Terms of Content
Privacy Policy and Data Protection
M2 Communications (M2) is committed to protecting your privacy. The amount of information we hold on you and how we use it depends on your relationship with us and on what M2 service you use, so some sections below may not be relevant to you. We do not sell, trade or rent your personal information to other companies.
We may use the information we collect to notify you occasionally about important changes to the website and new services. If you prefer not receive this information, please contact us. In addition, as required by UK Data Protection Legislation, we follow strict security procedures in the storage and disclosure of your information to prevent unauthorised access. Our security procedures mean that we may occasionally request proof of identity before we are able to disclose sensitive information to you.
Your consent
By using our website, you consent to the collection and use of this information by M2. If we change our privacy policy, we will post the changes on this page.
How M2 uses your personal information
M2 collects and uses your information to administer, support, improve and obtain feedback on our services and to detect and prevent faults, breaches of our network security, the law or our contract terms. We may also use this information to assess what M2 products and services might interest you and to personalise our service and marketing.
If you are registered to use a service, M2 may contact you to obtain feedback on that service and any improvements we could make to it.
Further information/marketing
If you have agreed to such contact, M2 may contact you about those of its other services to which you do not subscribe but which may interest you. You have a right to ask us at any time not to contact you by way of direct marketing. You can do this here. If you are a user of M2 online subscription services, such as M2 PressWIRE, you may also use Account Preferences to change your marketing preference at any time.
Storage methods and duration
M2 may store your information in its databases for reference. The information may be kept and used by M2 for a reasonable period to enable us to answer queries or resolve problems, provide improved and new services and comply with any legal data retention requirements. This means we may keep information after you have stopped using our services.
Passing your information to others in your own organisation
If your employer subscribed for the service on your behalf then we may pass certain information to your employer about your use of the service where your employer has a legitimate reason to receive it. Similarly, if you are the contact person in your organisation for a service, we may pass your contact details to those in your organisation for this purpose.
Passing your information to third parties
Except where the law allows, or unless you specifically agree, M2 does not sell or rent your personal data to others outside the company.
In some instances, we may pass information to third parties involved in specific M2 service (such as third party information and software providers) who wish to manage and check the distribution of their information/software and obtain payment for it. To do this, they may match it with the data they have. You will generally know if this happens, unless the third parties are simply working on our behalf as our subcontractors, administrators (companies that process credit card payments, for example).
If we sell a part of the business to another company and your personal data is used by that part of the business, then your data may be transferred along with the business for the buyer to use in the same way.
Personal Information M2 collects
M2 collects and updates information about users of its services, suppliers and other individuals it deals with in its day-to-day business. It may obtain this information from direct contact with you, from third parties such as your employer or another one of our suppliers, and automatically via your use of our services.
- Information you or others give us: This includes your contact details, registration and payment details, support problems, and certain relevant details of your interests and preferences. Information may also be obtained on you as a result of authentication or identity checks, including as required by anti money-laundering laws.
- Information we collect via our services: If you are a registered user of our services, M2 also gathers information about your use of our services, such as generic types of data accessed, times and volume of use of the services and traffic data (logs, details of networks, data and systems accessed, details of the sender and recipients of messages sent over our services, times and location of log on or access, etc). Traffic data may sometimes be traceable or related not just to companies but also to named individuals. Before you register with M2, however, you can browse our website anonymously.
Cookies/Software agents
A 'cookie' is a piece of software, which may be sent to your computer. Cookies enable us to collect information about how our web sites and services are being used and to manage them efficiently. Until you have registered on the M2 website, the cookie will only track general usage and technical information about your computer type, and will not be used to identify you individually. After registration, cookies will be used to collect information on you as described above under 'Personal Information M2 collects'. You can turn off the ability to receive cookies by adjusting your browser but if you do, this may significantly distort the quality of service and data you receive.
Online publications
You can choose to stop receiving an online publication at any time by following the instructions with the publication.
Mail interception
M2 may intercept some mail and email addressed to individuals within M2. This may be related to the security of M2 staff and others, for detecting and preventing crime, and to identify correct recipients or to make sure mail is dealt with during staff absence. We may reject, delay or remove content from emails which have a nature, content or attachments which may disrupt our systems or pose security issues such as viruses. We may also filter out emails which contain content that we believe offensive or if the email is unwanted or spam. This may, of course, result in 'innocent' emails being affected but we do try to avoid this.
International Transfer of your information
Because M2 operates internationally, personal data may be made available internationally, including in countries without data protection laws, or laws which do not provide as much protection as in the country of origin. We seek to require those to whom we transfer your data to protect it and your privacy.
News reporting
In its capacity as a news agency, M2 gathers and stores what could be classified as personal data. This is used for news reporting, opinion polls and related research. This privacy notice does not apply to this type of use.
Security and staff
M2 has stringent policies governing information technology. These cover areas such as access control, authentication, audit, monitoring, alarms, data storage and back up, transmission standards and environment integrity. M2 staff are subject to a code of conduct which requires them to adhere to privacy principles.
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