Privacy Policy

QIU Privacy Policy for Third Parties

Contents

• SECTION 1: Introduction
• SECTION 2: Credit
• SECTION 3: The Personal Data that we collect
• SECTION 4: Purposes of processing and legal bases
• SECTION 5: Data Sharing
• SECTION 6: International transfers of your Personal Data
• SECTION 7: Retaining of Personal Data
• SECTION 8: Your Rights in Connection to Personal Data
• SECTION 9: About Cookies
• SECTION 10: Cookies that we use
• SECTION 11: Cookies used by our Service Providers
• SECTION 12: Amendments to this Privacy Policy
• SECTION 13: Our Contact Details

SECTION 1.     Introduction

1.1     QIU – Quality Innovation United ltd – is committed to safeguarding the privacy of visitors to our website, clients and potential clients, third party consultants and any other individuals, and security of any Personal Data (defined in Section 3 below) it handles in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1.2     QIU means Quality Innovation United Limited, therefore when ‘QIU’, ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’ is used in this Privacy Policy, we are referring to the relevant department of Quality Innovation United Limited you have had dealings with.

For more information about QIU, refer to Section 13 of this Privacy Policy.

1.3     This Policy applies where QIU is acting as a ‘data controller’ with respect to the Personal Data of such persons; in other words, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data. We may update this Policy at any time.

1.4     We use cookies on our website. Insofar as those cookies are not strictly necessary for the provision of our website and service, or to help improve functionality or tailor information to provide visitors with more relevant pages, we will ask you to consent to our use of cookies when you first visit our website. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser, please refer to Section 10.2.

SECTION 2.     Credit

2.1     This document was created using a template from Docular (https://seqlegal.com/free-legal-documents/privacy-policy).

2.2     QIU has tailored and made additions to the Docular Privacy Policy template to cover our specific business interests and industry. QIU reserves all rights of this additional, specific wording and the styling of the Privacy Policy. 

SECTION 3.     The Personal Data that we collect

3.1     In this Section 3 we have set out the general categories of Personal Data that we process and, in the case of Personal Data that we did not obtain directly from you, information about the source and specific categories of that data.

Personal Data refers to any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed, which is referred to as anonymous data. We may collect, use, store, process and transfer different kinds of Personal Data that we’ve set out below:

3.2     Contact and Identity Data
We may process data enabling us to get in touch with you.
The Contact Data may include your first and last name, email address, telephone number, postal address, country of residence, company, job title, and/or social media account identifiers.

3.3     Professional Data
We may process data concerning your job application.
The Professional Data may include CV’s, Portfolios, and documents related to your qualifications, experience, role or job title, current salary, and eligibility to work in the UK.

3.4     Communication Data
We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us or that we send to you. The communication data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication.

3.5     Usage Data
We may process data about how you use of our website and services.
The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths, as well as information about the timing, frequency and pattern of your service use. The source of the usage data is our Google Analytics tracking system.

3.6     Account Data
We may process your website user account data.
The account data may include your account identifier, name, email address, business name, account creation and modification dates, website settings and marketing preferences. The primary source of the account data is you and/or your employer, although some elements of the account data may be generated by our website.

SECTION 4.     Purposes of processing and legal bases

4.1     In this Section 4, we have set out the purposes for which we may process Personal Data and the legal bases of the processing.

4.2     Operations
We may process your Personal Data for the purposes of operating our website, providing our services, generating invoices, bills and other payment-related documentation. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our website, services and to develop our business.

4.3     Publications
We may process Account Data for the purposes of publishing such data on our website and elsewhere through our services in accordance with your express instructions. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the publication of content in the ordinary course of our operations, or the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps, at your request, to enter into such a contract.

4.4     Relationships and communications
We may process Contact Data, Account Data, and/or Communication Data for the purposes of managing our relationships, communicating with you (excluding communicating for the purposes of direct marketing) by email, SMS, post and/or telephone, providing support services and complaint handling. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely communications with visitors to our website, clients and potential clients, third party consultants and any other individuals, the maintenance of relationships, and the proper administration of our website, services and to develop our business.

4.5     Third Parties or Publicly Available Sources
We collect most information from you directly. We may also find information about you from publicly accessible sources, e.g. Companies House; which you have made public on websites associated with you or your company or on social media platforms such as LinkedIn; from a Third Party, e.g. a person who has introduced you to us or other professionals (such as a project manager) you may work with.

It is in our legitimate interests to process information about individuals who work for companies with which we collaborate or could potentially collaborate in order to carry out business and collaborate on projects or bids with you or a company you work for.

4.6     Direct marketing
We may process Contact Data, and Account Data for the purposes of creating, targeting and sending direct marketing communications by email, SMS, post and/or making contact by telephone for marketing-related purposes. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely promoting our business and communicating marketing messages to visitors of our website and service users.

Occasionally we may send you updates about our business or invites to events. If you prefer not to receive direct marketing material from QIU anymore, please email us at dataprotection@qiuarchitecture.com, and state the Publication you wish to unsubscribe from in the subject line in the following format: Name of Publication | unsubscribe.

4.7     Research and analysis
We may process Usage Data for the purposes of researching and analysing the use of our website and services, as well as researching and analysing other interactions with our business. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring, supporting, improving and securing our website, services and develop our business generally.

4.8     Record keeping
We may process your Personal Data for the purposes of creating and maintaining our databases, back-up copies of our databases and our business records generally. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely ensuring that we have access to all the information we need to properly and efficiently run and develop our business in accordance with this policy.

4.9     Security
We may process your Personal Data for the purposes of security and the prevention of fraud and other criminal activity. The legal basis of this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection of our website, services and business, and the protection of others.

