Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how Abrasive Finishing Systems uses and protects any information that you give Abrasive Finishing Systems when you use this website. Abrasive Finishing Systems is 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. Abrasive Finishing Systems 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.

Abrasive Finishing Systems is a controller of your personal data. We respect your data and your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Notice explains what personal data we collect, how it is used, what rights you have over your personal data and how you can use those rights.

Summary of How We Use Your Data and Your Rights

We use your data to provide and improve our products and services, including for marketing, research, feedback and enquiries, and for safety and security purposes.

We will use your data to comply with laws and regulations. We may use your data to prevent and detect crime, such as fraud.

When you give consent, you are able to withdraw that consent at any time, for instance by emailing sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk. You can also email sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk to exercise any other data rights, such as obtaining a copy of your data, correcting, deleting or restricting how we use your data. You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time. To opt out of marketing, including profiling for direct marketing purposes, you can either adjust the preference settings in your AFS account, or select “unsubscribe” in emails, or email sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk.

Our websites and app use cookies and similar technologies to improve functionality, to recognise you and to customise your experience. You can reject and block cookies in your browser settings.

Information We Collect From You

We collect information when you purchase something or use our services. In particular:

We keep information you give us directly such as contact details (including name, email, address and telephone number), feedback given and marketing opinions. We record and analyse web visits, details of your purchases and where you take advantage of our promotions. If you post information online about us or provide feedback, we may keep a record.

We do not retain any payment card or personal bank details.

How We Use Information and the Legal Basis

We are allowed to use your data only if we have a proper reason to do so such as:

To fulfil a contract we have with you; When it is in our legitimate interest; When you consent to it; or to comply with the law.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your data. This involves us making an assessment of when we can rely on our legitimate interests.

We have set out below how and why we may use your personal information and the legal basis we rely on. This is also where we tell you what our legitimate interests are.

When you buy something from us, or enter a competition we run, we use your information to fulfil our contract with you.

We take information to communicate with you, check your identity, take payment, and provide products and services.

To run our business and pursue our legitimate interests, we use your information.

Our legitimate interests include keeping our records up to date, fulfilling our legal, compliance and contractual duties, working out which of our products and services may interest you, improving our site and services, developing new products and services, and telling you about them.

Further details of our legitimate interests:

To run and promote our business, we use your information to provide and improve our products and services and to respond to you if you contact us. We may use your information:

• When we monitor the AFS website, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and online services including responses to email marketing. If you post comments online or in other media we may capture this information, contact you, and use it to improve our products and services.
• To run competitions and promotions and track which offers seem of interest to you.
• To understand you better as a customer by analysing your transactions and other information you provide to us or which we learn through your interactions with us.
• To send you emails including offers tailored to your perceived preferences when your preference settings permit this. We record which emails seem to be of interest to you. Based on your purchase history.
• To prevent, investigate and/or report fraud, terrorism, misrepresentation, security incidents or crime, including where we are required to do so by law we may use other organisations to check the validity of the credit or debit card details you use to pay (for further details see “Data sharing” below).

We may, if you give us consent

Send you electronic marketing, including promotions and offers, in relation to our products and services. AFS account holders can subscribe or unsubscribe from our marketing communications at any time, if you are included within our marketing database you will have chosen to opt in to receive these. Preferences can be adjusted in account settings online.

• Use cookies or similar technologies on the website and in marketing emails, including analytic cookies.

When you give consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us, for instance by emailing sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk. If you do so we can only continue to use your data if another legal basis applies, such as when we’re required to do something by law.

Nevertheless, you have an absolute right to opt-out of direct marketing, including profiling for direct marketing purposes, at any time. You can opt out of marketing by selecting “unsubscribe” in emails or by adjusting the preference settings on your account or by emailing sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk

When the law requires us to process your data we will do so.  This can include

Legal, compliance, regulatory and investigative purposes, including for government agencies and law enforcement.

• When you exercise your rights under data protection legislation, including when you ask to subscribe or unsubscribe from our marketing communications.

Data Sharing

We use third party providers for the following services:

• Customer surveys
• IT development, support, maintenance and hosting, including the provision of applications and website hosting
• Payments’ processing to enable you to pay by credit or debit card

If our business is to be sold, your details would be shared with our advisers and any prospective purchaser’s advisers. Your information will be passed to the new owners and you would be notified.

Personal data may be shared with government authorities and/or law enforcement officials for the prevention or detection of crime, if required by law or if required for a legal or contractual claim.

International Transfers

We do not send or store your data outside of the European Economic Area.

Data Retention

We keep your data to enable us to fulfil our contract with you or to provide services, whilst you are an active user of our products and services, where required by law or to protect legal rights.

We always look to keep your data for the minimum time in line with data protection principles and our processes. For example, we keep:

• Information on AFS account holders.
• Records of payment information in line with tax law and audit requirements.
• Customer feedback and correspondence with our marketing team for up to 4 years afterwards, depending on the nature of the interaction and any applicable law, such as health and safety. This enables us to respond to any questions or complaints.

If you unsubscribe from marketing communications we keep a record of this request indefinitely to ensure we do not send you direct marketing again. We may keep your data for longer if we cannot delete it for legal, regulatory or technical reasons.

Your Rights

You have rights over your personal data. You can:

• ask for a copy of your information;
• ask for information to be corrected;
• ask for information to be erased or deleted;
• ask for us to limit or restrict processing;
• object to us processing your data, in particular where we use the data for marketing purposes. The right to object does not apply if we must process the data to meet a contractual or legal requirement;
• ask us to send you a copy in a structured digital format or ask for us to send it to another party.

Some rights, however, may be limited. We may be obliged by law or regulation to keep information. We must respect other people’s privacy as well, which means we may need to redact or remove information where it includes personal data about someone else, even if it is connected to your data. On occasion there may be a compelling legitimate interest to keep processing data.

If you want a copy of your data, to object to how we use your data, or ask us to delete it or restrict how we use it or, please see ‘Contact details’ below. To process a request from you, we may need to confirm your identity to ensure we’re accessing the right data.

You have a right to complain to the relevant data protection authority. This can be where you live, work or where the matter occurred. In the UK, the authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (the “ICO”).

How We Use Cookies

A cookie is a small 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. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. 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.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. 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. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

For the exhaustive list of cookies we use see the table at the bottom of this page.

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.

Contact Details

To exercise any of your rights or to withdraw consent you can email: sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk.  To discuss or change your AFS account details, including preference settings, you can log into ‘My Account’ and go to (account information) or contact customer services at sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk. For any queries relating to data protection please contact sales@abrasive-systems.co.uk or by writing to Abrasive Finishing Systems, The Old Sawmills, West Tanfield, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 5JU.

If we make any changes or updates to this notice we will update the terms on our website.

List of Cookies We Collect

The table below lists the cookies we collect and what information they store.