Privacy policy
Data Protection
Calls may be recorded and/or monitored for security, training and customer service purposes.
In handling and processing personal information about our customers, we comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. Under the Data Protection Act, our customers have a right to be provided with details of the information that Chelsea holds about them, on payment of the current fee. Requests should be sent to the Data Protection Officer, Chelsea Building Society, Thirlestaine Hall, Thirlestaine Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL53 7AL.
Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when personal information is used by someone else without the owner's knowledge. It may support criminal activity, which could involve fraud, deception, or obtaining benefits and services in the victim's name. More than 100,000 people are affected in the UK every year.
The Home Office has a website offering advice on how to protect yourself against identity theft and what to do if you think you have been a victim. It has been designed as a one-stop shop, so that individuals can understand the risks they face and what they can do. It also enables links to relevant third parties such as credit bureaus and government departments. For more information, please go to www.identitytheft.org.uk.
CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service, also has a recommended website www.identityfraud.org.uk If you believe your identity documentation may be misused by a fraudster, a CIFAS Protective Registration can be placed against your address. This might be, for example, if your passport has been stolen. To request Protective Registration telephone 0870 010 2091. There is a fee of £11.75 including VAT for this service.
Site tracking
In order to enable us to review our content and improve site navigation we use site tracking services to collect anonymous information, such as the number of page views that occur on the website, the number of unique visitors and common ways of arriving on or leaving the site. We collect this information through the use of cookies, transparent gifs and web logs. This site tracking service is provided by EVisit Analyst (a third party company).
Cookies
Cookies are text files that either sit on your computer hard drive, or your browser's cache memory. These files are not computer programs, and can't cause any damage to your computer. They form an essential part in the creation of good user experience on many websites.
Persistent cookies
These files are created and stored on your computer's hard drive for a period of time to identify it to the site tracking tool. The cookie is not able to identify you as the individual user and doesn't attempt to collect any personal information. They contain the following:
- A uniquely generated random number - this is how we differentiate visitors.
- The date and time of the last visit to the website
- The expiry date of the cookie
Session cookies
Session cookies are created and store information on your visit for the duration of your visit to the website. They do not store anything on your computer's hard drive, or permanently record data. As soon as you leave Chelsea’s website, the cookie is deleted from your browser's cache memory.
Disabling cookies
By adjusting the settings of your browser, you can choose to accept persistent cookies from only the site that you are visiting (eg. www.thechelsea.co.uk), or third party sites (such as our web statistics tool as mentioned above), or both. You can also decide to be informed when one is about to be placed on your computer.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
- select the 'tools' menu
- choose 'internet options'
- click on the 'privacy' tab
- select 'advanced settings'
- Tick the 'Override automatic cookie handling' box to enable the options.
- The 'Always allow session cookies' option will mean that, even though you may choose to disallow cookies being placed on your pc, you'll still be able to use our tools, such as the online mortgage calculator.
Mozilla Firefox 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0
- select the 'tools' menu
- choose 'options'
- click on the 'privacy' tab
Firefox 1.0
Firefox 1.5
Firefox 2.0
from this screen you can set an 'exception' to allow cookies from www.thechelsea.co.uk, but block them from other sites.
If you aren't using either of the above, consult the help section on your internet browser.
If you also operate a firewall or additional privacy service on your computer, you may need to modify the settings within this software to block cookies. Please consult the help section of this software for guidance.
Please note that if you disable cookies, you may not be able to use some features of Chelsea’s website.
Web logs
All page views of the www.thechelsea.co.uk website are stored in the web server log. These can be opened and used to analyse site traffic.
Use of Web Beacons
Our online advertising agency uses pixels, web beacons, or transparent GIF files, to help manage online advertising. They allow us to count users who have visited these pages. Web beacons collect only limited information which including a cookie number, time and date of a page view, and a description of the page on which the Web beacon resides. These beacons do not carry any personally identifiable information and are only used to track the effectiveness of a particular campaign.
