The Energy Shop Privacy policy

Energy Services Online Limited ("The Energy Shop", "we" or "us") is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy.

This policy explains how we collect, handle and use any personal information that you provide to us through our website, mobile apps and other services. Please do read it. We'll review this policy from time to time. If we make changes, we'll post the latest version here.

For the purposes of data protection law, the controller is Energy Services Online Limited, 14 Marchwood Crescent, London W5 2DZ.

What personal data do we collect?

When you use our services, we have to collect, keep and share some personal data and we ask that you agree to that in line with this policy.

We may collect and process the following information about you:

Information you provide to us voluntarily

Information you choose to give us might include personal data needed for filling in forms on our websites or apps or by corresponding with us by phone, email, live chat or in discussion forums. This includes information you provide when you do a price comparison, enter into a contract for the supply of services, enter a competition, promotion or survey, give us feedback, leave a comment or enter into a discussion.

The personal information that you provide may include basic stuff needed to make an application such as names and contact details but may include financial information and other information about you to enable us to provide you with our price comparison, switching and other services.

For some products, you may need to provide us with certain special category data to allow us to provide you with quotes. This includes information about health (for an energy provider to assess whether you have any special requirements).

When you provide this information to us, we will ask for your consent to use your special category data in accordance with this privacy policy. If you do not consent to that use, you may not be able to proceed with your quote.

Information we generate or collect about you

We generate or collect some information from your computer or device automatically as you use our services. This includes things like your IP address, information about the device and browser you are using to access our services, the website URL you visited us from and the third-party sites you visit when you click on links to exit the The Energy Shop site. We may also know your location from your mobile or your IP address. We may combine this information with other information you have provided to us or which we have received from other sources.

Information we receive from third parties

We work closely with various third parties (for example, business partners, advertising networks, search engine providers and analytic service providers) and may receive information about you from them. For example, if you've redirected to an energy supplier's website or app to complete your application, we might collect information from them about whether you went ahead with your application and what you applied for. We may combine this information with other information you have provided to us or which we collected about you.

How we use your personal data

We only use your information where you've given us your consent, where it's necessary to deliver the services you've requested, where it's necessary to exercise or comply with legal rights or obligations, or for normal business purposes of the type described in this policy.

We use personal information for, or in connection with, the following purposes:

In order to provide our services to you and to fulfil your requests

• Providing you with the information, products and services you request from us (including providing you with price comparison and switching services).
• Generating results in response to your search queries, for example providing you with a list of the energy suppliers and tariffs that meet your requirements;
• Where you select an energy supplier that you'd like to enter into a transaction with, either:
  • redirecting you to their platform along with whatever data is necessary to enable them to recognise you and the product / service option you have selected on The Energy Shop, including the details of your search; or
  • facilitating the completion of the transaction from within our services, which will involve us collecting and transferring to that Supplier all information required to enable the transaction to be processed, including your contact details and payment details;
• Contacting you with messages, notifications or alerts that are necessary in order to deliver the services requested, such as transaction confirmation emails and notifications about changes or updates to our services or to our policies;
• Responding to communications you have sent us, such as via our customer service help centre or on social media;
• Where you have created an account with us, maintaining and administering this and ensuring that it is kept up-to-date and accessible; and
• Administering promotions, competitions or surveys that you enter into with us.

For advertising and marketing

• Providing you with information about goods and services that we offer that we think may interest you, which may be based on inferences about your likely interests based on your activity on websites operated by us or by third parties.
• Personalising your experience of our services in order to ensure your experience on The Energy Shop is as relevant as possible.
• Displaying relevant advertisements to you about our services or other services that we think may be of interest to you on websites operated by us or by third parties or in direct communications from us.
• Measuring and understanding the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you.

For service improvement

• Ensuring that our content is presented in the most effective manner for you and your device.
• Administering our websites and apps and for internal business administration (for example, data analysis, statistical analysis, research and survey purposes).
• Identifying and correcting faults with our services and identifying areas for improvement through use of information like browser type, operating system, location and general site activity alongside any specific feedback you may provide to us from time to time.
• Security and fraud-prevention purposes, for example by storing your IP address to record where a transaction may have originated from, or to protect our services against misuse from automated software agents.

Lawful basis for processing

Our legal basis for processing your personal data for the purposes described above will typically be one of the following:

Consent

You have consented to us using your personal data for this purpose (for example, when you agree to receive marketing emails from us or create an alert). You can withdraw your consent at any time by updating your marketing preferences.

Legal obligations

It is necessary for us to use your personal data in order to comply with a legal obligation (not including contractual obligations).

Where you provide us with special category data (for example, information about your health) we will seek your explicit consent to process this information.

Legitimate interests

It is in our legitimate interests to use your personal data to operate and improve our services (for example, when we customise your experience of our services or use your information for analytic purposes), for security and fraud prevention, for identifying and correcting faults with our services and to protect our business.

