Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains our practices, including your choices, regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of certain information, including your personal information  

George Lowden Guitars Limited, a private limited company registered in Northern Ireland with company number NI054467 whose registered office is 114 Saintfield Road, Ballynahinch, Saintfield, Down, BT24 7JS (“Lowden Guitars”, “we”, “us”, “our”). 

Contacting Us 

For questions specifically about this Privacy Policy, or our use of your personal information, cookies or similar technologies, please contact our Data Protection Team by email at data@lowdenguitars.com The data controller of your personal information is Lowden Guitars. Information and data gathered under this Privacy Policy may also be shared with Lowden Guitars group companies  

Please note that if you contact us to assist you, for your safety and ours, we may need to authenticate your identity before fulfilling your request. 

Collection of Information 

We receive and store information about you such as: 

• Information you provide to us: We collect information you provide to us which includes: 

• your name, email address, telephone number, gender, residential address. We collect this information in a number of ways when you interact with the Website  

• Information we collect automatically: We collect information about you and your interaction with the Website, your interactions with us and our advertising, as well as information regarding your network, network devices, and your computer or other capable devices you might use to access the Website (such as gaming systems, smart TVs, mobile devices, set top boxes, and other streaming media devices).  

This information includes: 

• your interactions with our emails and with our messages through push and online messaging channels; 
• device IDs or other unique identifiers, including for your network devices, and devices that are capable on your Wi-Fi network; 
• resettable device identifiers (also known as advertising identifiers), such as those on mobile devices, tablets, and streaming media devices that include such identifiers (see the "Cookies and Internet Advertising" section below for more information); 
• device and software characteristics (such as type and configuration), connection information including type (WIFI, cellular), statistics on page views, referring source (for example, referral URLs), IP address (which may tell us your general location), browser and standard web server log information; and 

• information collected via the use of cookies, web beacons and other technologies, including ad data (such as information on the availability and delivery of ads, the site URL, as well as the date and time). (See our "Cookies and Internet Advertising" section for more details.) 

• Information from partners: We collect information from other companies and organisations, (“Partners”). These Partners might include (depending on what services you use): your TV or internet service provider; mobile phone carriers or other companies who provide services to you; and voice assistant platform providers who enable interaction with the Website through voice commands. The information Partners provide us varies depending on the nature of the Partner services, and may include: 

• search queries and commands applicable to Lowden Guitars that you make through Partner devices or voice assistant platforms; 
• service activation information such as your email address or other contact information; and 

• IP addresses, device IDs or other unique identifiers, as well as associated pre-paid promotion, user interface information that support user authentication and the presentation of Lowden Guitars content to you through portions of the Partner user interface. 

• Information from other sources: We also obtain information from other sources. We protect this information according to the practices described in this Privacy Policy, plus any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the data. These sources vary over time, but could include: 

• service providers that help us determine a location based on your IP for other uses consistent with this Privacy Policy; 
• security service providers who provide us with information to secure our systems, prevent fraud and help us protect the security of Lowden Guitars; 

• online and offline data providers, from which we obtain aggregated demographic, interest based and online advertising related data; and/or 
• publicly available sources such as publicly available posts on social media platforms and information available through public databases associating IP addresses with internet service providers (ISPs). 

Use of Information 

We use information to provide, analyse, administer, enhance and personalise our Website and marketing efforts, to communicate with you on this and other topics. For example, we use such information to: 

• determine your general geographic location, provide localised content, determine your ISP to support network troubleshooting for you (we also use aggregated ISP information for operational and business purposes), and help us quickly and efficiently respond to inquiries and requests; 

• coordinate with Partners on making the Website available and providing information about the availability of the Website, based on the specific relationship you have with the Partner; 
• secure our systems, prevent fraud and help us protect the security of Lowden Guitars; 
• prevent, detect and investigate potentially prohibited or illegal activities, including fraud, and to enforce our terms; 
• analyse and understand our audience, improve our Website (including our user interface experiences and service performance), recommendation algorithms and delivery; and 
• communicate with you so we can process and fulfil your orders, send you news about Lowden Guitars, details about new products, services, features and content available at Lowden Guitars, special offers, promotional announcements, consumer surveys and to assist you with operational requests such as password reset requests. These communications may be by various methods, such as email, push notifications, online messaging channels, and matched identifier communications (described below). Please see the "Your Choices" section of this Privacy Policy to learn how to set or change your communications preferences. 

Our legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy will depend on the personal information concerned and the specific context in which we collect and use it.  

We will normally collect personal information from you where we need the personal information to perform a contract with you, where the processing is in our legitimate interests and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms (for example, our direct marketing activities in accordance with your preferences), or where we have your consent to do so (for example, for you to participate in certain consumer insights activities like specific surveys and focus groups). In some cases, we may also have a legal obligation to collect personal information from you or may otherwise need the personal information to protect your vital interests or those of another person (for example, to prevent payment fraud or confirm your identity). For questions about our use of your personal information (including legal bases and transfer mechanisms we rely on), cookies or similar technologies, please contact our Data Protection Team by email at data@lowdenguitars.com 

Disclosure of Information 

We disclose your information for certain purposes and to third parties, as described below: 

• The Lowden Guitars family of companies: We share your information among the Lowden Guitars family of companies as needed for: providing you with access to the Website; providing customer support; making decisions about Website improvements; content development; and for other purposes described in the Use of Information section of this Privacy Policy. 

• Service Providers: We use other companies, agents or contractors ("Service Providers") to perform services on our behalf. For example, we engage Service Providers to provide marketing, advertising, communications, security, infrastructure and IT services, to provide bank account or balance information, to process credit card transactions or other payment methods, to fulfil sales orders and pre-orders, to provide customer service, to analyse and enhance data (including data about users' interactions with our Website and to process and administer consumer surveys. In the course of providing such services, these Service Providers may have access to your personal or other information. We do not authorise them to use or disclose your personal information except in connection with providing their services (which includes maintaining and improving their services). 

• Partners: As described above, you may have a relationship with one or more of our Partners, in which case we may share certain information with them in order to coordinate with them. For example, depending on what Partner services you use, we may share information: 

• with Partners who operate voice assistant platforms that allow you to interact with our Website using voice commands; and 

• so that content and features available on the Website can be suggested to you in the Partner’s user interface. These suggestions may include customised and personalised product or service recommendations. 

• Promotional offers: We may offer joint promotions or programs that, in order for your participation, will require us to share your information with third parties. In fulfilling these types of promotions, we may share your name and other information in connection with fulfilling the incentive. Please note that these third parties are responsible for their own privacy practices. 

• Protection of Lowden Guitars and others: Lowden Guitars and its Service Providers may disclose and otherwise use your personal and other information where we or they reasonably believe such disclosure is needed to: (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, (b) enforce applicable terms of use, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address illegal or suspected illegal activities (including payment fraud), security or technical issues, or (d) protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Lowden Guitars, its users or the public, as required or permitted by law. 

• Business transfers: In connection with any reorganisation, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets, we will transfer information, including personal information, provided that the receiving party agrees to respect your personal information in a manner that is consistent with our Privacy Policy. 

Whenever in the course of sharing information we transfer personal information to other countries, we will ensure that the information is transferred in accordance with this Privacy Policy and as permitted by the applicable laws on data protection. 

You may also choose to disclose your information in the following ways: 

• certain portions of our Website may contain a tool which gives you the option to share information by email and social or other sharing applications, using the clients and applications on your smart device; and/or 

• social plugins and similar technologies allow you to share information. 

Social plugins and social applications are operated by the social networks themselves and are subject to their terms of use and privacy policies. 

