Privacy Policy

1. About This Privacy Policy

ACE-Lab Consulting Ltd ("ACE-Lab", "we", "us" or "our") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you visit the ACE-Lab website, purchase equipment, request a quotation, submit a purchase order, contact us, attend or enquire about an ACE-Lab workshop or event, subscribe to communications where offered, request technical or customer support, or otherwise interact with us.

ACE-Lab Consulting Ltd is the controller of the personal information described in this Privacy Policy unless we state otherwise.

2. Contact Details

ACE-Lab Consulting Ltd
Company No. 17377293
21 Nelson Close, Lichfield, WS14 9FJ, United Kingdom
Email: james.pickering@ace-lab.co.uk
Website: www.ace-lab.co.uk

Questions about this policy, your personal information or a data-protection complaint can be sent to the email address above.

3. Information We May Collect

Identity information

• Name
• Job title
• Department
• Organisation or institution
• Other information needed to identify you in connection with an order or enquiry

Contact information

• Email address
• Telephone number
• Billing address
• Delivery address
• Organisational contact details

Order and transaction information

• Products ordered
• Order number
• Quotation details
• Invoice details
• Purchase-order information
• Payment status
• Delivery information
• Transaction history
• Communications relating to the order

Payment information

Payments may be processed through third-party payment-service providers. Where card payments are processed online, payment information is handled using the provider's secure systems.

ACE-Lab does not need to store your full payment-card number or card security code for normal online card transactions. We may receive transaction information such as payment confirmation, amount paid, transaction references and limited information about the payment method.

Communications

We may retain emails, quotation requests, enquiries, support requests, complaints, return requests and feedback.

Website and technical information

Depending on the services used on our website, technical information may include IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, approximate location derived from technical information, date and time of access, referring pages and information associated with cookies or similar technologies.

Marketing preferences

Where relevant, we may record whether you have asked to receive marketing communications, opted out or changed your communication preferences.

4. How We Use Personal Information

Processing and fulfilling orders

We use information to process purchases, issue quotations, accept purchase orders, process payments, issue invoices and receipts, prepare and dispatch Products, arrange delivery, provide order updates and handle returns and refunds.

Customer service and technical support

We may use information to respond to enquiries, provide technical support, investigate faulty Products, administer warranties, respond to complaints and resolve customer-service issues.

Legal and financial obligations

We may process and retain information to maintain accounting records, comply with tax obligations, respond to regulatory requirements, establish or defend legal claims, prevent fraud or comply with another legal obligation.

Improving ACE-Lab

We may use appropriate customer, technical and website information to understand website use, improve Products and teaching resources, improve customer support, identify website problems and understand demand.

Marketing and communications

Where permitted by law, we may contact customers and interested organisations regarding relevant Products, educational resources, workshops, events, updates and related services. Where consent is required, we will ask for it. You may opt out of direct marketing at any time.

5. Lawful Bases

Contract

Where processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering a contract or to perform a contract with you.

Legal obligation

Where processing is necessary to comply with applicable law, such as retaining appropriate financial and accounting information.

Legitimate interests

Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include operating and improving our business, maintaining website security, providing customer support, preventing fraud, protecting legal rights and maintaining appropriate business records.

Consent

Where we rely on consent for a particular activity, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

6. Payment Providers

ACE-Lab may use specialist payment providers to process online payments. Our online checkout may use Stripe to process card payments.

Payment providers process personal information in accordance with their own privacy and security arrangements. We receive information necessary to confirm and administer transactions but do not require access to full card details for ordinary online purchases.

7. Delivery Companies

Where you order physical equipment, we may provide necessary information to delivery and courier companies, including recipient name, organisation, delivery address, telephone number where required, email address where required for delivery notifications, and information necessary to identify or deliver the consignment.

8. Other Organisations We May Share Information With

Where necessary, we may share relevant personal information with payment-service providers, banks and financial institutions, delivery and courier companies, website hosting and infrastructure providers, IT, security and cloud-service providers, accountants and bookkeepers, legal or professional advisers, insurers, government departments, tax authorities, law-enforcement bodies and regulators where disclosure is legally required.

We do not sell your personal information to advertisers or data brokers.

9. International Transfers

Some technology, payment, hosting or other service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps required by applicable data-protection law to ensure an appropriate level of protection.

10. How Long We Keep Information

Orders, invoices and financial records

Order and financial information may normally be retained for up to six years after the end of the relevant financial year, or longer where required by law or needed in connection with a dispute or legal claim.

Customer-service and technical enquiries

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and maintain appropriate support records.

Quotations and enquiries

Information relating to quotations or enquiries that do not result in an order is retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for business, customer-service and record-keeping purposes.

Marketing information

Marketing information may be retained while you remain subscribed or while we otherwise have a lawful reason to contact you. If you opt out, we may retain limited information on a suppression list to respect your request.

Legal claims

Relevant information may be retained for longer where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

11. Website Technologies

Our website may use cookies or similar technologies required for essential functions such as security, shopping-basket operation, transaction processing and user preferences.

Other optional technologies may be used for analytics or measurement. Where consent is legally required for non-essential technologies, they will not be used until appropriate consent has been obtained.

This Privacy Policy does not currently include a separate Cookie Policy. If ACE-Lab introduces non-essential cookies or similar tracking technologies, additional information and appropriate controls will be provided.

12. Keeping Information Secure

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, disclosure, alteration, destruction and other unlawful processing.

No internet or electronic storage system can be guaranteed completely secure, but we take reasonable measures appropriate to the nature of the information being processed.

13. Your Data-Protection Rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law may give you rights to request access to personal information, ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information, request erasure or restriction in certain circumstances, object to certain processing, request transfer of information where applicable, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, and raise a complaint about how your information is handled.

Not every right applies in every circumstance. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests.

To exercise a data-protection right, contact james.pickering@ace-lab.co.uk.

14. Data-Protection Complaints

If you are concerned about the way ACE-Lab has collected, used, stored, shared or otherwise handled your personal information, you may make a data-protection complaint directly to us at james.pickering@ace-lab.co.uk.

Please identify the communication as a Data Protection Complaint and provide sufficient information to enable us to understand and investigate your concern.

We will acknowledge receipt of a data-protection complaint within 30 days and will take appropriate steps to investigate and respond without undue delay.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data-protection regulator.

15. Children's Information

ACE-Lab equipment and educational materials may be used by educational institutions. However, our online shop and general website services are not intended to collect personal information directly from children unnecessarily.

Educational institutions using ACE-Lab equipment with students remain responsible for their own processing of student personal information.

16. Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites or services. Those organisations operate under their own privacy policies and ACE-Lab is not responsible for their independent processing of personal information.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in applicable law, our website, payment or delivery providers, Products or services, or the way we process personal information.

The latest version will be made available through the ACE-Lab website.

18. Contact Us