Privacy Policy for Hearthstone People
Hearthstone People is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal data we collect from visitors to our website, clients, and individuals interacting with our HR consulting and technology services. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your information, in compliance with applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
1. Information We Collect
We may collect various types of information for different purposes to provide and improve our services to you.
1.1. Personal Data
While using our site or engaging with our services, we may ask you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. This may include, but is not limited to:
- Name, job title, and company name
- Contact information, including email address and phone number
- Professional information relevant to our HR consulting services (e.g., career history, skills, performance data – collected with explicit consent or legitimate interest for specific services)
- Information provided in application forms or resumes when applying for roles or participating in talent acquisition processes
- Any other information you choose to provide to us through contact forms, enquiries, or direct communication.
1.2. Usage Data and Cookies
We may also collect information about how our site is accessed and used. This Usage Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data.
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our site and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data that may include an anonymous unique identifier. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our site.
2. How We Use Your Information
Hearthstone People uses the collected data for various purposes:
- To provide and maintain our services, including Strategic HR Advisory, Talent Acquisition and Retention, Performance Management Systems, Employee Relations, HR Technology Implementation, Organisational Development, Compensation and Benefits Structuring, HR Analytics and Reporting, Training and Development Programs, and Change Management Support.
- To process your inquiries and respond to your requests.
- To improve and personalise your experience on our site.
- To understand how our site is used and to analyse data for service improvements.
- To send you relevant updates, newsletters, marketing or promotional materials, provided you have opted in to receive such communications.
- For internal record keeping and administrative purposes.
- To detect, prevent, and address technical issues.
- To comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements.
3. Legal Basis for Processing Personal Data (UK GDPR)
Our lawful bases for collecting and using the personal data described in this Privacy Policy depend on the data we collect and the specific context in which we collect it. We may process your personal data because:
- We need to perform a contract with you (e.g., providing HR consulting services).
- You have given us explicit permission to do so (consent).
- The processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your rights (e.g., improving our services, marketing activities, security).
- To comply with the law.
4. Disclosure of Your Information
Hearthstone People may share your personal information in the following situations:
- With Service Providers: We may employ third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our services, perform service-related operations, or assist us in analysing how our site is used (e.g., IT and system administration services, email service providers). 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.
- For Business Transfers: If Hearthstone People is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.
- For Legal Requirements: 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 Hearthstone People, 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.
- With Your Consent: We may disclose your personal information for any other purpose with your consent.
5. Security of Data
The security of your data is paramount to us. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your Personal Data from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
6. Data Retention
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.
We will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer periods.
7. Your Data Protection Rights (UK GDPR)
In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:
- The right to access the information we hold on you.
- The right to rectification if your Personal Data is inaccurate or incomplete.
- The right to erasure of your Personal Data, under certain conditions.
- The right to object to processing of your Personal Data, under certain conditions.
- The right to restrict processing of your Personal Data, under certain conditions.
- The right to data portability to receive your Personal Data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, under certain conditions.
- The right to withdraw consent at any time where Hearthstone People relied on your consent to process your Personal Data.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below. We may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe we have not handled your personal data lawfully or fairly. The ICO is the supervisory authority for data protection in the UK.
8. Links to Other Sites
Our site 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.
9. Children's Privacy
Our site and services are not intended for anyone under the age of 18 ("Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children have provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our site, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "effective date" at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us:
- Hearthstone People
- 2847 Alderstone Road, Floor 3
- Manchester, Greater Manchester, M1 2PD
- United Kingdom