Privacy Policy

WestFerry Times is dedicated to delivering premium news, insights, and analysis to a growing audience of decision-makers globally. Our commitment to the highest standards of data protection for our customers is a core part of our mission. This Privacy Policy outlines how we handle your personal information when you interact with our websites and web applications that link to this policy.

 

If you wish to amend any personal information we hold about you or update your marketing preferences, you can do so at any time through your account. For any queries regarding our use of your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Officer at info@westferrytimes.com.

Information We Collect

This section details the types of information we may collect about you and how we use it.

Account Information

When you create an account or inquire about our products or services, we may ask you to provide:

  • Basic Personal Details: Such as name, title, and date of birth.
  • Personal Contact Details: Including home address, delivery address, home phone number, mobile phone number, and email address.
  • Work Details: Such as job title, department, company name, company address, work email address, and office phone number.
  • Student or Institution Details: For educational subscriptions, such as student status, graduation year, and institution name.
  • Login Details: Including username and password.
  • Payment Details: Such as bank account and payment card information.

We may use your account information, like your title, name, and country, to infer your gender.

Additional Information

We may occasionally request additional information, including:

  • Your Opinion: On our products and services.
  • Your Preferences: Including newsletter subscriptions or topics of interest.
  • Investment Details: If you use our portfolio tool.
  • Event Information: Such as dietary preferences and accessibility requirements for events.
  • Diversity Information: Such as ethnicity and gender for supporting diversity goals.
  • Professional Information: Such as your role, area of study, and areas of interest to personalize your experience.
  • CV Information: Including qualifications and biography, and any learning accessibility requirements for courses.

Information from Partners and Public Sources

We may collect information about you from partners or public sources to better understand our audience and enhance our content and marketing. For example, we may obtain contact details of potential speakers for WestFerry Times events from public websites, or use publicly available information for inclusion in our directories.

Information from Cookies and Similar Tools

We use cookies and analytics tools across our websites to collect information about you. This helps us improve site performance, make advertising more relevant, and enhance your user experience. Detailed information about cookies and similar technologies is provided in our Cookie Policy. Examples include:

  • Your Location: To display the most relevant version of the site.
  • Your Usage: To understand how customers use our sites and interact with our content.
  • Your Device: To optimize site display.
  • Your Engagement with Ads: To understand ad interactions and present relevant ads.

You can manage your cookies through our Manage Cookies page.

Lawful Basis for Processing

 

We process personal information based on lawful grounds, such as:

User Consent

When you give us permission to process your personal information for specific purposes. You can withdraw your consent at any time through your account or by contacting customer services.

Legitimate Business Purposes

For example, detecting copyright infringements or improving our services. We balance our interests against your privacy rights.

Contractual Necessity

To fulfill our contractual obligations, like processing your delivery address for a print subscription.

Legal Obligation

To comply with legal requirements, such as financial regulations.

How We Use Your Personal Information

 

We collect personal information for the following reasons:

To Provide Our Service

We need your basic personal information to deliver our services as expected, such as delivering newspapers, providing digital access, and handling customer service queries. Calls to customer service may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.

To Maintain Performance and Improve Our Products

Personal information helps us ensure our products and services perform well and meet user expectations. We analyze onsite data, contact customers for market research, and host focus groups. Your answers may be linked with other data we hold about you.

To Bill Our Customers

We and our authorized payment processors use your payment information to process payments, issue refunds, and detect fraud. Payment information updates may be required if a payment fails. Payment information can be managed through customer services.

To Monitor Compliance

We monitor compliance with our terms and conditions and copyright policies. For example, we may inform the subscription holder if there is a breach of our terms via a group subscription.

To Personalize Our Products

We personalize your experience by using your information to suggest articles and emails of interest. Personalization can be managed through your account.

To Communicate Product Changes and Offers

We may contact you with offers, promotions, and event invitations. You can manage your preferences through your account or customer services.

For Advertising Purposes

We process your information to deliver relevant advertising and understand ad effectiveness. You can manage your advertising settings in your account.

For Marketing

We use your information to show offers and promotions for WestFerry Times subscriptions and events, and to monitor ad performance.

For Recruitment

If you apply for a role through our Sites, we process your information for the application process.

To Build Directories

Some of our sites create business directories from personal information. We inform individuals when their contact details are included.

To Administer Competitions

We process your information for prize draws and competitions, including address information to send prizes. Winners’ names and regions may be published.

For Diversity & Inclusion

We use demographic information to understand audience composition and ensure engagement across our audience.

To Facilitate Networking

Personal information may be visible to community members at networking events or courses, with options to opt-out provided.

Who We Share Your Personal Information With

 

We share personal information to facilitate our business operations or provide services:

Service Providers

We engage providers to support our business, including fulfillment, customer service, and event hosts. Providers process data under our instructions and can only use it for specified purposes.

