Your privacy is important, so we'd like to explain what information we collect when you visit Maplin Electronics (http://www.maplin.co.uk), why we collect it and how it is used. We'd also like to explain your options to access and control your information, our data security practices and other matters. This Policy is governed by our Terms of Service.

THE PRIVACYBOT TRUSTMARK

We have registered with PrivacyBot.com, an independent privacy seal program. We display the PrivacyBot Trustmark to show our commitment to good privacy practices. Click the Trustmark to see our standing with PrivacyBot.

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT CHILDREN

This Site is not intended for children, especially people under 13. Children may use this Site only with the direct supervision of their parent.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT FROM YOU? WHY?

We May Profile You Individually.

We may build a profile of your online habits, interests and activities when you use our Site. This profile is linked to your personal identity. We compile individual profiles from "real world" contact information (e.g., street address, phone/fax), user navigation and browsing patterns, data showing usage of interactive features (e.g., search engine queries), and we use these profiles for the purposes described below (please scroll down to each topic for details).

We May Collect Information Needed to Contact You Later:

If we collect personal contact information (as described below), you may later access it, however, you may not modify or remove it from our system yourself.

We May Collect Your Name, Address and Phone Number. When you use our Site, we may request your name, street address, telephone number or other "real world" contact information. This information may reveal your identity or be linked to you personally. We use this information to complete and support the immediate activity requested, administer and run the Site, build individual profiles for ongoing research, analysis and reporting, and to comply with any requirements of law. This information may be aggregated with similar data in a manner that does not reveal your personal identity and may be disclosed only to our staff and to our immediate agents.

We May Collect Your Email Address. We may request your email address or other information needed to contact you online. This information may reveal who you are or be linked to you personally. We use it to complete and support the immediate activity requested, and to comply with any requirements of law. This information may be aggregated with similar data in a manner that does not reveal your personal identity and may be disclosed only to our staff and to our immediate agents.

We May Collect Other Kinds of Information from You:

When you use our Site, we may collect personal information about you described below. You may later access the information. However, you may not modify or remove it from the system yourself.

You May be Prompted for a UserID and Password. We may ask you to enter a web site ID, password, or other personal identifier, so we can recognize you. We use this information to complete and support the immediate activity requested, and to comply with any requirements of law. This information may be aggregated with similar data in a manner that does not reveal your personal identity and may be disclosed only to our staff and to our immediate agents.

We May Collect Purchase Information. We may collect information resulting from a specific purchase you make, such as payment method and credit card numbers, associated with your personal identity. We use this information to complete and support the immediate activity requested, and to comply with any requirements of law. This information may be aggregated with similar data in a manner that does not reveal your personal identity and may be disclosed only to our staff and to our immediate agents.

We May Collect Navigation and Clickstream Data. As you browse our Site, we may gather navigational and clickstream data that shows what pages are visited and how long various features are used. In some cases, this information may reveal your identity or be linked to you personally. We use this information to improve the Site for everyone, build individual profiles for ongoing research, analysis and reporting, and to comply with any requirements of law. This information may be aggregated with similar data in a manner that does not reveal your personal identity and may be disclosed only to our staff and to our immediate agents.

We May Collect Interactive Data. You may decide to input data while using certain interactive features at our Site, such as queries submitted to a search engine, bids placed at auction, purchases initiated at the Site and so forth. This information may reveal your identity or be linked to you personally. We use this information to build individual profiles for ongoing research, analysis and reporting, and to comply with any requirements of law. This information may be aggregated with similar data in a manner that does not reveal your personal identity and may be disclosed only to our staff and to our immediate agents.

CERTAIN EXCEPTIONAL DISCLOSURES

We may disclose your information if necessary to protect our legal rights or if the information relates to actual or threatened harmful conduct. Disclosure may be required by law or if we receive legal process.

WHAT ARE COOKIES? WHY DO WE USE THEM?

Cookies are small files stored by your browser in your computer when you visit our Site. We use cookies to improve our Site and make it easier to use. Cookies permit us to recognize users and avoid repetitive requests for the same information. We also use cookies to help build a personal profile of your online habits, interests and activities as you navigate our site, which we use for general research, analysis and reporting. We mostly use "session cookies" that are automatically deleted after each visit. Cookies from our Site can't be read by other sites. Most browsers will accept cookies until you change browser settings to refuse them.

HOW DO WE PROTECT INFORMATION WE COLLECT?

We offer secure web pages to collect certain kinds of user information and we store certain kinds of data in encrypted form. We follow reasonable technical and management practices to help protect the confidentiality, security and integrity of data stored on our system. While no computer system is completely secure, we believe the measures implemented by our Site reduce the likelihood of security problems to a level appropriate to the type of data involved.

HOW LONG DO WE KEEP USER INFORMATION?

We generally keep user data on our server or in our archives for about one (1) year. We may alter this practice according to changing requirements. For example, we may delete some data if needed to free up storage space. We may keep other data for longer periods if the law requires it. In addition, information posted in a public forum could stay in the public domain indefinitely.

Data management requests are administered in an orderly manner to the extent feasible and within our direct control. Note: we have greater control over recently collected data than for archived data. Once data is removed from the system and archived, it may not be feasible to accommodate specific requests. In those cases, our general data retention policy applies.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

YOUR CONSENT TO THIS POLICY

By using our Site, you agree to this Policy. This is our entire and exclusive Privacy Policy and it supersedes any earlier version. Our Terms of Service take precedence over any conflicting Policy provision. We may change our Policy by posting a new version on our Site.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

This Site operates AS-IS and AS-AVAILABLE, without liability of any kind. We are not responsible for events beyond our direct control. This Policy is governed by English law, excluding conflicts of law principles. Any legal actions against us must be commenced in England within one year after the claim arose, or be barred.

IF YOU HAVE A PRIVACY QUESTION

If you have a privacy question about our Site, please email: webmaster@maplin.co.uk. Or write: Maplin Electronics Ltd, Attn: Content Manager, Brookfields Way, Manvers, Wath-upon-Dearne, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S63 5DL.

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