Privacy Policy
SOUTHERN AIRCRAFT CONSULTANCY PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated 28th April 2023
We take our data privacy responsibilities very seriously at Southern Aircraft, and we want you to understand and feel confident about how we collect, store and handle your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains this, and sets out the rights you have in relation to your personal data. Please read it carefully.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When we refer to "information", we are NOT referring to your financial information. We never have access to any of your financial information, as all sensitive financial information is held securely by Stripe, the payment processing company that we use. Stripe never share this information with us, and they have very strict rules on how they handle and store your financial data, which can be found at https://stripe.com/gb/privacy.
Sensitive information
We require you to provide us with a copy of either your passport, your government-issued ID, or your driving licence. This is initially so that you can be security-screened via Smartsearch.com. We then securely store the document, so that we can validate/compare your signature if you subsequently send us any formal instruction letters: for example, if you instruct us to dissolve the Trust, or to de-register the aircraft. If you do not wish us to store the document for this latter purpose, please let us know and we will delete it after it has been used for the security screening. However, please be aware that if you should subsequently wish to provide us with any formal instructions as related to the Trust, you will need to re-provide us with a copy of one of the abovementioned documents, so that the signatures can be compared.
How we collect information
When you complete your application form online, you enter various pieces of information about yourself and your aircraft. This information is stored on our system and used to generate your documentation and for contacting you. The 'application form' section of our website uses cookies to help you complete it and to remember you, if you make another application with us. The rest of the website does not use cookies.
When you call us (or we call you) the calls are recorded from start to finish. Our staff will always make you aware of this, and give you the option to decline the call being recorded. For this reason, we will never take your payment card details over the phone, but will always be happy to send you an online link for making payment. You can also contact us at any time and ask us for a specific call recording to be deleted, or to be sent to you.
Who has access to your information
We will never sell your information on to anyone else.
The information that is contained in your Trust documentation is passed on to our US agent, Aerospace Reports. It is also passed on to the Federal Aviation Authority and the Federal Communications Commission.
In the interests of safety, legality and clarity in respect of the ownership and operation of the aircraft, we must pass your contact information on to other parties in certain circumstances, for example:
- To the emergency services or an aviation authority (in the event of an aircraft accident or incident, or a criminal investigation for example)
- To an aviation authority or airport authority (if they request your information as related to an overflight, a landing or a fuel uptake, for example).
We never pass your information on to a ‘civilian’ – for example, we often receive enquiries from people who are interested in purchasing one of the aircraft in Trust with us, or who have seen an N-registered aircraft at their local airfield and want to know more about who owns it. In circumstances like this, we explain that we cannot give any information and we simply pass the enquiry details on to you, so that you can decide whether to get in touch with the person.
How we use your information
We use your information to prepare and submit your Trust documentation to the FAA, and to contact you with regard to your specific aircraft (for example, to let you know when renewable documents such as the Certificate of Aircraft Registration or the FCC Radio Station Authorisation are due to expire).
We also pass on any Emergency Airworthiness Directives or Operating Manual Updates that we receive with regard to your specific aircraft.
Although we do not send out any kind of regular newsletter or similar, we also use your information to try to keep you informed if we become aware of any legislation or changes which may affect you with regard to your specific aircraft.
How we store information
We keep electronic records of the information that all clients provide to us, on a spreadsheet. The records contain all the information that you have provided to us in your application, as well as details (dates and a short summary) of any contact we have with you after your initial application is made to us. This information is stored securely in a Microsoft OneDrive network folder on a secure server. All devices used to access the spreadsheet are password-protected.
We also keep original hard copies of any ink-signed documents which you send to us, in relation to selling or de-reregistering your aircraft. These paper records are stored in locked filing cabinets, in a dedicated locked secure storage unit (which is on a secure storage site).
We are legally obliged to keep your information for at least six years, for accounting and tax purposes. Once this time period expires, we delete your information and securely shred any paper records.
Cookies
In order to collect the anonymous data required for the functionality of this website's application form, we may use temporary “cookies” that remain in the cookies file of your browser until the browser is closed. We consider none of them to be intrusive to you; in fact some will enhance your experience on our website. The cookies that we collect are:
- Cookie Law Compliance - This cookie is placed if you click the Allow button in the cookie message. It tells us you have given your consent to the use of cookies on our site and stops this message from displaying.
- Session and Person ID Cookies – These allow us to place you on a more suitable page based on your previous visits to our website – it will enable you to get to the content we believe you want, quicker. We collect no personal data that would enable us to physically identify you from this Cookie.
- Website Analytics data – We’ll not collect data that enable us to identify you. The only cookies which you may consider could be intrusive are those that identify which county/area of the country you come from, and if you are a new, or returning visitor.
- __utma, __utmb, __utmc and __utmz cookies - We use Google Analytics. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the site when they’re using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example by making sure users are finding what they need easily.
- NID & PREF cookies – These cookies are third party cookies used by Google. Please take a look at the Google policy to see how they use these cookies. www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/
- Google re-marketing code – We may use a cookie to track you on other sites and show adverts to you based on where you have visited on our site. We do this to remind you of our services in case you wish to come back and buy them. We only use these cookies for 30 days after your last visit to our website. We do not control these cookies, so these will be unaffected by the choice you make today. You may opt out of the use of cookies by visiting Google advertising opt-out page.
- Google AdSense – We use this cookie to report to us how the adverts shown on our websites are performing. User data is all anonymous. You can find out more generally about Google and its policies and principles as regards advertising at http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ads/
- You Tube cookie – We use this cookie to help maintain the integrity of video statistics, prevent fraud and improve site and video experience. If you play any of the videos in our website, it will drop a cookie. Cookies by themselves cannot be used to discover the identity of the user. A cookie is a small piece of information which is sent to your browser and stored on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies do not damage your computer. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This enables you to decide if you want to accept it or not.
We also use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and to administer our website. An IP address is a numeric code that identifies your computer on a network, or in this case, the Internet. Your IP address is also used to gather broad demographic information, such as determining how many of our visitors are from outside of the UK. We may also perform IP lookups to determine which domain you are coming from (i.e. aol.com, yourcompany.com) to more accurately gauge our users' demographics. If you choose to accept these cookies, we believe that it will only enhance your experience on our website. If you choose to accept these cookies, we can’t change that choice for you in the future. We may add further cookies which we consider to be no intrusive in the future. By agreeing to the cookies today, you are also agreeing to cookies which we may choose to use in the future.
Your rights
You can ask us at any time what information we hold about you, and we will give you full details. You also have the right to ask that your details be deleted, amended or transferred (bearing in mind our legal obligation to store certain details for at least six years for tax and accounting purposes).