Sharing your personal data

We may share your personal data with selected third parties who provide us with a variety of different services that support the delivery of our services. These may include;

Product suppliers to obtain quotes and help you to switch

We provide your personal data to the suppliers whose products and services are listed on our websites and apps to help them provide quotes and to carry out your switch. When you buy products or services from these suppliers, their own privacy policies will apply to how they use your personal data. You can find these privacy policies on their websites. Before completing any transaction or switch, we recommend that you carefully review these policies in order to understand how that product supplier will use your data.

We also use some third parties to provide certain comparison services for us. They will use your personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies. Details of these third parties and their privacy policies are set out below.

Third Party Service Providers who help us operate our business

We may provide your personal information to our business partners, suppliers and subcontractors who provide services to us. The types of Third Party Service Providers we may share elements of your personal data with include;

• providers of email management and email distribution services - for example, if you sign up to receive The Energy Shop newsletters or other marketing messages we will manage the delivery of these using a third party email distribution platform.
• providers of online cloud storage services and other essential IT support services.
• providers of security and fraud prevention services - we use these providers to, for example, identify automated software agents that might disrupt our services or to prevent misuse of our services.

Analytics and search engine providers

We may provide information about your visit to analytics and search engine providers to help us better understand how users interact with our sites, apps and services in order to improve them. These may include;

• providers of data aggregation and analytics software services that enable us to effectively monitor and optimise the delivery of our services.
• providers of tracking tools that we use to monitor instances where you click on a link to a Product Supplier's website and redirect from the The Energy Shop site to that Product Supplier's site.

We generally only share this information in a form that does not directly identify you.

Advertisers and advertising networks

We may provide your personal information to our advertisers and advertising networks that require the information to select and serve relevant adverts to you and others.

We will share personal data with third parties where you expressly authorise us to, such as where we run a promotion in conjunction with a partner and you instruct us to share your email address with that third party for the purpose of receiving promotional emails.

Disclosing information for legal and other reasons

We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to a request from law enforcement or another regulatory authority.

We may disclose your information where necessary to enforce our Terms of Service or other agreements, or to a prospective or ultimate buyer if Energy Services Online Limited itself (or part of our business) is sold. We may also disclose your information, if necessary, to prevent, detect or prosecute illegal or suspected illegal activities, including fraud, or to prevent other damage or where necessary in response to legal action against us, or to enforce our rights and claims.

Storing your personal information

We store the information we collect from you on secure servers. We may transfer, store or process your personal information outside of the European Economic Area ("EEA"). The laws in some countries may not provide as much legal protection for your personal information as in the EEA.

By submitting your personal information, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing.

Transmission of information over the internet is not completely secure. Unfortunately, no website or app can guarantee complete security. However, we will do our best to protect your personal information, but we cannot guarantee its security and any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your personal information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

We keep your personal data for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed, or as required to for legal reasons. These periods vary depending on why it was collected, or if we have a continuing legal basis to do so (such as to fulfil a contract between us, perform a service you requested or for our legitimate interests). We'll then either delete it or anonymise it so it doesn't identify you.

Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to help deliver, optimise, personalise and analyse our services and for advertising purposes. You may adjust the settings on your browser to refuse cookies but some of our services may not work if you do. For more detailed information on how we use cookies and why we use them, please read our Cookie Policy.

How to opt-out of collection of information by third party advertisers

Our third party advertisers and advertising network providers may provide you with ads on our websites and apps or on other websites. To make those ads more relevant and help measure their effectiveness, they may use cookies and similar technologies. They record your activity (including pages visited) and try to figure out what information interests you most. They use this information in accordance with their own privacy policies. You can find information about how to tailor your advertising preferences and how to opt out in our Cookie Policy.

• Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to your website or other websites.
• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
• Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.)
• Find out more about Google's Privacy and Terms here.

Your choices and rights

You have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for marketing purposes. You can do this at any time by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link in any marketing email we send you. You can also opt out of marketing by emailing unsubscribe@TheEnergyShop.com.

You also have the right to access your personal information, to object to the use of your personal information for certain purposes, and the right to erase, restrict or receive a machine-readable copy of your personal information. To update or delete your information please email privacy@TheEnergyShop.com or contact us using the address below. We will handle your request in accordance with the law. This means there may be legal reasons why we cannot fulfil all requests.

Links to third party websites

Our websites and apps may contain links to other websites. This privacy policy does not apply to those other websites and we do not accept liability for the content of any other website. Please check the privacy policy of any other website before submitting any personal information to it.

The Energy Shop comparison service providers

Our business energy comparison service is provided by Bionic Services Limited. By using the business energy telephone based energy comparison and switching service you agree to Bionic Services Limited's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

How you can contact us?

If you have questions about this privacy policy you can contact us;

By Post

Data Protection
Energy Services Online Limited,
14 Marchwood Crescent,
London W5 2DZ

By email

privacy@TheEnergyShop.com

If you have unresolved concerns, you have the right to complain to a data protection authority. In the United Kingdom the relevant authority is

Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Updated: 16 December 2019