PRIVACY POLICY
We respect your privacy and are determined to protect your personal data. The purpose of this privacy notice is to inform you as to how we look after your personal data when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from). We’ll also tell you about your privacy rights and how data protection law protects you.
This privacy notice is provided in a layered format so you can click through to the specific areas set out below.
1. WHO WE ARE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION
2. THE PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU
3. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA
4. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
5. WHO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA WITH
6. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
7. DATA SECURITY
8. DATA RETENTION
9. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS
10. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE AND YOUR DUTY TO INFORM US OF CHANGES
11. QUERIES, REQUESTS OR CONCERNS
1. WHO WE ARE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This privacy notice aims to give you information on how we collect and process your personal data through your use of this website, including any data you may provide through this website when you complete our contact us form.
This website is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
You must read this privacy notice together with any other privacy notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy notice supplements the other notices and is not intended to override them.
Data controller(s)
HR SPARK™ is the controller and responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as “company”, "we", "us" or "our" in this privacy notice). Our contact details are SN17BN Swindon, info@hrspark.co.uk ; phone 01793570710. For all data related matters contact info@hrspark.co.uk.
Third-party links outside of our control
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements.
When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.
2. THE PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. You can find out more about personal data from the Information Commissioners Office.
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:
Contact details
Business information
Account information
Financial information
Data that identifies you and other people
Data on how you use HR SPARK™ services
We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
If you fail to provide personal data
Where we need to collect your 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 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.
3. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We use different methods to collect data from and about you. You may give us your name and surname by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you subscribe to our service or publications.
We collect data from people browsing our website, chatting to us online, on social media or on the phone.
Sometimes you provide us with data, sometimes data about you is collected automatically or provided to us by another organisation.
4. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
Performance of Contract this means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
Legitimate Interest this means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by emailing info@hrspark.co.uk
Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation this means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that we are subject to.
Purposes for which we will use your personal data
We collect and process your data for different reasons in different circumstances, but we’ll only collect and process your data where we have a legal basis for doing so. Our purposes and legal basis for using each type of data are set out below.
Personal information is provided to us in a number of ways and depends on your relationship with us. Personal data may be provided to us by our corporate clients who subscribe to our services, or it may be provided to us directly.
A small amount may also come from publicly available sources: e.g., Companies House, company websites etc.
We then process it for one of the following reasons:
To manage our relationship with you
To respond to your enquiries
To manage the services, we provide to you
To take pre-contractual and contractual steps with you
To comply with our legal obligations as a business
Here are some further examples of how we use your personal data:
To analyse website usage so we can determine how we can make improvements and if you subscribe to our newsletter, to email you about other directly related products and services we think may be of interest to you based on our understanding of your legitimate interest.
To personalise your repeat visits to our website.
To survey contacts about activity directly related to HR SPARK™ marketing activity, service delivery or directly related projects undertaken by HR SPARK™.
To provide outsourced HR services to your company or employing company in line with client agreements made with the company.
To provide recruitment services to its client companies for which you have submitted your data for the purposes of/in relation to an application for employment.
If you provide your information to us through this website, we consider this to mean you have a legitimate interest in our services, that you are happy to be contacted in relation to those services, and that you are happy for us to share this with our relevant data sub-processors outlined below in order for our services to be delivered to you.
Marketing
We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.
Opting out
Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of service purchase.
Cookies
You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please see our cookie policy or email us at info@hrspark.co.uk
Change of purpose
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please email info@hrspark.co.uk
If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
5. WHO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA WITH
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set of running by storing or processing your data:
Infrastructure: Microsoft
Communications: Microsoft
Analytics: Google Analytics
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
6.INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
Some of our external third parties are based outside the UK so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the UK.
Please contact us at info@hrspark.co.uk if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK.
7.DATA SECURITY
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
8.DATA RETENTION
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal data are available in our retention policy which you can request from us by emailing info@hrspark.co.uk.
In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see Your legal rights below for further information.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
9. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS
Unless subject to an exemption under the data protection laws, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:
The right to request a copy of the personal data which we hold about you;
The right to request that we correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date;
The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary to retain such data;
The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time, where consent was the lawful basis for processing your data;
The right to request that we provide you with your personal data and where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller, (known as the right to data portability), where applicable i.e. where our processing is based on consent or is necessary for the performance of our contract with you or where we process your data by automated means);
The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing;
The right to object to our processing of personal data, where applicable i.e. where processing is based on our legitimate interests (or in performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority); direct marketing or processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics).
