Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement applies to the use and processing of personal data collected and used by members of The Alliance Fund. The use of “The Alliance”, “us” or “we” shall, herein, mean those members of The Alliance Fund on behalf of and in respect of whom this Statement is made. This Privacy Statement applies to your use of The Alliance Fund websites and/or mobile applications or when you otherwise provide your personal data to The Alliance Fund. Please read this Privacy Statement carefully and contact us if you have any questions.   

What personal data do we process about you? 

Personal data is information, or any combination of separate pieces of information, that could be used to identify you. We may collect information about you from a variety of sources. This includes information we collect directly from you, information we collect when you visit our sites, or when you create an account on our website, view our online content, use our mobile applications or other services; and information we collect about you from other third-party sources. 

Information we collect directly from you 

We may collect information directly from you when you choose to participate in our offers and programs, create an account on our websites or in our mobile applications, call or email us, or otherwise provide information directly to us. The following are examples of information we may collect directly from you: 

• Name
  • Email address, postal address
  • Username and password
  • Telephone and/or fax number
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Demographic information
  • Payment information (such as a credit card) and bank account details
  • Other financial records (such as bank statements)
  • Proof of identity documentation, such as passport or drivers licence
  • Marketing preferences
  • When you contact us, we may process the details of your enquiry, application, communication, complaint, survey responses and other interaction information
  • Call recording data including a recording of our conversation with you when you call our customer service line

Information we collect when you visit our sites, view our online ads or promotions, or other services 

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect information when you visit our sites, view our online advertisements or promotions, or use our mobile applications or other services. For more information on this, please see our Cookie Policy.
The following are examples of information we may collect with these technologies:
• Information about your device, browser and operating system
• IP address
• Web pages you view on our sites
•The Alliance Fund emails you open
Information collected through mobile applications: When you download our mobile applications to your mobile device, we may also collect information that you provide. We also automatically collect information through our applications.
The following are examples of the types of information we may automatically collect through our applications:
• Usage data about your use of our websites or apps
o which features your use
o how often you use them
o when you download material
o your contributed content
o your online activity data
o your preferences and
o the methods used to browse away from our platform
• Location data through your IP address, GPS and other means. We will only collect your location information when you are using our website
• Marketing ID or similar identifier
• Information about your devices’ operating system. 

Information we collect from third party sources 

We also collect your personal data from the following third-party sources: publicly available sources (such as the telephone directory), third party reference agencies, social media platforms, legitimate marketing lists or your permitted referral agents.
Examples of information we may collect from other sources are:
Name
Postal address Email address Date of birth Income level
Reference and background data; and
Publicly observed activities or information made available by you to the public, such as blogs, videos, internet postings, and user generated content. 

The law treats some types of personal data about you as “special” as such data requires more protection because of its sensitive nature. This includes information about your race, religion, health, sex life, political opinions or sexual orientation. This also applies in relation to criminal offences. We will only collect or use this type of personal data (a) with your explicit consent or (b) if the law requires us to do so. 

How The Alliance Fund uses this information 

We use your personal data to provide you products, offers and services, to deliver advertisements, offers or other content tailored to your interests, to respond to your enquiries and to conduct other The Alliance Fund business operations. We will only use your personal data where we have a valid lawful basis to do so. We have included a table below which lists all the ways in which we use your personal data and the lawful bases we rely on to do so. 

Categories of Personal Data	Purposes of Processing	Lawful basis
Personal data we collected to provide our services to you. Name, email address, mobile and fixed line telephone number	To provide our services to you.	Necessary for the performance of a contract or to take specific steps before entering into a contract with you.
Data gathered for checks to identify your identity, Client Due Diligence checks, credit reference checks. Passport or driving license, financial statements, bank details, third party credit check, company check through third party systems (where applicable)	To verify your identity, conduct our client due diligence checks and credit rating and reference checks on behalf of us or that of a third party (for example, a landlord).	Legal obligation/ our legitimate interests in running our business.
Financial and transactions data. Bank and account details, tax number.	Financial management, compliance with tax requirements, legal and regulatory requirements, providing services to you.	Legal obligation/ for the performance of a contract or to take specific steps before entering into a contract with you.
Data related to fraud detection and prevention. Full name, postal address and tax number.	In order to check identity and ensure fraudulent transactions are detected and prevented.	Legal obligation/ legitimate interest.
Your email address and/or postal address.	To send you email and/or postal messages with information about The Alliance Fund brands and other content we think may be of interest to you and if you would like to receive them.	Our legitimate interests in running our business/ consent.
Data used to enrol you to contests, programs, or offers that you request. Email address and postal address.	Promoting our business to ex-clients, clients or potential clients.	Legitimate interest of The Alliance Fund and third parties.
Data used to operate our business e.g. training, improvement of process efficiency, develop new products or services. Data stored on The Alliance Fund’s Customer Relationship System.	To operate our business efficiently.	Legitimate interest of The Alliance Fund and of third parties.
Data provided when calling The Alliance Fund. Telephone numbers and data/time of call.	To answer your questions and respond to your requests.	Legitimate interests in running our business/ for the performance of a contract or to take specific steps before entering into a contract with you.
Messages left by incoming callers and after-hours callers via switchboard. Voice message, telephone number and date/ time of call.	Processing incoming calls.	Our legitimate interests in running our business/ for the performance of a contract or to take specific steps before entering into a contract with you.
Data used for external audits and quality checks. Property data and client personal data.	To maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards. To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.	Legal obligation/ our legitimate interests in running our business.
Information provided to competent authorities or regulatory bodies (e.g. Suspicious Activity Reports). Tax number, national insurance number, nationality, date of birth, company registration number (as applicable).	Legal and regulatory obligations.	Legal obligation.