Advertisers

We and our advertising partners use cookies to collect information and serve relevant ads. More details are in our Cookie Policy.

Institutional Customers

For group subscriptions, we provide clients with high-level activity information for user management, content suggestions, and billing. Individual subscribers are contacted before sharing specific information.

Corporate Partners

If you have a complementary or trial subscription from a partner, we may share your usage information with them.

Social Media Providers

We share information with social media platforms for purposes like preventing subscription offers to existing subscribers and targeted advertising. Opt-out by emailing info@westferrytimes.com.

Microsoft Teams

Information may be shared with Microsoft for linking your Teams account with your WestFerry Times account.

Other Users

Our Sites are publicly accessible; anything you post, such as article comments, is visible to all visitors.

WestFerry Times Group

We share information within our corporate group for service provision and understanding product relationships. This includes joint subscription offers with our parent company.

Legal Processes and Successors

We disclose information to comply with legal obligations, enforce terms, or transfer business operations. Aggregated, non-identifiable information is also shared with third parties.

For further details, please contact info@westferrytimes.com.

Data Retention Policy

 

Retention Periods for Your Personal Information

 

We keep most of your personal data as long as your account remains active. This ensures continuous access to our content, products, and services.

For inactive users who are not subscribers, we may delete some associated data. Typically, we will notify you before deactivating access and offer a chance to keep your account active.

If retaining full data is unnecessary, we may obfuscate or aggregate information, such as web activity logs or survey responses. This minimizes data retention beyond what’s needed.

Here’s a summary of our data retention periods:

Data Category

Examples

Retention Period

Reason for Retention

Billing Information

Masked payment details

7 years

Required for regulatory compliance in accounting.

Business Intelligence

Web activity

36 months (then aggregated, non-identifiable)

To enhance performance and personalize services.

Comments

Comments on articles

Life of the article

To display reader interactions.

Customer Service Queries

Complaints, delivery issues

7 years

To provide a case history for better query resolution.

Communication History

Subscription renewal emails

7 years

To keep records of communications and assist with queries.

Event Registration

Sign-up details for events

13–36 months

For event management and future invitations, with consent.

Market Research

Survey responses

36 months (then aggregated, non-identifiable)

To manage research incentives and improve services.

Site Features

Portfolio tool data

Lifetime of the account

To enhance user experience and maintain access to features.

Subscription Information

Subscription details

7 years post-subscription

To fulfill contractual obligations.

Diplomas and Certifications

Course completion records

99 years

To verify course completion upon request.

Sensitive Personal Data

Dietary or accessibility requirements

Deleted after the event

To comply with event requirements.

We may retain your personal information for longer if:

  • There is a statutory requirement.
  • We need the information for legal purposes or legitimate business reasons.
  • You have requested that we do not contact you.

Data Security Measures

 

We use technical and administrative measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or loss. Our commitment to security is evidenced by our UK Cyber Essentials accreditation. We employ encryption technologies, like Transport Layer Security (TLS), for data protection during transactions.

Given our global operations, your personal data may be processed outside the UK and EEA. We implement safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, to protect transferred data.

Your Data Rights

Under data protection laws, you have several rights regarding your personal data:

  • Right to Object to Direct Marketing: Manage your marketing preferences in your account.
  • Right to Access: Request access to the personal data we process about you.
  • Right to Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data.
  • Right to Rectification: Correct your personal data, which can be managed in your account.

You can exercise these rights via your account or by contacting Customer Care (for westferrytimes.com) or the relevant customer services for other products.

You may also lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK.

Application of This Privacy Policy

 

This privacy notice is issued by The Financial Times Limited and applies to personal data collected by the Financial Times group of companies, including FDI Intelligence and MandateWire.

Our sites are not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

For queries regarding your personal data processing, contact our Data Protection Officer at info@westferrytimes.com.

US State-Specific Privacy Notice

 

This section supplements our Privacy Policy for US residents, providing additional rights under state privacy laws:

  • Right to Access: View the personal data we process about you.
  • Right to Deletion: Request deletion of your personal data.
  • Right to Correction: Request correction of your personal data.
  • Right to Opt-Out: Opt out of targeted advertising, profiling, and the sale or sharing of your personal data.

To opt out, use the ‘Do Not Sell or Share my Personal Information’ link on our site or email info@westferrytimes.com.

California Privacy Rights

 

For California residents, the CCPA provides additional rights:

  • Right to Know: Understand what personal data is collected, sold, or disclosed.
  • Right to Access: Request access to personal data.
  • Right to Deletion: Request deletion of personal data.
  • Right to Correction: Request correction of personal data.
  • Right to Opt-Out: Opt out of data sale/sharing and automated decision-making.

Exercise these rights by emailing ccpa.privacy@ft.com. Verification of identity or residency may be required.

Policy Updates

 

This policy was last reviewed on 18/06/2024. Changes will be posted on this page, and significant updates may be communicated via email or our homepage.