Privacy Policy

Saga and AA Group data protection privacy policy

Last updated: January 2008

Introduction

'Saga' means the Saga Group of companies and all companies within the Saga Group resident anywhere in the world.

'AA' means the AA Group of companies and Automobile Association Personal Finance Limited (a joint venture company with Halifax Bank of Scotland). A list of the companies within the AA Group can be obtained from the AA address below.

Saga and AA (We) are committed to protecting your privacy. We comply with the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 and aim to maintain consistently high levels of best practice in our processing of personal and/or sensitive personal data.

How we use information you provide us

We use the information we receive from you to provide goods and/or services that you request, to communicate with you, and to personalise our information sent to you. We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to others.

We store all the information you provide us, including information provided via forms you complete on our website, and information which we may collect from your browsing. Our server, in common with nearly all web servers, logs each page that is downloaded from the site.

Examples of how we may personalise information might include preparing an insurance quote for you, working out which departure airports are near to you or when we will be delivering certain products in your area.

Third parties may deliver some of our products to you or provide all or part of the service requested by you. In these instances, whilst the information you provide will be disclosed to them, it will only be used for the administration of the service provided (including for example claims processing), underwriting and pricing purposes as appropriate, testing, and to maintain management information for business analysis.

If you apply for the Saga Visa Card or the AA Master Card, we, or the supplier of the card, will search your record at a credit reference agency. If you apply for other financial services and/or products, a check of your details with fraud prevention agencies may be necessary. The precise nature of these processes is explained fully when you apply.

We ask for your home, mobile telephone number, and email address to enable us to contact you in relation to an enquiry you have made, to contact you about relevant products or services, to contact you if there is a problem with your order, or there is another genuine reason for doing so. If you provide us with credit or debit card details in order to pay for a service or product, we will keep such details secure and ensure that the details are only used further with your consent and/or for the purposes of any appropriate refunds.

In respect of Saga Zone, (Saga's free web-based service for meeting past, present and future friends) certain details and information provided by you will be monitored from time to time and certain data such as messages sent by you will be retained by us for up to 12 months in accordance with the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001. Such details may be disclosed to the police and law enforcement agencies for the purpose of fraud detection, crime prevention and national security. We also reserve the right to move or edit messages or materials that we, in our sole discretion, deem to violate Saga Zone's Code of Conduct as set out in its terms and conditions or any applicable content guidelines, or which in any way is otherwise unacceptable.

When participating in Saga Zone's activities such as discussions or reunion requests, your contributions will often be identifiable. You will be able to see whether this is the case in the appropriate area of the website.

When you enter a contest or other promotional feature, we may ask for your name, address, telephone numbers and email address so we can administer the contest and notify winners.

Occasionally, we may also use the information we collect to notify you by post, telephone, mobile telephone, email and SMS about new or existing Saga and AA services, products and special offers we think you'll find valuable.

Generally by providing the requested data you consent to Saga and AA using that data for administrative purposes and for informing you of other products and services by letter, SMS, telephone and/or email. We may also use the information we collect to occasionally notify you about important functionality changes to the website.

Each time you receive marketing information or a message, you have the option to decline to receive further marketing information from us. This is known as an 'opt-out'. If you wish to exercise the opt-out, for Saga products please write to the Saga Group Data Protection Officer at The Saga Building, Enbrook Park, Sandgate, Kent CT20 3SE or for AA products to AA Data Protection Compliance Manager, Fanum House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 4EA. If you have more than one address or email address please make sure to notify any changes to your preferences for each address or email address you have registered with us.

As required by the Data Protection Act 1998, we follow strict security procedures in the storage and disclosure of information you have given to us.

If we provide information to a third party (either a provider of a product or service, or an external data processing agency such as a mailing house) we will exercise the strictest control over the third party contractually, requiring it and any of its agents and/or suppliers to:

maintain the security and confidentiality of the information and restrict access to those of its own employees;
use the data for the agreed purpose only and prevent it being used for any other purpose by any other party;
refrain from communicating with you other than concerning the product in question;
return the data to us at the conclusion of any contract term and destroy or delete any copies made of all or any part of the information unless copies are needed to be kept to comply with regulations.
In addition, we will restrict the information disclosed to the absolute minimum necessary, for example, to provide the product or service.

Our own security procedures mean that we may occasionally have to request proof of Identity or check your presence on the electoral roll.

