General Privacy Policy

This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

What if you do not agree with this Privacy Policy?

If you do not agree to our processing of your data in the manner described below please do not submit any personal data to us.

Who is the controller of the data that you provide to us?

For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998, NMSI has registrations in the names of National Museum of Science and Industry and NMSI Enterprises Limited both of Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2DD.

What information may we collect from you?

We may collect and process the following data about you:

• Information that you provide by filling in forms on the website, this includes information provided at the time of registering to use our site, subscribing to our service, posting material or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you enter a competition or promotion sponsored by us and when you report a problem with the website. Other information we collect from you may be from the transactions you enter into with third parties (such as an online seller) or us through the site.
• If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
• We may also ask you to complete surveys that we use for research purposes, although you do not have to respond to them.
• Details of transactions you carry out through the site and of the fulfilment of your orders.
• Details of your visits to the site [including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, whether this is required for our own billing purposes or otherwise] and the resources that you access.

How do we use cookies?

The Site uses 'cookie' information collection technology. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. They help us to improve the site and to deliver a better and more personalised service to you. Some of the cookies are essential for the site to operate.

You are not obliged to accept cookies and you may amend your browser's settings to prevent it from accepting cookies. Click here for instructions on how to disable cookies. Please be aware that if you do disable cookies, certain services on the site may not be available to you and your enjoyment of the site may be impaired.

Where do we store your personal data?

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"). It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers. Such staff may be engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of your order, the processing of your payment details and the provision of support services. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted (using SSL technology). Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

How do we use this information?

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• To ensure that content from the site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.
• To provide you with information, products and services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes.
• To carry out our contractual and statutory obligations.
• To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so.
• To notify you about changes to our service.
• To help us provide and deliver successful events and exhibitions.
• To provide aggregate statistics about our customers, sales, browser type, operating system, internet, domain, demographic and profile data, traffic patterns, and related site information to reputable third parties. These statistics will not include any personally identifying information.
• To provide your information to our customer service agencies for similar purposes.
• If you are an existing customer, we will only contact you by electronic means (email or SMS) with information about goods and services similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale to you.
• If you are a new customer, and where we permit selected third parties to use your data, we (or they) will contact you by electronic means only if you have consented to this.
• If you do not want us to use your data in this way, or to pass your details on to third parties for marketing purposes, please tick or untick the relevant box situated on the form on which we collect your data or email marketing@sciencemuseum.org.uk

How do we disclose your information?

We may disclose your personal information to any of the NMSI family of museums, which means the Science Museum in London and Swindon, the National Media Museum, the National Railway Museum, Locomotion in Shildon and and the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property or safety of NMSI, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

What are your rights?

You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by ticking or unticking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your data or by emailing marketing@sciencemuseum.org.uk.

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, advertisers and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

How you can access this information?

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the Act. Any access request may be subject to a fee of £10 to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you.

If there are changes to our privacy policy?

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.

Who to contact?

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to marketing@sciencemuseum.org.uk.