this Privacy Policy.

2.    WHO WE ARE

VCL Consultants is a Multidisciplinary Consultancy Practice providing full Architectural and Civil and Structural Engineering Services. We were established in 1994 and were incorporated as a limited company (Virtual Concepts Ltd) in 1999.  In accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulations VCL Consultants are the data controller and we are responsible for your personal data (referred to as “we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy notice).

3.   WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT FROM YOU

When you browse our website the following information may be collected from you:

1. Personal Data
Personal data is any information that identifies you or can be used to identify or contact you such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, user IP address in circumstances where they have not been deleted, clipped or anonymised.  This information is only collected from you if you voluntarily send it to us for example by sending us an email, submit it through one of our online forms or make a purchase on our site.  

2. Non-Personal Data
Like most websites, we gather statistical and other analytical information collected on an aggregate basis of all visitors to our website. This Non-Personal Data comprises information that cannot be used to identify or contact you, such as demographic information regarding, for example, user IP addresses where they have been clipped or anonymised, browser types and other anonymous statistical data involving the use of our website.

 3. Cookies
This website uses cookies. A cookie is a little piece of text stored by the browser on your computer from the website you visit. We use cookies which are necessary for the proper functioning of our website and to provide us with information and analysis to allow us to improve the service we provide.  You have the option to refuse all or some browser cookies.  If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may not be accessible or not function properly. You can also delete cookie files from your computer at your discretion. For more information about the cookies we use please see our Cookie Policy.

4.    HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA

When you browse our website we may ask for personal information (such as your name, email address) We may also collect information about you when you are on the internet such as the website you came from, IP address, domain types, i.e., .co.uk and .com), your browser type, the country where your internet service is located, the pages of our site that were viewed during your visit and search terms you used.  This information is only used for our own research and to improve our service to you. Your IP address is used to gather local broad demographic information.

In order to measure the effectiveness of our on-line presence, VCL Consultants may use cookies to determine the path users take on our site and to identify repeat visitors to the website.

We collect personal information from you when you register on our website, either by email, by filling out a form or booking a consultation.  Information that we will process in connection with our services includes, your name, company name (if applicable), email address, address, phone number and project address (if applicable) and any other information that itself can identify or, when tied to the above information, may identify you as a specific individual. This additional information may include financial information such as billing address.  VCL Consultants use the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and personal information may also be collected through these platforms.

5.    HOW WE PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA

To process your personal information we are mandated to identify our lawful basis for doing so. In accordance with EU GDPR legislation we will rely most commonly on the following legal bases to collect and further process your personal information, Consent, Contractual Necessity, Legal & Regulatory Obligation, Legitimate Interest.

We may employ third-party companies and individuals for the following purposes:

To facilitate the provision of our service

To provide the service on our behalf

To perform related services or

To assist us in analysing how our services are used

We may process your personal information for more than one lawful basis depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your personal data.

We set out below a description of various ways we process your personal information and details of the legal bases we rely on to do so.  Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of our processing activities or -  contact details referred to in the category of data below include Name, address, email address, phone number and project address (if applicable). Technical details include information such as IP address.

6.    MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

VCL Consultants do not generally send marketing communications. Should we do so our lawful basis for processing your personal data to send marketing communication is either your consent or our legitimate interests (namely to grow our business). 

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, we may send you marketing communications from us if (i) you made a purchase or asked for information from us about our services or (ii) you agreed to receive marketing communications and in each case you have not opted out of receiving such communications since. Under these regulations, if you are a limited company, we may send you marketing emails without your consent. However you can still opt out of receiving marketing emails from us at any time.

You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by logging into the website and checking or unchecking relevant boxes to adjust your marketing preferences OR by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you or OR by emailing us at mail@vcl.ie at any time.

If you opt out of receiving marketing communications this opt-out does not apply to personal data provided as a result of other transactions, such as purchases of services.

