Privacy & Cookie Policy

Please read this policy with great care

1.INTRODUCTION

This Privacy Policy (together with our terms and conditions and any other documents referred to in it) describes the type of information that we collect from you through the use of our services, or the use of our website here, how that information may be used or disclosed by us and the safeguards we use to protect it.

Our Website and Services may contain links to third party websites that are not covered by this Privacy Policy. We therefore ask you to review the privacy statements of other websites and applications to understand their information practices.

We have drafted this Privacy Policy to be as clear and concise as possible. Please read it carefully to understand our policies regarding your information and how we will treat it. By using or accessing our Website or the Services, you agree to the collection, use and disclosure of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time and your continued use of the Website or the Services is deemed to be acceptance of such changes, so please check periodically for updates.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 01/05/2020 to add new provisions to the policy applicable regarding GDPR. Please check back regularly to keep informed of updates to this Privacy Policy. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of our Website. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using our Website immediately.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk).

We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

If you have any comments or concerns on this Privacy Policy, please email them to service@commonwealthteacompany.com

2. WHO WE ARE

Here are the details that the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regards to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, known as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) says we have to give you as a ‘data controller’:

Our site address is International House, 142 Cromwell road, London SW17 4EF.

Our company name is The Commonwealth Tea Company.

Our registered address is International House 142 Cromwell Road, London SW17 4EF.

Our nominated representative is Richard Lycett and can be contacted at service@commonwealthteacompany.com

We respect your right to privacy and will only process personal information about OR provided by you in accordance with the Data Protection Legislation which for the purposes of this Privacy Policy shall mean: (i) unless and until the GDPR is no longer directly applicable in the UK, the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) and any national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK and then (ii) any successor legislation to the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 1998 and other applicable privacy laws.

3. WHAT WE MAY COLLECT

3.1 Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

3.2 We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

Identity Data includes first name, last name, username or similar identifier. When you email, phone, live chat or otherwise, we may collect information such as your first name, last name, email address and phone number.

Contact Data includes billing address, invoicing address, email address and telephone numbers.

Financial Data includes bank account and payment card details.

Transaction Data includes details about payments and other details of our Services you have purchased from us.

Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this Website.

Profile Data includes your username and password, reservations made by you, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.

Usage Data includes information about how you use our Website and Services.

Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

Interaction Data includes any information that you might provide to any discussion forums on the Website.

Cookies Data like many websites, we use “cookies” to enhance your experience and gather information about visitors and visits to our websites. Please refer to the “Do we use ‘cookies’?” section below for information about cookies and how we use them and what kind.

Third Parties and Information we receive from other sources. We may receive information about you through the 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 our Website. We are also working closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners, suppliers, sub-contractors, advertising networks, analytics providers, and search information providers) and may receive information about you from them.

Analytics includes third-party analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to evaluate your use of the Website, compile reports on activity, collect demographic data, analyse performance metrics, and collect and evaluate other information relating to our Website and internet usage. These third parties use cookies and other technologies to help analyse and provide us the data. By accessing and using the Website, you consent to the processing of data about you by these analytics providers in the manner and for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.

3.3 We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

3.4 We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.

3.5 Under GDPR we will ensure that your personal data is processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently, without adversely affecting your rights. We will only process your personal data if at least one of the following basis applies:

a) You have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes;

b) processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at the request of you prior to entering into a contract;

c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject;

d) processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of you or of another natural person;

e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller; and/or

f) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party such as our financial payments, except where such interests are overridden by the fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject, in particular where the data subject is a child.

3.6 If we receive personal information in the course of providing our Services to you from another data subject, we expect you to have complete responsibility for ensuring that the contents of this Privacy Policy are brought to their attention and you have obtained their consent in the process.

3.7 In some instances, it may be appropriate for us to combine your information with other information that we may be holding about you, such as combining your name with your geographic location or your browsing or purchasing history.

4. HOW WE MAY COLLECT AND USE YOUR DATA

4.1 We (or third party data processors, agents and sub-contractors acting on our behalf) may collect, store and use your personal information by way of different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Direct interactions. You may give us your information by consent when asked by our staff at till points, or whenever you complete forms via our Website or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:

a) present Website content;

b) use any of our Services;

c) create an account on our Website;

d) subscribe to our Services or publications;

e) request marketing to be sent to you;

f) enter a competition, promotion or survey;

g) give us some feedback;

h) purchase any of our products in store.

