Terms & conditions for the usage of marketing data provided by Growthlabs Consultants Ltd.

October 2023

Definitions

‘Terms’ – This document which details terms and conditions governing all data usage.

‘Data‘ – any organisational, statistical, demographic, structural, Contact or contact information derived from a database supplied by Growthlabs

‘User‘ – the person and their organisation that has purchased a licence to access, view or use data supplied by Growthlabs

‘Contact‘ – All data identifying a living person viewable online or in data supplied by Growthlabs. Limited to the Contact’s name and corporate and/or official email address connected with the post recorded.

All recipients, users or viewers of data supplied by Growthlabs must accept and abide by the following terms. This document is considered binding based on any one of the following conditions:

1. Confirmation of an order for any data.

2. Receipt of a data file by any means or any format from Growthlabs

3. The addition of any data provided by Growthlabs to any database or system operated by the User or operated by Growthlabs on behalf of the User.

Growthlabs is registered under the Data Protection Act and adheres to all the necessary best practice guidelines laid out by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and Direct Marketing Association.

Any data provided has been legally collated, is regularly updated and accuracy is being continuously monitored

Purchase of Data licence or Access

1. General Terms

1.1 All data supplied by Growthlabs is subject to all conditions within this document unless there is written agreement between the User and a senior manager within Growthlabs to the contrary

1.2 Data cannot be returned or exchanged.

1.3 The fulfillment of an order is considered complete on the day the access is provided or data is delivered to the user.

1.4 Data received must be identifiable within a users systems and held securely with reasonable steps taken to protect against misuse and theft. The user is responsible for ensuring security for all elements of the data under their control and will be considered liable for any breaches and resulting damages or liabilities.

1.6 Growthlabs reserve the right to cancel a data licence or access at any time and provide the user with a pro-rata refund for the remaining term of the order. With the exception of discovering data misuse or a contravention of these terms, whereupon access or licence to the data will cease immediately with no refund given.

1.8 Full payment for any access to, or licence for, data from Growthlabs is due as specified in the Growthlabs Terms and Conditions or associated schedule. If payment isn’t received within the specified period, the access and data licence will be revoked, unless an agreement to the contrary has been previously agreed. The user must then remove all data from their systems but will still be liable for the full order amount.

1.9 All and any costs associated with recovery of payment for an agreed data licence or access will be passed to the user.

1.10 Data cannot be held or used beyond the licence period agreed upon at the point of order and detailed in users account areas, welcome messages and billing. The licence issued for data selections runs for 364 days after the date of order confirmation, unless another date is specified explicitly. Thereafter the data licence must be renewed or all data must be removed from the user or nominated users systems.

1.11 We accept no responsibility or liability for any form of communication between the user and the Contacts and organisations within data supplied by Growthlabs. It is the users responsibility to ensure compliance in regard to their activities with both these terms and any prevailing legislation pertinent to and connected with usage or processing of the data supplied.

1.12 Growthlabs takes all possible steps to ensure data accuracy and engages considerable resources, time and expenditure in the sourcing and maintenance of the data. We cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy or usability of the data provided to the user and no discounts or refunds will be made available to the user for claimed inaccuracies. The deliverability of email addresses is specifically not guaranteed due to multiple factors beyond our control including, but not limited to Server Blacklisting, Full Mailboxes, File Size Limits, Anti-Spam Software and Firewalls. In the event that in excess of 10% of email data is found to be invalid after testing with email validation software approved by Growthlabs then the excess can be returned to Growthlabs and will be replaced and returned to the user within a reasonable time. If this data cannot be replaced with alternatives then a refund of no more than the pro-rata amount for the quantity of inaccurate records in excess of 10% may be provided.

1.13 A purchase of a data licence is based on the selections and consequent volume of records agreed at the point and date of order. Due to ongoing updating, industry changes, re-organisations and preference changes, the volume of records available at the point of purchase may vary.

2. Data and licence Protection

2.1 A number of fake (sleeper) names, organisations, phone numbers and email addresses as well as other false data items are included in all data supplied to users as a means of monitoring usage, protecting Contacts and safeguarding against misuse and use of data outside of the agreed data licence period.

2.2 If we detect any data is held or used outside of an agreed licence period this will trigger an automatic licence renewal that will run from the original expiry date for 364 days. The charge for this renewal will be based on the prevailing cost for all previously licensed data plus a 200 pound administrative charge. Users will be required to delete all data held immediately and replace with the latest copy of licensed data if future usage is required. Costs may be added if the automatic renewal needs to be enforced.

