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Use of this site (the Virtual Learning Centre / baillie.org.uk) is provided by Baillie Consulting Ltd. This is our policy on how your personal information will be treated. You should also read the Terms and Conditions and Ground Rules.

Baillie Consulting Ltd is registered as a Data Controller under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 (Registration Number: Z1932356). 

Statement of intent:

  • From time to time, you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (eg. name and email address etc) in order to receive or use services on this website. Such services include newsletters, live chats, discussion forums and membership/account details.
  • By entering your details in the fields requested, you enable the Virtual Learning Centre to provide you with the services you select. Whenever you provide such personal information, we will treat that information in accordance with this policy.
  • Our services are designed to give you the information that you want to receive. The Virtual Learning Centre will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice.

Privacy Statement:

  • Your personal details will be treated with respect, as well as treated in accordance with the law. During the course of any visit to baillie.org.uk, the pages you see, along with something called a cookie, are downloaded to your computer. If you need more information on a "Cookie" see below. Most, if not all, websites do this, because cookies allow the website publisher to do useful things like find out whether the computer (and probably its user) has visited the site before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the last visit.

Visitors to this website:

  • Cookies are stored within your web browser and identify your computer to our server. They also allow us to record how frequently you visit the site and the areas you navigate within it. You can check the cookie in your web browser to ensure that the information record is correct (see below).

Personal Information:

  • baillie.org.uk will always ask for your consent to hold your personal details. These details will automatically be checked against the data contained within your Cookie. To ensure that we have the exact information, when you submit personal information to us, we suggest that you look through the cookies in your computer to make sure that it is correct.
  • Your personal details will never be supplied to anyone without first obtaining your consent, unless we are obliged or permitted by law to disclose it. Also, if you post or send offensive or inappropriate content anywhere on or to the Virtual Learning Centre or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on the VLC, and we consider such behaviour to be serious and/or repeated, we will use whatever information that is available to us about you to stop such behaviour. This may include informing relevant third parties such as your employer, the University or e-mail provider about the content and your behaviour.
  • We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as you use the service(s) you have requested, and remove it in the event that the purpose has been met, or, in the case of VLC membership you no longer wish to continue your registration as a member.

What we collect:

  • baillie.org.uk uses your information to understand better your needs and provide you with better service. Specifically, we use your information to help you complete a transaction, to communicate back to you, to update you on service and benefits, and to personalise the website for you.

How we use it:

  • We will keep a record of your details. If you sign up to our newsletters your details will not be passed on to third parties. On this website, you can, make requests, download data and register to receive materials. The types of personal information collected at these pages are name, contact information, the type of request made and data downloaded.

Accuracy:

  • Once your personal details are held on the database we are obligated under the law to hold accurate information, and to let you know what we are keeping about you if you want to know. You can find out about the information we hold on you be e-mailing us at webmaster@baillie.org.uk. The law gives us up to forty days from receipt of your e-mail to respond to your request. We will endeavour to send the information you require within 21 days.

Newsletters:

  • From time to time, we may use your information to contact you by email. This will usually be for "service administration purposes". This means that we may contact you for a number of purposes related to the services you have signed up for. For example, it may be necessary to provide you with password reminders or notify you that the particular service has been suspended for maintenance.
  • If you reply to a message in any of the Discussion Forums, you are automatically subscribed to that Forum. This will result in you receiving emails of subsequent posts. Each of these Forum emails has details of how to unsubscribe.

Market Research:

  • From time to time, we may use your information to contact you for market research or to provide you with marketing information and newsletters. We will always give you the opportunity to opt out of receiving such direct marketing or market research contact. We will not sell, rent or lease your personally identifiable information to others unless we have your permission or are required by law.
  • If you do not want to receive e-mails from us you can stop them by simply returning it to us with the word UNSUBSCRIBE clearly marked in the Subject Heading.

