Privacy (Policy) Notice

The Character Group plc including Character Options Ltd (We’, ‘Us’ or ‘Our’) know that you take the privacy of your information and how it is used and shared very seriously and We will only use your personal information in accordance with the current data protection law in the UK, EU and this privacy policy. This notice describes Our privacy policy and how we aim to repay the trust you have shown by sharing your personal data with us.

This policy applies to all the websites We operate, Our use of emails and text messages for marketing purposes, and any other methods We use for collecting information. It covers what We collect and why, what We do with the information, what We won’t do with the information, and what rights you have.

This privacy policy only applies to personal information We hold about individuals. It does not apply to information We hold about companies and other organisations.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time by publishing the amended version on Our website. Unless we have legal grounds to do otherwise, We will provide you with at least 30 days’ notice of the effective date of the revised privacy policy. We may post the notice on Our website and/or send you the notice by email.

Who We Are

In this policy, whenever you see the words (‘We’, ‘Us’ or ‘Our’), it refers to The Character Group plc, (registered in England and Wales with company No: 3033333) and/or Character Options Ltd (registered in England and Wales with company No: 02587289) the registered office (for both) of which is at: Citypoint, 16^th Floor, One Ropemaker Street, London, EC2Y 9AW.

For the purposes of UK Data Protection Law, We are a data controller in respect of the personal information that We collect and process about you as described in this privacy policy. We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)     and     you     may     view     our     registration       using       the       following link: https://ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Entry/Z5964589.

Character Options Limited is part of The Character Group plc founded in 1991 is an AIM listed company. The Character Group plc is one of the UK’s leading toy companies and is engaged in the design, development, and international distribution of a wide range of licensed and non-licensed product. The Group now has offices in London, Manchester, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and China, and employs over 230 people.

Information We collect

We will only ever collect the information We need which includes data that will be useful to help improve Our services.

We may collect and process the following data about you:

1. Personal information, such as name, postal address, phone number, email address, that you provide by filling in forms on Our web site (https://www.character-online.com) and when you contact Us via telephone and includes information provided when you

• subscribe to receive one of Our e-communications
• enquire about a specific product or service
• request information via telephone
• request a call back
• respond to a marketing campaign
• enter a competition or promotion
• submit a question to Us or provide Us with feedback

2. Details of your visits to Our site including but not limited to, IP addresses (the location of the computer on the internet), pages accessed and files downloaded. This helps Us to determine how many people use Our sites, how many people visit on a regular basis, and how popular Our pages are. This is statistical data about Our users’ browsing actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual. It simply allows Us to monitor and improve Our service.

You are provided with an opportunity to opt out from receiving communications from Us or Our partners at the time that your details are submitted and on each occasion that you are contacted thereafter.

Our site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of Our site. This helps Us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our site and allows Us to improve Our site. For detailed information on the cookies We use and the purpose for which We use them please see Our cookie policy https://www.character-online.com/privacy-noticeIf you want to disable cookies please refer to your browser help.

How We Use The Information We Collect

We may process your personal data for Our legitimate business interests. “Legitimate business interests” means the interests of Our company in conducting and managing Our business and providing you with the best services and products in the most secure way. These interests include:

• To ensure that content from Our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer
• To provide you with information about Our products, services or offers that you request from Us or that may be similar to products and services that you have previously purchased from Us (or requested information about)
• To provide you with postal communications about Our products, services or offers which we feel may interest you
• To contact you regarding your opinions on Our products and services which may be used for research and analysis to help Us to improve or modify those products and services
• To help Us identify you when you contact or visit Us
• For general administration purposes
• To help Us improve the quality of Our products and services
• To help Us detect and prevent fraud and money laundering
• To help Us recover debts
• To carry out analysis and customer profiling
• When you communicate with us for customer service or other purposes (e.g. by emails, faxes, phone calls, tweets, etc.) we retain such information and our responses to you in the records of your account

When We process your personal data for Our legitimate business interests We always ensure that We consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights under data protection laws.

If you have any concerns about the processing described above, you have the right to object to this processing. For more information on your rights please see “Your Rights” section below.

Choice / Opt-In and Opt-Out

Whenever the processing of your personal data requires your consent then you will be given the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of having your contact details used as set out above, at the time your details are submitted.

If you do not wish Us to use your data as set out above, or to pass your details on to third parties for marketing purposes, please leave the relevant boxes, situated on the form which We used to collect your data, blank/unticked.

If you no longer wish to receive marketing emails or other promotional materials from Us, you may opt-out of receiving these communications at any time by one of the following methods:

• by replying to the email with ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject line
• by using the opt out box if there is a response form
• by writing to Customer Services, Character Options Ltd, Lees Brook Mil, Lees Road, Oldham, OL4 5JL, United Kingdom
• by calling us on +44 (0) 161 633 9808

Please be aware that if you opt out of marketing communications received from one of our partners, and your information is also held by other partners, you may continue to receive information from these other partners until you inform them that you wish to opt out of marketing communications as well.

