Privacy Policy
At Ocean Property Services Group we’re committed to respecting and protecting your privacy.
This Privacy Policy explains when and why we collect personal information about our website visitors, customers, and people who contact or interact with us, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, and how we keep it secure.
If you do not want us to process your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy, please do not provide information to Ocean Property Services Group or use our website www.oceanhome.co.uk
Ocean Property Services Group has a Data Protection Officer who is responsible for matters relating to privacy and data protection. The Data Protection Officer can be reached at c.mclaughlin@oceanhome.co.uk or 187-189 Whiteladies Road, Clifton Bristol, BS8 2RY
Ocean Estate Agents Ltd, Ocean Lettings and Management Ltd, Ocean Surveyors Ltd, Ocean Property Lawyers Ltd, and Ocean Financial Services Ltd are subsidiaries of Ocean Property Services Group Ltd whose registered number is 08107707 and registered office is 187-189 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2RY. Ocean Property Services Group Ltd will be the data controller of your personal data.
We routinely archive emails sent to and from domains outside of the Ocean Property Services Group Ltd. Statutory requirement for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims is the legal basis for retaining and processing such data.
How do we collect personal information about you?
We obtain personal information about you that you provide to us through our website, emails, phone conversations, documents you provide to us, or when you visit one of our branches, for example when you:
-
Enquire about specific properties for sale or rent
-
Ask us to produce mortgage comparison quotes
-
Ask for a cost of moving summary including conveyancing quotes
-
Ask us to survey your property or a property you may purchase
-
Ask us to value your property
-
Book to view a property
-
Complete online forms
-
Contact us through online portals such as “Rightmove”
-
Register for our email newsletters
-
Participate in one of our surveys
-
Interact with us on our social media sites
We also obtain personal information relating to you using automated technical means when you visit our website.
The information we collect from you might include (but is not limited to) your name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, financial details, and any other information you choose to provide to us. To conform with our statutory obligations we may also be required to hold copies of your passport, a valid photographic ID, national insurance numbers, and proof of address.
The information we collect through our website using automated technical means includes the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, identification number, online identifier, and location data. We also collect information about your website visit including which website pages are accessed, page response times, and length of visits to pages.
We review our retention periods for personal data on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information for certain prescribed periods to fulfill our statutory obligations. Outside of specific statutory obligations, we will hold your personal data on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant purposes for which we use it, or in accordance with any retention periods set out in any relevant contract, you hold with us.
Ocean Estate Agents Ltd acting as a data controller will retain your Name, Address, Telephone Numbers, Email addresses, ID documents (for example a copy of your passport and proof of address), and notes relating to your dealings with the company for a minimum period of 6 years following legal completion and for a maximum period of 7 years following legal completion if you either bought or sold or marketed or offered on a property through us. We are required to hold your data to meet our statutory obligations under the Estate Agents Act 1979 and The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. We will retain your Name, Address, Telephone Numbers, Email addresses, ID documents, and notes relating to your dealings with the company for a period of 1 year from the date you provided your details, or from your last contact with us if you do not proceed to legal completion of a property marketed by the company.
Ocean Letting and Management Ltd acting as a data controller will retain your Name, Address, Telephone Numbers, Email addresses, ID documents, (for example a copy of your passport), Bank Details, and notes relating to your dealings with the company for a minimum period of 6 years following the conclusion of your tenancy or after any monies are transferred to you and for a maximum period of 7 years following the conclusion of your tenancy if you either rented or let a property through us. We are required to hold your data to meet our statutory obligations under the Estate Agents Act 1979 and HMRC requirements.
Ocean Property Lawyers Ltd acting as a data controller will retain your name, address, telephone numbers, email addresses, ID documents (for example, a copy of your passport), proof of address (for example, a copy of your bank statement or utility bill), proof of deposit, bank details (for example, a copy of your cheque or your written bank details) and all signed terms of business for 6 years on a sale and 15 years on a purchase. We are required to hold your data to meet our statutory obligations under the Legal Services Act 2007 and Administration of Justice Act 1985 and in accordance with the guidelines and requirements of our professional body, complaints handling obligations, and lending institutions. We will retain your name, address, telephone numbers, email addresses, and notes relating to your dealings with the company for a period of 1 year from the date you provided your details to us if you do not proceed to the legal completion of a property.