The VLC Toolbar

The VLC Toolbar is made and supplied by Conduit.com. Like us, they are committed to your privacy and security. The software is completely safe to install and use: it is unobtrusive, easy to deactivate and remove, and does not transmit any information in a manner that can identify a user. Unidentifiable statistics are sent to Conduit's system regarding usage of toolbar features. The statistics are completely anonymous and do not contain any personal identification. They do not match individual users with their specific Web or toolbar usage and don't share the specifics with anybody. Most importantly, their software does only what it's supposed to do - help users search and surf more effectively. Moreover, the toolbar:

  • DOES NOT spy on your browsing habits.
  • DOES NOT launch pop-up or pop-under advertisements. Conduit's business model is based on displaying sponsored links on search results pages (advertisers pay per click, not per appearance).
  • DOES NOT "hijack" your searches.
  • DOES NOT modify pages you visit.
  • DOES NOT block uninstallation. The toolbar can be removed in seconds by using a standard uninstaller.
  • DOES NOT create security holes: The toolbar will not make it easier for other people or programs to access your computer.
  • DOES NOT and will not sell or rent your email address and other personal information.

Cookies:

In order to use this site, you must have cookies enabled in your browser. How to do this varies a bit from one browser version to another. Here are some step-by-step instructions for the most popular browsers.

  • When you enter this site your computer will automatically be issued with a cookie. Cookies are text files that identify your computer to our server.
  • Cookies in themselves do not identify the individual user, just the computer used. Many sites do this whenever a user visits their site in order to track traffic flows.
  • Cookies only record those areas of the site that have been visited by the computer in question, and for how long. Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these, of course, means that certain personalised services cannot then be provided to that user.
  • NB: Even if you haven't set your computer to reject cookies you can still browse our site anonymously until such time as you register for an account.
  • The Virtual Learning Centre - http://learningcentre.baillie.org.uk - uses two cookies:
    • The essential one is the session cookie, usually called MoodleSession. You must allow this cookie into your browser to provide continuity and maintain your login from page to page. When you log out or close the browser this cookie is destroyed (in your browser and on the server).
    • The other cookie is purely for convenience, usually called something like MOODLEID. It just remembers your username within the browser. This means when you return to this site the username field on the login page will be already filled out for you. It is safe to refuse this cookie - you will just have to retype your username every time you log in.

How to find and control your cookies

If you're using Netscape 6.0:
On your Task Bar, click:
1. Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Click on Cookies

If you're using Internet Explorer 6.0:
1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Privacy Tab
4. Click on Custom Level
5. Click on the 'Advanced' button
6. Check the 'override automatic cookie handing' box and select Accept, Block or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.5:
1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Security tab
4. Click on Custom Level
5. Scroll down to the sixth option to see how cookies are handled by IE5 and change to Accept, Disable, or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0:
1. Choose View, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Advanced tab
4. Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security and choose one of the three options to regulate your use of cookies.

In Internet Explorer 3.0:
You can View, Options, Advanced, then click on the button that says Warn before Accepting Cookies.

If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0:
On your Task Bar, click:
1. Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Set your options in the box that says Cookies.

How do you know which of the sites you've visited use cookies?

If you're using Netscape 6.0:
On your Task Bar, click:
1. Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Click on Cookies
5. Click the View Cookies button

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 6.0:
1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the General tab
4. Click Settings
5. View Files

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0:
On your Task Bar, click:
1. View, then
2. Internet Options
3. Under the tab General (the default tab) click
4. Settings
5. View Files.

Internet Explorer 3.0:
On your Task Bar, click:
1. View
2. Options
3. Advanced
4. View Files.

Netscape Communicator 4.0:
Netscape bundles all cookies into one file on your hard drive. You'll need to find the file, which it calls Cookie.txt on Windows machines.

How to see your cookie code

Just click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.

Related reading:

Deborah Baillie
for and on behalf of Baillie Consulting Ltd.

Date of Original Privacy Policy: September 2003
The last revision (date/time) is shown below (Last modified)

Last modified: Monday, 5 October 2009, 09:33 PM