In the event of telephone calls from you, we also reserve the right to ask security questions (which we in our sole discretion deem appropriate), in order to satisfy ourselves that you are who you say you are.

Your consent

Before you provide any data to us, we will endeavour to make it clear why we need it. Sometimes we may need sensitive personal data (examples might be past medical history or motoring convictions). When this is required we will obtain your consent first. Otherwise, by providing us with information, either orally or written, or by using our website, you consent to the collection, use and processing of this information by Saga and AA to provide and send you information about their services.

A customer may properly give his or her spouse or partner's consent over the telephone or via the website provided he confirms that he has permission to do so. If the consent is written, the spouse must independently endorse such consent.

Please note that we provide products and services including Saga holidays outside the European Economic Area (EAA). Therefore if you travel on such holidays the information you provide may occasionally be transferred outside the European Economic Area. From time to time Saga and AA may use service providers and organisations outside the EEA for the purpose of processing services, system testing and maintenance. It is worth noting however that some non-EEA countries do not afford the same level of data security as the UK. By submitting your details, you consent to this transfer. We will always use every reasonable effort to ensure sufficient protections are in place to safeguard your personal information.

Subsequent to your purchase of a product or service, we may enter into an arrangement for that service to be provided by a new third party. If this happens, the terms and conditions of your contract with us will provide that you consent to the transfer and processing of personal and/or sensitive personal data to the new provider, subject to the requirement of the Data Protection Act 1998 and associated regulations.

If you use Saga Zone you agree for us to put you on the site, and to display the notes you write about yourself and the message boards you join. We will not publish any direct contact details, except where you specifically confirm that you wish such information to be published.

If you are entitled to breakdown service under AA Membership you consent to the AA keeping you up to date with the AA member club benefit discount scheme available from time to time under which, as part of the benefit of being a member, the AA will, through the AA member's magazine, email or otherwise, give you membership information and details of any discounts or offers it may negotiate from time to time on behalf of its members.

How we use cookies

Cookies are text files, which identify your computer to our server. Saga will automatically issue your computer with a cookie whenever you register on our website, (or possibly when you browse), in order to track traffic flows and to additionally make our website easier for you to use.

Cookies themselves only record which areas of the site have been visited by the computer in question, and for how long.

You have the opportunity to set your computers to accept all cookies, to notify you when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time.

Selecting not to receive cookies can mean that certain services, such as Saga Zone or previous registration identification cannot then be provided.

It is worth noting that some of the third parties present on our Website may also issue cookies.

How to accept cookies

Netscape Communicator 8.0
On your task bar, click:

from the Tools menu, select Options, and then open the Site Controls panel
on the Sites List tab, select the Master Setting (trust level) want to change
in the Web Features section, the default setting is Allow cookies, but you can change this.

Internet Explorer 6.0

Choose Tools.

Then Internet Options.
Click the Privacy tab.
Move the slider to select the level of privacy you prefer, or dick on Advanced for customised settings.

Internet Explorer 7.0

Choose Tools.
Then Internet Options.
Click the Privacy tab.
Then Cookies.
Move the slider to select the level of privacy you prefer, or click on Advanced for customised settings.

FireFox 1.0 and 2.0

Choose Tools.
Then Options.
Click the Privacy icon.
Within the Cookies section of the tab, tick the check box which states Accept cookies from sites.

Safari 2.0 (Apple Macintosh)

Click on the Safari menu.
Click on Preferences.
Select the Security tab.
There is a cookie section that allows you to block or accept cookies.

How to delete cookies
Important: to remove cookies, follow the steps in this section. Do not try to edit the cookies file on your computer.

Netscape Communicator 8.0
On your task bar:

from the Tools menu, select Options, and then open the Privacy panel,
in the Privacy panel, display the Cookies category (double-click on it if it's not already open)
click the View Cookies button. The Stored Cookies window opens with a list of all the cookies stored on your computer
select one or more cookies and click Remove Cookie, or click Remove All Cookies

Internet Explorer 6.0

In Internet Explorer, on the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
On the General tab, click Settings, and then click View Files.
Select the cookie you want to delete, and then, on the File menu, click Delete.

Internet Explorer 7.0

In Internet Explorer, click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
On the General tab, under Browsing History, click Settings.
Click the View Files button.
Click the Name column heading to sort all the files alphabetically and then scroll down until you see files that begin with the prefix Cookie:. All cookies will have that prefix, and they usually contain the name of the website that created the cookie.
Right-click the cookie you want to delete, click Delete, and then click Yes.
Close the window that contains the list of files, and then click OK twice to return to Internet Explorer.

