ETC Sports Surfaces renews ICO Data Protection Certification

Choosing the right sports pitch contractor can be a tricky business, with many considerations to factor in. Cost, reputation, speed of delivery and standards of workmanship are all crucial – but one thing that may not be at the forefront of your mind is whether your contractors are taking proper care of any personal data that you supply.

In today’s data-driven world, though, it’s important to have the peace of mind of knowing that your suppliers are correctly safeguarding your information. At ETC Sports Surfaces, we believe that outstanding customer service extends beyond delivery on-site. It also means ensuring that we take care of you, your project and your stakeholders throughout your journey with us – and that includes paying close attention to best practice standards when it comes to your personal data.

That’s why we’ve just renewed our company’s certification with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Tier 2 Data Protection Officer. This certification confirms our stringent commitment to properly storing and processing your data under the latest ICO data protection guidelines.

Why is personal data protection important?

The past year has seen some big changes take place in data protection – largely due to the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations – which came into force in May 2018). In the UK, these regulations are also governed by the Data Protection Act 2018, which lays out how the regulations apply to UK businesses and what their responsibilities are.

As the ICO rightly points out, data protection isn’t just about the fair and proper use of personal information. More fundamentally, it’s about building trust and cooperation between people and organisations – and that’s a philosophy that underpins everything we do for our customers. So, for the ETC Sports Surfaces team, protecting personal data gives us another opportunity to demonstrate the highest principles of respect for our customers.

How are we upholding ICO GDPR guidelines?

It’s a common misconception that data protection involves adhering to a strict set of dictated rules. In fact, both GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act recognise that every organisation is different – and so both operate to what is known as the Accountability Principle. This means that there is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to protecting data. Instead, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we thoroughly assess any risks associated with processing data and put meaningful measures in place to mitigate those risks.

So, as well as ensuring that our ICO data protection certification is fully up to date, we also adhere to our own rigorous Privacy Policy. This sets out what personal data we’ll collect, how we’ll store it and for how long, our commitment to only sharing your data under necessary circumstances, how you can access details of your data from us, and what your rights are under GDPR.

This policy is designed to ensure that every customer we work with knows that their personal data is secure with us. It also helps us to understand our customers so that when we engage with you, we do so in an appropriate and helpful manner. It’s all part of our commitment to deliver outstanding service for every customer, every time.

Find out more

View our full privacy policy here.

Visit the ICO website.

If you have specific queries, simply contact us and we’ll be delighted to help.