This statement covers the services provided by the VAM website: www.vam.org.uk

The Data Controller for this website is LGC Limited.

The purpose of this statement is to inform users of the VAM website, which is managed by LGC, about what information is collected about them when they visit this site, how this information is used, if it is disclosed and the ways in which we protect users' privacy. Should you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy, please call us on: +44 [0]20 8943 7393 or send us an Email to: [email protected].

Any information you provide will be held securely and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998. By submitting a registration form, you agree to your personal information being processed by LGC Limited for the purposes of the administration of the Department of Trade and Industry�s (DTI) National Measurement System (NMS) programmes. If you have ticked the box indicating that you wish to receive information about VAM and other DTI NMS programmes and relevant products and services, you agree and consent to your personal information being passed to the DTI or other third parties for the purposes of sending you this information.

The VAM website is managed by LGC Limited, under contract with the DTI, as part of the National Measurement System (NMS).

This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the VAM website and the way it is used. On some pages you can order products, download publications, submit a comment or a question, and register to receive material.

You do not need to register to browse or view much of the material on the VAM website. However, you must register in order to access more in-depth information on VAM, to download material or to receive updates on new products and services. During registration you will be required to provide personal information (such as name, Email address, and country). This information, in an aggregated form, helps us to determine the likely areas of interest of visitors to the site. The provision of some information is optional! However, provision is encouraged so that we can make the site as useful as possible.

You can view your registration form, and edit and update your personal details at any time by logging in to the VAM website with your username and password and clicking on the �Edit My Profile� button on the VAM website homepage. You can cancel your registration by clicking on the �Unregister with the site� link at the bottom of the registration form or by contacting the VAM Helpdesk (+44 [0]20 8943 7393, [email protected]). If you cancel your registration, your details will be removed from our records, unless you have ordered a product (see below).

You need to register in order to download publications and other material contained on the VAM website. We may record which individuals have downloaded which publications. This information may be used to contact individuals to alert them to developments or decisions regarding the publications they have downloaded (for example, if a publication is withdrawn or superseded) or for the purpose of evaluating and improving publications.

We will request information from you on our order form. Here you must provide contact information (like name and shipping address) and financial information and credit card details for payment. This information is used for billing purposes and to complete your orders. If we have trouble processing an order, this contact information is used to get in touch with you.

We use this information to complete your order. We retain details of which individuals and organisations have purchased products and registered for events. We do not share this information with outside parties except for the purposes identified above (see section on Confidentiality and security) or to the extent necessary to complete that order.

You can subscribe to receive Email alerts which provide information on VAM and related products by completing the relevant section of the registration form. We will use the information you give us to provide the service(s) you have requested. We may occasionally contact Email alert subscribers to help us evaluate and improve the service that we offer.

You can cancel your subscription to receive Email alerts at any time by unchecking the Email subscription request box on your registration form.

If you send an enquiry by Email to the VAM website it may not always be possible for LGC to provide the information requested directly. In such circumstances we may pass your enquiry to another party to respond.

If you are interested in specific topics, you can apply to join one of several clubs and networks hosted on the VAM website. In doing this, your personal details will be made available to the club administrator and may also be disclosed to other club members via the membership list on the club or network web pages.

In joining a club or network you agree to receive communications from that particular club or network by Email. This is independent of the Email subscription facility activated via your registration form.

if you elect to use our referral service for informing a friend about a page on the VAM site, we will ask you for:

• your friend�s Email address;
• your own Email address.

VAM will automatically send your friend a one-time Email inviting them to visit the page from which you invoked the �Email this page to a friend� form. VAM does not store this information.

The material on this site is largely aimed at those who are 16 years old or over and who have an interest in analytical chemistry. However, none of the information or material on this site is deemed to be obscene or anyway harmful to children.

However, if you are under 16 years old, please get your parent/guardian's permission beforehand whenever you provide personal information to the VAM website. You should not provide us with personal information without your parent/guardian�s prior consent.

You should be aware that if you voluntarily disclose information online, personal or otherwise, that information could be collected and used by others. For example, if you post personal information on a bulletin board, you may receive unsolicited messages from others. LGC has no means to control this!

Site usage information

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer�s hard disk. We use cookies to �personalise� your view of the site; for example, by showing new postings on bulletin boards. Cookies, by themselves, cannot be used to find out the identity of any user. If you have been given a cookie this will automatically identify your computer - but not you - to our servers when you next visit our site. When you revisit the site, the cookie is read and, for example, enables you to be shown all new bulletin board postings since your last visit. Unless you specifically tell us, we will never know who you are, even if we do assign a cookie to your computer.

Other organisations to which the VAM site links may also have the ability to assign a different cookie to you in a process that we do not control. However, since cookies cannot be used for identifying individuals, the operators of these other sites will never know who you are either.

We use non-identifying and aggregate information to analyse how the site is used and to improve its design and ease of use.

The VAM website contains links to other sites. LGC is not responsible for the privacy practices within any of these other sites. You should be aware of this when you leave the VAM website and we encourage you to read the privacy statements on other websites you visit.

If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes in a prominent position on the VAM website. At the same time, we will also amend the �last updated� date at the top of the privacy statement.