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us via infor@hrspark.co.uk
No fee required – with some exceptions
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable admin fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
What we may need from you
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
Time limit to respond
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made several requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
10. CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE AND YOUR DUTY TO INFORM US OF CHANGES
This version was last updated on 01/04/2025.
Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current.
11. QUERIES, REQUESTS OR CONCERNS
To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints in relation to this policy or any other data protection matter between you and us, please in the first instance email info@hrspark.co.uk
If this does not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office on 03031231113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, England, UK.
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
This acceptable use policy sets out the terms between you and us under which you may access our website hrspark.co.uk (our site). This acceptable use policy applies to all users of, and visitors to, our site.
Your use of our site means that you accept, and agree to abide by, all the policies in this acceptable use policy, which supplement our terms of website use .
Hrspark.co.uk is a site operated by HR SPARK™ (we or us).
Prohibited uses
You may use our site only for lawful purposes. You may not use our site:
• In any way that breaches any applicable local, national or international law or regulation.
• In any way that is unlawful or fraudulent or has any unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect.
• For the purpose of harming or attempting to harm minors in any way.
• To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with our content standards.
• To transmit, or procure the sending of, any unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material or any other form of similar solicitation (spam).
• To transmit unlawful material or material that is defamatory, threatening, discriminatory, extremist or which has the potential to radicalise themselves or others.
• To transmit material that infringes the intellectual property rights or privacy rights of a third party, or that is in breach of a legal duty owed to another party.
• To knowingly transmit any data, send or upload any material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time-bombs, keystroke loggers, spyware, adware or any other harmful programs or similar computer code designed to adversely affect the operation of any computer software or hardware.
You also agree:
• Not to reproduce, duplicate, copy or re-sell any part of our site in contravention of the provisions of our terms of website use.
• Not to access without authority, interfere with, damage or disrupt:
• any part of our site;
• any equipment or network on which our site is stored;
• any software used in the provision of our site; or
• any equipment or network or software owned or used by any third party.
Interactive services
We may from time to time provide interactive services on our site, including, without limitation:
• Bulletin boards.
• Blogs
Where we do provide any interactive service, we will provide clear information to you about the kind of service offered, if it is moderated and what form of moderation is used (including whether it is human or technical).
We will do our best to assess any possible risks for users (and in particular, for children) from third parties when they use any interactive service provided on our site, and we will decide in each case whether it is appropriate to use moderation of the relevant service (including what kind of moderation to use) in the light of those risks. However, we are under no obligation to oversee, monitor or moderate any interactive service we provide on our site, and we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any interactive service by a user in contravention of our content standards, whether the service is moderated or not.
The use of any of our interactive services by a minor is subject to the consent of their parent or guardian. We advise parents who permit their children to use an interactive service that it is important that they communicate with their children about their safety online, as moderation is not foolproof. Minors who are using any interactive service should be made aware of the potential risks to them.
Where we do moderate an interactive service, we will normally provide you with a means of contacting the moderator, should a concern or difficulty arise.
Content standards
These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.
You must comply with the spirit and the letter of the following standards. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.
Contributions must:
• Be accurate (where they state facts).
• Be genuinely held (where they state opinions).
• Comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.
Contributions must not:
• Contain any material which is defamatory of any person.
• Contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory.
• Promote sexually explicit material.
• Promote violence.
• Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
• Infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person.
• Be likely to deceive any person.
• Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
• Promote any illegal activity.
• Be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
• Be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
• Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person.
• Give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case.
• Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
Suspension and termination
We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach of this acceptable use policy through your use of our site. When a breach of this policy has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.
Failure to comply with this acceptable use policy constitutes a material breach of the terms of use upon which you are permitted to use our site, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:
• Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our site.
• Immediate, temporary or permanent removal of any posting or material uploaded by you to our site.
• Issue of a warning to you.
• Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach.
• Further legal action against you.
• Disclosure of such information to law enforcement authorities as we reasonably feel is necessary.
We exclude liability for actions taken in response to breaches of this acceptable use policy. The responses described in this policy are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.
Changes to the acceptable use policy
We may revise this acceptable use policy at any time by amending this page. You are expected to check this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we make, as they are legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in this acceptable use policy may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our site.
COOKIE POLICY
INFORMATION ABOUT OUR USE OF COOKIES
Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
We use the following cookies:
· Strictly necessary cookies
These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website, use a shopping cart or make use of e-billing services.
· Analytical/performance cookies
They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
· Functionality cookies
These are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
· Targeting cookies
These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests.