Privacy notice

Who we are

Discover the Fens is a visitor information platform promoting destinations, attractions, accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, events and experiences across the Fens.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, the organisation responsible for deciding how personal information collected through this website is used is referred to as the data controller.

References in this notice to “Discover the Fens”, “we”, “us” or “our” mean the organisation operating the Discover the Fens website at discoverthefens.co.uk .

Information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you use the website and whether you choose to contact us.

Information you provide directly

• Your name, email address, telephone number and organisation.
• Information included in an enquiry, submission or other message.
• Details supplied when asking us to add, amend or remove a listing.
• Marketing preferences where you choose to receive updates.
• Information supplied when entering a promotion, survey or consultation.

Information collected automatically

• Internet Protocol address and approximate location.
• Browser, device and operating-system information.
• Pages visited, links followed and time spent on the website.
• Referring websites, campaign information and search terms.
• Cookie identifiers and consent preferences.
• Technical information used to diagnose errors and protect the website.

Information about businesses and organisations

We may publish information about visitor attractions, venues, businesses, events and community organisations. This will usually be business information already made public by the organisation or supplied to us for publication. Where it includes the name or contact details of an identifiable individual, that information may also be personal data.

How we use your information

We may use personal information to:

• Operate, maintain and improve the Discover the Fens website.
• Respond to questions, requests, corrections and listing submissions.
• Review and manage information submitted for publication.
• Provide newsletters or updates where you have asked to receive them.
• Understand how visitors find and use the website.
• Measure the performance of content and promotional campaigns.
• Protect the website, its users and our systems from misuse or fraud.
• Maintain appropriate administrative and legal records.
• Meet legal, regulatory and safeguarding responsibilities.
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We will not use personal information for a purpose that is incompatible with the reason it was collected unless the law allows or requires us to do so.

Our lawful bases

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for each use of personal information. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following bases:

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the purpose of the processing, whether it is necessary and the likely effect on the people concerned.

Cookies and analytics

Cookies are small files stored on your device when you visit a website. Some cookies are necessary for the website to function. Others help us understand website use, remember preferences or measure the effectiveness of content.

Essential cookies

These support functions such as website security, accessibility, session management and recording your cookie preferences. They may be used without consent where they are strictly necessary.

Analytics cookies

Where you consent, analytics services may collect information about visits and interactions. We use this information in aggregated form to understand performance and improve the website.

Third-party content

Embedded maps, videos, social-media features and other external services may place cookies or collect information when activated. These services operate under their own privacy terms.

Who we share information with

We may share personal information with trusted organisations where this is necessary and lawful, including:

• Website hosting, maintenance and technical-support providers.
• Email, cloud-storage, analytics and security-service providers.
• Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers and legal advisers.
• Project partners where this is necessary to answer an enquiry or deliver an agreed activity.
• Public authorities, regulators or law-enforcement bodies where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
• A successor organisation if responsibility for the website or relevant service is lawfully transferred.

Service providers acting on our behalf may only use personal information for the agreed purpose and must protect it appropriately. We do not sell or rent personal information to third parties.

Listings and external websites

Discover the Fens contains links to attraction, accommodation, venue, event, ticketing and other third-party websites. Following one of these links takes you to a service controlled by another organisation.

Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices. This notice does not govern information collected directly by an external website, booking platform, ticket provider, map service or social-media network.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, reporting, safeguarding or dispute-resolution requirements.

Retention periods vary according to the nature of the information. For example:

• General enquiries are retained only while they remain relevant and any necessary follow-up is completed.
• Marketing details are retained until consent is withdrawn, you unsubscribe or the information is no longer needed.
• Cookie-consent records may be retained to demonstrate compliance.
• Business and transaction records may be retained for the period required by law.
• Security logs are generally kept for a limited period unless needed to investigate an incident.

When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted, anonymised or otherwise removed from active use.

Keeping information secure

We use proportionate organisational and technical measures designed to protect personal information against accidental loss, misuse, alteration, unauthorised access or disclosure.

These measures may include access controls, secure hosting, encryption in transit, software maintenance, backups, monitoring and limiting access to people who need the information for a legitimate purpose.

No internet transmission or electronic-storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a personal-data breach occurs, we will assess it and make any notification required by law.

International transfers

Some service providers may process or store information outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate legal safeguard is in place.

This may include an adequacy regulation, an approved contractual safeguard such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum, or another mechanism permitted by UK data protection law.

Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data protection law may give you the right to:

• Ask whether we hold personal information about you and request a copy.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Ask us to delete personal information in certain circumstances.
• Ask us to restrict how personal information is used.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Receive certain information in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent.
• Object to direct marketing at any time.
• Ask for human review of certain solely automated decisions, where applicable.

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request. We will not normally charge a fee, although the law permits a reasonable fee or refusal where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office , the UK regulator for data protection. We would welcome the opportunity to consider your concern first.

Children’s privacy

Discover the Fens provides visitor information that may be useful to families, but the website is not intended to collect personal information directly from children without appropriate involvement from a parent, carer, school or responsible organisation.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us inappropriately, please contact us so that we can review and, where appropriate, remove it.

Changes to this privacy notice

We may update this notice when our services, technology or legal responsibilities change. The latest version will be published on this page, together with its revision date.

Where a change would materially affect how we use personal information, we will take reasonable steps to draw attention to it.