Privacy Policy

Updated September 2024

Gigaclear is committed to protecting your personal data and privacy. This policy tells you how we process your data – what data we collect, how we process it, protect it and what rights you have.  

In this policy: 

We are Gigaclear Ltd of Building One, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1UQ.  Where we refer to ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’, this means Gigaclear and our group companies. You are an individual about whom we hold personal information for one of the following reasons: 

• You are a customer, or prospective customer of Gigaclear or one of our group companies who enters a contract with us for our products or services; 
• You have a contract, or are discussing arrangements with us, for access to your property to install our network;  
• You visit www.gigaclear.com (our “site”);  
• You have communicated with us at an event, or by phone, email, social media, surveys or other means for any reason.         
   

Gigaclear Ltd is regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller (registration number Z330727X) and by Ofcom as a provider of Electronic Communications Services. We are a member of the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA).  

Please read this policy carefully to understand what data we collect and how we will treat it. By visiting our site and/or buying services from us, you confirm that you have read and understood the practices described in this policy. Should you have any queries or concerns then please contact our Data Protection Office at DPO@gigaclear.com 

OUR DATA PROTECTION PRINCIPLES 

Gigaclear have several key principles in relation to the processing of personal data; 

• We will be fair, lawful and transparent about how we use your personal data 
• We will only use your personal data for the purpose we collected it 
• We will only collect and process the minimum amount of personal data we need for that purpose 
• We will always ensure your personal data is accurate 
• We will only keep your personal data for as long as we need it 
• We will always ensure that we keep your personal data secure 

INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT FROM YOU 

We collect and process your data in several ways. Generally this is to provide you with the product or service you need or have asked for and to operate our communications network.

Types of information we collect.  

The information we collect may include; 

• contact details (your name, address, email, social media handle and phone numbers)  
• bank account details 
• health information and information about special requirements for vulnerable customers with your explicit consent
• details of calls made using our Network and Home Phone service for connecting and billing purposes 
• details of products and services you have with us 
• call recordings with Customer Services and Sales
• cctv images if you visit our offices or are in view of our vehicles which are fitted with dashcams
• property or land ownership for wayleave administration
• details of any correspondence you have with us
• your preferences and consents

Information you give us. 

You may give us information in several ways. These might include; 

• filling in forms on our site or in person 
• corresponding with us by phone, email, live-chat or otherwise 
• via our social media pages 
• when you register interest in or purchase a product or service from us 
• when you use our products and services 
• via surveys, reviews and referrals 
• at events we host 

We may also collect information you provide when you engage with us to discuss access to your property or land, applying for Gigabit Broadband Vouchers or when you report a problem with our communications equipment or network. 

Information we may collect about you on our website.

When you visit our site, we may automatically collect the following information: 

• limited personal, mostly anonymous technical information, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform;  
• anonymous information about your visit, including the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL) you access, through and from our site (including date and time); products you viewed or searched for; page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page and any phone number used to call our customer service numbers.  

This information is predominantly collected using cookies and similar technologies. It is generally only used to enhance the way you can access and view our websites and to provide anonymous site statistics. For more information please refer to our cookie policy. The Cookie settings will allow you to control what information is used. Our policy is to only activate strictly necessary cookies as a default and to provide you with the option to consent to optional cookies. You are in control of the cookies on our site.

We do not currently respond to DNT (Do Not Track) technology. 

Information we may collect about you from emails. 

When you receive an email from us, we may automatically collect the following information: 

• whether they are delivered to you 
• whether you open them (and time and date of opening) 
• what links you click on 
• details of the type of device you have viewed on 
• this information is used for analytical purposes to allow us to improve our service and communications to you 

Information we may collect about you from social media. 

When you interact with one of our social media pages (including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) we may automatically collect the following information: 

• posts you make 
• comments you make 
• name/profile handle 

This information is used to respond to comments and posts and to help us understand what is being said about our company, our products and our services. Social media sites will also have their own privacy policies and settings that allow you to have more control over your privacy.  

