Privacy Policy

Our data promise

We promise that we will tell you how we’ll use your data to improve the service and prices we provide to you and your business. We promise to collect and store your data securely and we give you the ability to control how we use it.

Keeping your data safe

We only collect and retain the data we need for as long as we need it. We do need to store the name, address, email and telephone number you provide when you place an order or request a quotation in order to provide our service to you. We do not store sensitive data, such as credit card details, so you will need to provide these each time you order.

Sometimes we may need to let others have access to certain data (such as to allow our courier to deliver to you, or to process your transaction) but we are very careful about who we let near your data, how they can use it and how that data is transferred securely.

Giving you control of your data

We may use the data you provide us with to let you know about our services or keep you updated on additions to our range or other offers. We might also pass your details to authorised third parties, such as Feefo, to allow you to give us feedback on our service so we can improve the level of service we provide.

If you would like to stop receiving marketing from us, you can do so in several ways. For emails, you can click the unsubscribe link found in the footer of every marketing email we send, or you can change your email preferences in the My Account section. You can’t unsubscribe from our non-marketing transactional emails as we need to use these to keep you informed about the delivery of your goods.

For direct mail, such as our brochures, please contact us at sales@thesmartgroup.ie, call us or provide your details via live chat and we will be happy to change your marketing preferences. Please note that it can take a couple of weeks for you to stop receiving marketing due to the time it can take to produce mailing lists and print envelopes.

Personal data we collect

In order to provide you with an effective service to handle your requirements, we need to collect some personal data. By “personal data” we mean data that lets us identify you as an individual, either on its own or by using it in combination with our data sources. As we are a business-to-business retailer, most of the personal data we collect generally refers to your business address, business email and business telephone, but it could also include your mobile phone if you provide it so our couriers can send you text alerts.

Examples of personal data we may hold

Your data is stored both on-site, where access is restricted to authorised persons, and off-site where it may be stored in backups or passed to essential third parties, such as payment providers, accountants or couriers who require it to handle your order or payment.
The period for which we retain your data depends on the nature of the data collected. In many cases we have a legal obligation to retain such data to comply with tax and other laws, we may also need to retain this to protect our business interests.

How we use personal data

We comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which allow us to lawfully use your data on grounds of legitimate interest, rather than specific consent. As always, we give you the control over your data and how it is used, and you are free to opt-out if you wish.

To process your business requests

If you request a quotation, place an order, request a catalogue, sign up for our newsletter, or similar, we need to store the personal data you provide. This is in order to provide you with the service you are requesting. The personal data we use is typically your name, work address, work telephone and work email, but might include your home address, personal email or personal mobile phone number if you provided them instead.

To manage our relationship with you

Sometimes we might need to contact you for operational or administrative reasons. For example, we may need to get in touch if there’s been a problem or delay with your order or an issue with your payment. These communications are essential and are not for marketing purposes, so you’ll continue to receive them even if you opt-out of marketing.

To inform you of news and offers

We may send you direct or email marketing communications after you place an order, request a quotation or request a copy of our catalogue, or if you sign up for updates. We may combine your personal data with your purchase history to make this content more relevant to your business.

If you do not want to receive marketing communications you can opt-out at any time by changing your preferences in My Account, by calling us or by sending your details via live chat or email to sales@thesmartgroup.ie Please note that it can take up to two weeks for this to take effect for direct marketing.

Sometimes we might need to contact you for operational or administrative reasons. For example, we may need to get in touch if there’s been a problem or delay with your order or an issue with your payment, or to let you know that your online quotation is ready. These communications are essential to provide the service you requested and are not for marketing purposes, so you’ll continue to receive them even if you opt-out of marketing.

To protect our business interests

We need to maintain some data to protect our business interests. For example, we may collect your IP address and other details about security checks you pass or fail to ensure that we protect against fraud. We may also use your data for statistical and marketing analysis and to ensure we provide an effective service to you and other customers.

To comply with the law

By law, we need to keep some of your data, especially any history of financial transactions and credit with us, for auditing purposes. In certain cases, we may also be asked to provide data for legal purposes.

What are legitimate interests?

Guidelines state that legitimate interests are one of the six lawful bases for processing personal data. Legitimate interests allow a business to process your data without specific consent when there is a relevant and appropriate relationship between the business and the individual.

Many businesses use legitimate interests as a way of marketing to their customers without specific consent by making this transparent and providing customers with the opportunity to opt-out if they wish. As outlined in this Privacy Policy, we are transparent about the data we hold, how we use it, who we share it with and how you can opt-out. You can find out more about legitimate interests at the Consumer information Authority.

Accessing the data we hold

You have the right to request access to the data held on you. To obtain a copy of the data we hold upon you, please contact us in writing. For security reasons, you will be asked to provide proof of identity. For further information, please contact us at data.protection@thesmartgroup.ie and we will provide an application form including the requirements you will need to fill in order for us to release this confidential information.

How we look after the data we hold

We take the appropriate technical and operational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access. One of the main ways we protect the personal data we hold is to limit what we collect and store to the essential data required to provide an effective business service. Only authorised staff are able to access your personal data and we only share data with third parties when required to do so for operational, business or legal purposes.

We are compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) guidelines and use advanced security technologies and adopt strict security policies to help protect against breaches of card data. We use strong encryption on our website to ensure the data you submit is encrypted en-route. For additional protection, we don’t store your card details and you will need to provide them each time you order.

How we use cookies

We use cookies to improve the user experience and allow the site to function, in-line with other websites. These text files are stored in your browser and hold information, such as your basket contents so that you’re able to shop easily. We also use other cookies to help us improve the site and our marketing to make your shopping experience better.

Our cookies include functional “session-based” cookies which allow you to use the site; analytics cookies to help us anonymously monitor and improve the customer experience; and anonymous cookies to help us measure the performance of our marketing. None of our cookies hold any personally identifiable information. You may choose to block cookies, but you may find the site does not function as intended.

How we may share your data

We are very careful about who has access to your data within our organisation, so only the relevant staff who require access to your details can see them. Sometimes we may also need to share your details with carefully-vetted third parties in order to provide you with our services. Typical examples of this include:
• Couriers – Our couriers need your name, address details and phone number so they can deliver your order and can contact you in the event of a problem.
• Accountants – Our accountants require your name, address and order history to process our management accounts.
• Payment handler – Our payment handler, Stripe, requires your card details to handle your process your payment. We do not store your card details.
• Printers – Our printer needs your name and address in order to send any direct mail marketing communications, such as our annual Display Buyers’ Guide.
• IT providers – Although they do not access your data itself, our IT providers maintain the hardware and software where your data is held and processed.
• Review sites – Review sites, such as Feefo, may get temporary access to your email to request your feedback on our products and services. You can opt-out of these.
• Online services – Online services, such as our live chat system, may have access to your email if you provide it. This lets us contact you to assist you with your query.
• Analytics platforms – Our analytics platform, Google Analytics, is used to help us monitor site performance and make the experience better for customers. We comply with Google’s terms and anonymise data and never store personally identifiable information (PII).

Contacting us about your data

If you have a specific question about our privacy policy or the way in which we use your data, please contact us at data.protection@thesmartgroup.ie