We will only use your personal data for the reasons we have set out above. If we need to use your personal data for any other reason, we will let you know and tell you the reason along with the relevant lawful basis, unless the law prevents us from doing so. Who do we share your personal data with? 

We share your Personal Data within The Alliance Fund and with other organisations so we can provide our services to you and comply with our legal duties. We have set out below who these organisations are and the reasons for sharing your personal data with such organisations. Co-promotions with carefully selected business partners 

We may collect personal and other information for a co-promotion or as part of a joint initiative with a business partner and share your information with that business partner. For these initiatives we will make clear at the point of collection that the information will be shared with The Alliance Fund and the participating business partner and ask for your consent as required by applicable laws. Information sharing with third parties and third-party service providers 

We engage third-party service providers to perform a variety of business operations on our behalf. In so doing, we may share your personal data with them. We provide our service providers with only the personal data they need in order to perform the services we request, and we contractually require that they protect this information appropriately and not use it for any other purpose. In providing our services, we may disclose your personal data to third parties and third-party service or solution providers, for example: 

• Third party Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service or solution providers 
• Third party technology providers 
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Knowing Your Customers (KYC) verification service providers 
• Third party contractors 
• Government departments 
• Regulatory Authorities 
• Property developers 
• Representatives or professional advisers such as solicitors, accountants and surveyors 
• Third parties at the request of the client 

Other Situations 

We may transfer or otherwise process your Personal Data: 

• As part of the sale of The Alliance Fund brand to another company 
• To protect, defend or exercise the rights and property of The Alliance Fund (including enforcing our Terms and Conditions) 
• When required by law, court order and/or government authorities which might include background checks (such as credit reference checks through agencies, or fulfilling other regulatory purposes); or 
• Where you tell us to share your personal data or otherwise have given us your consent to do so. 

If you would like any further information on which third parties your personal data is shared with and the reasons why, then please contact us using the details below. 

How do we keep your personal data secure? 

When you provide us with your Personal Data we will process it using our systems, meaning your details will be inputted into our secure databases. We have appropriate security measures in place to help ensure that your data is not lost, stolen, accessed by unauthorised third parties, or tampered with in any way. Internally, your personal data will only be accessible by those members of our staff that have a need to see your data (which will depend on the nature of the services we are providing to you). However, we cannot guarantee your personal data will be free from every security risk that may be possible when your information is sent to and from the website or the app. 

How long do we keep your personal data for? 

We will retain Personal Data for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this Privacy Statement, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Generally, we will keep your personal data for as long as you are registered for our services or have an account with us. This is so we can: 

• Communicate with you about any questions or complaints you may have after you have stopped being a user of our services 
• To comply with the rules on accounting, reporting or other law; or 
• To provide you with relevant information about products and services that you may be interested in. 

Your communication options 

Email 

If you have previously enquired, we will send you emails about similar products or services from The Alliance Fund which we think will interest you, unless you have opted out of such emails. This is based on our legitimate interests in promoting our business and to provide you with information about relevant products/services. 

If you change your mind about this, you can stop us sending you such emails at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email. If you choose to stop receiving these marketing emails, we will still send you emails that are necessary for our relationship with you relating to the service we provide. 

Postal Mail 

You can stop receiving promotional postal mail from The Alliance Fundby following the opt-out instructions that may be included within those communications or contact your local office. 

Mobile Text Messages 

We only send you promotional mobile text messages if you explicitly ask to receive these (you opt in). You can stop receiving promotional text messages by following the instructions to opt out provided within that text messaging program. 