Ocean Financial Services Ltd. acting as a data controller will retain your Name, Address, Telephone Numbers, Email addresses, ID documents (for example a copy of your passport), proof of address, income documents, bank statements, proof of deposit, mortgage quotations, mortgage application, mortgage protection quotations, mortgage key facts illustration documents, mortgage offer, Fact Find and all signed terms of business for an indefinite period. We are required to hold your data to meet our complaint handling obligations under FCA regulation and the Financial Ombudsman Scheme.
In some cases, it is not possible for us to specify in advance the periods for which we will retain your personal information. In such cases, we will determine the period of retention based on the following criteria:
The period of retention of your Name, Address, Telephone Numbers, Email addresses, ID documents, and notes relating to your dealings with the company will be determined based on our legitimate interest to
Fulfil your request to send you relevant property details
Market our products and services relating to your initial request
Ensure the safety of our employees and allow us to investigate future claims of malpractice.
Improve the efficiency of re-registration of details if a property purchase you intended to make elsewhere fails to reach legal completion.
Allow us to provide follow-up advice and details of changes to property market conditions that would directly impact you and your property.
To send relevant marketing information on products and services based on your original or subsequent contact with the Ocean Property Services Group
How do we use your personal information?
We may use the information that you directly provide to us in the following ways:
We may use your name, address, and contact details for the purpose of carrying out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and Ocean Property Services Group Ltd such as providing you with products and services you have requested such as visiting and arranging viewings of your property. Our legal basis for this use is that it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party.
We may use your name, email address, and postal address to provide you with information, you have requested from us, respond to enquiries or requests from you, communicate with you in relation to those enquiries or requests, and arrange visits to your property by our staff. Our legal basis for this use is our legitimate interests, namely carrying out activities in the course of Ocean Property Services Ltd business in response to customer inquiries or requests.
We may use your name, email address, telephone number, and postal address to provide you with information regarding similar goods and services to those you have already enquired about or purchased. Our legal basis for this use is our legitimate interests, namely the ongoing marketing of our goods and services to individuals with whom we have an existing relationship in connection with our goods and services and/or who have expressed an interest in those goods and services.
Where you have entered into a contract with us or we have provided you with services, we may use your name, email address, postal address, or phone number to ask for your feedback about the services we have provided to you. Our legal basis for this use is our legitimate interests, namely evaluating and where necessary improving the quality of our service provision with a view to promoting the success of our business and positive customer relationships.
Where you are a party to an existing contract with us or regularly enter into contracts with us for our goods and services, we may use your name, email address, postal address or phone number to notify you of changes to the terms and conditions of our services. Our legal basis for this use is our legitimate interests, namely the administration and management of our business contracts and relationships.
We may use your name, email address, and postal address to send you marketing communications if you have chosen to receive these. These may include information about properties for rent or for sale, the current property market, promotions or offers. Our legal basis for this use is consent.
We may use your name, address, photographic identification documents, and date of birth to verify your identity when you enter into a service or contract with us. Our legal basis for this use is compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject and our legitimate interests, namely ensuring the security of our systems, network, and information and those of third parties and complying with statutory obligations.
We will hold and process your personal data for contractual and/or legitimate reasons. Therefore, your personal data will be shared with third parties including but not limited to the landlord, contractors to conduct repairs, property management software systems, deposit protection schemes, and utility companies to ensure the efficient management of the property and tenancy. We will also hold and process your personal data for any lawful reason required such as law enforcement or an HMRC request. We will not share your personal data with any other third party not connected to the management of the property or tenancy without your explicit consent.
We may use the information that we automatically collect using technical means through our website to:
Administer our site for troubleshooting, testing, research, and statistical purposes. We use Google Analytics, a third-party website monitoring tool. Our legal basis for this is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring the use of our software and IT systems, and improving our website.
Measure or understand the effectiveness of our own advertising activity. Our legal basis for this use is our legitimate interests, namely improving the relevancy of our advertising.
