Cookie Policy

Privacy & Cookie Policy

Michael Steel & Co knows that you care how information about you is used and shared and we appreciate your trust in us to do that carefully and sensibly. This notice describes the privacy policy of Michael Steel & Co. By visiting Michael Steel & Co, you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Notice.

Controllers of personal information

Any personal information provided to or to be gathered by Michael Steel & Co is controlled primarily by Michael Steel & Co, the data controllers.

What personal information about visitors does Michael Steel & Co gather?

Here are the types of information we gather.

Information You Give Us: we receive and store any information you enter on our website or give us in any other way. You can choose not to provide certain information but then you might not be able to take advantage of many of our features. We use the information that you provide for such purposes as responding to your request communicating with you.

Automatic Information: we receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, like many websites, we use "cookies" and we obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses Michael Steel & Co. A number of companies offer utilities designed to help you visit websites anonymously. Although we will not be able to provide you with a personalised experience at Michael Steel & Co if we cannot recognise you, we want you to be aware that these tools exist.

Information from Other Sources: we might receive information about you from other sources and add it to our account information.

What about cookies?

Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer's hard drive through your Web browser to enable our systems to recognise your browser and to provide features such as personalised greetings between visits.

The Help menu on the menu bar of most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and how to disable cookies altogether. Additionally, you can disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-on's settings or visiting the website of its manufacturer. However, because cookies allow you to take advantage of some of Michael Steel & Co's essential features, we recommend that you leave them turned on.

The cookies we store are harmless and because we like to be as transparent with our customers as possible we have published below the details of all cookies used on our website along with explanations on what each one is used for.

Name: __utma
Example: 217454337.2139013845.1318512106.1337692541.1337760072.99
Explanation: Set by Google Analytics to help identify a visitor as unique. So if you visit our website more than once.
Expires: 2 years from set/update.

Name: __utmb
Example: 209716929.11.10.13355
Explanation: Set by Google Analytics to track your current session.
Expires: 30 minutes from set/update.

Name: __utmc
Example: 217454337
Explanation: Set by Google Analytics – not currently in use any more. Historically this cookie used to be used with __utmb to check whether or not to establish a new session for that visitor – whether they were a new visitor or not.
Expires: End of session.

Name: __utmz
Example: 217454337.1337692541.98.14.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=(not%20provided)
Explanation: Set by Google Analytics to store the type of referral for each visitor, such as a direct visitor, referring hyperlink or a website search.
Expires: 6 months from set/update.

Name: PHPSESSID
Example: i0tvnmau0t5c9m8h1gct755c66
Explanation: This cookie is essential for our site to maintain your area of preference settings.
Expires: End of session.

Does Michael Steel & Co share the information it receives?

Information about our customers is an important part of our business and we are not in the business of selling it to others. Michael Steel & Co shares customer information only as described below.

• Third Party Service Providers: We employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include delivering packages, sending postal mail and e-mail, removing repetitive information from customer lists, analysing data, providing marketing assistance, providing search results and links (including paid listings and links) and processing credit card payments. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes. Further, they must process the personal information in accordance with this Privacy Notice and as permitted by the UK's Data Protection Act.
• Business Transfers: As we continue to develop our business, we might sell or buy stores, subsidiaries or business units. In such transactions, customer information generally is one of the transferred business assets but remains subject to the promises made in any pre-existing Privacy Notice (unless, of course, the customer consents otherwise). Also, in the unlikely event that Michael Steel & Co or substantially all of its assets are acquired, customer information will of course be one of the transferred assets.
• Protection of Michael Steel & Co and Others: We release account and other personal information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law; enforce or apply our Conditions of Use and other agreements; or protect the rights, property or safety of Michael Steel & Co, our users or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for fraud protection and credit risk reduction. Obviously, however, this does not include selling, renting, sharing or otherwise disclosing personally identifiable information from customers for commercial purposes in a way that is contrary to the commitments made in this Privacy Notice.
• With your consent: other than as set out above, you will receive notice when information about you might go to third parties and you will have an opportunity to choose not to share the information..

What choices do I have?

If you do not want to receive e-mail or other mail from us, please adjust your Email Preferences. (If you do not want to receive Conditions of Use and other legal notices from us, such as this Privacy Notice, those notices will still govern your use of Michael Steel & Co and orders placed with Michael Steel & Co, and it is your responsibility to review them for changes.)

The Help menu on the menu bar of most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie and how to disable cookies altogether. Additionally, you can disable or delete similar data used by browser add-ons, such as Flash cookies, by changing the add-on's settings or visiting the website of its manufacturer. However, because cookies allow you to take advantage of some of Michael Steel & Co's essential features, we recommend that you leave them turned on.

Notices and revisions

If you have any concern about privacy at Michael Steel & Co, please email us a thorough description and we will try to resolve the issue for you.

Our business changes constantly and our Privacy Notice and the Conditions of Use will change also. We may e-mail periodic reminders of our notices and conditions, unless you have instructed us not to, but you should check our website frequently to see recent changes. Unless stated otherwise, our current Privacy Notice applies to all information that we have about you and your account. We stand behind the promises we make, however, and will never materially change our policies and practices to make them less protective of customer information collected in the past without the consent of affected customers.

Examples of information collected). 

Your data security

When you're submitting details to Michael Steel & Co over the Internet, security is handled as follows:

When your browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera) connects with the secure side of our website server, that connection is between you and the server alone.

During the communications between your browser and our server, the information is scrambled. This is known as encryption and our encryption is 128bit. 128bit encryption uses billions (2 to power of 128) of possible combinations to scramble the information.

Critical information such as passwords and credit card information is stored in our secure database in an encrypted state.

In summary, we've taken the appropriate measures to ensure that your personal information is not unlawfully processed. Michael Steel & Co uses industry standard practices to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal identifiable information, including "firewalls", Secure Socket Layers (SSL) and high level encryption.

Michael Steel & Co treats data as an asset that must be protected against loss and unauthorised access. However, no information transferred over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Be wary if you are asked for any personal information

Michael Steel & Co will never e-mail or call you to ask you to disclose or verify your Michael Steel & Co password, credit card or bank account number. You should only give out this information directly on the Michael Steel & Co website or when you contact Michael Steel & Co directly.

If you are contacted or receive an unsolicited e-mail which asks you to confirm or provide your Michael Steel & Co password or personal or banking information, disregard the request and report the incident to the relevant authorities for investigation.

If you receive a suspected fake Michael Steel & Co e-mail, discover a spoof Michael Steel & Co website, or if anything raises your suspicions, please report it to us, forwarding any suspicious email including the full headers directly.

Protect your password, make it difficult to guess

If using a public computer (such as in a library or Internet cafe always Sign Out when you've finished using Michael Steel & Co.

Keep your passwords to yourself. Anyone who knows your password can access your account. Do not write down your passwords.

When creating a password, use at least six characters, a combination of letters and numbers is best. Do not use dictionary words, your name, your partner's name, your email address or other personal information that can be easily obtained. You should change your password frequently.

Avoid using the same password for accounts on different websites.