Privacy notice

We are committed to protecting your information and privacy.

This notice (together with our website terms of use) explains how we use and process personal information collected. It addresses the information provided to us:-

• When visiting our site
• Otherwise as a result of our communications with you or with one of our customers
• When subscribing to our email updates or other marketing activities.

It sets out how we process it, with who we may share it and the choices you can make regarding the use of the information collected. It does not apply to the personal information of staff in connection with employment, which is dealt with by a separate internal Human Resources privacy notice available to staff from our intranet/Human Resources.

We also describe measures taken to protect the security of the information provided and how you can contact us about our privacy practices. Please read it carefully to understand our views and practices about why personal information is collected, what we do with it and how we use it.

Technology and data privacy best practices are continually evolving areas. We reserve the right to revise this notice from time to time in consequence. Changes will be incorporated on this page. Please review it periodically. Further information about data privacy may be found in our client engagement letter sent to you along with our terms and conditions.

The last update was in August 2023.

For Data Protection legislation notification purposes we are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Our registration details are: C1374416

Thames Freeport is an economic zone connecting Ford’s world-class Dagenham engine plant to the global ports at London Gateway and Tilbury registered in England and Wales under company number 14071669 and has our registered office at Leslie Ford House, Tilbury, Essex, United Kingdom, RM18 7EH.

Our approach is to handle the minimum personal information necessary in a reasonable and proportionate way in order to preserve the rights and freedoms of data subjects.

We collect, retain and process personal information to enable us to conduct business as a customs zone.

We may collect personal information in a number of ways, including:

• Online via our site or any of our social media accounts such as LinkedIn
• In hard copy by fax or post, in person, or over the telephone
• Via phone recording in connection with our debt recovery services
• During the course of our dealings with you
• When you contact us via this site by filling in a form to register for newsletters, email updates, events sponsored by us, or other services
• When you contact us with queries, we may keep a record of that correspondence
• When you complete surveys for research or quality purposes, although you do not have to respond to them
• When you attend in person at one of our offices, including location data
• For placement, recruitment and selection purposes.

The type of information collected depends upon our relationship with you and the context in which we obtain and process your personal data.

Information collected and processed may include details of the following types of information:

• Contact information (name, address, (including postal and email addresses), telephone and fax numbers and gender)
• Occupational information, (job title, former job titles, organisational associations, professional experience and qualifications, interests and preferences where you advise us of these details in order to provide you with relevant tailored information about our services)
• Identification documents, including date of birth and photographic identification
• Online services in respect of which you have expressed an interest
• Other information collected and used in the course of our business, including (but without limitation) information concerning employees of our clients or those providing services to our clients and information about you which is publicly available and collected, directly or indirectly, from electronic data sources
• Details of your visits to our site, and the resources accessed, including traffic data, location data and other communication data
• Images captured by CCTV cameras at our offices
• Where necessary and legally permitted, we may also collect sensitive data, such as diversity and health data.

We use the information provided to:

• Ensure content from our site is presented in the most effective manner
• Contact you by email, fax, post or phone where you have provided contact details. We may also keep a record of that correspondence
• Notify you about changes to our service
• Improve our products and services
• Maintain internal records, including cancelled accounts
• Ensure good governance, accounting, management and auditing
• Carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between us
• Provide you with information, products or services which you request from us
• Send you information which you may find of interest where you have indicated your wish to be contacted for such purposes
• Assist with the recruitment and selection process
• Convert into anonymised, statistical or aggregated data which can’t be used to identify you but may be used for the purposes of statistics, research reporting and future planning for our business and strategic objectives
• Where we have other legitimate reasons, such as to enforce our terms of use or take other action required or permitted by law or for other safety and security reasons
• To respond to complaints against us
• We also process personal data in anonymised form for statistical and/or insurance purposes.

In providing our services, we may provide your personal information to staff in our offices or other third parties, such as:

• Any successors in title to our business, or as part of mergers
• To other suppliers, such as IT support service providers. When we do so, those other suppliers are required to act in accordance with our instructions and keep your personal information secure with an adequate level of protection
• To fraud prevention agencies
• To professional indemnity insurers, brokers, auditors and other professional advisers
• To our clients in connection with the provision of our services
• To other third parties when required by law or other regulatory authority, where we are under a duty to do so (for example to comply with anti-money laundering obligations and counter-terrorism measures)

The legal grounds for processing your personal data depend upon the nature of our relationship with you and the context of processing and are as follows:

• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you.
• Processing is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests, except where those interests are overridden by the interests, rights or freedoms of affected individuals. In order to determine this we shall weigh up a number of factors, including what you were told at the time you provided your data, what your reasonable expectations are, and the nature of the data as well as its impact upon you
• Processing is necessary for compliance with mandatory legal obligations to which we are subject.

