Privacy Policy

What is this privacy policy?

Forge (a trading name of Forge Global Limited) is committed to protecting your personal data and fully respect your privacy whenever you enter personal data onto our website. We have created this privacy policy to give you information about how we collect and process your personal data through the use of this website. This includes when you send us an enquiry and download content on our website.

It is important that you read this privacy notice in full and any other fair processing notices we may provide on specific occasions. This privacy notice is not intended to take precedence over other notices on the website.

Who is the data controller?

Forge is the data controller for this website and is therefore responsible for your personal data. Please contact us direct with any questions you have about this privacy notice and requests to exercise your legal rights.

Please note that you have the right to make a complaint, at any time, to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK’s supervisory authority for all data protection issues. You can access their website at https://ico.org.uk.

Your duty to inform us of changes and our duty to you

Personal data that we hold about you should be accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Likewise, we will keep this privacy policy updated regularly to reflect any changes in how we collect or process your personal data.

Third-party links

This website contains links to third-party websites, plugins and applications. Clicking on these links and connecting to external websites may allow third parties to collect or share data about you.

We do not control these third-party websites and we are not responsible for their privacy statements. We encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit and every service you sign up to.

Data we collect

We use the term ‘personal data’ to label any information from which an individual can be identified. This does not include data where your identity has been removed (anonymised data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data we hold about you. We have grouped the categories of personal data we collect into the following categories:

  • Identity Data includes your name, company name, job title, email address and social media profile links.
  • Contact Data includes your telephone number, email address and delivery/billing addresses you provide us with.
  • Financial Data includes details about payments you make, including bank account and payment information.
  • Transaction Data includes details about payments, products and services you have purchased from us.
  • Technical Data includes your IP address, internet browser and version, your location and platform.
  • Profile Data includes the content you download on our website, websites pages you visit and interactions you make with our email marketing or other communications.
  • Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, services and content.
  • Marketing and Communications Data includes your marketing communications preferences, such as your email preferences.

We also use, collect and share aggregated data. This data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data, as it does not reveal your identity. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

We do not collect any special categories of personal data about you, such as your race, religious beliefs or health information – unless you are an employee of Forge.

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with goods or services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

How do we collect personal data?

Direct interactions. You may give us your identity, contact, profile and financial data by submitting forms on our website. We may also collect this data when you correspond with us by phone, email or post. We may collect personal data through direct interactions when you:

  1. request marketing information to be sent to you;
  2. apply for more information regarding our products and services;
  3. subscribe to our website resources; or
  4. make a direct enquiry through our website.

Automated technologies. As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect technical and profile data based on your equipment, site interactions and usage patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, forms and other similar technologies.

Third parties and other publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties as set out below:

  1. Technical data from the following parties:
    1. analytics providers such as HubSpot (based outside the EU);
    2. advertising networks such as Google and Facebook (based outside the EU); and
    3. search information provides such as Google (based outside the EU).
  2. Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services such as WorldPay (WorldPay Limited, based inside the EU).
  3. Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources, such as LinkedIn (based outside the EU) or Companies House (based inside the EU).

How do we use personal data?

We will only ever process your personal data when the law allows us to, by way of consent (when you have given us permission) or legitimate interests (whereby processing your data is necessary to pursue a legitimate commercial or societal interest). Most commonly, we use personal data in the following circumstances:

  1. Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
  2. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
  3. Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

We do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing personal data. Please note that you have the right to withdraw consent to marketing communications at any time by unsubscribing. You can do this by following the link to your communication preferences placed at the bottom of all our marketing communications.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

Activity Personal data processed Lawful basis for processing
Delivering marketing materials Contact, identity and technical data Necessary to our legitimate interests to develop our products/services and grow our business.
Process and deliver our services Contact, identity, financial, transaction data Necessary for us to perform our contract and legal obligations with you.
To administer and protect our business and this website Identity, contact, technical data Necessary for our legitimate interests to review website performance and customer support.
To use data analytics to improve our website, customer relationships, marketing and supporting resources Identity, technical, usage and profile data Necessary for our legitimate interests to define types of customers for our products, to keep our website updated and to develop our business.

Marketing

Our priority is to give you control over the marketing communications and advertising you receive from us. We have several methods in place whereby you can control the types of communications you get.

Opting out. You can manage your marketing preferences at the bottom of any of our email communications. Please note, where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to other communications which conform to our legitimate interests.

Cookies. Your internet browser may be automatically set up to accept web cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, some areas of this website may function irregularly or become inaccessible. If you still wish to disable cookies, review your browser settings or visit http://www.aboutcookies.org.uk/ for instructions.

For how long do we retain personal data?

We will only ever retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. This includes legal, accounting, reporting or regulatory requirements.

When we determine an appropriate retention period, we take into consideration the volume, nature and sensitivity of personal data collected. We also assess the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data.

In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data. For more information, review your legal rights in the section directly below.

What are your legal rights?

Under data protection laws, you have the right to request the following (in relation to your personal data) under certain circumstances:

Access your personal data

You can make a data subject access request. This entitles you to a copy of the personal data we hold about you for the purposes of verifying that we are lawfully processing it.

Correct your personal data

It is important that the data we hold on you is accurate. If you believe that we have incomplete or inaccurate data about you, you may request to have this corrected by us. We may need to verify the accuracy of any new data you provide us.

Erase your personal data

Where there is no good reason for us to continue process your data, you may ask us to delete or remove your personal data. You may also ask for us to erase your personal data after you have exercised your right to object to processing.

We may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons. If this is the case, we will notify you at the time of responding to your request.

Object to us processing your personal data

If we are relying on a legitimate interest to process your personal data in a way that you feel impacts your fundamental rights and freedoms, you may object to us processing your personal data.

Please note that we may demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which overrides your rights and freedoms – for example, where your data is processed for regulatory reasons.

Request restriction of processing your personal data

You can ask us to suspend processing of your personal data in the following circumstances: (a) if you wish for us to establish the accuracy of your data; (b) where the use of the data is unlawful but you do not wish to erase it; (c) if you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it for you to exercise a legal claim; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

Request a portable version of your data, or request to the transfer of personal data

We are able to provide you with a machine-readable format of your data (as a comma separated value document). This right only applies to information which you initially provided us with consent to use or information used to perform a contract with you.

Withdraw consent at any time

Where we are relying upon consent for processing your personal data, you may withdraw consent at any time. Please note that withdrawing your consent may prevent us from delivering certain services to you.

To exercise any of your legal rights, please get in touch with us.

We will try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Please note, if your request is particularly complex or if you have made a number of requests, this may take longer. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee if your request is unfounded or repetitive – alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the ways in which we process your personal data, or if you have questions about how we collect data, then please get in touch with us.

Book 

We’re always free to jump on a zoom call, but we much prefer a face-to-face meeting. You’re welcome to drop by our office anytime, we’re in all week, or we can come to you.