Privacy Policy
Last Updated: 10 June 2025
Introduction
SIMONCHARLESDOTCOM Limited (collectively, "Simon Charles Auctioneers", "Simon Charles", "we, "us" or "our") are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Policy sets out how Simon Charles Auctioneers processes personal information collected through our websites ("Website").
Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. We keep certain basic information when you visit our website and recognise the importance of keeping that information secure and letting you know what we will do with it. The Policy supplements any additional notices and is not intended to override them.
Simon Charles Auctioneers is committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. We adhere to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and any applicable industry and regulatory guidelines. We regularly review and update our Policy and procedures to ensure the safety and protection of personal information in our possession.
This policy applies to our Websites, auction centres and membership schemes. If you leave our site via a link or otherwise, you will be subject to the policy of that website provider. We have no control over that policy or the terms of the website and you should check their policy before continuing to access the site.
We have developed this policy, which:
- Sets out the types of personal data we collect
- Explains how and why this personal data is collected
- Explains your rights and the choices you have when it comes to your personal data
If you have any questions or concerns, our Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email:dpo@simoncharles.com
What information do we collect?
When you register for our services either online or within our auction centres you may provide us with:
- Personal Information to include: Contact telephone numbers, addresses, email addresses and proofs of identification
- Account login details to include an email address and password
When you bid & buy through our auction centre & online services:
- Information about your purchases (for example, what you bid/bought, when and where you bid/bought and how it was paid for)
- Information about your online browsing behaviour on our websites and when you click on one of our online advertisements
- Information about any devices you have used to access our websites to include, but not limited to:
- Make & model of the devices
- Operating System
- IP Address
- Browser type
- Mobile device identifiers
When you contact us or take part in any promotions, competitions, surveys or reviews we may collect:
- Personal Information to include: Contact telephone numbers, addresses, email addresses
- Details on other services you may use
- Your review and feedback on how we can improve our services
When you visit our auction centres:
- Footage of you may be recorded for advertising purposes
- Footage recorded on our CCTV systems is typically retained for up to 30 days, unless required longer for investigations or legal obligations, after which it is automatically deleted.
Other sources of personal
We may use personal data from other external sources to include, specialist information companies, online media channels, retail partners and public registers. This information is used for:
- Review or improve the accuracy of the data we hold
- Measure and improve our marketing communications
How and why we use the information we collect
Makes our services available to you
To facilitate in providing our services, we are required to gather information to, manage the accounts you hold with us, process your orders and ensure we have the correct contact information through any sms/automated call and address validation systems.
Manage and improve the services we provide
For our online services we utilise a number of inhouse and third party services to ensure that we providing the best possible facilities for all our website users, ensure our systems are working optimally and receive information on any potential issues that may arise from our services. This is done through cookies and third party tracking facilities.
Detection and prevention of fraud and crime
As part of our registration process you are required to provide us with proof of identifications for your address and photograph ID. These are required to ensure the information we receive during the registration process is accurate.
Personalisation of our services for you
We may use the information we collect to personalise any offers or similar purchases to assist in your bidding experience with us.
We may also utilise this information to tailor any marketing communications to include: email, post or online advertising.
Facilitate in contacting and interacting with us
We may need to contact you by telephone, email and post with regards to any outstanding purchases you have with us.
Manage or inform you of any promotions, competitions or offers you have entered into with us.
Invite you to take part in any surveys, reviews or other market research activities carried out by ourselves or through a third party provider.
Claims
We may be required to contact you via telephone, email or post if any legal claims or disputes arise.
CCTV
We have CCTV systems in place to ensure the safety of our auction centres in order to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.
Purpose/activities where we use your information
Full details of the types of data gather can be found in the Data Retention Schedule at the end of this document.
Sharing and disclosure of personal data
Other than what is expressly set out within this Policy or as required or permitted by law, we will not share, sell or distribute any personal information without your consent.
We may, from time to time employ third party providers for dealing with matters that may include, but are not limited to, payment processing services, postal & 2 man delivery services, search engine facilities, data hosting services, customer management services, advertising/marketing services and sales services.
As aggregated or anonymous information does not personally identify you, we may use it for any purpose. If at any time aggregated or anonymous information is combined with any personal information, this information will then be treated as personal information according to the Policy.
Marketing
We may send you relevant offers and news about products and our services in a number of ways that may include, but are not limited email, social media or post, but only if you have agreed to receive these marketing communications. You can change your marketing preferences at any time either by clicking on any unsubscribe links or getting in touch via telephone or email.