2.3 If any data is used without authorisation, where the purpose is to transfer the data to a third party, or in some other way used to benefit a third party, not approved by Growthlabs, then the user will be liable for a charge equal to the prevailing cost for the licensed selections as well as damages calculated on the value and costs to Growthlabs of the data usage and/or transfer. Each transfer to a different third party, or use for the benefit thereof, will be treated as a separate breach of these terms and charged accordingly. Where data has been transferred to a third party, users will be required to ensure deletion of all data by the third party and provide confirmation to Growthlabs. Additional costs may be added if these processes and charges need to be enforced.

3. Use of data for communication, including research and marketing

3.1 All communication made to Contacts and organisations held in the data should be as relevant and targeted as possible and where Contact data is used, should only be made where the communication is relevant to the position held by the Contact and in connection with their influence and responsibilities connected with that position. No communication should be made or sent pertaining to the Contact’s personal life, personal requirements, finances, preferences or interests. Although we provide detailed data categorisation, consult on relevance at the time of order and offer further guidance during a licence or access period, it is the users responsibility to ensure all communications are relevant to Contacts and organisations.

3.2 When using any means of communication facilitated by the data, the volume and type of communication should be proportionate, reasonable and not excessive. Use of the data by users is monitored and we reserve the right to revoke access to, and the licence for, data where we believe the communications conducted by a user are excessive, involve undue pressure or in some other way disadvantage Contacts.

3.3 If a request is made by a Contact or organisation to opt-out from future communication by a user, this should be respected and the user shall maintain a list of Contacts or organisations that no longer wish to receive communication from them. It is the users responsibility for updating and using this list to suppress against any future communication activities.

3.4 All communication or marketing material sent to Contacts or organisations within the data must pertain to the user (organisation) or nominated user (organisation) and not any other third party/organisation/external service without consent from Growthlabs.

3.5 No data supplied is screened against the MPS, TPS, CTPS or any other preference service. The information is as supplied to us by the Contact or their organisation. Appropriate screening of data must be done prior to any form of communication being made with contacts on the database.

3.6 If a Contact, either verbally or in writing, requests a user to disclose the source and/or owner of the data that is under licence, users must direct them to Growthlabs.

3.7 Use of Postal Data – All postal communication should be targeted, relevant and not excessive. An opportunity should be given for recipients (Contacts and organisations held in the data) to object to future postal correspondence (either on or within the correspondence, or through a phone number, address or email address provided as part of the correspondence). The user is responsible in ensuring reasonable steps are taken to prevent future postal correspondence to these recipients. We also recommend that users screen the data against the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) prior to any form of postal communication or marketing.

3.8 Use of Telephone Numbers – as part of The Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) maintains a list of telephone numbers of subscribers who don’t wish to receive unsolicited marketing calls. From 2004 corporate registration on the TPS allows all businesses (including the Public Sector) to join the Corporate TPS (CTPS) register to block sales calls. The CTPS was released for commercial screening purposes in July 2004. The legislation requires that CTPS screening must be undertaken by anyone making promotional and/or fundraising calls to any Business or Government number to ensure that they are not calling a number which is registered. After the initial screening of data, further monthly screening is necessary. Consequently, prior to any telephone marketing or fundraising activities all users must screen the data against the TPS and CTPS registers and not contact any listed numbers. Furthermore, users must provide their company name and either a phone number or valid postal or email address to any Contact or organisation requesting a means of opting-out from further calls. Users should maintain their own telephone ‘opt-out’ list, consisting of Contacts and organisations who are either registered on the TPS/CTPS or have directly requested exclusion from any further telephone communication by the user. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure lists are TPS/CTPS compliant. Express consent for a call overrides the TPS/CTPS legislation. No automated calling to data supplied by Growthlabs is permitted without the direct consent of the data subject(s).

3.9 Use of Electronic mail (E-Mail) addresses – All email addresses in the data are either organisational or corporate subscriber emails and/or relate to the Contact’s position and are owned by the employing organisation and/or are those published or officially connected with an elected position or position within public life; including, but not limited to, members of parliament, councillors and those representing parish councils. Where email addresses are used for communication by users, the following conditions apply:

• All electronic communication content should be relevant and targeted to the recipients (Contacts and organisations)
• All electronic communication should make the content of the e-mail clear in the subject line
• All electronic communication should carry a signature, giving full contact details of the user’s organisation
• All electronic communication should carry a clear and unambiguous opportunity for recipients to ‘opt-out’ (not receive any further emails) from future communication
  • All users should keep and maintain their own ‘stop list’ of contacts that have chosen to opt-out from the users list and ensure that any future data use for electronic communication excludes those opted out.

3.10 Updates – Some data licences may require Users to download use fresh copies of their selections every 30 days to completely replace or update any copies of the data held. This is to ensure data is as accurate as possible, fit for purpose and reflects all preference changes made by Contacts within a reasonable time frame.

5. Legal Jurisdiction

5.1 These terms are governed by English Law and Users agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of English Courts in the event of any dispute.