Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This policy covers the Speakout's use of personal information that the Speakout collects when you visit Speakout.co.uk. The policy also gives you information about cookies; Speakout and third parties' use of cookies; and how you may reject such cookies.

From support the Speakout campaign you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (e.g. name and email address) in order to receive or use services on our website. Such services include newsletters, live chats, message boards and to show your support for speakout.

By entering your details in the fields requested, you enable the Speakout campaign and its service providers to provide you with the services you select. Whenever you provide such personal information, we will treat that information in accordance with this policy. When using your personal information the Speakout Campaign will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice.

2. Visitor Information

During the course of any visit to speakout.co.uk, the pages you see, along with a short text file called a 'cookie', are downloaded to your computer. Many websites do this, because cookies enable website publishers to do useful things like find out whether the computer (and probably its user) has visited the website before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the last visit.

Information supplied by cookies can help us to provide you with a better online user experience and assist us to analyse the profile of our visitors. For example: if on a previous visit you went to our education pages, we might find this out from your cookie and highlight educational information on your second and subsequent visits.

3. What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from a website's computer and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

Many sites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows.

Cookies record information about your online preferences. 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 user and accordingly you may not be able to take full advantage of all of the Speakout.co.uk features. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.

If you have set your computer to reject cookies you can still browse Speakout.co.uk anonymously until such time as you wish to register for Speakout.co.uk services. For further information on cookies please visit http://www.aboutcookies.org.

4. Use and storage of your personal information

When you supply any personal information to Speakout.co.uk we have legal obligations towards you in the way we use that data. We must collect the information fairly, that is, we must explain how we will use it (see the notices on particular webpages that let you know why we are requesting the information) and tell you if we want to pass the information on to anyone else.

In general, any information you provide to the Speakout will only be used within the Speakout Campaign and by its agents and service providers. Your information will be disclosed where we are obliged or permitted by law. Also, if you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content anywhere on or to Speakout.co.uk or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on Speakout.co.uk, the Speakout Campaign can use whatever information that is available to it about you to stop such behaviour. This may involve informing relevant third parties such as your employer, school e-mail/Internet provider and law enforcement agencies about the content and your behaviour.

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as you use the service you have requested, and remove it in the event that the purpose has been met, or, in the case of your support of speakout you no longer wish to continue your registration as a speakout.co.uk supporter. For safety reasons, however, the Speakout Campaign may store messaging transcript data (including message content, member names, times and dates) arising from the use of Speakout.co.uk community services for a period of six months. We will ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

If you are notified on a speakout.co.uk site that your information may be used to allow the Speakout Campaign to contact you for "service administration purposes", this means that Speakout may contact you for a number of purposes related to the service you have signed up for. For example, we may wish to provide you with password reminders or notify you that the particular service has been suspended for maintenance. We will not contact you for promotional purposes, such as notifying you of improvements to the service or new services on Speakout.co.uk unless you specifically agree to be contacted for such purposes at the time you submit your information on the site, or at a later time if you sign up specifically to receive such promotional information.

5. Access to your personal information

You have the right to request a copy of the personal information the Speakout holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected. (We charge £10 for information requests.)

6. Users 16 and under

If you are aged 16 or under, please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide personal information to Speakout's website. Users without this consent are not allowed to provide us with personal information.

7. How to find and control your cookies

If you're using Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0:

Choose Tools, then
Internet Options
Click the Privacy tab
Click on Custom Level
Click on the 'Advanced' button
Check the 'override automatic cookie handing' box and select Accept, Block or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Firefox 2.0:

Choose Tools, then
Options
Click the Privacy icon

If you're using Firefox 1.0 or 1.5:

Choose Tools, then
Options
Click the Privacy icon
Click the Cookies tab

If you're using Opera 8.0 or 9.0:

Choose Tools, then
Preferences
Advanced
Cookies

If you're using Opera 7.0:

Choose File, then
Preferences
Privacy

If you're using Netscape 6.0:

Choose Edit, then
Preferences
Click on Advanced
Click on Cookies

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.5:

Choose Tools, then
Internet Options
Click the Security tab
Click on Custom Level
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:

Choose View, then
Internet Options
Click the Advanced tab
Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security and choose one of the three options to regulate your use of cookies.

If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0:

Choose View, then
Options
Click on Advanced
Click on the button that says Warn before Accepting Cookies.

If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0:

Choose Edit, then
Preferences
Click on Advanced
Set your options in the box that says Cookies.

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

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0, 6.0 or 7.0:

Choose Tools, then
Internet Options
Click the General tab
Click Settings
View Files