How long we use personal data for
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. The specific retention period varies depending on the type of data and its purpose.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
For information on how we use cookies and similar technologies, please refer to our Cookie Policy (http://simoncharles.com/policies/cookies) that is separate to this policy.
International Transfer of information
While we do not have any requirement to transfer any personal information internationally. However, if this does ever become a requirement of ours we will take steps to ensure that your personal information is transferred securely.
If in future we transfer data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place in line with UK GDPR requirements.”
Security
Data security is of great importance to Simon Charles Auctioneers and to protect your personal information we have adequate physical, electronic and strict managerial procedures in place to secure any personal information that is collected.
Your access rights to your personal information
You have the right to see the personal information we hold about you. If you would like to see the information we do hold on you, simply sign into your online account and go to the My Account section of the website.
If you would like a full copy of all the personal data we hold about you, please email us at dpo@simoncharles.com and we can facilitate in this request.
We aim to respond to subject access requests within one month, in line with our legal obligations under the UK GDPR.
Other data protection rights
In relation the personal information we hold on you, you also have the right to:
- Have incorrect information corrected
- Object to our use of it
- Restrict our use of it
- Have us delete it (There are several situations when you can have us delete your personal data. This includes, but is not limited to, we no longer need to keep your personal data, you have withdrawn your consent to us using your personal data and you have withdrawn your consent and we have no other grounds to use it, or we have processed your data unlawfully).
- Complain to the data protection regulator. We would the opportunity to resolve any complaints you have, however you do have the right to complain to the UK data protection regulator (the ICO) about how we have used your personal data. There website is www.ico.org.uk.
If you would like to get in touch with us for any of these options, please email us at dpo@simoncharles.com.
Data Retention Schedule
Purpose/Activity | Types of Data | Legal Basis | Retention Period | Disposal Method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Process bidding/purchases | Contact Info, Financial Info, ID, Transaction Info | Contract, Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation | 6 Years after last purchase | Secure deletion or anonymisation |
Detect and prevent duplicate/fraudulent registrations | Hashed User Data | Legitimate Interest (fraud prevention) | 10 Years from account lock or deletion | Secure deletion after expiry |
Admin & Service Updates | Contact Info, communication preferences | Legal Obligation, Legitimate Interest | 6 years | Secure deletion |
Internal Record Keeping | Contact Info, Transaction Info, ID | Legal Obligation, Legitimate Interest | 6 Years | Secure deletion |
Website usage monitoring | Technical info, usage data | Legitimate Interest | 14 months | Auto-deletion by analytics system |
Surveys and market research | Contact info, feedback | Legitimate Interest | 2 years | Secure deletion |
Marketing & Advertising | Contact Info, Profile Data | Legitimate Interest | Until Withdrawn + 2 Years | Secure deletion |
Business audits & development | Profile Data, Purchase Data | Legitimate Interest, Legal Obligation | 6 Years | Secure deletion |
CCTV for security | Video images | Legitimate interest | Up to 30 days | Automatic system overwrite |
Customer service communications | Contact Info, Message History | Legitimate Interest | 2 Years | Secure deletion |
Inactive User Accounts | Account Details, Login records | Legitimate Interest | 2 Years after inactivity | Account closure or anonymisation |
Proof of ID (KYC) | Photo ID | Legal Obligation, Legitimate Interest | 6 Years | Secure Deletion |
Dispute Resolution & legal claims | All relevant case data | Legal Obligation, Legitimate Interest | Up to 7 Years | Secure Deletion |
Staff Records | Employment Data, Payroll, Contracts, Contact Info | Legal Obligation | 6 Years after end of employment | Secure Deletion |
Vendor/Supplier Info | Contact info, Agreements | Contract, Legal Obligation, Legitimate Interest | 6 Years after Contract Ends | Secure Deletion |
Call Recordings | Audio Recordings | Legitimate Interest | 6 Months | Secure Deletion |
Access logs / sign-in records | Visitor logs, badge logs, online access logs, IP Addresses | Legitimate interest | 12 Months | Secure Deletion |
Consent Records | Consent Forms, Timestamps | Legal Obligation | 6 Years from last use | Secure Deletion |
Email server logs | Headers, delivery logs | Legitimate Interest | 12 Months | Secure Deletion |
System backups | System-wide data | Legitimate Interest | Up to 6 Months | Encrypted Deletion on expiry |
Live Chat Transcripts | Conversation Logs | Legitimate Interest | 2 Years | Secure Deletion |
Payment Processor Audit Logs | Transaction Metadata | Legal Obligation | 6 Years | Deletion per provider policy |
Rejected Registrations | Partial Account Data | Legitimate Interest | 12 Months | Secure Deletion |