FireFox 1.0 and 2.0

In Firefox, click the Tools button, and then click on Options.
Now click on the Privacy tab and click on Show Cookies button.
To remove a cookie from the list, select it and click Remove Cookie.
To remove a site's cookies, select the site and click Remove Cookie(s).
To remove all cookies, click Remove All Cookies.

Safari 2.0 (Apple Macintosh)

Click on the Safari menu.
Click on Preferences.
Select the Security Tab.
Click the Show Cookies button.
Select an individual cookie from the list and click the Remove button.
Or to delete all cookies, click Remove All.

If you are not using any of the above browsers, then you should select 'cookies' in the 'Help' function for information on where to find your cookie folder.

If you have any doubts or do not use any of the above systems please refer to www.allaboutcookies.org, which explains in detail how cookies work and how they can be managed.

Disclosure of information to third parties
As previously mentioned Saga and AA do not sell, trade or rent your information and will never disclose information about you to third parties, except to fulfil your specific orders for a product or information in the event that third parties deliver the relevant service. For example, if you go on a Saga holiday, the hotel needs to know whom you are. If you take out an insurance policy provided by a third party, they will need your details in order to administer the policy and process any claims. Other circumstances where we are operationally or contractually obliged to pass on your information may be where third parties administer part or all of the service, underwriting, for pricing purposes, testing, and to maintain management information for business analysis.

We may of course be obliged at law to pass on your information to the Police or any other statutory authority.

Employees and employees' spouses or partners
Personal and/or sensitive personal data of a Saga employee and his or her spouse or partner who takes out a product and/or service with Saga may be shared to any group company of Saga for the purpose of operation of the product or service or for administrative reasons (including but not limited to claim administration which may be assisted by the employee's department personnel). By accepting or purchasing the product or service the employee and his or her spouse or partner provides the necessary consent for this transfer of data.

DPA marketing consent
Saga and AA groups have adopted the following procedure in gaining your consent to be placed on their marketing lists.

When you first make an enquiry of or buy a product from Saga Group or the AA Group, you consent to receiving marketing about other products and services from us. Your details are placed on our marketing list for the group and a 'questionnaire' will be sent to you. This gives a list of all the products of the group and gives the option of choosing which products you would or would not like to receive information about. You can also choose not to receive any marketing from us. Once you have chosen what you would like to receive we ask you to return the completed form back to us. The marketing selections will be administered where applicable.

Amendment and retention of information
Please advise us in writing as to any changes in your circumstances. Obviously it is preferable for us to retain up to date information. We will amend details as required. We are however obliged and permitted by law and regulation to retain certain types of data for a minimum period of time. The minimum period of time tends to be for six years but can be longer if the statute or regulation requires.

Subject access requests
You have a statutory right of access to accessible personal and/or sensitive personal data that we hold about you. In order to exercise this right, your application must be in writing for security reasons. Please write to the Data Protection Officer at The Saga Building, Enbrook Park, Sandgate, Kent CT20 3SE, United Kingdom for requests relating to information held by Saga Group companies or to the AA Data Protection Compliance Manager, Fanum House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 4EA for requests relating to information held by AA Group companies. Please refer to the information you wish to see giving dates if possible, and enclose your cheque for £10 payable to Saga Group Limited or AA Limited. We will not administer Subject Access Requests by a third party unless accompanied by a written authority of the individual who is the subject of the request.

Your choice of information
You may change the type of material sent to you at any time. Saga and the AA allow you to select which products you wish to receive information about, and to cancel any previous expressions of interest in particular areas. If you wish to take advantage of this, for Saga products please write to Information Processing at The Saga Building, Enbrook Park, Sandgate, Kent CT20 8SE and for AA products please write to The Data Protection Compliance Manager at The AA, Fanum House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 4EA.

Changes to our Privacy Policy
If we decide to change our Privacy Policy, we will update all relevant documentation and post any changes onto our websites so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances we disclose it.

Tell us what you think
Saga and AA welcome your questions and comments about privacy. Please write to The Group Data Protection Officer, The Saga Building, Enbrook Park, Sandgate, Kent CT20 3SE, United Kingdom or The AA Data Protection Compliance Manager, Fanum House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 4EA.