Telephone Marketing 

We only market to you via telephone if you explicitly ask to receive such calls (you opt in). You can stop receiving promotional telephone calls by request. 

Individual Rights Requests 

In certain circumstances, you have certain rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data, as set out below. 

Data Subject Access Request 

You will not usually have to pay a fee to exercise any of the rights in this section. However, if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive, we may refuse to comply with your request or charge a reasonable fee for the administrative cost of complying with your request. 

We may need to ask you for specific information to help us confirm your identity and to ensure we can satisfy your request. This is a security measure to ensure your personal data is not disclosed to anyone who is not entitled to receive it. 

Please contact us to request a copy of personal data about you which we hold. 

Data Erasure (“Right to be forgotten”) 

Deleting your online account won’t delete any data you’ve shared with The Alliance Fund for reasons that aren’t connected with your online account. If you wish us to erase your data which is unconnected with your online account, please contact us and we will deal with your request as necessary under applicable law. We may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal and regulatory reasons. 

Other Individual Rights 

To the extent provided by applicable law and in certain circumstances, you have the following rights: a) to request rectification of your personal data, which means that you have the right to request changes to incorrect or incomplete information that we hold about you b) to obtain restriction of the processing of personal data c) to object to the processing of personal data (including direct marketing) d) to request not to be subject to solely automated decision making, including profiling, which have a legal or similarly significant effect e) data portability; and f) to withdraw your consent at any time if we are relying on consent to process your personal data (this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing based on consent which was carried out before you withdrew your consent). 

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us as described below. 

Consent 

Where you have provided consent for our processing of your personal data, you may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us as described below. We will cease processing your personal data as soon as reasonably practicable following our receipt of your withdrawal. 

Complaints 

If you consider that we have processed personal data in violation of applicable law, please contact us as described below. If you consider that we have processed personal data in violation of applicable law and failed to remedy such violation to your reasonable satisfaction, you can contact us at admin@alliancefund.co.uk. You may also lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you have reasons to believe that we have not met our legal obligations (e.g. the Information Commissioner in the UK) or the national courts to seek a remedy if you think that your rights in relation to your personal data have been breached. 

Links to Third Party Sites and Social Media 

Our Sites may provide links to other websites and apps for your convenience and information. These websites and apps may operate independently from us. Linked sites and apps may have their own privacy notices or policies, which we strongly recommend you review. To the extent any linked websites or apps are not owned or controlled by us, we are not responsible for their content, any use of the websites or apps, or the privacy practices of the websites or apps. 

Social Networks and Third-Party Plug-ins 

Our websites may include plugins from social networks or other third parties. An example of a plugin is the Facebook “Like” button. Where legally permitted, these plugins may communicate with and send information to the party that provided the plugin, even if you do not click on the plugin. This information may include your IP address, information about your browser and device, and the address of the web page you are visiting on our site. Loading, using or clicking the plugins may also place, read and transmit cookies. These cookies may contain a unique identifier the social network or third-party assigns to you. The loading, functionality and your use of the plugins are governed by the Privacy Statement and terms of the party that provided the plugin. 

Please remember that any information you submit or post as user-generated content to Social Media sites become public information. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal, financial or other information in such submissions or posts.The Alliance Fund cannot prevent others from using such information in a manner that may violate this Privacy Statement. The Alliance Fund is not responsible for the results of such postings. 

Data Transfers 

We may transfer the Personal Data we collect about you to recipients in countries other than the country in which the information originally was collected, including outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK). Those countries may not have the same data protection laws as the country in which you initially provided the information, however when we transfer or store your personal data outside of the EEA or the UK we will ensure we have put adequate measures in place to protect your personal data to an equivalent standard of protection as in the EEA and UK. Generally, we will only share your personal data with countries and organisations that/where: 

• The European Commission has deemed as having equivalent data protection laws as in the EEA or UK; or 
• We have a completed a data transfer risk assessment and entered into a contract which includes certain requirements to make sure personal data is protected to equivalent standards as in the EEA and the UK. 

You can ask us for more information about where we may transfer or store your personal data and how we will take steps to ensure your personal data is protected by using the contact details at the end of this policy. 

Children’s Privacy 

Our Sites are not directed to children under the age of thirteen and we do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of thirteen on our Sites. 

Updates to our Privacy Statement 

The Alliance Fund’s Privacy Statement is reviewed as our service develops or if the law changes. We will always display the latest version of our Privacy Statement on our website and/or app. 

How to contact us 

For further information concerning our use of Personal Data or your rights, please email our Data Protection Officer at admin@alliancefund.co.uk