Measure or understand the effectiveness of our marketing emails. Marketing open rates, marketing sharing, and revisiting are monitored by our Client Record Management system. Our legal basis for this use is consent.
This automated collection of information may involve the use of cookies. The Ocean website and applications may collect anonymous data about how you use our services in order to help us improve future functionality.
Ocean uses Google Analytics, which is a web analysis service provided by Google. No data that personally identifies an individual (such as a name, email address, or billing information) is tracked, collected, or uploaded. Ocean may collect and report on the adoption and usage of specific features, crashes and exceptions, and other useful, anonymous metrics.
More about Google's Privacy Policy. Click here Google.com policies, privacy
We may analyse the personal information we collect directly from you and obtain using automated technical means to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you with information relevant to you (if you have chosen to receive marketing communications from us). We may make use of additional information about you when it is available from external sources to help us do this effectively. These sources include House Price data available from public sources such as The Land Registry and, Property Portals including but not exclusively Rightmove or Zoopla.
We may also use any of your personal information that we collect from you directly and additional information about you from external sources where necessary to detect and reduce fraud and credit risk. These sources include a register of politically exposed individuals. Our legal basis for this use of your personal information is our legitimate interest in preventing our business from being subject to fraud or credit risk.
We will never sell or rent your information to third parties.
We may pass your information to third-party service providers, including but not limited to:
Business partners, suppliers, and sub-contractors working on our behalf for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you.
These include
- Energy Plus, Energy performance certificates
- ZPG Property Services
- Apex27
- Saleswings
- ValPal
Other wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Ocean Property Services Group Ltd, including Ocean Financial Services Ltd, Ocean Property Lawyers Ltd, Ocean Surveyors Ltd, Ocean Letting and Management Ltd
- Trust Pilot customer review services
- Landmark Surveyors Ltd
- Hoowla conveyancing quote services on behalf of Ocean Property Lawyers
- Contractors are required to provide quotes and estimates as requested by you who will change from time to time
- Advertisers and advertising networks (including social media) to select and serve relevant adverts to you; these are Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok
When we use third-party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and otherwise use your information in accordance with applicable data protection law.
We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company, and all its subsidiaries set out here Ocean Property Services Group Ltd, Ocean Estate Agents Ltd, Ocean Letting and Management Ltd, Ocean Property Lawyers Ltd, Ocean Financial Services Ltd and Ocean Surveyors Ltd insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
We may disclose your personal information to our insurers and /or professional advisers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining insurance coverage, managing risks, obtaining professional advice, and managing legal disputes.
We may transfer your personal information to a third party as part of a sale of some or all of our business and assets, or as part of any business restructuring or reorganisation, or if we’re under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation or to enforce or apply our terms of use or to protect the rights, property or safety of our customers. However, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected.
In addition to the specific disclosures set out in this section, we may disclose your personal information where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative out-of-court procedure.
In this section, we have summarised the rights that you have under data protection law. Some of the rights are complex, applying only in certain circumstances and subject to certain exceptions, and in the interests of keeping this policy concise, not all of the details have been included in our summaries. Accordingly, you should read the relevant laws and guidance from the regulatory authorities for a full explanation of these rights.
To object to us processing your personal information for marketing purposes. If you object, we will stop processing your personal information for this purpose. When we collect your data, you can choose whether you wish to receive marketing communications from us. If you wish to stop receiving marketing communications, you can opt out at any time by clicking an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of one of our marketing emails.
To access the information we hold about you and certain information about our processing of it and your rights in relation to it.
In certain circumstances, to obtain the erasure of the personal information we hold about you, subject to certain exceptions.
To rectification of the information, we hold about you.
In certain circumstances, to restrict our processing of your personal information or object to us processing it. If you object, we will stop processing your personal information unless certain exceptions apply.
Our legal basis for processing your personal information is your consent or the performance of a contract and we process it by automated means, to provide with the personal information we hold about you in structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit the information to another controller.
To not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly affecting you, subject to certain exceptions.
Where our processing of your personal information is based on your consent, to withdraw that consent at any time. If you withdraw your consent, we will stop the relevant processing, but it will not affect the lawfulness of our processing before the withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at c.mclaughlin@oceanhome.co.uk or write to us at 187-189 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2RY. In addition, you can exercise your right to object to direct marketing at any time by clicking an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of one of our marketing emails.