International Transfers 

As we are located in the United Kingdom, we transfer personal data from other countries to the United Kingdom. Depending on your place of residence or location, this may mean that your personal data will be stored in a jurisdiction that offers a level of protection that may, in certain instances, be less protective of your personal data than your resident jurisdiction.   

Whenever we transfer your personal data outside of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it. Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the EEA. 

Your Choices 

• Email. If you no longer want to receive certain communications from us via email, simply click the "unsubscribe" link in the email.  
• Push Notifications. You can choose to receive mobile push notifications from the Lowden Guitars. On some device operating systems, you will be automatically enrolled in the notifications. If you subsequently decide you no longer wish to receive these notifications, you can use your mobile device's settings functionality to turn them off. We also offer push notifications on certain web browsers. If you agree to receive those notifications and subsequently decide you no longer wish to receive these notifications, you can use your browser’s settings to turn them off. 

• Interest-Based Ads. Interest-based ads are online ads that are tailored to your likely interests based on your use of various apps and websites across the Internet. If you are using a browser, then cookies and web beacons can be used to collect information to help determine your likely interests. If you are using a mobile device, tablet, or streaming media device that includes a resettable device identifier, then that identifier can be used to help determine your likely interests. For your choices about interest-based ads from Lowden Guitars, please see the "Cookies and Internet Advertising" section (below). 

• Matched Identifier Communications. Some third-party sites and apps allow us to reach our users with online promotions about our products and services by sending a privacy protective identifier to the third party. A privacy protective identifier means we convert the original information (such as an email address or phone number) into a value to keep the original information from being revealed. The third party compares the privacy protective identifier to identifiers in its database and there will be a match only if you have used the same identifier (such as an email address) with Lowden Guitars and the third party. If there is a match, Lowden Guitars can then choose whether or not to send a given promotional communication to you on that third party site or app and can optimise and better measure the effectiveness of online advertising.  

Your Information and Rights 

You can request access to your personal information or correct or update out-of-date or inaccurate personal information we hold about you. You may also request for us to delete personal information we hold about you. 

For other requests, or if you have a question regarding our privacy practices, please contact our Data Protection Team at data@lowdenguitars.com We respond to all requests we receive from individuals wishing to exercise their data protection rights in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Please also see the "Your Choices" section of this Privacy Policy for additional choices regarding your information. 

You can object to processing of your personal information, ask us to restrict processing of your personal information or request portability of your personal information; if we have collected and process your personal information with your consent, then you can withdraw your consent at any time; withdrawing your consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing we conducted prior to your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent; you have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your personal information (for the UK, the office of the UK Information Commissioner).  

We may retain information as required or permitted by applicable laws and regulations, including to honour your choices, for our billing, records and/or administrative purposes and to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We take reasonable measures to destroy or de-identify personal information in a secure manner when it is no longer required. 

Security 

We use reasonable administrative, logical, physical and managerial measures to safeguard your personal information against loss, theft and unauthorised access, use and modification. These measures are designed to provide a level of security appropriate to the risks of processing your personal information. We will retain your personal information for the purpose outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. 

Other Websites, Platforms and Applications 

Access to the Website may be provided through and/or utilise features (such as voice controls) operated by third party platforms or contain links to sites operated by third parties whose policies regarding the handling of information may differ from ours. For example, you may be able to access the Website through platforms such as gaming systems, smart TVs, mobile devices, set top boxes and a number of other Internet connected devices. These platforms have separate and independent privacy or data policies, privacy statements, notices and terms of use, which we recommend you read carefully. In addition, you may encounter third party applications that interact with the Website. 

Children 

Anyone under the age of 16 years old may only access the Website with the involvement, supervision, and express prior approval of a parent or legal guardian. 

Changes to This Privacy Policy 

We will update this Privacy Policy from time to time in response to changing legal, regulatory, or operational requirements. We will provide notice of any such changes (including when they will take effect) in accordance with law. Your continued use of the Website after any such updates take effect will constitute acknowledgement and (as applicable) acceptance of those changes. To see when this Privacy Policy was last updated, please see the "Last Updated" section below. 

