Consent
Your use of this website signifies your consent to us collecting and using personal information about you as specified below in accordance with this Policy. Should we choose to change our Policy for any reason, the changes will be posted here, so that you are always kept informed of how we collect and use your personal information, and when we may disclose it.

If you register as a Earthscan website member, as an applicant for a free subscription or for a supplier database listing, this policy will be applied subject to any particular limitations or choices you made as part of the application procedure.

How do we collect information about you and how is it used?
You may provide personal information when communicating with us.

You may order a product or a service and give your name, email address, delivery address, credit or debit card number and expiry date so that the order can be processed and your products (or services where appropriate) delivered to you. Sometimes you may be asked for your telephone number.

If you enter a competition or promotion we will ask for your name, address and email address.

We will collect information about you and/or your company's areas of interest and preferences both when you tell us what these are and by analysis of customer traffic, including by using cookies (see below). It may be that some of the personal information you give us is sensitive personal data within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998. Any such information ("sensitive information") will only be dealt with as described below.

It may be that you provide to us details of credit or debit cards or bank accounts in order to make payments to us. Any such information ("confidential financial information") will be dealt with as described below.

We may use personal information collected about you to personalize your visits to our website and recommend goods or services to you. We also use the information to help us develop the design and layout of our website to ensure that our sites are as useful and enjoyable as possible. We may use personal information collected about you to let you know about functionality changes to our website or changes to our terms and conditions of use.

Sometimes we or our affiliated companies* might use the personal information collected about you to let you know about, new goods, services or offers that you might find interesting. However, this will only be with your consent given at the time of registration. You may change your 'consent' details by editing your personal profile.

With the exception of sensitive information and confidential financial information, your personal information may also be sold, traded or licensed to third parties (including third parties who may be located outside the European Economic Area) in order to enable them to send you details that they think will interest you. However, this will only be with your consent given at the time of registration. You may change your 'consent' details by editing your personal profile.

Traffic data
We may provide aggregate statistics about our sales, customers, traffic patterns and other site information to third parties, but these statistics will not include any information that could personally identify you.

Other disclosures
Earthscan reserves the right to access and disclose individually identifiable information to comply with applicable laws and lawful government requests, to operate its systems properly or to protect itself or its users.

How do we protect your information?
Earthscan has strict security procedures covering the storage and disclosure of your information in order to prevent unauthorised access and to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. This means that sometimes we may ask you for proof of identity before disclosing any personal information to you.

Cookies
A cookie is a piece of information that is stored on your computer's hard drive by your web browser. On revisiting this site our computer server will recognise the cookie, giving us information about your last visit. Most browsers accept cookies automatically, but usually you can alter the settings of your browser to prevent automatic acceptance. If you choose not to receive cookies, you may have difficulty accessing some areas of the website.

Customer feedback and complaints
We welcome your questions and comments about privacy issues. Should you have any questions or complaints about the use of data by Earthscan, please send an email to webfeedback@earthscan.co.uk. (All disputes will be subject to English law.)