FOUR SHIRES CREATIVE AGENCY – PRIVACY POLICY

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 This Privacy Policy explains how Four Shires Creative Agency (“we,” “us,” “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information when you visit our website (https://four-shires.com), use our services, or interact with us in any way.

1.2 We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring your personal information is handled in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable data protection laws.

1.3 For the purposes of data protection legislation, Four Shires Creative Agency is the data controller of personal information we collect about you.

2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT

2.1 Information You Provide to Us:

Contact information (name) plus, if no business contact exists, email address, telephone number)
Business information (company name, job title, business address, business email, business telephone number)
Payment information (billing address, payment method details)
Communications you send to us (enquiries, feedback, correspondence)
Project specifications, requirements, and content you provide for our creative services
Account credentials (username, password) if you create an account on our website
Marketing preferences

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically:

Usage information (pages visited, time spent on the site, links clicked)
Device information (IP address, browser type, operating system)
Cookies and similar tracking technologies (as detailed in our Cookie Policy)

2.3 Information We Receive From Third Parties:

Information from social media platforms when you interact with our social media presence
Information from business partners, advertising networks, and analytics providers
Publicly available information relevant to providing our services

3. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

3.1 We use your information for the following purposes:

a) To Provide Our Services: – Responding to enquiries and providing quotes – Setting up and managing your account – Delivering contracted creative services (website design, video production, SEO, etc.) – Processing payments and maintaining financial records – Communicating with you about your projects or services

b) To Improve Our Business: – Analyzing usage patterns to enhance our website and services – Conducting market research and gathering feedback – Training our staff and improving our processes – Troubleshooting technical issues

c) For Marketing and Communications: – Sending updates about our services (if you have opted in) – Providing information about relevant events, offers, or industry news – Maintaining our social media presence

d) To Comply with Legal Obligations: – Responding to legal requests and preventing fraud – Complying with tax and accounting requirements – Meeting industry regulations and standards

3.2 We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason compatible with the original purpose.

4. LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING

4.1 We process your personal information on the following legal bases:

a) Contract: Processing necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

b) Legitimate Interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided your fundamental rights do not override these interests. Our legitimate interests include: – Running and improving our business – Marketing our services to existing clients – Preventing fraud and ensuring network security – Administrative functions and business management

c) Consent: Processing based on your specific consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

d) Legal Obligation: Processing necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

5. SHARING YOUR INFORMATION

5.1 We do not share your personal information, except where necessary for the function of our business or to meet legal requirements as follows:

a) Service Providers: Third parties who perform services on our behalf, such as hosting providers, payment processors, email service providers, and business tools. These providers are bound by contractual obligations to keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which we disclose it to them.

b) Professional Advisers: Including lawyers, accountants, auditors, and insurers who provide legal, accounting, and consulting services.

c) Regulatory Authorities: Government and regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, courts, and other third parties where necessary to comply with legal obligations or protect our rights.

d) Business Transfers: In connection with any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.

5.2 We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal information and to treat it in accordance with the law.

5.3 We do not sell or trade your data at any time.

6. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS

6.1 We primarily store and process your data within the United Kingdom and European Economic Area (EEA). However, some of our service providers may be based outside these regions, which may involve a transfer of your personal information to countries that may not have the same data protection laws.

6.2 Whenever we transfer your personal information internationally, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by using specific contracts approved for use in the UK and EEA which give personal data the same protection it has in the UK and EEA (such as UK Standard Contractual Clauses).

7. DATA SECURITY

7.1 We have implemented appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed.

7.2 Our security measures include:

Encryption of sensitive data
Secure access controls
Regular security assessments
Staff training on data protection
Restricted access to personal information

7.3 We have procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

8. DATA RETENTION

8.1 We will only retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

8.2 To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider:

The amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information
The potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure
The purposes for which we process the data
Whether we can achieve those purposes through other means
Applicable legal requirements

8.3 For client data related to services we provide, we typically retain information for 7 years after the end of our business relationship to comply with tax and accounting obligations.

8.4 Marketing data is retained until you opt out or request deletion.

9. YOUR RIGHTS

9.1 Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal information:

a) Right to be informed about how we use your personal information.

b) Right of access to your personal information and to certain other supplementary information.

c) Right to rectification of inaccurate personal information and to have incomplete personal information completed.

d) Right to erasure (the “right to be forgotten”) in certain circumstances.

e) Right to restrict processing in certain circumstances.

f) Right to data portability, which allows you to receive personal information you’ve provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

g) Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, direct marketing, and for research and statistical purposes.

h) Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling.

9.2 If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in section 13.

9.3 You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information or to exercise any of your other rights. However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

9.4 We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

10. COOKIES

10.1 At times our website may use cookies and similar technologies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.

10.2 A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive.

10.3 You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

10.4 For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them, please see our Cookie Policy on our website.

11. MARKETING

11.1 We may use your personal information to send you updates (by email, telephone, or post) about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions, or new services.

11.2 We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal information for marketing purposes. This means we do not usually need your consent to send marketing communications to business contacts. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.

11.3 You have the right to opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by:

Contacting us using the details provided in section 13
Using the “unsubscribe” link in emails
Updating your marketing preferences in your account settings (if applicable)

11.4 We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.

12. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

12.1 We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in response to changing legal, technical, or business developments. When we update our Privacy Policy with anything other than minor corrections, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes we make.

12.2 We will obtain your consent to any material Privacy Policy changes if and where this is required by applicable data protection laws.

12.3 You can see when this Privacy Policy was last updated by checking the “last updated” date displayed at the bottom of this Privacy Policy.

13. CONTACT US

13.1 If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

Stour Group Ltd t/as Four-Shires Creative Agency

Email: website@four-shires.com

Phone: 01 218 231 600

13.2 You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance.

Last updated: May 2025