Information we receive from other sources. 

We may obtain information about you from the following sources: 

• public sources such as the Land Registry (to help us identify landowners for our network build) 
• government - Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (to administer Gigabit Broadband Vouchers) You can view their privacy policy here 
• if you use any of the other websites we operate or the other services we provide - in this case we will have informed you when we collected that data that it may be shared internally and combined with data collected on this site
• third parties we work with including, for example;  
  • business partners and sub-contractors  
  • suppliers 
  • payment and delivery services  
  • advertising networks  
  • social media networks and public posts 
  • analytics providers  
  • search information providers  
  • tracing and fraud prevention providers 
  • credit reference agencies  
  • debt recovery agencies
  • data agencies (to maintain accuracy of data)

Communications data.  

We may collect and retain certain types of communications data: 

• traffic management and usage data (to manage the operation of our network)
• call data to enable us to provide accurate billing in our Home Phone service
• information about the IP address assigned to your account
• the number and type of devices which you allow to connect to your broadband service, to help us with diagnostics.

Information collected by third parties

Please note that third party service providers such as telephone, mobile phone, wi-fi or other communications service providers which provide a service to you using Gigaclear’s Broadband, may also separately collect, access and retain data about you and your use of services across the Internet. They are controllers of the data they collect about you and you should ask them about their privacy policy. 

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partners, advertisers and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal or confidential data to these websites. 

OUR USE OF YOUR INFORMATION  

This section explains how we will use your information and the legal basis we rely on to allow us to do that. We use information held about you in the following ways: 

Information you give to us. 

We will use this information: 

• to carry out our obligations and to enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered between you and us and to provide you with the information, products and services that you request from us as part of those contracts (e.g., to install services or deliver products, billing) 
• to participate in the One Touch Switch scheme, where you request that
• to notify you about changes to our service (e.g., terms and conditions, this privacy policy) 
• to notify you about network maintenance, planned and unplanned outages (this may include sharing information securely with contractors who are carrying out this work on our behalf)
• to arrange access to your property for essential maintenance and repair 
• to manage Network Access Agreements. This may include sharing your information with other utility providers if we are using their infrastructure to deploy our network (e.g., shared ducts, poles). This information will not be used for any other purpose and is securely processed. 
• to provide you with information about other services we offer, upgrades, special offers, events and other promotions 
• to respond to any queries, complaints and requests 
• to send you surveys from time to time 
• to apply for Gigabit Broadband Vouchers on your behalf with your consent. This data will be shared with the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) to administer the voucher scheme. For more information about how the DSIT process your data please click here 
• to monitor the performance of our network build contractors 
• to ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer or device 
• to comply with any legal obligations we have because we run a business and because we are an Internet Service Provider and an Electronic Communications Provider 
• to invite you to and manage community events
• to use cctv images for security and evidence where required and appropriate

If you communicate with us about our network build we will use your contact information to communicate with you and where necessary to ensure that our contractors communicate with you to investigate a complaint or rectify an issue.  We will use your information to inform our quality control and management of our business and as part of our duties to promote health and safety at work. 

We do not monitor what you do on the internet or home phone services, i.e. what web sites you visit or the content of your emails, messages or calls. 

THE LEGAL BASIS OF OUR USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

When using your information, we do so primarily to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations.  

Where you have contacted us requesting information, or provided us your data for other purposes we will rely on legitimate interests to fulfil this for you. You will always have the right to object.  

Where we require your consent (for example if we used third party data), we will use your information in accordance with that consent.  

Where the data is classified as special category (e.g., physical or mental health) we will seek your explicit consent. We will use this information in our efforts to support vulnerable customers.

We also use your information to enable us to run our business and to ensure the quality of our work. It is in our legitimate business interests to do this where this does not materially impact on your freedoms or rights.  This would include using your information to assist the good governance of our business, provide you with the information you need, have asked for or would reasonably expect, management, accounting and auditing of our business and, for example, to monitor the service provided to us by third parties or when analysing traffic flows on our network to ensure all our customers have optimal service. We will always inform you when we rely on our legitimate interests and provide you the right to object.

