Dairy Connect is the intelligence, influence and connection platform for the dairy industry. We take the handling of your personal information seriously, and this policy explains what we do with it. This website is owned and operated by Dairy Connect Group Ltd.
1. Who we are
Dairy Connect Group Ltd is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.
Registered name: Dairy Connect Group Ltd
Company number: 13786326
Registered office: 1 Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, England, HG1 1EQ
ICO registration number: ZA788084
Privacy contact: [email protected]
If you have any question about this policy or about how we handle your information, write to us at [email protected] and we will respond within one month.
2. What this policy covers
This policy applies to the Dairy Connect website, our forum and event websites and registration pages, The Dairy Mail newsletter, and enquiries, correspondence and business contact with us.
Where we link to third-party websites, their privacy notices apply, not ours.
3. The information we collect
When you visit our websites
Technical information including IP address, browser type, device type, pages viewed and how you arrived at the site. Collected through cookies and analytics tools (see section 6).
When you register for an event or forum
Name, job title, organisation, email address, telephone number, and postal address where required for invoicing. We also collect any dietary or accessibility requirements you choose to tell us about, so we can cater for you properly. These fields are optional, and we delete them within 30 days of the event.
When you pay us
Registration and delegate fees are processed by Stripe, our payment provider. Card details are entered directly into Stripe's secure system, so Dairy Connect never sees or stores full card numbers. We retain a record of the transaction, the amount, and the invoice.
When you subscribe to The Dairy Mail
Email address, and where you provide them, name and organisation. We also record whether you open and click our emails, so we can understand what is useful to readers.
When you contact us or do business with us
Contact details and the content of your correspondence, including enquiries about sponsorship, exhibiting, speaking or membership.
4. Why we use your information, and our lawful basis
| What we do | Why | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Register and admit you to events and forums | To deliver the event you have booked | Contract |
| Take payment and issue invoices | To complete your booking | Contract; legal obligation |
| Cater for dietary and accessibility needs | To make the event usable and safe for you | Explicit consent |
| Send The Dairy Mail | To deliver the newsletter you asked for | Consent |
| Send you information about our events, forums and research | To keep industry contacts informed about relevant activity | Legitimate interests / consent |
| Analytics and site improvement | To understand what our audience reads and needs | Consent |
| Respond to enquiries and manage business relationships | To run the business | Legitimate interests |
| Keep financial and contractual records | To meet accounting and legal obligations | Legal obligation |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether our interest is outweighed by your rights, and you can object at any time (see section 10).
5. Marketing and The Dairy Mail
The Dairy Mail operates on single opt-in: you receive it because you asked to, or because you gave us your address in the course of a business relationship with us and we believed it would be useful to you.
We never sell, rent or trade our mailing list.
Every email we send includes an unsubscribe link that works immediately and without conditions. You can also email [email protected] and we will remove you.
6. Cookies and analytics
We use cookies and similar technologies to make our sites work and to understand how they are used. Non-essential cookies are set only with your consent, which you give through our cookie banner and can change at any time.
- Google Analytics, to measure site traffic and understand which content is read
- LinkedIn Insight Tag, to measure the performance of our advertising and content on LinkedIn
7. Who we share your information with
We do not share delegate lists with sponsors, exhibitors or commercial partners. If you meet a sponsor or exhibitor at one of our events and choose to share your details with them directly, that is between you and them.
We do share information with service providers who process data on our behalf, under written contract and only on our instructions. These fall into the following categories:
- Customer relationship management (CRM): Capsule CRM
- Email and newsletter distribution: Transpond
- Event ticketing and registration: Eventcube
- Payment processing: Stripe
- Website hosting and infrastructure: Cloudflare
We may also disclose information where we are required to by law, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
8. International transfers
Our own operations, and our records, are based in the United Kingdom.
Some of the service providers we use, including our analytics providers, may process data outside the UK. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by an adequacy regulation or by the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, and we take steps to ensure your information receives an equivalent level of protection.
9. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information for as long as we need it for the purpose we collected it, and then delete it.
| Record type | Retention |
|---|---|
| Delegate and event registration records | 5 years from the date of the event |
| Financial and invoice records | 6 years from the end of the relevant financial year (statutory) |
| Newsletter subscribers | For as long as you remain subscribed, and 12 months after unsubscribing |
| Enquiries and correspondence | 5 years from last contact |
| Dietary and accessibility requirements | 30 days after the event |
You can ask us to delete your information sooner (see section 10).
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Be informed about how we use your information, which is the purpose of this policy
- Access a copy of the information we hold about you
- Rectify information that is inaccurate or incomplete
- Erase your information where we no longer have a good reason to keep it
- Restrict how we use your information while a query is resolved
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time
- Data portability, to receive your information in a portable format
- Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent
To exercise any of these, email [email protected]. We will respond within one month. We do not charge a fee, and we may ask you to confirm your identity before we act.
11. Keeping your information secure
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including access controls, encryption in transit, and contractual security obligations on our suppliers. No system is perfectly secure, but we take this seriously and review our arrangements regularly.
12. Children
Our sites and events are aimed at dairy industry professionals and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.
13. Changes to this policy
We review this policy periodically and will update it when our practices change. The date at the top shows when it was last revised. Material changes will be flagged on our website.
14. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first at [email protected] so we can put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113