Sharing Your Information

Just like most other organisations, We work with third-party service providers which provide important functions to us that allow us to be easier, faster, and friendlier in the way we deliver Our services. We need to disclose user data to them from time to time, for any of the purposes set out above, so that the services can be performed. Listed below are the categories of the third-party service providers and business partners to whom we may disclose your data, together with the purpose of disclosure and type of information disclosed.

We may also disclose your personal information to third parties, if We are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data for legal or regulatory purposes, in relation to existing or future legal proceedings, for the prevention of fraud/loss or to protect the rights, property, safety of Our Group, Our customers or others.

Data Security

Information is stored by Us on computers located in the UK. We may transfer the information to other offices and to other reputable third-party organisations as explained above. We do not send personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). We may also store information in paper files.

We have data protection policies in place to manage and record your data privacy and preferences correctly and ensure that your data is stored securely to protect against its loss, misuse and alteration.

We take steps to ensure that any organisations that we share your data with will have security protocols and policies in place to manage and record your data privacy and preferences correctly.

Unfortunately, the transmission of data across the internet is not completely secure and whilst We do Our best to try to protect the security of your information We cannot ensure or guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration of data will not occur whilst data is being transferred.

We will keep your information only for as long as We need it to provide you with the goods, services or information you have required, to administer your relationship with Us, to comply with the law, or to ensure We do not communicate with people that have asked Us not to. When We no longer need information, We will always dispose of it securely, using specialist companies if necessary to do this work for Us.

Job Applicants, Current & Former Employees

When individuals apply to work for Us, We will only use the information they supply to Us to process their application and to monitor recruitment statistics. Where We want to disclose information to a third party, for example where We want to take up a reference or obtain a ‘disclosure’ from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), We will not do so without informing them beforehand unless the disclosure is required by law.

Once a person has taken up employment with Us, We will compile and maintain a file relating to their employment. The information contained in this will be kept secure and will only be used for purposes directly relevant to that person’s employment. Once their employment with Us has ended, We will retain the file in accordance with the requirements of Our retention policy and then delete it.

Personal information about unsuccessful candidates will be destroyed or deleted. 

Your Rights

Under the data protection legislation, you have the following rights to:

• request copies of your data
• request rectification of your data
• request erasure of your data
• object to Us processing your data
• prevent your data being used for direct marketing
• request Us to restrict the processing of your data
• access a copy of the information We hold about you (a subject access request)

If you wish to exercise any of these rights please contact the Data Protection Manager in writing at Character Options Ltd, Lees Brook Mill, Lees Road, Oldham, OL4 5JL by emailing [email protected]

For more information about your rights under the Data Protection Act contact the Information Commissioners Office here: https://ico.org.uk/

Cookie Policy

This Cookie Policy sets out what cookies are, why Character Options Ltd uses cookies on its websites and your options relating to their use.

What are ‘cookies’?

In simple terms a cookie is a small piece of information downloaded to your computer or mobile device when visiting a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device.

If you prefer not to accept a cookie, you can navigate the websites like a normal user. Any information gathered through the use of Cookies is compiled on an aggregate, anonymous basis. Why do we use cookies on our websites?

• We use cookies so that we can give you a better experience when you return to our websites. In particular we use cookies to:
• estimate our general audience size and how they use our site
• recognise you when you return to our site
• estimate our audience size and patterns
• track the first and last pages you visit and your total number of visits to the website
• track how long you spend on any page existing within our website
• track the pages you visit on our website
• track how you came to access the website including keyword searches, search engine information and/or referrer

Cookies List

This website uses analytics cookies that collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies you. All the information that these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how a website works. Our website uses Google Analytics Cookies. Information collected by the Google Analytics cookies will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States of America in accordance with its privacy practices. To see an overview of privacy at Google and how this applies to Google Analytics, please click here. You may opt out of tracking by Google Analytics. This is a list of the cookies set by this website, and highlights specifically what each is used for:

Do I Have To Agree To Cookies?

Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you should be able to change your browser to enable, disable or delete cookies. You should read the information that came with your browser software (usually located within the “Help”, “Tools” or “Edit” facility) to see how you can set up your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This should then give you the opportunity to decide whether to accept it. Disabling a cookie or category of cookie does not delete the cookie from your browser, you will need to do this yourself from within your browser.

Please note, you may not be able to take full advantage of a website if you do so. Cookies are specific to the server that created them and cannot be accessed by other servers, which means they cannot be used to track your movements around the web. If you do not change your browser settings and continue to use our websites we will infer that you have consented to us using cookies for the purposes set out below.

Where Can I Get More Information?

To find out more on cookies generally and about how to restrict or block the cookies this site uses, please visit www.aboutcookies.org.

Our websites may feature embedded ‘share’ buttons to enable users to easily share articles with their friends through a number of popular social networks. These sites may set a cookie when you are also logged in to their service. We do not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check the relevant third-party website for more information about these.

Cookies That Have Been Set In The Past

If you have disabled one or more Cookies, we may still use information collected from them prior to you disabling them. However, we will stop using the disabled cookie to collect any further information.