SHARING YOUR INFORMATION  

We may share your information with any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006. 

We will not share your information for marketing purposes with companies outside our group unless we have specifically asked for your consent to do this. 

We will rely on our legitimate interests and the need to fulfil our contract with you to share your information with selected third parties including: 

• business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter with you.  This includes our installation partners who will connect you to our broadband service and operatives who may enter your property to install or repair our network.  Third party suppliers will only be given access to your information for the purpose and the duration necessary and will be required to comply with our requirements regarding confidentiality and security of your information 
• the One Touch Switching Company, in order to participate in the scheme to enable easier switching between providers
• our professional advisers, to enable them to provide legal, accountancy and insurance services to our business 
• regulators, Government and Local Councils where legally or contractually required to monitor and report on network build status and related matters 
• analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site 
• credit reference agencies for assessing your credit score where this is a condition of us entering a contract with you 
• tracing and fraud prevention partners 
• debt recovery partners

We may also disclose your information to third parties, relying on our legitimate interests and our duty to comply with legal obligations: 

• if we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your information to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets
• if Gigaclear or substantially all its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case the information we hold about our customers will be one of the transferred assets
• if we are under a duty to disclose or share information to comply with any legal obligation, or to enforce or apply our standard terms and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Gigaclear, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction
• to comply with any legal and regulatory obligations we have as an Internet Service Provider and an Electronic Communications Provider

PROCESSING YOUR INFORMATION 

All information we process about you is held securely. 

Any payment transactions will be made using authorised 3rd party payment gateways using appropriate encryption. The privacy policy of the appropriate provider will be displayed at the time of transaction. 

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone. 

The data that we collect from you is primarily stored and managed in the UK, but some of our systems and other suppliers may transfer and store your information outside the UK. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and to the same standards as if it were being processed inside the UK in a way that is compliant with all applicable legislation governing data protection and security. 

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your information, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk.  Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access. 

RETENTION OF YOUR INFORMATION 

We will only keep your data for as long as is necessary depending on the purpose for which we collected it. At the end of that period, we will either delete the information completely or anonymise it for statistical analysis and business planning. 

As a customer we will retain your data for the duration of your contract with us and for 6 years post cancellation.

If you have a Network Access Agreement with us, we need to keep details of our agreement for as long as the equipment remains installed in your property.  We also keep contact details for you in case we need to access your property for repairs or maintenance. 

We ask that you help us to keep that information accurate and up to date and if you sell your property, we request that you inform the new owner of our agreement (as it will apply to them) and ask them to get in touch with us. 

YOUR RIGHTS 

You have the following rights in relation to your information that we collect and process: 

For your security we may request verification prior to actioning your request.  For more information or to exercise any of these rights please contact us at DPO@gigaclear.com or click here. 

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY 

We will regularly review and update this policy. Any changes we make will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy. 

Previous changes to this policy are listed below 

• September 2024 - To include One Touch Switching
• April 2024 - Updates to lawful basis of processing, general updates to collection and use of data
• July 2023 - General Updates
• January 2022  - Addition of privacy details relating to Home Phone services General Updates
• April 2021 - Our Privacy Principles, a more detailed explanation of your rights, The Information Commissioner’s Office Contact Details, Details about the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme
• May 2018 - Privacy Policy updated to reflect GDPR

CONTACT 

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to dpo@gigaclear.com or in writing to; 

The Data Protection Office

Gigaclear Ltd,  

Building One, 

Wyndyke Furlong, 

Abingdon, Oxfordshire,  

OX14 1UQ   

Our telephone number is 01865 591100 

COMPLAINTS 

In the unfortunate event that you wish to complain about the way we’ve processed your data you can contact the regulator below; 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) 

Click here or call their helpline on 0303 123 1113. 

Our ICO registration number is Z330727X 

COOKIES 

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and allows us to improve our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.