Privacy policy

Furnwise Privacy Policy & Cookies Policy

We understand that your privacy and the security of your personal information is extremely important. This notice sets out what we do with your personal information, what we do to keep it secure, from where and how we collect it, as well as your rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you.

The information we gather and hold:

• Information that you provide to us such as your name, address, date of birth, telephone number, email address, bank account and payment card details and any feedback you give to us, including by phone, email, post, or when you communicate with us via social media;
• Information about the services that we provide to you (including for example, the things we have provided to you, when and where, what you paid, the way you use our products and services, and so on);
• Information required to make decisions about your application for products and services offered by Furnwise’s Bank or Argos Financial Services (for example, insurance, loans or credit cards) such as your employment details, financial position, information taken from identification documents such as your passport or driving licence, your insurance, criminal and medical history, and details about additional insured parties and cardholders or joint policyholders;
• Your account login details for our services, including your user name and chosen password;
• Information about whether or not you want to receive marketing communications from us;
• Information about any device you have used to access our Services (such as your device’s make and model, browser or IP address) and also how you use our Services. For example, we try to identify which of our apps you use and when and how you use them. If you use our websites, we try to identify when and how you use those websites too;
• Your contact details and details of the emails and other electronic communications you receive from us, including whether that communication has been opened and if you have clicked on any links within that communication. We want to make sure that our communications are useful for you, so if you don’t open them or don’t click on any links in them, we know we need to improve our Services; and

Information from other sources such as specialist companies that provide customer information (like credit reference agencies such as Experian, fraud prevention agencies, claims databases, marketing and research companies), social media providers and the DVLA, as well as information that is publicly available.

Processing your personal information and our legal basis:
Whenever we process your personal information we have to have something called a “legal basis” for what we do. The different legal bases we rely on are:

• Consent:You have told us you are happy for us to process your personal information for a specific purpose;
• Legitimate interests:The processing is necessary for us to conduct our business, but not where our interests are overridden by your interests or rights.
• Performance of a contract:We must process your personal information in order to be able to provide you with one of our products or services;
• Insurance:Where we process your information as part of offering you an insurance product from Furnwise’s Bank;
• Prevention of fraud:Where we are required to process your data in order to protect us and our customers from fraud or money laundering;
• Vital interests:The processing of your personal information is necessary to protect you or someone else’s life;
• Public information:Where we process personal information which you have already made public;
• Legal claims:The processing of your personal information is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity; and

Legal obligation:We are required to process your personal information by law.

What do we do with your personal information and how do we use it?

There are a number of ways in which we use your personal information, depending on how you interact with us. If you do not provide your information to us, then we will be unable to interact with you in that way – for example, if you do not provide your name, address and account details when purchasing one of our products online, we will not be able to sell you that product as we would be unable to process your payment or deliver the product to you.

We may use your information in the following ways:

• To provide our products and services- we need to use your personal information to make our products and services available to you. If you then decide to order any of our products or services then we’re delighted, thank you. After that, we need to provide them to you, process your payment and sometimes award you Nectar points. And we need to use your details to do all this.
• To personalise your shopping experience- we try to understand our customers so we can provide you with a great shopping experience, relevant marketing, personalised offers, shopping ideas and online advertising. Understanding how you use our Apps, how you interact with the Furnwise, where you shop, the products and services you buy and how you use and browse our websites helps us to do this.
• For safety and security- we use your personal information to help provide safe and secure environments for our colleagues to work in, our customers to shop in and for our businesses to be conducted. To enable this we use CCTV, ANPR technology, body worn recording devices, monitor online behaviour and carry out checks to help us ensure that our customers are genuine to prevent fraud and to help customers use our services appropriately.
• Analytics and profiling- we use your personal information for statistical analysis and to help us understand more about our customers. That includes understanding the products and services you buy, the manner in which you consume them, how you shop across the whole Furnwise and by creating profiles about you. This helps us to serve you better and to find ways to improve our services, stores, apps and websites. These profiles help us to send you offers that are more relevant to you.
• Contacting you- we use your personal information to contact you: either to conduct market research or to contact you about products and services from us and other companies. We may also contact you in relation to any questions you have raised with us or to discuss the status of your account with us.

COOKIE POLICY

WHAT ARE COOKIES?

We use the term cookie to describe cookies and similar technologies such as tags and pixels. Cookies are small data files that websites place on your computer, laptop or mobile device.

OUR USE OF COOKIES

We use Cookies for the following purposes:

• To improve the performance of our websites by understanding which parts work well, and which don't.
• To deliver relevant online advertising to you both on our websites and elsewhere. This is sometimes done by combining data that we already have about you with the data collected through Cookies. These Cookies are placed by us and selected third parties and enable adverts to be presented to you on our and third party websites.
• To measure how effective our online advertising and marketing communications are.
• To enable us to collect information about how you and other people use our websites.
• To improve your experience on our websites, for example we use Cookies to remember the products you’ve put in your basket and to personalise your experience.

WHAT COOKIES DO WE USE?

We use the following Cookies:

Strictly necessary Cookies.

These are Cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They are necessary for the safety, security and integrity of the site. For example they help support the structure of the pages that are displayed to you, help to improve navigation and allow you to return to pages you have previously visited. This type of Cookie only lasts for the duration of the time you are visiting the website. When you leave the website they are deleted automatically.

Performance Cookies or analytical Cookies

They allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily The data is aggregated and anonymised, which means we cannot identify you as an individual.

Functionality Cookies

These are used to recognize you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalize our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region). These Cookies will remain on your device until you choose to clear it. If you choose to do this, you will need to enter your details each time you visit the site.

