Privacy policy

Harmer Editorial Ltd – privacy policy

Last reviewed: 30 June 2024

This privacy policy explains how Harmer Editorial Ltd handles personal data and keeps it secure. It also shows how we comply with our legal obligations.

Personal data

To carry out our work, we collect the following privacy information directly from our customers and sub-contractors:

• Individuals’ first and last names
• Organisation name
• Organisation address, phone numbers and email address
• Business records such as bank details, VAT number, charity or company registration
• In the case of sub-contractors, we might also ask for proof of self-employment and registration with HMRC

We collect privacy information from our customers to:

• Carry out the writing or editorial services you asked us to do
• Send you support and administrative messages
• Respond to your comments, questions and requests
• Send you an invoice for the work we’ve done
• Maintain a successful business relationship and provide customer service
• Contact you about our contractual agreement
• Keep specific records for seven years as required by law or the tax authorities

With your consent, we may share your personal data with third party providers (our sub-contractors). The reason is to speed up the delivery of writing or editorial services or to continue providing such services when we are unavailable.

We collect privacy information from sub-contractors to:

• Carry out the service the client has asked for
• Pay you for your work
• Maintain a successful business relationship
• Contact you about our contractual agreement
• Keep specific records for seven years as required by law or the tax authorities

How we collect personal data

Harmer Editorial collects personal data:

• Directly from you, such as when you or your organisation contracts with us to provide writing and editing services
• When you communicate with us via third-party social media sites

We will delete information from our systems that we are required to hold for legal and tax reasons after the seven years we are obliged to retain it. We do not delete information while you remain a client. If you are no longer a client, we will delete it. If we believe you may require similar material in future, we may make it anonymous by removing identifying details.

Safeguarding your information

We are committed to the security of your personal data. We hold personal data in several places and have various measures to ensure it is secure. Our measures include the following:

• All paper records are secured in locked filing cabinets in alarmed premises
• All recordings of any telephone interviews are deleted as soon as they are transcribed to Microsoft Word – and the Word documents are kept on a secure server
• All our paper waste is shredded or burned – unless it has to be kept for seven years as required by law or for tax reasons
• All contact details are kept on a secure database unless otherwise instructed by you to remove it (subject to there being no legal or tax reasons to keep it)
• We use complex, lengthy, random passwords containing words, symbols and numbers, and two-factor authentication when available to keep your data safe
• Passwords are restricted to the director of Harmer Editorial and, when required, our outsourced IT provider Magikos IT
• All our sub-contractors understand the importance of confidentiality and sign sub-contractor agreements with us
• Our IT data is protected by business-class antivirus and disk encryption.

Website users and cookies

Harmer Editorial Ltd uses cookies on its website. Cookies do not give us access to your computer or information about you, except for data you choose to share with us. You can change your browser settings at any time to decline cookies. Please read our cookie policy.

Identity and contact details of the controller

To ensure the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up-to-date, please tell us of any changes as soon as possible.

Alison Moore, director of Harmer Editorial Ltd, is responsible for handling and controlling personal data we hold. The best way to get in touch is through email at alison@harmereditorial.co.uk

Or you can write to our registered offices: Harmer Editorial Ltd, 587 Reading Road, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG41 5HQ, UK.

Alison is the person to ask:

• If you believe the information we hold is incorrect
• If you want to see the information we hold on you
• If you want us to correct or delete the information we have on you
• If you wish to complain about our handling of your personal data, you can ask to have the complaint investigated.

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data per the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office: https://ico.org.uk/