4.2 In addition to the above, we may use the information in the following ways:

a) to personalise your Website experience and to allow us to deliver the type of content and product offerings in which you are most interested;

b) to administer a contest, promotion, survey or other site feature;

c) if you have opted-in to receive our e-mail newsletter, we may send you periodic e-mails. If you would no longer like to receive promotional e-mail from us, please refer to the “How can you opt-out, remove or modify information you have provided to us?” section below. If you have not opted-in to receive e-mail newsletters, you will not receive these e-mails. Visitors who register or participate in other site features such as marketing programs and ‘members-only’ content will be given a choice whether they would like to be on our e-mail list and receive e-mail communications from us;

d) present Website content effectively to you;

e) provide information, and services that you request, or (with your consent) which we think may interest you;

f) carry out our contracts with you;

g) provide the relevant Services to you;

h) tell you our charges.

4.3 If you are already our customer, we will only contact you electronically about things similar to what was previously sold to you.

4.4 If you are a new customer, you will only be contacted if you agree to it.

4.5 We may keep a record of those links which are used the most to enable us to provide the most helpful information but we agree to keep such information confidential and you will not be identified from this information.

4.6 In addition, if you don’t want us to use your personal data for any of the other reasons set out in this section in 5, you can let us know at any time by contacting us at service@commonwealthtea.com , and we will delete your data from our systems. However, you acknowledge this will limit our ability to provide the best possible products and services to you.

4.7 In some cases, the collection of personal data may be a statutory or contractual requirement, and we will be limited in the products and services we can provide you if you don’t provide your personal data in these cases.

4.8 We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

a) where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you;

b) where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests;

c) where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

4.9 Generally we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data other than in relation to our marketing communications or sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us at service@commonwealthtea.com, and we will either delete your data from our systems or move your data to our “unsubscribe list”. However, you acknowledge this will limit our ability to provide the best possible services to you.

4.10 As already indicated above, with your permission and/or where permitted by law, we may also use your data for marketing purposes which may lead to us contacting you by email and/or telephone with information, news and offers on our Services. We agree that we will not do anything that we have not agreed to under this Privacy Policy, and we will not send you any unsolicited marketing or spam. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that we fully protect your rights and comply with our obligations under the GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, as amended in 2004, 2011 and 2015.

5. COOKIES

All Cookies used by and on our website are used in accordance with current English and EU Cookie Law.

The site uses cookies or similar technology to collect information about your access to the site. Cookies are pieces of information that include a unique reference code that a website transfers to your device to store and sometimes track information about you. A few of the cookies we use last only for the duration of your web session and expire when you close your browser. Other cookies are used to remember you when you return to the site and will last for longer. All cookies used on our site are set by both First Party Cookies by our eCommerce system (Shopify), our Analytics System (Google Analytic) and Third Party Cookies set by Advertising Networks, User Experience tracking and website monitoring systems. Most computer and some mobile web browsers automatically accept cookies but, if you prefer, you can change your browser to prevent that or to notify you each time a cookie is set. You can prevent the setting of cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser. Please note however, that by blocking or deleting cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of the site.

OUR COOKIES WILL BE USED FOR:

Essential session management

Creating a specific log-in session for a user of the site in order that the site remembers that a user is logged in and that their page requests are delivered in an effective, secure and consistent manner; recognising when a user of the site has visited before allowing us to identify the number of unique users we receive to the site and make sure we have enough capacity for the number of users that we get; recognising if a visitor to the site is registered with us in any way; we may also log information from your computer including the existence of cookies, your IP address and information about your browser program in order to allow us to diagnose problems, administer and track your usage of our site.

Functionality

Customising elements of the promotional layout and/or content of the pages of the site.

Performance and statistics

Collecting statistical information about how our users use the site so that we can improve the site and learn which parts are most popular to users.

Marketing

Allow for better targeted advertising to site users who have given consent by identifying unique sessions to control frequency of advertising. This will include re-marketing to consented site users to continue messaging the features and benefits of our products once they have visited.

FIRST AND THIRD PARTY COOKIES

We work with carefully selected suppliers who also use cookies on our website. These cookies enable certain features that are run in conjunction with partners such as Facebook, Bing, Instagram, Twitter, Yahoo and YouTube to function. We don’t control the setting of some of these cookies so for more information please visit the relevant third-party website. Below is a list of the main cookies that our partner suppliers use and what they use them for.