Targeting Cookies

These Cookies will collect information about your browsing habits and allow us to show you adverts while you are browsing our site and other sites on the internet. They are set by us or by carefully selected third parties. They help us to understand the performance of our marketing activities and improve the relevance of the adverts that you see

Blocking or restricting Cookies

You can stop Cookies being used on your device by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to block the deployment of all or some Cookies. Please visit www.allaboutookies.org to find out how. Please note, if you use your browser settings to block Cookies you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.

CONTACT US

If you have a question about this policy please contact us by one of the following means:

By Email:[email protected]

• By Post: Furnwise, Kapitein Grantstraat 3, 7821 AP EMMEN, The Netherlands 

Who is able to see your personal information?

Our service providers- we work with partners, suppliers, insurers, aggregators and agencies so that they can help us provide the products and services you require from us. These third parties process your personal information on our behalf and are required to meet our high standards of security before doing so. We only share information that allows them to provide their services to us or to facilitate them providing their services to you. These third parties include:

• Advertising companies, who help us place Furnwise adverts online;
• Scheme providers – such as Visa and MasterCard – if you hold a credit card or travel money card with us, in order to manage your account and so your payments are processed;
• Our agents, advisers or others involved in running accounts and services for you and your business or collecting what you or your business owe Group companies.
• Market research partners, who help us to analyse customer behaviour;
• Social media providers – such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – where we interact with you on social media;
• Third party vendors who help us to manage and maintain the Group IT infrastructure;
• Logistics and delivery providers who enable us to deliver products you order on our websites;
• Providers of temporary staff, who need access to certain personal information to carry out their role within the business;
• Where relevant, our professional advisors, such as lawyers and consultants;
• Companies that deploy our email campaigns for us because they need to know your email address to carry out these services;
• Companies that provide insights and analytics services for us so we can stock the right products, send the right marketing campaigns and understand our business and customers better;
• Security and fraud prevention companies to ensure the safety and security of our customers, colleagues and business;
• Companies which run our contact centers because they need your personal information to identify and contact you;
• Companies who assess faults and repair products on our behalf;
• Companies administer competitions for us so they run smoothly;
• Companies that enable us to collect your reviews and comments, both online and offline; and
• Companies that help us with our community and social goals, such as our Active Kids scheme.

Other organizations and individuals - we may share your personal information in certain scenarios. For example:

• If we're discussing selling or transferring part or all of a Furnwise business, we may share information about you to prospective purchasers and their advisers - but only so they can evaluate the relevant business; or
• If we are reorganized or sold to another organization, we may transfer information we hold about you to them so they can continue to provide the Services to you.
• If we are required to by law, under any code of practice by which we are bound or where we are asked to do so by a public or regulatory authority such as the police or the Department for Work and Pensions;
• If we need to do so in order to exercise or protect our legal rights, users, systems and services; or

In response to requests from individuals (or their representatives) seeking to protect their rights or the rights of others. We will only share your personal information in response to requests which do not override your privacy interests. For example, we will not share your personal information with individuals who are merely curious about you, but we will share your personal information to e.g. insurers, solicitors, employers etc. which have a legitimate interest in your personal information.

KEEPING YOU INFORMED ABOUT OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

We would like to tell you about the great offers, ideas, products and services of the Furnwise from time to time that we think you might be interested in. Where we have your consent or it is in our legitimate interests to do so, we may do this through the post, by email, text message or by any other electronic means.

We won't send you marketing messages if you tell us not to, but if you receive a service from us we will still need to send you occasional service-related messages. If you wish to amend your marketing preferences, you can do so by logging into any of your Furnwise accounts and following the directions, or by logging into our Customer Preference Centre.

Please note that it can take up a little while for all marketing to stop once you either withdraw your consent or tell us you’d like to opt out of marketing. This is because some marketing may already be in transit.

YOUR RIGHTS

You have a number of rights under data protection legislation which, in certain circumstances, you may be able to exercise in relation to the personal information we process about you.

These include:

• The right to access a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• The right to correction of inaccurate personal information we hold about you;
• The right to restrict our use of your personal information;
• The right to be forgotten;
• The right of data portability; and
• The right to object to our use of your personal information.

Where we rely on consent as the legal basis on which we process your personal information, you may also withdraw that consent at any time.

If you are seeking to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the “Contact Us” section below. Please note that we will need to verify your identity before we can fulfil any of your rights under data protection law. This helps us to protect the personal information belonging to our customer against fraudulent requests.

HOW LONG WILL WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FOR?

We will keep your personal information for the purposes set out in this privacy policy and in accordance with the law and relevant regulations. We will never retain your personal information for longer than is necessary. In most cases, our retention period will come to an end 7 years after the end of your relationship with us. However, in some instances we are required to hold your personal information for up to 12 years following the end of your relationship with us.

SECURITY

We take protecting your personal information seriously and are continuously developing our security systems and processes. Some of the controls we have in place are:

• We limit physical access to our buildings and user access to our systems to only those that we believe are entitled to be there;
• We use technology controls for our information systems, such as firewalls, user verification, strong data encryption, and separation of roles, systems & data;
• Systems are proactively monitored through a “detect and respond” information security function;
• We utilize industry “good practice” standards to support the maintenance of a robust information security management system; and

We enforce a “need to know” policy, for access to any data or systems.

POLICY CHANGE

This privacy policy was most recently updated in May 2021. If we make changes to it, then we will take appropriate steps to bring those changes to your attention.

Privacy policy & Terms KLARNA

“In order to offer you Klarna’s payment methods, we might in the checkout pass your personal data in the form of contact and order details to Klarna, in order for Klarna to assess whether you qualify for their payment methods and to tailor those payment methods for you. Your personal data transferred is processed in line with Klarna’s own privacy notice.”