We only retain your information for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was obtained. This could include compliance with legal obligations (by way of example, in relation to anti-money laundering regulations and counter-terrorist financing where we are required to keep information for minimum periods).

Where you provide personal information to us about other people, we accept it on the understanding that you have made the other person aware of how we will use and disclose their information.

Our services are not aimed at children.

There may be occasions when we need to transfer your personal information to countries outside the European Economic Area, (EEA) which do not provide the same level of data protection as in the UK. In these circumstances, we will take steps to ensure that your personal information is adequately protected by methods offering sufficient assurances and guarantees that the information is given the necessary safeguards to prevent it from accidental or unlawful, disclosure, access alteration or destruction.

We may provide you with information which we think you may find interesting via our newsletters, updates and other events. You can choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information for this purpose. You can ask us to change your preference for receiving such communications at any time.

Whenever you receive marketing communications from us, you will be able to indicate whether you wish to update your details or preferences.

If you would prefer not to receive this information please let us know via the contact form provided.

You have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.

When we collect contact information (for example when you pass us your business card at one of our events or meetings) we may add your details to our marketing database and mailing list. In all other cases if we intend to process your information for marketing we will inform you before collecting your information.

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.

We may include links on our site to enable you to access third party sites directly. If you follow any links, this privacy notice will not apply. Third party sites operate their own privacy policies regarding processing of personal information and the use of cookies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these external sites. We do not accept any responsibility for a third-party site or use of your information or their use of cookies.

You have the right to request details of personal information which we hold about you.

If you would like a copy of your personal information, please write to enquiries@thamesfreeport.com

You also have the right to correct or complete information held by us.

If you think any information we have about you is incorrect, incomplete or needs updating please also let us know. We will update any information as soon as possible.

You may also in certain circumstances:

• Request that we erase the personal data we hold about you
• Restrict its processing whilst we continue to hold it
• When we process your data by automated means, ask us to transmit that data to another data controller. If you wish to request this we will let you know whether this is possible, taking into account the compatibility of systems of the other data controller to whom you wish the transfer to be made
• Object to processing. If you raise such an objection we must stop unless we can demonstrate  an overriding legitimate business interest
• To have a decision taken by a human. We are however unlikely to take decisions which have a legal or similarly significant effect on you by automated means
• Have a right to be notified of a personal data breach if it results in a high risk to your rights and freedoms
• Right to withdraw your consent if you have given your consent to our processing of any of your personal data. (Please note that if you withdraw your consent, this will not affect the validity of any processing carried out prior to withdrawal).

These requests are free of charge.

Our contact information in connection with the exercise of these rights or other privacy issues appears at the bottom of this page.

If you consider we have breached our obligations in respect of your personal data you may raise your concerns with us. Alternatively, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office, (ICO) the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. Further details can be found at ico.org.uk

We have implemented controls around how we protect and handle personal information. We aim to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the personal information we handle whilst in our possession.

At the organisation level, we have implemented a suite of policies and procedures which support best practices, including Acceptable use and Information Security amongst others.

Personal information provided to us is held in our offices (in hard copy) or within secure servers within the United Kingdom (in electronic format).

The internet is a global environment. It can involve the transmission of data on an international basis. Transmission of information via the internet or any social media is not completely secure. By using our site and communicating with us electronically, you acknowledge and accept our processing of your personal information in this way.

Although we adopt appropriate organisational measures to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its security when sent to this site. Transmission is at your own risk.

Once your information is received by us either in electronic or physical form, we take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent unauthorised access and ensure your information is handled securely and in accordance with this privacy notice. We have put in place suitable electronic, physical and managerial procedures to protect and secure the information collected.

If you have any queries or requests regarding this notice, or our practices concerning your personal data, please contact enquiries@thamesfreeport.com or by using the contact form below.

We will take reasonable steps to resolve or answer concerns as soon as possible and normally within 30 days.