STATISTICAL, MARKETING & FUNCTIONAL COOKIES

– Bing Ads;

– Google Analytics;

– Google Tag Manager;

– Google Adwords;

– GA Audiences;

– Facebook Connect;

– Facebook Custom Audiences;

– Facebook Pixel;

– Pinterest;

– Yahoo;

– YouTube.

PAYMENT PROVIDER COOKIES

– Amazon.com;

– Eu.amazon.com;

– Google;

– PayPal;

– Stripe payment systems.

6. HOW WE USE WHAT WE COLLECT

We use information about you to:

– Present site content effectively to you. Provide information, products and services that you request, or (with your consent) which we think may interest you. Carry out our contracts with you. Allow you to use our interactive services if you want to. Tell you our charges. Tell you through advertising about offers and other goods and services that might interest you. We will also let other people do this, and we (or they) may contact you.

– If you are already our customer, we will only contact you electronically about things similar to what was previously sold to you.

– If you are a new customer, you will only be contacted if you agree to it.

Please note: We don’t identify individuals in our advertising, but we do use aggregate information to help them reach our audiences, and we may use information we have collected to display advertisements to that audience. In addition, if you don’t want us to use your personal data for any of the other reasons set out in this section in 5, you can let us know at any time by contacting us at service@commonwealthtea.com, and we will delete your data from our systems. However, you acknowledge this will limit our ability to provide the best possible commonwealth tea services to you. In some cases, the collection of personal data may be a statutory or contractual requirement, and we will be limited in the products and services we can provide you if you don’t provide your personal data in these cases.

If at any time you wish to disable our cookies, you may do so through the settings on your browser. However, if you choose to disable or delete our cookies that will prevent certain important areas and features of our service from functioning properly. (but if you do so you will not be able to use certain important features of our service). You can find additional information at AboutCookies.org.

Notwithstanding, the audit undertaken regarding our cookies, it is possible we may have missed one from our list above. If you happen to find one that is being set on our site, please let us know.

7. WHERE WE STORE YOUR DATA

7.1 We may transfer your collected data to storage outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It may be processed outside the EEA to fulfil your order and to receive our Services and deal with payment. If we do store or transfer data outside the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the EEA and under the GDPR. Such steps may include, but not be limited to, the use of legally binding contractual terms between us and any third parties we engage with and the use of the EU-approved Model Contractual Arrangements. Your acceptance of this Privacy Policy shall be your consent permitting us to store or transfer data outside the EEA if it is necessary for us to do so.

7.2 Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them if they are part of the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between the Europe and the US. For further details, see the European Commission: EU-US Privacy Shield.

7.3 Data security is of great importance to us, and to protect your data we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure data collected through our Website. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

7.4 We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

7.5 By giving us your personal data, you agree to this arrangement. We will do what we reasonably can to keep your data secure.

7.6 Any payments made by you, will be encrypted.

7.7 The website has extensive security measures such as a firewall to protect any data and maintain a high level of security.

7.8 Notwithstanding the security measures that we take, it is important to remember that the transmission of data via the internet may not be completely secure and that you are advised to take suitable precautions when transmitting to us data via the internet and you take the risk that any sending of that data turns out to be not secure despite our efforts.

7.9 If we give you a password upon registration on our Website, you must keep it confidential. Please don’t share it.

7.10 We will keep personal data for as long as is necessary which is usually the life of our relationship and up to a period of seven years after our relationship have ended. We may however be required to retain personal data for a longer period of time to ensure we comply with our legislative and regulatory requirements. We review our data retention obligations to ensure we are not retaining data for longer than we are legally obliged to.

8. DISCLOSING YOUR INFORMATION

We are allowed to disclose your information in the following cases:

– If we want to sell our business, or our company, we can disclose it to the potential buyer. We can disclose it to other businesses in our group. We can disclose it if we have a legal obligation to do so, or in order to protect other people’s property, safety or rights. We can exchange information with others to protect against fraud or credit risks.

– We may contract with third parties to supply services to you on our behalf. These may include payment processing, search engine facilities, advertising and marketing. In some cases, the third parties may require access to some or all of your data. These are the third parties that have access to your information:

– Amazon.com/Eu.amazon.com;

– Bing Ads;

– Facebook Inc;

– Google Inc;

– PayPal;

– Royal Mail;

– The Rocket Science Group LLC (“MailChimp”);

– Hotjar Ltd;

– Zendesk;

Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under GDPR and the law.

9. YOUR RIGHTS

9.1 When you submit information via our Website, you may be given options to restrict our use of your data. We aim to give you strong controls on our use of your data (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided above in this Privacy Policy or via on-email links).