7.    DISCLOSURES OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA

VCL will only share your personal data when we are legally obliged to do so and when we are mandated to share data by Regulatory Organisations.  There may be occasions when it is necessary for us to share your personal data with other consultants (for example M&E Consultants) or other working partners to facilitate the delivery of our services. The following is a non-exhaustive list of some of the parties with whom we may have to share your personal data:

·     Service providers who provide IT and system administration services such as Web hosting, IT provider/support

·     Online Payment Providers - Stripe

·     Professional advisers including solicitors, accountants and insurers.

·     Government bodies that require us to report processing activities.

We ensure that any external bodies satisfy their legal obligations in accordance with EU GDPR legislation regarding security of your personal data before we share any personal data with them. Personal data will only be shared where necessary for a specific legal or lawful purpose.

8.    SALE OF BUSINESS

We reserve the right to transfer information (including your personal data) to a third party in the event of a sale, merger, liquidation, receivership or transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of our company provided that the third party agrees to adhere to the terms of the website Privacy Policy and provided that the third party only uses your personal data for the purposes that you provided it to us.

9.    INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

We do not transfer your personal data outside the EU/EEA territories..

10.  DATA SECURITY

VCL have taken appropriate operational and technological security measures to protect your personal information and take commercially reasonable steps to protect your personal data when you transmit it from your computer or device to our site. The nature of the internet is such that we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us via the internet.  You should be aware that no internet transmission can be guaranteed to be 100% secure or error free, therefore you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk.

When we receive your information we only allow access to your personal data to those employees and partners who have a business need to know such data. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they must keep it confidential.

11.  DATA RETENTION

We will retain your personal data for as long as necessary to enable us to provide our services to you and fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.  There will also be circumstances when we are legally obliged to retain personal information when mandated by Independent Statutory Legislation or upon request by Regulatory bodies for example for tax purposes the law requires us to keep basic information about our customers (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they stop being customers.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

12.  YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS UNDER DATA PROTECTION LEGISLATION

In accordance with The EU General Data Protection Regulation and The Irish Data Protection Act (2018) you are afforded the following rights in certain circumstances.

Right of Access: You have the right to obtain confirmation from us whether or not we process personal information about you and where that is the case, access to the personal data, including the purposes of processing and the categories of personal data concerned. The recipients or categories or recipients to whom the personal information have been or will be disclosed. You may also submit a written request for a copy of personal information you believe we may be processing about you.

Right to Rectification: You have the right to the rectification of inaccurate personal information about you without undue delay.

Right to Erasure: You may ask us to delete your personal information, however, this is not an absolute right and any such request will be considered in accordance with EU GDPR legislation.

Right to Restrict & Object: You have the right to restrict or object to VCL Consultants using your personal information.

Right to Data Portability: Upon receipt of your written request, where possible, we can share a digital copy of your personal information with you or another organisation.

13.  THIRD-PARTY LINKS

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. If you click on those links or enable those connections, you will be redirected to that site and may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. You should note that VCL Consultants do not operate or have any control of these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we would strongly advise you to read the privacy policies of every website you visit.

14.  HOW YOU CAN CONTACT US

Taking into consideration the size of our organization and the nature of our data processing activities we are not mandated to appoint a designated Data Protection Officer.  However, in the event you have any questions regarding how we process your personal information you can contact us by email mail@vcl.ie

You can also write to us at VCL Consultants, 13 Ashdale, Wheaton Hall, Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland.

You may also contact the Data Commissioners Office, 21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2. (Tel No: 00 353 578684800)

15.  CHANGES TO YOUR PERSONAL DATA

It is very important that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. Please let us know if at any time your personal information changes by emailing us at mail@vcl.ie.

16.  CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We will make changes to this Privacy Statement from time to time as the business functions of VCL Consultants change and expand which may change how we use and protect your personal information.  Any changes in our data processing activities will be published on our website through the revised Privacy Policy.  By continuing to use our Site after we post any such changes, you accept and agree to the Privacy Policy as modified.

21st August 2023

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