Privacy Policy

Water Research Centre Ltd (WRc) is responsible for managing and operating this website on behalf of the International Water Association (IWA).

Water Research Centre Ltd is part of the RSK Group.

The IWA is a self-governing nonprofit organization and knowledge hub for the water sector.

Water Research Centre Ltd is the data controller and responsible for this website.

This privacy policy sets out how WRc and RSK Group Limited group of companies collects and processes your personal data when you visit this website, details of which are set out at the end of this privacy policy; and when you contact us to enquire about and/or contract with us for any of our services; and also tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing policy we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you, so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.

This website is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.

Who we are

RSK Group Limited is the ultimate parent company of the “RSK Group” which is made up of different legal entities, details of which can be found on our Legal Structure available on www.rskgroup.com.  This privacy policy is issued on behalf of the RSK group so when we mention “RSK”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy policy, we are referring to the relevant company in the RSK group responsible for processing your data. We will let you know which entity will be the controller for your data on the relevant website or when you contract with us for a particular service.

We may provide additional or different privacy statements or notices for specific interactions you have with us. Where we do this, it will be clear which statements apply to which interactions.

WRc have appointed a Data Protection Officer to oversee questions in relation to this privacy policy. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact the WRc Data Protection Officer using the details set out at the end of this privacy policy.

Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes

We keep this privacy policy under regular review.  It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Third-party links

This website may include links to third-party websites, plugins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave this website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

The data we collect about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

• Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender.
• Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, region, email address and telephone numbers.
• Financial Data includes bank account and payment card details.
• Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of services you have purchased from us.
• Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
• Profile Data includes your username and password, service engagements made by you, your interests, preferences, feedback, and survey responses.

• Usage Data includes information about how you use this website and services.

We also collect, use, and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.

If you fail to provide personal data

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

How is your personal data collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Direct interactions

You may give us your identity, contact and other personal data by filling in forms, signing up to this website, or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:

• enquire about, contract or engage with us for our services;

• give us feedback or contact us.

Automated technologies or interactions

As you interact with this website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies. Please see our cookie policy for further details.

Third parties or publicly available sources

We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources such as:

• Other companies in the RSK group.
• Service providers who provide IT and system administration services.
• Professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services.
• HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.

• Contact and Transaction Data from providers of technical and delivery services.
• Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources such as Companies House.

How we use your personal data

We may only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Where we need to perform the contract or service we are about to enter into, or have entered into, with you
• 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
• Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we will get your consent before sending direct marketing communications to you.

Please see the ‘Marketing’ section below.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

We have set out below a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.

Marketing

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.

Where you access the main WRc website (https://www.wrcgroup.com) we may use your identity, contact, technical, usage and profile data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which services may be relevant for you.

Where you have requested information from us or purchased services from us, and have not opted out of receiving marketing communications, you will receive such communications from us.

You have the right to withdraw your consent to marketing communications at any time by contacting us.

This site https://www.waterbasedcarbon.com does not generate any marketing information, and WRc do not share your personal data from this site with any third party for marketing purposes.

Cookies

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please review the cookie policy.

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.

If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

Disclosures of your personal data

We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above.

• Other companies in the RSK Group.
• Service providers acting as processors who provide IT and system administration services.
• Professional advisers to our business including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers.
• HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.

• Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

International transfers

We do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

If we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

• We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission.
• Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe.
• Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to using the Data Privacy Framework (DPF), which requires US based providers to ensure similar protection to personal data as provided for under GDPR.

Data security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention. How long will you use my personal data for?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or other requirements.

By law we have to keep basic information about our clients (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for six years after they cease being clients for tax purposes.

In some circumstances we will anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

Your legal rights

Under certain circumstances you have the following rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. These include:

• Requesting access to your personal data.
• Requesting correction of your personal data.
• Requesting erasure of your personal data.
• Objecting to the processing of your personal data.
• Requesting restriction of the processing of your personal data.
• Requesting the transfer of your personal data.

• The right to withdraw consent regarding the use of your personal data.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact the WRc Data Protection Officer at NRW.Carbon@wrcrgroup.com

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

Contact details

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please write to our Data Protection Officer at WRc Ltd, Frankland Road, Blagrove, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 8YF.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues www.ico.org.uk. We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance at NRW.Carbon@wrcrgroup.com