Privacy and Cookies

Privacy Policy

The Leasehold Advisory Service and its subsidiary Lease Conferences (collectively LEASE) collect personal information when you request advice or register to purchase a product or service from us. We will use this information to provide the service(s) requested and, if you agree, to send you marketing information about other services we think you might be interested in. LEASE will not share your information for marketing purposes with companies other than the Leasehold Advisory Service or Lease Conferences.

This privacy policy explains how LEASE uses and protects any personal information that we collect about you when you use this website or contact LEASE.

What information do we collect about you?

If you make an enquiry to LEASE, we will ask for your name, telephone number, address, email address and some information about the property related to your enquiry. We need this information so that we can carry out a conflict check before we answer your enquiry. We also collect information about you when you place an order for products or services in order that we can fulfil the order. We also collect information when you voluntarily complete customer surveys or provide feedback.

Website usage information is collected using cookies.

How will we use the information we hold about you?

We use this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

• Internal record keeping;
• We may use the information to improve our products and services;
• We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, services or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided. If you have consented to receive marketing information from us, you may opt out at a later date.
• From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone or mail.

If you no longer wish to be contacted for marketing purposes please email us with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Access to your information and correction

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of the personal information we hold about you please email foi@lease-advice.org or write to us at FOI, LEASE, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Rd, London W1T 7BN. We take the security of your personal information seriously and you may be asked to provide proof of address and/or your identity before we can act on your request. There is also a small charge for this service.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner at: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Phone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 54 57 45 Fax: 01625 524510 Website: www.ico.gov.uk

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Cookies

When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example, computer or mobile phone. These include small files known as cookies. They cannot be used to identify you personally.

These pieces of information are used to improve services for you through, for example:

• enabling a service to recognise your device so you don't have to give the same information several times during one task
• recognising that you may already have given a username and password so you don't need to do it for every web page requested
• measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and make sure there is enough capacity to ensure they are fast

You can manage these small files yourself and learn more about them through www.allaboutcookies.org [link to external website]. You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above website tell you how to remove cookies. However, some of our website features may not function as a result.

Our use of cookies

This website uses the following cookies:

• Google Analytics. This is the primary method we use to measure the number of visitors, and to understand what visitors want to use and not to use, so we can improve the service you receive.
• Evisit Analyst. This is a secondary method to gather website analytics data. We use this additional method as it allows us to collect raw data on website visits which can be externally audited.
• ShareThis. This service allows visitors to share our content through social networks. If you choose to share the content then ShareThis, or the social network you use, may place cookies on your computer. For more information see the ShareThis Privacy Policy [link to external website].
• SurveyMonkey. We sometimes use SurveyMonkey for online surveys. Information gathered through their cookies helps them measure use of their site. Cookie data allows SurveyMonkey to track usage behaviour and compile data that they can use to improve their service.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

• whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want to be contacted for direct marketing purposes
• if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to us;
• when you first call our helpline, explain that you only wish to provide enough personal information to properly identify you and the property at issue, eg your surname and the full property address.

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please contact us at info@lease-advice.org or 020 7383 9800 as soon as possible. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

Changes to our privacy policy

We keep our privacy policy under regular review and any updates will be made to this page. This policy was last updated 16 April 2013.

How to contact us

Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7BN
Tel: 020 7383 9800
Email: info@lease-advice.org
Fax: 020 7383 9849