Privacy Policy
Last updated: 21 January 2007
This statement covers the services provided by the National Measurement System (NMS) Chemical & Biological Metrology Website: nmschembio.org.uk (the "Website")
The Website is managed by LGC Limited (LGC) under contract with the National Measurement Office (NMO) as part of the NMS. The Data Controller for the Website is LGC.
The purpose of this statement is to inform users of the Website about what information is collected about them when they visit the Website, 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 contact the NMS Helpdesk at LGC (telephone +44 [0]20 8943 7393 or send us an Email to: nmshelp@lgc.co.uk.
Confidentiality and security
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 for the purposes of the administration of the NMS programmes. If you have ticked the box indicating that you wish to receive information about NMS programmes and relevant products and services, you agree and consent to your personal information being passed to other third parties for the purposes of sending you this information.
The information we collect
This notice applies to all information collected or submitted on the Website and the way it is used. On some pages you can download publications, submit a comment or a question, and register to receive material.
Registration
You do not need to register to browse or view much of the material on the Website. However, you must register in order to download publications or to receive updates on new products and services. You can request copies of publications contained on the Website without registering by using the 'Contact' form which will be automatically sent to the NMS Helpdesk at LGC. 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 Website. The provision of some information is optional. However, provision is encouraged so that we can make the Website 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 Website with your email and password and clicking on the ‘Manage Account’ button on the Website homepage. You can cancel your registration by emailing the NMS Helpdesk at LGC (nmshelp@lgc.co.uk) and including the word "Unsubscribe" in the title of your email. If you cancel your registration, your details will be removed from the Website database.
Downloading publications
You need to be registered and logged in to the site in order to download publications and other material contained on the Website. Alternatively, you can contact NMS Helpdesk (use the Contact form) to request copies of publications. 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.
Email alerts and other information
You can subscribe to receive information, including email alerts, on the NMS Chemical & Biological Metrology programme and related products and services, by checking the relevant box on the registration form. You can cancel your subscription to receive information at any time by unchecking the subscription request box on your registration form. We may occasionally contact all or selected groups of registered users to help us evaluate and improve the service that we offer.
Comments and questions
If you send an enquiry by Email to the NMS Helpdesk 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.
Extranets
If you belong to one or more of the Website extranets, your personal details will be made available to the extranet administrator and may also be disclosed to other extranets members. In joining an extranet you agree to receive communications from that particular extranet by Email. This is independent of the Email subscription facility activated via your registration form.
Children
The material on the Website is largely aimed at those who are 16 years old or over and who have an interest in chemical and biological metrology. However, none of the information or material on the Website 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 Website. You should not provide us with personal information without your parent/guardian’s prior consent.
Voluntary disclosure of information
You should be aware that if you voluntarily disclose information online, personal or otherwise, that information could be collected and used by others.
Cookies
Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer’s hard disk. We use cookies as part of the login process of the site. Cookies, by themselves, cannot be used to find out the identity of any user. However, although the cookie itself does not contain personal information, the ID number of the cookie is associated with your login details, and therefore it is possible for the site to follow the browsing activity of logged in members. Visitors to the site who are not logged in cannot be identified by the site.
Other organisations to which the Website links may also have the ability to assign a different cookie to you in a process that we do not control. Again, cookies by themselves can never be used to identify individuals, but they may be used in combination with login/registration details to perform this function.
We use non-identifying and aggregate information in addition to information from login statistics (which do contain some identifying information)to analyse how the Website is used and to improve its design and ease of use. We do not distribute identifying statistics to any third party organization.
Links
The 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 Website and we encourage you to read the privacy statements on other websites you visit.
Changes to this privacy policy
If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes in a prominent position on the Website. At the same time, we will also amend the ‘last updated’ date at the top of the privacy statement.