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Privacy notice
Thank you for visiting our website (“Website”). We are Imperial Brands PLC, 121 Winterstoke Road, Bristol, BS3 2LL in the United Kingdom (“Imperial”, “we”, “our” or “us”). We are the controller and are responsible for operating this website for the Imperial Brands group of companies (“Imperial Brands Companies”).
We are committed to protecting your privacy online and off. This notice, our “Privacy Notice”, explains what personal information we collect about you either directly or indirectly and how we use, share and look after that information. We encourage you to review our Privacy Notice carefully.
This Privacy Notice applies when we collect personal information about:
- visitors to our Website;
- visitors to our premises;
- people making general enquiries, whether online or by contacting us offline;
- people providing us with feedback about us or our products, online or not;
- people engaging with us on social media;
- people who sign up to our newsletter or other promotional materials; and
- others connected to our Imperial Brands Companies or employees.
Our Website includes links to different sub-sites for Imperial Brands Companies products and services, which may have their own privacy notice and may be operated by other Imperial Brands Companies. These privacy notices should be read in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. For example, if you apply for a job with an Imperial Brands Company through the careers section of this Website , you will be directed to a job search sub-site, which is operated by Imperial Tobacco Limited. You will find relevant privacy notices there.
There is a privacy statement addressed to shareholders in our Shareholder Centre.
In addition to the commitments set out in this Privacy Notice, we live by a set of data privacy rules which apply to the processing of all personal information by our organisation. These privacy rules can be found in our Code of Conduct, which can be downloaded from our website here.
How we collect personal information
“Personal information” is any information that can identify you alone or when put with other information. This could include information such as your name and contact details. Some personal information is categorised as "special" under data protection legislation and is subject to higher levels of protection. This includes information relating to health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, genetic and biometric data, sex life, sexual orientation, and trade union membership.
This personal information is more sensitive and we need to have further justifications for collecting, storing and using this type of personal information. There are also additional restrictions on the circumstances in which we are permitted to collect and use criminal conviction data. We may process special categories of personal information and criminal conviction information in limited circumstances with your explicit consent unless we have a legal reason to do so without your consent. Where we ask for your consent, we will explain at the time the purpose for which the personal information will be used. Otherwise, this Privacy Notice applies.
Information you provide to us
We collect information you voluntarily provide to us, such as your name and contact details, for instance, when you make a general enquiry, sign up to receive communications from us, such as our email alert service, when you do business with us, or when you visit one of our premises. We may also ask you to provide information to us so that we can respond to your enquiry or feedback.
Information we collect automatically
We collect information about you automatically, such as information collected by cookies and similar technologies when you use, access or interact with us via our Website. For more information about our use of cookies, see our Cookies Policy below.
Information we collect from other sources
In some circumstances, we collect personal information from employees, our subsidiaries, other business partners and, in the case of the investigatory work we need to do to comply with our regulatory obligations, law enforcement and other public bodies. Where possible and as long as we are not prevented by law from doing so, we will tell you when we collect your personal information from third parties.
Who we collect information about and the purposes for which we collect it
We collect personal information to manage our business and improve our Website, communicate with and engage with people who want to stay in touch with us, who have questions or feedback for us or our products, or with their consent ask to receive marketing from us, and to comply with our regulatory obligations.
Visitors to our website
If you are a visitor to our website, you should read this Privacy Notice in conjunction with our Cookies Policy below.
We use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out the number of visitors to the various parts of our website and how they interact with the content on the site. This information does not identify any individuals.
We use this information to maintain and monitor the performance of our website, and to look for ways of improving our website and the services it offers to users.
Visitors to our premises
We take care to secure our premises appropriately. We collect personal information so that we know who is on our premises. You will be asked to comply with our security requirements, which will include verifying your identity. We use CCTV to monitor our premises. We collect ID and CCTV information for security and safety purposes.
If you use the Wi-Fi on our premises, we will provide you with the address and a password. We record your device address and will automatically allocate you an IP address while you are on our premises. We log traffic information in the form of the websites visited and the duration and date sent/received. We use the information to provide you with access to the internet while you are on our premises and to comply with any laws and regulations, if requested. We monitor and from time to time test the security of our networks, which may occur while you are using the Wi-Fi. Imperial has no responsibility or control over your use of the internet while you are on our premises.
We ask you to let us know about any access or dietary requirements or support you may need or that we should be aware of when you visit our premises.
Newsletters and email alert service
If you ask us to send you newsletters or our email alerts, we collect your contact details and keep a record of your communications preferences so that we can send you just what you want.
General communications
When you contact us to make an enquiry, or about our products or services, we collect the personal information that we need in order to respond for example, if you contact us by email or post, we will collect a return address for our response. We use the information to deal with your communication and any subsequent issues that may arise, and to check the level of service we provide. If you contact us with a complaint, we will use your personal information to investigate and to check our processes for handling complaints. We compile internal reports and statistics on the number of complaints we receive and how quickly they are handled, but not in a form that identifies anyone.
We also review publicly available social media content that references our business activities.
Others connected to our Imperial Brands’ Companies or employees
We are a global organisation offering goods and services across many jurisdictions. You may be one of the many people we or our employees have a connection to for example, you may be a contact at our business partners or an emergency contact for our employees. When we collect your personal information, we do so in line with our internal privacy rules and this Privacy Notice. We ensure we have a lawful reason for collecting your personal information and only collect what is necessary for the purpose.
We operate in a regulated industry. In support of our anti-illicit trade and anti-money laundering objectives, we collect personal information when we conduct our “Know Your Customer and Contractor” procedures and to verify the integrity of our supply chain. For more information, please contact us using the details below. We also collect personal information when we investigate illicit trade, money laundering and fraud.
Children
We do not intentionally collect any information about visitors to this Website who are under eighteen years of age. If we become aware that a child has provided any information, this will be deleted from our records, as soon as reasonably possible.
Legal basis that permits us to use your personal information
If you are based in the UK or a European country where rules on data protection apply, we need to tell you the legal basis on which we process your personal information. We rely on the following legal bases to use your personal information:
- with your consent, for example where you ask us to send you newsletters or our email alerts;
- where we require your personal information to enter into a contract with you;
- where we perform tasks in the public interest or to comply with a legal obligation for example, where we need to take action as an organisation in a regulated industry or to comply with health and safety legislation; and/or
- where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
The table below provides more detail about the personal information we use and the legal basis that we rely on in each case:
