Introduction
Welcome to the ThinCats Group privacy notice.
“You/your” means an individual who is:
a “Lender Member” - a firm, partnership, company or other entity that has mandated a member of the ThinCats Group to act on its behalf in relation to lending activities.
a “Key Account Party” - an individual who is a director, company secretary, partner, member, shareholder, beneficial owner, trustee or other controlling official within a business that is or has made an application to borrow monies through facilities arranged by a member of the ThinCats Group.
an “Account Party” - an individual other than a Key Account Party who has provided personal data to us in connection with a Key Account Party.
A person who visits any website or forum operated by the Thincats Group.
1. Important information and who we are
Purpose of this privacy notice
This privacy notice explains how ThinCats Group collects and processes your personal data.
This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
The ThinCats Group is made up of different legal entities, details of which can be found at Schedule 1 to this Policy. This privacy notice is issued on behalf of the ThinCats Group so when we mention The ThinCats Group we, us or our in this privacy notice, we are referring to the relevant company in the ThinCats Group responsible for processing your data. Thincats is the controller and responsible for this website.
Full name of legal entity: Thincats Limited
Name or title of DPO: Ian Ilersic, Head of Legal
Email address: [email protected]
Postal address: 2-3 Charter Point Way, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1NF
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
Changes to the privacy notice and your duty to inform us of changes
This version was last updated in September 2022.
2. The data we collect about you
Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender, passport details.
Contact Data includes home address, email address and telephone numbers.
Financial Data includes bank account and payment details together with details of your financial position, status and history.
Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from any account held with us.
Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
Profile Data includes your username and password, feedback and survey responses and forum posts.
Usage Data includes information about how you use our website.
Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.
We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
If you fail to provide personal data
Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with services). In this case, we may have to cancel a product or service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.
3. How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
apply for our products or services;
create an account on our website;
subscribe to our service or publications;
request marketing to be sent to you;
enter a competition, promotion or survey; or
give us some feedback.
Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies.
Third parties or publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
Technical Data from the following parties:
analytics providers such as Google based outside the UK;
advertising networks based inside or outside the UK; and
search information providers based inside or outside the UK.
Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services based inside the EU.
Identity and Contact Data from data brokers or aggregators based inside the EU.
Identity and Contact Data from publicly availably sources such as Companies House and the Electoral Register based inside or outside the UK.
Credit reference agencies such as Callcredit, Equifax and Experian.
4. How we use your personal data
Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data other than in relation to sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.
Purposes for which we will use your personal data
Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.
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Promotional offers from us
We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any company outside the ThinCats Group for marketing purposes.
Opting out
You can ask us or third parties to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by following the opt-out links on any marketing message sent to you or by contacting us at any time.
Our website uses some cookies. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we put on your computer if you agree. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our website, which helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. The cookies we use are analytical cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the site 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. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.
5. Disclosures of your personal data
Internal Third Parties as set out in the Glossary.
External Third Parties as set out in the Glossary. See further below regarding credit reference agencies.
Specific third parties listed in the table in paragraph 4 above.
Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy notice.
When we ask credit reference agencies about you or your business, we may supply personal data relating to Key Account Parties and Account Parties to those credit reference agencies (CRAs) and they will give us information about you or your business, such as your financial history. We do this to assess creditworthiness and product suitability, check identities, manage your accounts, trace and recover debts and prevent criminal activity. The CRAs may note it on your credit file as a credit search. Other organisations that may see such note and we can see searches done by other organisations.
We will continue to exchange information about you or your business with CRAs on an ongoing basis, including any debts not paid in time. CRAs will share this information with other organisations. If there are other Key Account Parties in relation to a business then we will link your records with theirs. Credit reference agencies will also link your records together. These links will stay on your records unless you or the Key Account Parties linked to you asks the credit reference agency to break the link. You will normally need proof that you are no longer financially linked.
You can find out more about the CRAs and the ways in which they use and share personal data on their websites. The following are links to the information notice of the three main credit reference agencies:
6. International transfers
In respect of Lender Members we do not transfer your personal data outside the UK.
In respect of Key Account Parties personal data may be transferred outside the UK in the event that a Lender Member (usually an institutional investor) is situated outside the UK.
We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data.
Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved for use in the UK which give personal data the same protection it has in the UK.
[Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them only in accordance with UK GDPR, as defined below (i.e, one of a limited number of exceptions applies, or rights of individuals are protected in another way as specified by UK GDPR).
UK GDPR means the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679). Personal Data is subject to the legal safeguards specified in the UK GDPR.
Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK.
7. Data security
How long will you use my personal data for?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.
By law we have to keep basic information about our Lender Members (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for seven years after they cease being Lender Members for tax purposes. Likewise, in the case of Key Account Parties and Account Parties, we retain this information for the lifetime of the loan and seven years after the loan term ends, again, for legal and tax purposes.
8. Your legal rights
Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a data subject access request). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.
Time limit to respond
9.Glossary
LAWFUL BASIS
Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us.
Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that we are subject to.
THIRD PARTIES
Internal Third Parties
Other companies in the ThinCats Group acting as joint controllers or processors and who are based in the UK and provide IT and system administration services and undertake leadership reporting.
Thincats Thincats Limited (Company No. 09707863) whose registered office is at 2&3 Charter Point Way, Ashby Park, Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire, United Kingdom, LE65 1NF.
ThinCats Group Thincats Group Limited, Thincats, Business Loan Capital Limited, ESF Loans Limited, TC Loans I Limited, TC Loans II Limited, TC Loans Limited, TC Security Trustee Limited
External Third Parties
Service providers acting as processors based in the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA) who provide IT and system administration services.
Professional advisers acting as processors or joint controllers including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers based in the UK or EEA who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services.
HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities acting as processors or joint controllers based in the United Kingdom who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.
Potential institutional investors acting as processors who require reporting of processing activities and loan portfolios in certain circumstances. These are usually based in the UK or EEA.
Financial processing providers acting as processors or joint controllers based in the United Kingdom who provide transactional and administration services.
Identity agencies acting as processors or joint controllers based in the United Kingdom who provide identity checking services.
Credit reference agencies (CRAs) such as Callcredit, Equifax and Experian.
Version No. |
Policy Approval and Sign Off log |
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v.1 |
Management Committee |
TBC |
TBC |
v.7 |
Mark Guttridge |
October 2021 |
Approved (minor amendments not requiring risk committee approval) |
v.8 |
Mark Guttridge |
January 2022 |
Approved (minor amendments not requiring risk committee approval) |
v.9 |
Management Risk Committee |
September 2022 |
Approved |
Version No. |
Version History |
||
v.1 |
Samantha Gray |
August 2018 |
Drafted |
v.1.1 |
Samantha Gray |
May 2019 |
|
v.2 |
Samantha Gray |
February 2020 |
Amendments re DD collection |
v.3 |
Samantha Gray |
April 2020 |
Amendments to include CATO CRA wording for Experian |
v.4 |
Samantha Gray |
July 2020 |
General Review |
v.5 |
Samantha Gray |
January 2021 |
To extract BLN from for separate Platform Privacy Policy |
v.6 |
Mark Guttridge |
March 2021 |
General Review |
v.7 |
Ian Ilersic |
October 2021 |
Update Thincats registered office. Update definition of ThinCats Group |
v.8 |
Ian Ilersic |
January 2022 |
General Review |
v.9 |
Ian Ilersic |
September 2022 |
Update to reflect change of company name |
The owner of this document is Ian Ilersic. If you have any queries or comments regarding the information contained in the document, please contact:
Contact: Ian Ilersic
Email: [email protected]