Privacy Policy

We have written this privacy policy in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered as gender-neutral.

In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any personal data we process about you.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. However, this privacy policy is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. So long as it aids transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. We are thus informing in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is a legal basis for it. This is certainly not possible with brief, unclear and legal-technical statements, as is often standard on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative. Maybe you will also find some information that you have not been familiar with.

Scope

This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by our company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (processors). With the term personal data, we refer to information within the meaning of Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as the name, email address and postal address of a person. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and invoice our services and products, be it online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes::

• name (websites, online shops) that we operate
• all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
• contact information including email address
• demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
• other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.

Whenever EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016. You can of course access the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU online at EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.

We only process your data if at least one of the following conditions applies:

• Consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of data you entered into a contact form.
• Contract (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if you request free samples or free quotations, or if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance
• Legal obligation (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we will process your data. For example, we are legally required to keep invoices for our bookkeeping. These usually contain personal data.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your basic rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we have to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. Therefore, the processing is a legitimate interest.
• Other conditions such as making recordings in the interest of the public, the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually occur with us. Should such a legal basis be relevant, it will be disclosed in the appropriate place.

Storage Period

It is a general criterion for us to store personal data only for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This means that we delete personal data as soon as any reason for the data processing no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to keep certain data stored even after the original purpose no longer exists, such as for accounting purposes. If you want your data to be deleted or if you want to revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible, provided there is no obligation to continue its storage. If you want your data to be deleted or removed from our database email us at info@tilemerchant.ie.

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

According to Article 15 of the GDPR, you have a right to information as to whether we are processing your data. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data in question, as well as the following information:

• the purpose of the processing;
• the categories of personal data concerned;
• the recipients to whom the personal data is disclosed, and in particular how security can be guaranteed if the data is transferred to third countries
• how long the data will be stored;
• the existence of the right to request rectification, erasure or restriction of processing of personal data and the right to object to such processing;
• the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (you can find links to these authorities below);
• the source of the data, if we have not collected it from you directly;
• whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated in order to be allocated to a personal profile on you.

According to Article 16 of the GDPR, you have the right to request rectification of the data, which means that we have to correct your data should you find any errors.

According to Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to have your personal data erased (the “right to be forgotten”), which specifically means that you can request to have your data deleted.

According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to obtain restriction of processing, which means that we are only allowed to store the data but no longer use or process it.

According to Article 20 of the GDPR, you have the right to request data portability, which means that on request, we will provide you with your data in a common format. According to Article 21 of the GDPR, you have a right to object, which will result in a change in processing after implementation.

If the processing of your data is based on Article 6 (1) (e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6 (1) (f) (legitimate interest), you can object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible, whether we can legally comply with this objection.

If data is used to operate direct mail, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We will then no longer be allowed to use your data for direct marketing purposes.

If your data is used for profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We will then no longer be allowed to use your data for profiling purposes.

According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling).

If you believe that the processing of your data violates the data protection law, or your data protection claims have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority.

Web hosting

Every time you visit a website nowadays, certain information is automatically created and stored, just as it happens on this website. This data should be collected as sparingly as possible, and only with good reason. By website, we mean the entirety of all websites on your domain, i.e. everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one here). By domain we mean example.ie or examplepage.com.

Even while you are currently visiting our website, our web server – this is the computer this website is stored on, usually automatically retains data such as the below – for reasons such as operational security or for creating access statistics etc.

• the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.ie/examplesubpage.html/)
• browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)
• the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
• the address (URL) of the previously visited site (referrer URL) (i.e. https://www.examplepage.ie/icamefromhere.html/)
• the host name and the IP-address of the device the website is accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
• date and time
• in so-called web server log files.

Generally, these files are stored for two weeks and are then automatically deleted. We do not pass these data to others, but we cannot exclude the possibility that this data may be looked at by the authorities in case of illegal conduct.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

How we use Cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

The website uses cookies to help keep track of items you put into your shopping cart including when you have abandoned your cart and this information is used to determine when to send cart reminder messages via SMS (text messages), or WhatsApp Messages.

Please note, cookies are used for ads personalisation of ads you see on your electronic devices.

When browsing our website, Google, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Microsoft, Klaviyo may use your personal data when you give consent on your site. To know more about consent please refer to Google’s Privacy & Terms

Controlling Your Personal Information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

• whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
• if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at info@tilemerchant.ie

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please email us this request using our Contact Us information.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

List of Cookies we Collect

The table below lists the cookies we collect and what information they store.

Cookie Name	Cookie Description
FORM_KEY	Stores randomly generated key used to prevent forged requests.
PHPSESSID	Your session ID on the server.
GUEST-VIEW	Allows guests to view and edit their orders.
PERSISTENT_SHOPPING_CART	A link to information about your cart and viewing history, if you have asked for this.
STF	Information on products you have emailed to friends.
STORE	The store view or language you have selected.
USER_ALLOWED_SAVE_COOKIE	Indicates whether a customer allowed to use cookies.
MAGE-CACHE-SESSID	Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.
MAGE-CACHE-STORAGE	Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.
MAGE-CACHE-STORAGE-SECTION-INVALIDATION	Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.
MAGE-CACHE-TIMEOUT	Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.
SECTION-DATA-IDS	Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.
PRIVATE_CONTENT_VERSION	Facilitates caching of content on the browser to make pages load faster.
X-MAGENTO-VARY	Facilitates caching of content on the server to make pages load faster.
MAGE-TRANSLATION-FILE-VERSION	Facilitates translation of content to other languages.
MAGE-TRANSLATION-STORAGE	Facilitates translation of content to other languages.