Privacy policy

Science Group plc (“Science Group”) values and respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.

This privacy policy explains how we use and protect your personal data that you give us, your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

This privacy policy was last updated in April 2021. We may update this policy at any time by amending this page. You should check this page from time to time to review any changes we have made.

Science Group is an international science and technology business that delivers services through its subsidiary companies. A list of Science Group companies can be found at the bottom of the page at www.sciencegroup.com. Depending on the nature of the personal data, the location where services will be provided or the nature of services provided, another Science Group legal company may be the data controller in relation to your personal data.

What personal data we collect

We may collect information from you in the course of our business including through your use of our website, your investment in Science Group, your relationship or interactions with our staff or when you engage a Science Group company in the provision of services.

The personal data that we process includes:

• Contact information including name, email and the company you work for
• Personal information including your name, address, email, phone number, number of shares held and corporate voting elections if you are an investor
• Marketing information including preferences in receiving marketing from Science Group companies
• Technical information including IP address, operating system, web browser and other technology on the devices that you use to access our website. Please see our cookies policy for more details on this.
• Information you provide as part of an enquiry into our services
• Information you provide as part of an investor enquiry
• Information you provide as part of a careers enquiry
• Any other information which you may provide to us

How is your personal data collected?

• Contact forms – we collect information when you fill in forms on our website or contact us via email, phone or letter
• Services – we collect information from you when you provide it to us in the course of a Science Group company providing you with services
• Personal interactions – we collect information from you when you interact with our staff in person, or via email, telephone, video-conferencing or any other form of communication
• Automated technologies – we collect information about you automatically via technology tools such as cookies and similar technologies
• Science Group companies – we collect information about you from our Science Group companies in accordance with contractual arrangements in place with you
• Third parties – we may collect information about you from publicly available sources, business-to-business market intelligence companies and other service providers
• Investor events – we collect information from you when you attend our Science Group Annual General Meeting

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

We collect information from you in the course of our business including through your use of our website, your investment in Science Group, your relationship or interactions with our staff or when you engage a Science Group company in the provision of services for the following purposes:

• For recruitment purposes
• To provide services and/or information to you
• To comply with regulatory obligations in respect of Science Group investors
• To fulfil our legal and regulatory requirements including establishing, exercising or defending legal claims
• To respond to your requests, enquires or complaints
• To manage and administer our relationship with you and Science Group company clients
• To transmit personal data between Science Group businesses for internal administrative, organisational and operational purposes
• To prevent and detect fraud and other criminal offences
• To ensure network and information security
• To host, maintain and improve our marketing communications website

We also use your personal data for:

Direct Marketing

We use your personal data to send you marketing communications about services, publications, science & technology industry updates, events, courses, surveys, promotions and competitions by Science Group companies and to display content that we believe may be of interest to you.  

We will only contact you for these marketing purposes in accordance with our legitimate business interests or where you have explicitly agreed to this. Your agreement to the use of your personal data for these purposes is optional and if you do not wish to provide your agreement, your visit and use of our website and/or provision of services by a Science Group company will not be affected.  

We use a relationship management tool (where legally permissible) to assess the strength of the relationships between a Science Group company and our clients or potential clients based on the frequency of the email contact between them. We use that information in order to assess, analyse and improve the services that we provide.

We also use business-to-business market intelligence providers (where legally permissible) to build our business contact networks. We use that information in order to specifically target relevant business prospects to promote our client and member services.  

You have the right to request us not to use your personal data for marketing communications by emailing us at unsubscribe@sciencegroup.com. You can also opt out of receiving electronic communications by clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of any such electronic communication or through following the opt-out instructions provided in any marketing communication.

Use of our website

There are facilities on our website which invite you to provide us with personal data including our contact us form and contact email addresses. The purpose of these facilities is apparent at the point you provide your personal data and we only use that information for those purposes.

Our website also uses Google Analytics, a web-based analytics tool that tracks and reports on the manner in which the website is used to help us improve it. We also use a website tracking software called Pardot which uses cookies to monitor your journey through our website and remember your preferences when you return to our site. For more details and information on how to disable cookies, please visit our cookies policy.

Legal basis for using your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. In particular, we will use your personal data:

• Where it is necessary for our legitimate business purposes provided it does not override your rights and freedoms
• To perform a contract where a Science Group company is providing you with services
• To comply with legal and regulatory obligations including for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims
• Where we have received your unequivocal consent

How long we keep your personal data

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, to provide you with services, for legitimate business interests, in accordance with contract, and where required or allowed under law.

