Privacy & Cookie Policy

1. Introduction

This notice informs you of our policy regarding information we hold and record about you. It sets out the conditions under which we may process personal information that you provide to us. It covers information that could identify you ("personal information") and information that could not. In the context of the law, "process" means to collect, store, transfer, use or otherwise act on information.

We take the protection of your privacy and confidentiality seriously. We understand that all visitors to our website are entitled to trust that their personal information will not be used for any purpose unintended by them, and will not accidentally be transferred to a third party.

Our policy complies with UK law including the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

2. Who We Are

Legal name: Shetland Tourism Association Email: info@shetlandsta.co.uk Postal address: Visit Scotland iCentre, Market Cross, Lerwick, ZE1 0LU

3. How We Process Information About You

The law requires that we process personal information under one of six defined bases and notify you of the basis for each category. If a basis changes, we shall notify you as required by law.

4. Information We Process as a Contractual Obligation

When you contact us about a service or agree to our terms, a contract is formed between you and us. We process your information to verify your identity, provide services, and offer suggestions. We may aggregate this data in an anonymous way to monitor performance.

5. Information We Process With Your Consent

When you browse our website or ask us for information, you provide consent to process your information. We aim to obtain explicit consent wherever possible. You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us or unsubscribing from emails.

6. Information We Process for Legitimate Interests

We may process information where there is a legitimate interest — for record-keeping, responding to unsolicited communication, protecting legal rights, managing business risk, or protecting your interests.

7. Information We Process Due to Legal Obligation

We may be required to process or share your information to comply with statutory obligations or if required by legal authorities with proper authorisation.

8. Sending a Message via Our Website

When you contact us by telephone, website or email, we collect the data you provide to reply with the information you need. We keep personally identifiable information (name and email) to track our communications and provide a high-quality service.

9. Complaints Regarding Content

If you complain about content on our website, we shall investigate and, if justified or legally required, remove the content while we investigate.

10. Complaints Received About Our Business

We record all information provided in a complaint and use it to resolve the matter. If we need to contact a third party, we share only the minimum necessary information. We may compile anonymous statistics from complaints to improve our service.

11. Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device by your web browser when you visit a website. They allow information from one page to be stored for use on another, enabling personalised experiences and website analytics.

Our website uses cookies placed by our own servers and by third-party services we use. Cookies may be used to track how you use our website, record messages displayed, or record your answers to surveys.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Restricting cookies may limit some website functionality.

12. Personal Identifiers From Your Browsing Activity

Requests by your web browser to our servers for web pages and other content on our website are recorded. We record information such as your geographical location, your Internet service provider and your IP address. We also record information about the software you use to browse the website, such as the type of computer or device and the screen resolution.

13. Our Use of Re-marketing

Re-marketing involves placing a cookie on your computer when you browse our website so that we can serve you a targeted advertisement at a later time. We may use a third-party to provide us with re-marketing services. If so, then if you have consented to our use of cookies, you may see advertisements for our products and services on other websites.

14. Disclosure and Sharing of Your Information

We do not share or sell your personal data to third parties except as described in this policy. We may share data with service providers who process it on our behalf under appropriate data processing agreements.

15. Access to Your Own Information

You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you. You also have the right to request correction of inaccurate information, erasure, restriction of processing, and data portability. Please contact us to exercise any of these rights.

16. Verification of Your Identity

Where we process personal data, we take reasonable steps to verify your identity before providing any information. This is to protect your privacy and to prevent data being provided to the wrong person.

17. Retention of Your Information

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

18. Changes to This Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.