Privacy Policy

At Academic Venue Solutions we believe in being open and up front with customers, and respecting and protecting the privacy of anyone using our site. So we have developed our Privacy Policy, a simple summary explaining how we manage, share and look after your information. We promise to keep your data safe and private, and give you ways to update your marketing choices.

Who we are
Academic Venue Solutions is a not-for-profit marketing consortium that promotes the meeting spaces and accommodation avaialble at academic venues to event organisers looking for facilities for a range of events. Our company number is 1609919 and registered address is Potton House, Great North Road, Wyboston, Bedfordshire MK44 3BZ. 

What personal information do we collect and how do we collect it?
We may collect the following information:

  • Name and job title, company details, contact information including email address, telephone number
  • Demographic information such as address and postcode
  • Other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers, communication preferences
  • Computer or device information (eg your IP address and operating system)
  • Registration information, including your password and other expressed preferences

The data we collect may have come from various sources including:

  • Existing customer database
  • Existing supplier database
  • Website form submissions
  • Purchased from reputable GDPR compliant list broker
  • Verbal agreement

In addition, may use publically available and website sources, like LinkedIn, or marketing lists from carefully selected data suppliers. The UK's data protection law allows the use of personal data where the benefits (or legitimate interests) of doing so outweigh the possible negative implications for the relevant individuals. If you object to us using these grounds you can do so at any time by contacting us.

How we collect and use our member venue information
Key personnel at our member venues will receive details about membership and the consorium, the list is not limited to, but includes:

  • Details about networking events, meetings, conference, exhibitions and the AGM.
  • Sales and marketing opportunities by Academic Venue Solutions or other products and services that we feel will be of interest to membership and where preferential rates are offered as part of the membership to Academic Venue Solutions.
  • Venues can book activities and services online and may be requested to provide but not limited to; their name and job title, company details, contact information including email address.
  • Information about our venues and key personnel is stored securely, any changes to the details should be sent to info@academicvenuesolutions.co.uk. 

We may use your information for the following purposes

  • We share your personal information with your consent or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any service you have requested. Such as processing enquiry details, including correspondence between us and our venues where you have contacted us through any of our services including; email, telephone, website etc. The venues would then use the information to provide you with quotations and contracts related to your enquiry.
  • Administration of our digital channels, including in respect of our registered users, who may also store personal details online to easily access and apply details when booking an activity through our website.
  • Administration and management of our competitions, promotions and prize draws – you should check the applicable terms and conditions of the competition, promotion or prize draw for further information.
  • Sending you communications about our member venues and our services that we think may be of interest to you. With your permission or there is a legitimate interest, we and our member venues will keep you informed of news and offers, and events.
  • Business, website and consumer analysis and reporting.
  • Where you book one of our venues, we may ask you to provide the more information. For example why booked a venue, the venue may ask you to provide further details such as address, job title etc.
  • We may process information relating to bookings our venues make, such as bank details, contact details, or transaction data in relation to payments made by us to you or by you to us. The transaction data may be processed for the purpose of supplying or receiving and administering the relevant services and keeping proper records of those transactions, and for making and receiving payments.

International data transfers
We may transfer your personal information to, and store it at, destinations outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) for the purposes outlined in this privacy policy. It may be accessed by staff operating outside the EEA for purposes such as technical support or system development and testing. For example we use third party provider MailChimp to deliver our Enews, we gather statistics around open rates and clicks using industry standard technologies to help us monitor and improve our emails. By submitting your personal information, you agree to this transfer. For more information please see MailChimp privacy notice. Other third parties we use but are not limited to include; HubSpot, Survey Monkey, Hootsuite. 

Security
We endeavour to take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information. However, we cannot guarantee the security of any data that you disclose online and we will not be responsible for any breach of security unless this is due to our negligence or wilful default. Where necessary, and in common with other websites and apps, we use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to ensure that personal information provided to us is not visible to anybody else when in transit between your computer and our servers. You can tell when SSL is in use by the presence of a small padlock symbol in the status bar of your web browser.

In addition, our web servers are housed behind a secure firewall that prevents access to our databases by unauthorised users. All of our servers are housed in a secure environment with high levels of physical security. However, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. We cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site: any transmission is at your risk. Once we have received your information, we will handle it in accordance with our usual practices.

Use of data processors
We are the data controller, data processors are third parties who provide elements of our service for us and we have contracts in place with them. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.

Cookies
Our digital channels use cookies, which are small text files that contain small amounts of information that a website can send to, and store on, your computer or device through your browser. Cookies may be used by us to provide you with, for example, customised information from our website to make it more user-friendly. If you visit our websites, you may receive personalised banner advertisements whilst browsing other websites. Any banner advertisements you see will relate to our services whilst browsing our websites on your computer or other devices. These advertisements use cookies placed on your computer or other devices, you can remove or disable cookies at any time. For further details about the cookies please see our cookie policy.

To inform you about news, offers, and events you make like
We may send you marketing communications, if you have indicated that you are happy to receive these or have a legitimate business interest to promote our services and venues using marketing messages. For example when you have made an enquiry about a venue on the website. We will provide you with news from us such as venues that you may be interested in, or special offers that you may like. In addition, we may send you communications promoting our venues facilities and service. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and is subject to change. We do not share your contact details and other personal data with other companies for marketing purposes, unless we have obtained your consent to do so. If you do not want to receive marketing communications from us, simply do not tick any of the boxes for email, telephone. You can also choose to opt out from receiving marketing communications at any time, by clicking on the relevant unsubscribe link at the bottom of any marketing related email you may receive from us. 

Exercising your right to access and amend your personal information
We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate and up-to-date. Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to access the personal data we hold on you. To do so, you should make a subject access request in writing, please contact info@academicvenuesolutions.co.uk. You have the right to; rectification if you believe the information is inaccurate. Erasure; we will delete your personal information however, in some circumstances there maybe a legal basis why all of your data cannot be deleted. Restriction; you can request for the processing of your information to be restricted if you disagree with the accuracy or legitimate interest basis. Objection to processing on the basis of legitimate interest or direct marketing, you can ask us to stop using your information for marketing purposes or to unsubscribe from our emails at any time. Portability; receive some types of information in a machine-readable format, for example a PDF file. You also have the right to complain to the ICO if you're of the opinion that your rights have been infringed.

How long do we keep your data?
We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data, however the longest we will normally hold any personal data is 6 years.

Links to other websites
Our website contains links to other websites. We do not control those other sites and we cannot be responsible for the content of those sites or for the protection of any information you provide to other sites (which are not governed by this privacy policy). We accept no responsibility or liability for such other websites. You should exercise caution when entering personal information online and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Changes to our Privacy Policy
We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will place any updates on our websites.