The General Data Protection Regulation
George Scott Funeral Services
Privacy Policy

May 2018
It is intended to review this policy on an annual basis.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. When the GDPR takes effect on May 25th 2018 it will replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC).

About Us

George Scott & Son (Funeral Directors) is a limited company registered in England and Wales with company number No. 624714.
Registered Office: 13 – 15 Somerset Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth, BH7 6JH
Directors: Mrs. Judith A. Scott, Mr. Neil A. Scott

This privacy policy sets out how George Scott & Son (Funeral Directors) Ltd uses and protects any information that you give George Scott & Son (Funeral Directors) Ltd when you use this website. We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected.

Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

George Scott & Son (Funeral Directors) Ltd may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 1st May 2018.

Data Collection:

What we collect

All the customer data we collect is necessary to allow us to fulfil your funeral wishes / requirements;

  • title, name, date of birth;
  • contact address / information including email address;
  • demographic information such as postcode;

What we do with the information we gather:

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
Internal record keeping e.g. paper application forms, computer records, website enquiries etc.

  • Dealing with enquiries and requests;
  • using the information to improve our products and services;
  • Customer data may be kept for a period of no less than 70 years so that it can be referred to by our Funeral Directors in the event of future family funerals or legal requests;

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small text file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. Such information will not identify you personally; it is statistical data which does not identify any personal details whatsoever. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

  • We may gather information about your general internet use and how you use the Website, such as how you are referred to it and how long you stay on certain pages by using the cookie. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs.
  • We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system. You can adjust the settings on your computer to decline any cookies if you wish. This can be done within the “settings” section of your computer. If you choose to decline this may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
  • A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

We use the information that we collect from you:

  • To administer our Website and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical, marketing and survey purposes;
  • To improve our site to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;
  • To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so;
  • As part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure;
  • In addition, we may use the information you give to us for one or more of the following purposes:
  • To provide information to you that you request from us relating to our products or services or information that we feel may be of interest to you.
  • To provide information to you relating to other products that may be of interest to you. Such additional information will only be provided where you have consented to receive such information.
  • To inform you of any changes to our Website, services or goods and products.
  • If you have previously purchased goods or services from us we may provide to you details of similar goods or services, or other goods and services, that you may be interested in.

We may pass your details to a number of third-parties if it is necessary to fulfil your funeral requests including but not exclusively:

  • Family Members (by permission);
  • Ministers / celebrants;
  • Crematoria, churches and Cemeteries;
  • hospitals / nursing homes;
  • Department of Work and Pensions (DWP);
  • newspapers to arrange obituaries;
  • Memory Giving Pages (for the setting up of donations);
  • Charities
  • Doctors and Doctors Surgeries;
  • Coroners;
  • Banks and Building Societies;
  • Stone Masons;

We never give your data to third parties to enable them to provide you with information regarding unrelated goods or services.

You can update your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by emailing our office at enquiries@georgescottfunerals.co.uk

Third Party Links

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. Where we provide a link it does not mean that we endorse or approve that site’s policy towards visitor privacy and we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question before sending them any personal data.

Security: Storing Your Personal Data

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.

In operating our website, it may become necessary to transfer data that we collect from you to locations outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), such as the United States, where data protection laws are not the same as in the EEA. Given that the internet is a global environment, using it to collect and process personal data necessarily involves the transmission of data on an international basis. This means, for instance, that data you pass to us may be processed outside the European Economic Area, although the data will always be held securely and in line with the requirements of UK data protection legislation. By communicating electronically with us, you acknowledge and agree to our transferring, storing and processing of personal data in this way
We do our utmost to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to make sure that your data is stored securely. Unfortunately, the sending of information via the internet is not totally secure and on occasion such information can be intercepted. We cannot guarantee the security of data that you choose to send us electronically, sending such information is entirely at your own risk.

Records containing client data will be retained for audit purposes as well as being archived to enable families to access information to assist in future funeral arrangements. These arrangements comply with our legal obligations.

In the unlikely event of misuse, loss, unauthorised access, or disclosure of client data the client will be notified immediately by the most appropriate means of communication.

Disclosing Your Information

We will not disclose your personal information to any other party other than in accordance with this Privacy Policy and in the circumstances detailed below:

  • If George Scott & Son (Funeral Directors) Ltd or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its customers will be one of the transferred assets.
  • Where we are under a legal duty to disclose your personal information; or
  • To further fraud protection and reduce the risk of fraud;
  • We may share customer data with a third-party business. E.g. we may share your data with a third party such as the crematorium if it is necessary to allow us to perform the funeral service;
  • In organising the funeral of your loved one we will need to contact and pass on personal data to a number of third parties including, hospitals, private nursing homes, coroners, crematoria, Churches, Church employees, Ministers, and Newspapers (for obituaries) etc. This data is necessary for the third-party business to perform their duties and may be transferred by email, text, letter or by telephone.

Access and Controlling your personal information

You have a legal right to know what personal information we hold about you and how that information is processed. Please note that we reserve the right to charge a fee of £15 to cover costs incurred by us in providing you with the 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 the information to be used by anybody 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 or emailing us at enquiries@georgescottfunerals.co.uk;
  • 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 reserve the right to refuse a customer’s request to access their data if we feel the request is “manifestly unfounded or excessive’’

Contacting us:

When collecting data every effort is made to ensure client data is accurate, complete and up to date.

Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any matter relating to this Privacy and Cookies Policy via email at enquiries@georgescottfunerals.co.uk. You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect/incomplete or if you would like a copy of the information held on you we will promptly deal with your request. In either of these circumstances you can contact us by email, text, letter or telephone:

George Scott Funeral Services,
13 – 15 Somerset Road
Boscombe
Bournemouth
BH7 6JH
Phone: 01202 395827
Email: enquiries@georgescottfunerals.co.uk

Please note:

There is no guarantee that any email sent will be received, or that the contents will remain private during internet transmission.

If I have a complaint what should I do?

Firstly, contact the member of staff you originally dealt with. They should be familiar with your case and may be able to clear up any misunderstanding.

If you remain dissatisfied you may wish to raise a formal complaint. You can do this by e-mail, telephone or you can put your complaint in writing.

It will help us if you can…

  • Provide any reference numbers (e.g. funeral reference number included in any correspondence etc).
  • State your case clearly and include relevant dates.
  • Send copies of relevant documents (you should hold on to the originals).

How will we will deal with your complaint?

We will:

  • acknowledge your complaint within 7 working days of receipt;
  • tell you who’s dealing with your complaint so contacting us is easier;
  • fully investigate your complaint and send you a reply confirming our findings;
  • clearly explain the reasons behind our decision and what action we’ll take to put things right, if appropriate;
  • look to send you our final response within no more than 20 working days from the receipt date of your complaint. Should we be unable to do this we will contact you to clearly explain the reasons for any delay.

What do you do if you are still not happy with the outcome?

We want to resolve complaints to your satisfaction whenever possible. If we can’t reach agreement with you, you can refer your complaint to The National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) and the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), of which we are members.
We fully support and adhere to these organisations’ rules on complaint handling.