Introduction
This policy covers the data collected by the company, Castle IT (Castle IT Systems Limited), how it is used, how it is protected, and the users’ ability to control the collection and use of their personal data.
What Information Castle IT Collects
Castle IT collects anonymous information about the visitors to our website for analytics purposes, and personal information from those users who complete the contact form, or sometimes those who provide information over the phone when calling with an inquiry.
The information collected from visitors to the website is anonymous and is used for tracking purposes to determine, for example, the number of pages visited in the session, the length of time spent on each page, and the frequency of visits to the website.
Once a visitor completes the contact form, participates in a promotion, accesses information behind a ‘wall’ (where the user must provide their personal details such as an email address) or contacts the company by email or phone, any data coming from that exchange will be recorded and kept in our database.
The collected information can include your name, company and job title, address and contact details. Castle IT will never store credit or debit card details.
How Castle IT Uses the Collected Information
The information collected anonymously for the purposes of Google Analytics enables the company to improve the user experience and better understand its users. The information we collect is used to generate reports to make the site more user friendly and to determine which types of content are most appealing for our users.
Will The Company Contact You?
By completing any of the contact forms and submitting your information, you enable the company to contact you about any information we think you might be interested in, such as a monthly newsletter, new services, or promotions.
Sharing Your Information
We will not sell your information, trade it with any other third party, or use it for any other purpose other than to communicate to you offers about the Company’s own service offerings, or closely related events or opportunities we would reasonably consider you to have an interest in based on your initial or any subsequent requests.
How Long Will We Keep Your Data
We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract you hold with the Company. The Company will keep your data in the database unless you request otherwise.
Can You Make a Request For the Data the Company Holds About You?
If you would like to know what information the company holds about you, you can make a request to info@castleit.net to have the information shared with you.
You can also apply in writing:
Castle IT Systems Limited
5 Cattle Market,
1st Floor
Hexham
Northumberland
NE46 1NJ
Cookies
In May 2011, the UK Government passed new legislation is regards to the use of Cookies. The following section explains what cookies are, which ones are collected by Castle IT and how they are used on Castle IT’s website.
How We Collect Information
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by the websites that you visit. They are commonly used in order to make websites work by tracking goods that you have placed in a basket, or work more efficiently by remembering your login details, as well as to provide information about the sites usage to the owners of the site.
Types of Cookies
There are three types of cookies dropped and collected by websites. With some exceptions (i.e. websites that fundamentally require cookies in order for website functionality – see below) from 26th May 2012, all cookies must be consented to by a site’s users.
Cookie Type | Description |
Moderately intrusive | Embedded third-party content and social media-plugins Advertising campaign optimisation |
Minimally intrusive | Web analytics / metrics Personalised content / interface |
Necessary for Website Functionality (Exempt from changes to privacy regulations) | Stop multiple form submissions Load balancing Transaction specific |
Castle IT collects the following anonymous cookies for tracking purposes.
Name | Description | Expiration |
| __utma | This cookie is typically written to the browser upon the first visit to your site from that web browser. If the cookie has been deleted by the browser operator, and the browser subsequently visits your site, a new __utma cookie is written with a different unique ID. This cookie is used to determine unique visitors to your site and it is updated with each page view. Additionally, this cookie is provided with a unique ID that Google Analytics uses to ensure both the validity and accessibility of the cookie as an extra security measure. | 2 years from set/update. |
| __utmb | This cookie is used to establish and continue a user session with your site. When a user views a page on your site, the Google Analytics code attempts to update this cookie. If it does not find the cookie, a new one is written and a new session is established. Each time a user visits a different page on your site, this cookie is updated to expire in 30 minutes, thus continuing a single session for as long as user activity continues within 30-minute intervals. This cookie expires when a user pauses on a page on your site for longer than 30 minutes. You can modify the default length of a user session with the _setSessionCookieTimeout() method. | 30 minutes from set/update. |
| __utmc | This cookie is no longer used by the ga.js tracking code to determine session status.Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user. For backwards compatibility purposes with sites still using the urchin.js tracking code, this cookie will continue to be written and will expire when the user exits the browser. However, if you are debugging your site tracking and you use the ga.js tracking code, you should not interpret the existence of this cookie in relation to a new or expired session. | Not set. |
| __utmz | This cookie stores the type of referral used by the visitor to reach your site, whether via a direct method, a referring link, a website search, or a campaign such as an ad or an email link. It is used to calculate search engine traffic, ad campaigns and page navigation within your own site. The cookie is updated with each page view to your site. | 6 months from set/update. |
WordPress Cookies
WordPress websites also collect cookies for commenters. As the Castle IT website is built using WordPress, these cookies apply to our users.
When visitors comment on the Castle IT blog, they will have cookies stored on their computer. This is purely for convenience, so that the visitor will not be required to re-type all their information again when they want to leave another comment in the future.
Three cookies are set for commenters:
comment_author
comment_author_email
comment_author_url
The commenter cookies are set to expire a little less than one year from the time they’re set.
Third Party Cookies
Users of the site who wish to share Castle IT’s content socially using Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ (the platforms which are currently enabled on the website to allow this function) may have cookies stored on their computers from these third party websites.
Cookies are collected from third party sites so that you can be logged in to your account on their site and share our content simply and easily.
For more information on the cookie policies of these third party sites, please visit their websites. You will be able to control the way cookies are used when you are signed into your accounts on these sites through the privacy settings they have made available to you.
Facebook Privacy Policy (https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/other)
Twitter Privacy Policy (https://twitter.com/privacy)
Google+ Privacy Policy (http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/policies/privacy/)
Prohibiting the Collection of Cookies
If you would like to prevent Castle IT from collecting cookies when you visit our site, please update your privacy settings in your browser. You can control the kinds of cookies you accept there.
http://www.google.co.uk/goodtoknow/manage-data/