Publication date: 05th July 2024

We are hiFolks ("website operator", "website owner", "we", "us", "our"). We operate the website hifolks.co.uk (the "Site").

This Privacy Policy outlines how hiFolks collects, uses, discloses, and protects the personal data of its users in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). By using the Site, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Types of Data Collected

We collect different types of data for various purposes to provide and improve our Site.

Personal Data

While using our Site, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information ("Personal Data") that can be used to contact or identify you. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to your name, username, email address, and/or city or town of residence.

Cookies

Our website uses only strictly necessary cookies to ensure the proper functionality and security of our services. These cookies are essential for the website to operate and are typically set in response to actions made by you, such as logging in, filling out forms, or navigating between pages.

Specifically, we use session cookies, which store temporary information needed to maintain your session while browsing our Site. Session cookies allow us to recognize your device and ensure that you can navigate securely across different pages without having to log in repeatedly. These cookies expire and are automatically deleted once you close your browser.

Since these cookies are necessary for the functioning of the Site, they cannot be disabled via our website's cookie settings. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the website may not work as intended if they are blocked.

We do not use any performance, targeting, or third-party cookies on our website.

Legal Bases for Processing Personal Data

We will only process your Personal Data when we have a legal basis to do so under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). These legal bases include:

Consent: You have given us clear consent for processing your Personal Data for a specific purpose.

Legal Obligation: The processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject.

Vital Interests: The processing is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another natural person.

Legitimate Interests: The processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party unless there is a good reason to protect your Personal Data which overrides those legitimate interests.

Use of Data

We utilize the collected data for various purposes, including providing and maintaining the Site, notifying you about changes to the Site, providing support, offering analysis or valuable information to improve the Site, and detecting, preventing, and addressing technical issues.

Retention of Data

We will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata may be retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website, we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username nor email address). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Security of Data

We prioritize the security of your Personal Data. While we employ measures to safeguard your data, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure. Despite our efforts, we cannot guarantee absolute security. By using the Site, you acknowledge and accept the inherent risks. Please contact us if you have any concerns about the security of your Personal Data.

Disclosure of Data

We may disclose your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect and defend the rights or property of the website operator, prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Site, protect the personal safety of users of the Site or the public, or protect against legal liability. We will not disclose your Personal Data to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

Users' rights

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have certain rights regarding your Personal Data. These rights include:

Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you and to obtain information about how we process it.

Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccuracies in your Personal Data or complete any incomplete information.

Right to Erasure: You have the right to request that we erase your Personal Data.

Right to Restrict Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your Personal Data.

Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Data.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact information provided below.

Children's Privacy

Our website is not intended for individuals under the age of 18 ("Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we discover that a child under the age of 18 has provided us with Personal Data, we will take steps to delete such information from our servers immediately.

Third-Party Service Providers

We may employ third-party companies and individuals due to the following reasons: To facilitate the Site, to provide the Site on our behalf, to perform Site-related services, or to assist us in analyzing how the Site is used. These third parties have access to your Personal Data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

External Sites

Our website may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is effective as of 05th July 2024 and will remain in effect except with respect to any changes in its provisions in the future, which will be in effect immediately after being posted on this page.

We reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy at any time; please review this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Site after we post any modifications to the Privacy Policy on this page will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy or the handling of your Personal Data, please do not hesitate to contact us using the following methods:

Email Address: You can reach us via email at contact@hifolks.co.uk.

Contact Form: Alternatively, you can fill out the contact form available on our website.

Last update: 24th September 2024