4.10    Insurance and risk management
We may process your Personal Data where necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks and/or obtaining professional advice. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks.

4.11    Legal claims
We may process your Personal Data where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.

4.12    Legal compliance and vital interests
We may also process your Personal Data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

SECTION 5.     Data Sharing

5.1     QIU may share your Personal Data with Third Parties where necessary to administer the working relationship with you, where we have a legitimate interest for the purpose of running a successful international design practice, or where required by law. All our Third Party data processors and service providers are subject to security and confidentiality obligations and are only permitted to process your Personal Data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions. We do not allow our Third-Party service providers to use your Personal Data for their own purposes.

Our Third Parties may include:
1. QIU employees, consultants, and translation companies.
2. our Third Party data processors and service providers who assist with the
running our website and our office services, including our IT support services,
telephone support services and data storage/back-up services.
3. our insurers and/or professional advisers.

5.2     We may disclose your Personal Data to our insurers and/or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining or maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice.

5.3     Your Personal Data held in our website database will be stored on the servers of our hosting services providers Bluehost, identified at https://www.bluehost.com/.

5.4     We may disclose Personal Data to our Subcontractors, Clients, Potential Clients, Collaborating Designers insofar as reasonably necessary in order to carry out business and collaborate on projects or bids with you or a company you work for.

5.5     In addition to the specific disclosures of Personal Data set out in this Section 5, we may disclose your Personal Data where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. We may also disclose your Personal Data where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.

SECTION 6.     International transfers of your Personal Data

6.1     In this Section 6, we provide information about the circumstances in which your personal data may be transferred to countries outside the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA).

6.2 Website Hosting Facilities
The hosting facilities for our website are situated in the United Kingdom.

6.3  Information transfer outside the EU
As an international design practice, QIU may transfer the Personal Data we collect about you to countries outside Europe. We will ensure that those transfers take place in accordance with the data protection laws.

SECTION 7.     Retaining of Personal Data

7.1     We will only retain your Personal Data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purpose(s) for which it was collected as explained in this Privacy Policy, or for the purpose of satisfying accounting requirements, or compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

7.2     For instance, Professional Data will be retained indefinitely for archiving purposes.

7.3     In some circumstances, we may anonymise your Personal Data. This means the data can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use this information without further notice to you. For instance, this applies to Google Analytics data which allows us to develop our website further.

SECTION 8.     Your rights in Connection to Personal Data

8.1     In this Section 8, we have listed the rights that you have under Data Protection Law.

8.2     Your principal rights under Data Protection Law are:

1. the right to access
   You can ask for copies of your Personal Data;
2. the right to rectification
   You can ask us to rectify inaccurate Personal Data and to complete incomplete
   Personal Data;
3. the right to erasure
   You can ask us to erase your Personal Data;
4. the right to restrict processing
   You can ask us to restrict the processing of your Personal Data;
5. the right to object to processing
   You can object to the processing of your Personal Data;
6. the right to data portability
   You can ask that we transfer your Personal Data to another organisation or to you
7. the right to complain to a supervisory authority
   You can complain about our processing of your Personal Data; and
8. the right to withdraw consent
   To the extent that the legal basis of our processing of your Personal Data is consent,
   you can withdraw that consent.

8.3     These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about the rights of data subjects by visiting https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/.

8.4     You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your Personal Data by written notice to us, using the contact details set out in Section 13 below.

SECTION 9.     About cookies

9.1     The general information provided about cookies in this Section 9, is based on the
information published in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Cookie Guide. Please visit https://www.cookielaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/icc_uk_cookiesguide_revnov.pdf to review the full ICC Cookie Guide.

9.2     Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device.
You can find more information about cookies at: https://www.allaboutcookies.org/, and about cookies and GDPR compliance at: https://gdpr.eu/cookies/.

Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improve the user experience. They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests.

9.3     Cookies may be either “Persistent” Cookies or “Session” cookies.
A Persistent Cookie will be stored by a web browser’s subfolder and are activated again once you visit the website that created that particular cookie. This Cookie will remain valid for the duration period set within the cookie’s file, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date.

A session cookie, on the other hand, is created temporarily in your browser’s subfolder while you are visiting a website and will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

9.4     Cookies may not contain any information that personally identifies a user, but Personal Data that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

9.5     The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Cookie Guide distinguish four main types of cookie categories. We describe only three categories below in further detail, as our website does not use Targeting/Advertising Cookies.

Strictly Necessary Cookies – Enable services you have specifically asked for.
These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies the services you have asked for, like shopping baskets or e-billing, cannot be provided.

Functionality Cookies – Remember choices you make to improve your experience.
These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance, a website may be able to provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing in a cookie the region in which you are currently located. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customize. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymized and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

Performance Cookies – Collect anonymous information on the pages visited.
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.

SECTION 10.   Cookies that we Use

10.1    Use of Cookies by QIU
Our website uses cookies to facilitate features and functions which improve your browsing experience. We also use cookies to measure the performance of the site and the ways in which visitors navigate their way around.

In this Section 10, we detail which Cookies our website uses, how to prevent the non-functional cookies from being written, and the potential impact of doing so on your browsing experience.

10.2    Disabling/Enabling all cookies
You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. However, you will not be able to use all the interactive features of our site if cookies are disabled. To find out more about cookies, for instance to see
what cookies have been set by a website and how to manage and remove cookies, visit
https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

10.4    Cookies that are set by our website
The cookies used on this website have been categorised based on the four main categories found in the ICC UK Cookie guide. A list of all the cookies used on our website by category is set out below.

Strictly Necessary Cookies