9.2 Under the GDPR, you have the right to:

– request access to, deletion of or correction of, your personal data held by us at no cost to you;

– request that your personal data be transferred to another person (data portability);

– be informed of what data processing is taking place;

– restrict processing;

– to object to processing of your personal data;

– complain to a supervisory authority.

9.3 You also have rights with respect to automated decision-making and profiling as set out in section 11 below.

9.4 You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes.

9.5 To enforce any of the foregoing rights or if you have any other questions about our Website or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at service@commonwealthtea.com.

10. LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Please note that our terms and conditions and our policies will not apply to other websites that you get to via a link from our site. We have no control over how your data is collected, stored or used by other websites and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.

 

11. CHANGES

If we change our Privacy Policy, we will post the changes on this page. If we decide to, we may also email you.

 

12. AUTOMATED DECISION-MAKING AND PROFILING

12.1 In the event that we use personal data for the purposes of automated decision-making and those decisions have a legal (or similarly significant effect) on you, you have the right to challenge to such decisions under GDPR, requesting human intervention, expressing their own point of view, and obtaining an explanation of the decision from us.

12.2 The right described in section 11.1 does not apply in the following circumstances:

a) the decision is necessary for the entry into, or performance of, a contract between the you and us;

b) the decision is authorised by law; or

c) you have given you explicit consent.

12.3 Where we use your personal data for profiling purposes, the following shall apply:

a) Clear information explaining the profiling will be provided, including its significance and the likely consequences;

b) Appropriate mathematical or statistical procedures will be used;

c) Technical and organisational measures necessary to minimise the risk of errors and to enable such errors to be easily corrected shall be implemented; 

d) All personal data processed for profiling purposes shall be secured in order to prevent discriminatory effects arising out of profiling.

 

13. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please also visit our Terms and Conditions section establishing the use, disclaimers, and limitations of liability governing the use of our Website.

 

14. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

14.1 The Parties will use their best efforts to negotiate in good faith and settle any dispute that may arise out of or relate to this Privacy Policy or any breach of it.

14.2 If any such dispute cannot be settled amicably through ordinary negotiations between the parties, or either or both is or are unwilling to engage in this process, either party may propose to the other in writing that structured negotiations be entered into with the assistance of a fully accredited mediator before resorting to litigation.

14.3 If the parties are unable to agree upon a mediator, or if the mediator agreed upon is unable or unwilling to act and an alternative mediator cannot be agreed, any party may within 14 days of the date of knowledge of either event apply to LawBite to appoint a mediator under the LawBite Mediation Procedure.

14.4 Within 14 days of the appointment of the mediator (either by mutual agreement of the parties or by LawBite in accordance with their mediation procedure), the parties will meet with the mediator to agree the procedure to be adopted for the mediation, unless otherwise agreed between the parties and the mediator.

14.5 All negotiations connected with the relevant dispute(s) will be conducted in confidence and without prejudice to the rights of the parties in any further proceedings.

14.6 If the parties agree on a resolution of the dispute at mediation, the agreement shall be reduced to writing and, once signed by the duly authorised representatives of both parties, shall be final and binding on them.

14.7 If the parties fail to resolve the dispute(s) within 60 days (or such longer term as may be agreed between the parties) of the mediator being appointed, or if either party withdraws from the mediation procedure, then either party may exercise any right to seek a remedy through arbitration by an arbitrator to be appointed by LawBite under the Rules of the LawBite Arbitration Scheme.

 

Starting off as a drink for the royals and nobility, elimination of the monopoly of the tea trade reduced prices gradually to a point where it became the beverage of choice with a unique tradition in England and its territories. We bring you the heritage of the Commenwealth tea lovers for a special taste and an unique experience.

 

This tea ingredients have been specially blended for fragrant floral aromas and smooth, balanced flavours.

 

A stunning white tea from the Fujian province of China, this fully textured velvety tea has light delicate, fruity flavours

 

Whole leaf peppermint brings a vibrant taste to this sweet Oolong green tea.

 

This classic green tea produces a richly textured brew and is an all day low caffeine alternative.

 

The highest grade of Assam tea you can find. From the famous Halmari estate of India, this rich bodied black tea is a great refresher.

 

Not just tea. An experience

 

From our tea to bags; boxes to sleeves; all materials are re-usable, recyclable and biodegradable. Our tea is sourced from ethical tea estates who pride themselves in ensuring dignity of human labour is maintained and some of them even re-invest a part of their profits back in the local community in education, healthcare and infrastructure.