We recognise the importance of protecting the privacy of the users of our websites. Any personal data collected through this website will only be held and used with care and in accordance with this policy and the Data Protection Act 1998. This policy was updated on 01/07/11 in accordance with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

No information collected by us on this website will be sold, rented or loaned except as expressly stated in this Privacy Policy and consented to by you.

The Data Protection Act
Under the Data Protection Act, we have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from you. We use leading technologies and encryption software to safeguard your data, and keep strict security standards to prevent any unauthorised access to it.

Collection and use of personal information
Historic Scotland is the sole owner of the information collected on this website. Historic Scotland processes personal data for the purposes of providing the service that you have signed up for. We may share non-personal aggregate statistics (group) data about visitors to this website, use and other traffic patterns with connected, or third parties. However, we do not sell or share any information outside Historic Scotland about you as an individual user of this website unless you agree to us doing so.

What information do we collect?

Online data collection
We will not collect any personal information about you, except where it is specifically and knowingly provided by you, for example when you register as a user of the website or request information or provide us with feedback on the website. We collect two kinds of information from visitors: your details (through registration) and site usage information, using cookies and page tagging techniques.

This information is stored securely on our database until such time as you choose to unsubscribe from hearing from us. Users who no longer wish to receive our enewsletters and other updates may opt-out of receiving these communications by clicking unsubscribe option on any email communication received or the user may contact us to opt-out.

Offline data collection
Historic Scotland collects personal data from a variety of sources including the visitor book, competitions, quizzes and discount vouchers.  None of this data is collected without the user’s permission.  Information that is collected includes name, address, email address, telephone number and preferences.  This information is stored securely on our database until such time as you choose to unsubscribe from hearing from us.  Users who no longer wish to receive our mailings, enewsletters and other updates can click on the Unsubscribe link on any email communication, or contact us at hs.customer@scotland.gsi.gov.uk to opt out of postal contact.

Registration
You do not have to register to use our websites but you must register if you wish to join our enewsletters, email alerts, shop on our website or visit the members-only area.

When you shop on this website, we will ask you to input and will collect personal information from you such as your name, e-mail address, billing address, telephone number, product selections, payment information and a password. We may also collect information such as where you are on the internet, your browser type, the country you accessed the site from and the pages of our website that were viewed during your visit.

We confirm that any personal information which you provide to us and any user information, from which we can identify you, is held in accordance with the registration we have with the Information Commissioner's Office. We will use your information only for the following purposes:

- Processing your orders;
- Statistical purposes to improve this website and its services to you;
- Servicing website content and
- Administering this website.

Historic Scotland also maintains an opt-in policy in regard to sending promotional ecommunications. When you are contacted by email, you will be told how to opt out of hearing from us if you wish. Users who want to be removed from our database can also contact us directly.

International data transfer
Personal information that is submitted to us to purchase online tickets and/or guides (audio, souvenir) on www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk or membership on http://members.historic-scotland.gov.uk will be transferred to, and stored at a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA”).  At present the personal data is being transferred, stored and processed in the United States of America or Canada. Different countries have different data protection laws, some of which provide more protection than others.  In these circumstances contractual safeguards are in place to comply with laws applicable to such transfers, as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998.  By providing us with your information you agree to such international data transfer and storage in accordance with the terms of this Policy.

Legal Disclaimer
Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law wherein we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our website.

Third Party Intermediaries
We use an online ticket store user database. This does not retain, share or use personally identifiable information for any secondary purposes.

Notification of changes
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will place an updated version on this page. Regularly reviewing this page ensures you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties

Contact us
If users have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:
Phone: 0131 668 8600
Email: hs.website@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Postal address: The web team, Historic Scotland, Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1SH