Cookies and Internet Advertising 

We and our Service Providers use cookies and other technologies (such as web beacons), as well as resettable device identifiers, for various reasons. We want you to be informed about our use of these technologies, so this section explains the types of technologies we use, what they do, and your choices regarding their use.  

Cookies and similar technologies, web beacons, and resettable device identifiers 

Cookies are small data files that are commonly stored on your device when you browse and use websites and online services. We use other technologies such as browser storage and plugins (e.g. HTML5, IndexedDB, and WebSQL). Like cookies, these other technologies may store small amounts of data on your device. Web beacons (also known as clear gifs or pixel tags) often work in conjunction with cookies. In many cases, declining cookies will impair the effectiveness of web beacons associated with those cookies. 

Why does Lowden Guitars use these technologies? 

We use these types of technologies for various reasons, like making it easy to access the Website by remembering you when you return; to provide, analyse, understand and enhance the use of our products and services; to enforce our terms, prevent fraud; to improve site performance, monitor visitor traffic and actions on our site; and to deliver and tailor our marketing or advertising, and to understand interactions with our emails, marketing, and online ads on third party sites.   

To help you better understand how we use cookies and resettable device identifiers, please see the information below: 

• Essential cookies: These cookies are strictly necessary to provide our Website. They also help us to enforce our Terms of Use, prevent fraud and maintain the security of our Website  

• Performance and functionality cookies: These cookies help us to customise and enhance your online experience with Lowden Guitars and the Website. For example, they help us to remember your preferences and prevent you from needing to re-enter information you previously provided. We also use these cookies to collect information (such as popular pages, conversion rates, viewing patterns, click-through and other information) about our visitors' use of the Website so that we can enhance and personalise Lowden Guitar’s other websites, products, services and conduct market research. Deletion of these types of cookies may result in limited functionality of our Website.  

• Advertising cookies and resettable device identifiers: These cookies and resettable device identifiers use information about your use of this and other websites and apps, your response to ads and emails, and to deliver ads that are more relevant to you and for analytics and optimisation purposes. These types of ads are called "interest-based advertising." The advertising cookies associated with our service belong to our Service Providers.  

In connection with our use of these technologies, some of the websites and apps where we advertise, as well as advertising technology companies that we use to purchase, deliver, optimise, and/or measure our advertisements (collectively “Advertising Partners”), may receive limited information from us as part of our campaign targeting, measurement, and optimisation.   

How can I exercise choice regarding these technologies?  

To exercise choice regarding cookies 

For more information about cookies set through our Website, as well as other types of online tracking (including the collection of information by third parties about your online activities over time and across third-party web sites or online services for online interest based advertising), and to exercise choices regarding them, please visit our Cookies Policy (sheeranguitars.com/pages/cookie-policy). At this time, we do not respond to web browser "do not track" signals.  

To exercise choice regarding resettable device identifiers 

To opt out of interest-based ads from Lowden Guitars in connection with a resettable device identifier on a mobile device, tablet, or streaming media devices, please configure the appropriate setting on your device (usually found under "privacy" or "ads" in your device's settings). You may still see Lowden Guitars ads on your device, but they will not be tailored to your likely interests.  

To exercise choice regarding other technologies 

There are a number of ways to exercise choice regarding technologies that are similar to cookies, such as browser storage and plugins (e.g., HTML5, IndexedDB, and WebSQL). For example, many popular browsers provide the ability to clear browser storage, commonly in the settings or preferences area; see your browser's help function or support area to learn more.  

From time to time, we may change this Privacy Policy to accommodate new technologies, industry practices, regulatory requirements or for any other purposes. We will provide notices to you if these changes are material and, where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent. Notices may be sent by email to the latest email address you provided to us, by posting notices of such changes on our websites and applications, or by other means, consistent with applicable law. 

Last Updated: 21 June 2022