If you consider that our processing of your personal information infringes data protection laws, you have the right to lodge a complaint to a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do this in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement. More information about lodging a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (the relevant UK supervisory authority) can be found at ico.org.uk/concerns.
We take appropriate technical and organisational precautions to secure your personal information and prevent its loss, misuse, or alteration. All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password that enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.
The transmission of unencrypted (or inadequately encrypted) data over the Internet is inherently insecure, and for this reason, we cannot guarantee the security of data sent between us over the Internet.
Like many other websites, our website uses cookies. 'Cookies' are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns.
Cookies allow us to provide important site functionality so you don’t have to re-enter lots of information. They also allow us to remember what links and pages you have been to or viewed during a session. This helps us deliver a better, more personalised service to you.
It is possible to switch off cookies by setting your browser preferences. The Ocean website and applications may collect anonymous data about how you use our services in order to help us improve future functionality.
Ocean uses Google Analytics, which is a web analysis service provided by Google. No data that personally identifies an individual (such as a name, email address, or billing information) is tracked, collected, or uploaded. Ocean may collect and report on the adoption and usage of specific features, crashes and exceptions, and other useful, anonymous metrics.
More about Google's Privacy Policy. Click here https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/
Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those organisations or the content of their websites. You should read the privacy policies of these organisations before providing them with any personal information.
Transferring your information outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”)
If you use our services while you are outside the EEA, your information may be transferred outside the EEA in order to provide you with those services. We would not typically transfer your data outside of the EEA without your specific request to do so.
Part of our staff remuneration package includes payments for additional beneficial services provided to our clients. A payment of £50 is made by the company for each successful Mortgage Application, Property Lawyers' Instruction, and Property Letting Instruction, and £25 for each Survey organised through Landmark Surveying Services. The payment does not influence the cost of the service provided to our clients. Landmark surveying services share 20% of their net fee with Ocean Surveyors Ltd for the provision of surveying services to the company and its clients. You are not under any obligation to use the services of any of the recommended providers, though should you accept our recommendation the provider is expected to pay us the corresponding Referral Fee.
Ocean Estate Agents Ltd is part of the Relocation Agent Network which has associated offices throughout the UK. As Ocean Estate Agents Ltd is part of the Network, Ocean receives a referral fee, amounting to 20% of the recommended Agents’ selling fee, should Ocean Estate Agents Ltd refer a client who subsequently sells through that agent. The referral fee is paid from the commission agreed between the Agent and the introduced seller. If Ocean Estate Agents Ltd introduces a buyer/applicant to a member agent Ocean Estate Agents Ltd receives 5% of the sales fee. This is a national agreement between all members.
Type of personal data collected
To provide the Home Setup and Utility Management Services
we may, in the course of the provision of the services, share move-to and move-from addresses, moving dates, tenancy details, council tax
status, and other data required for the provision of those services
(including data relating to other occupants or household members)
to Ethical Introductions Ltd (T/A Just Move In)
Who controls the personal data
Where a Tenant receives Home Setup Services provided by Just Move
In then, to fulfil the contract for those services, we will need to also provide relevant personal data to Just Move In.
Just Move In will store and be a controller of such personal data.
Just Move In (full company name Ethical Introductions Ltd) provides
a privacy notice describing their use of data, available here - www.justmovein.com/privacy
You can obtain further information about data protection laws by visiting the Information Commissioner's Office website at www.ico.org.uk.
Each subsidiary of the Ocean Property Services Group Ltd is registered with the ICO under the following registration numbers.
Ocean Estate Agents Ltd Registration Number: Z4564840
Ocean Lettings and Management Ltd. Registration Number: Z8684735
Ocean Property Lawyers Ltd. Registration Number: Z5005577
Ocean Financial Services Ltd. Registration Number: Z7060938
Ocean Surveyors Ltd Registration Number: Z4692036
Review this policy
We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated on 10th May 2018
If we change our Privacy Policy we will post the changes on this page and may place notices on other sections of the website and/or notify you by email.