Who we share your personal data with

Any personal data that you share with Science Group may be shared and processed by other Science Group companies who are located in the UK, Europe, USA, China, Hong Kong and Canada in accordance with this privacy policy and/or in accordance with contractual arrangements agreed between you and a Science Group company.

We may also share your information with trusted third parties where we are legally permitted to do so in accordance with this privacy policy and/or in accordance with contractual arrangements agreed between you and a Science Group company including:

• Professional advisors including lawyers, insurers, brokers, share registrars and auditors
• IT and website service providers including Google Analytics
• Suppliers to whom we outsource certain support services such as photocopying and printing
• Third party suppliers to help provide services to you subject to the agreed contractual terms between you and a Science Group company

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow external third party providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

We may also provide your information to selected third party suppliers when providing services as part of the agreed contractual terms. By agreeing to our contractual terms, you explicitly consent to us providing the third party suppliers with your personal data for the purpose of us completing our obligations under those contractual terms.

We may also provide your information to regulators and law enforcement agencies where we are legally required to do so and where necessary for the purposes of preventing and detecting fraud or other criminal offences. If legally permitted, we will use reasonable efforts to notify you prior to disclosing your information to such parties.

Our website and other Science Group company websites may contain links to third party websites including social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. These sites are owned and operated independently from us and have their own separate privacy policies. Any personal data that you provide to these websites will be governed under the terms of the privacy policy of that website. If you use these sites, you should review their privacy policies to learn more about how your personal data is collected and used.

Which countries do we transfer your personal data to?

We may share your personal data with other Science Group companies who are based in the UK, Europe, USA, China, Hong Kong and Canada in accordance with this privacy policy and/or in accordance with contractual arrangements agreed between you and a Science Group company. This means that we may transfer your personal data outside the UK and/or European Economic Area (“EEA”) (as applicable).

We may also transfer your personal data outside the UK and/or EEA to other third parties in accordance with this privacy policy and/or in accordance with contractual arrangements agreed between you and a Science Group company. Please see the section on “Who we share your personal data with” for more information.

However, we shall only transfer your personal data outside the UK and/or EEA if one of the following conditions apply:

• The transfer is to a country that has been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for your personal data;
• You have consented to this; or
• There is another legal basis on which we are entitled to make the transfer

Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK and/or EEA.

How we protect your personal data

Our website is hosted on servers in the UK and/or the European Economic Area.  We have appropriate physical, electronic and managerial security measures in place to protect against loss, misuse or unauthorised access to your personal data. We use network access control technology to limit access to the systems on which personal data is stored, and our IT team monitor for possible vulnerabilities and attacks.  However as the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure, we cannot guarantee the security of your information transmitted to our website.

We note that the information you provide may be confidential and we will not sell or otherwise make your personal data commercially available to any third party except that we may share information with third parties. Please see the section on ‘Who we share your personal data with’

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office where we are legally required to do so.

Your rights regarding your personal data

You have the right (subject to certain exceptions) to:

• Access, correct, delete, update, rectify or restrict your personal data
• Object to our use and processing of your personal data or withdraw consent that you have previously given
• Request the transfer of your personal data to you or a third party
• Ask any questions about our use and processing of your personal data

If you would like to do any of the above, please email us at privacy@sciencegroup.com and we will provide you with all rights that you are entitled to in respect of your personal data and any exceptions that may apply.  

Please note that we may ask for further information from you in order to prove your identity before disclosing any personal data to you. This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request. If a third party emails us in relation to the above purporting to act on your behalf, please note that we will require evidence from you and/or the third party that you have authorised them to act on your behalf in this way. We may also contact you directly in order to verify this authorisation. 

If you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your personal data, you have the right to make a complaint to the authority responsible for data protection in the country that you are based. Contact details should be available online or you may alternatively ask us for assistance.

Our contact information

If you have any queries in relation to this policy, please contact us at:

Attention: Data Protection Officer
Address: Harston Mill, Harston, Cambridge, CB22 7GG, UK
Telephone: +44 1223 875200
Email: privacy@sciencegroup.com

If you currently receive marketing information from us which you would prefer to not receive in the future, please email us at unsubscribe@sciencegroup.com

Science Group is registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number A8146145.