Privacy Policy

Introduction

We take the privacy of your data seriously and have prepared this policy to explain our data practices.

This Privacy Policy explains how we use information we collect via our technology on partner websites which are part of our advertising network, for example, when you click on advertisements we have served on councils’ websites. The Policy also explains how we protect your privacy. 

We occasionally modify our Privacy Policy and will post those changes on this page so that you remain aware of what information we collect and how we use it.

Some background on CAN

CAN is the Council Advertising Network, the trading name for CAN Digital Solutions, a limited company registered in England under company number 8706148 whose registered office is 4th Floor, 18 St Cross Street, London, EC1N 8UN.

CAN sources socially responsible digital advertising as an exclusive partner to local authorities, tourist boards, public sector job boards, public transport executives and choice based letting services. We provide partners with technology to display advertisements at various positions on their website and run a Tag Management System to maintain the technology and act as a conduit between partners and CAN’s third party suppliers.

Our objectives are to help councils and other partners generate revenue from their web assets and to provide partners with advertising technology and data that helps them achieve their public service objectives.

Your Rights

You have rights over your personal data as defined in EU Regulation 2016/679, otherwise known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Your rights include the right to be informed about the data we collect and the right to ask that your data is deleted. You can find out more about your rights via the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website using this link.

If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, please contact us privacy@counciladvertising.net, and we will do our best to solve the problem. If we are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO.

What information is collected and how is it used?

We and our third-party partners place advertisements on websites operated by partners through our network. Other than serving advertisements and preparing Floor Ads, we do not modify or control any content on partners’ websites. We do provide partners public interest content they can choose to place on their websites, and it is always identified as being provided by the Council Advertising Network.

Most of the data collected is non-personal and includes the browser type and language, device type and model, display size and non-personal device identifiers. This is collected to ensure that ads display correctly on your browser, using an appropriate size and language.

We also collect geographic information, such as the IP (Internet Protocol) address or information derived from your device’s location services. This information is captured so that advertisers can deliver advertising that is relevant for your location. Even though it is nearly impossible to determine an individual’s identity from this geographic information, it is defined as personal data by GDPR.

In addition, we collect data on your browsing and search history, and possible relationships among different browsers and devices, via cookies (see Cookies below for more details) that are placed on your browser by our advertising partners when you visit different websites on the internet. This is non-personal because your web viewing data is not associated with you. This data is important to advertisers because it enables them to provide interest-based and behavioural advertising. In other words, they draw inferences based on browsing data so that they can provide advertising they believe is more relevant, interesting and useful. Browsing history also enables advertisers to engage in re-targeting, which involves delivering advertisements to you on sites outside our network based on your viewing profile within the network, and for cross-device linking, to identify multiple browsers, applications or devices that are likely to be used by the same person. 

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser (see www.allaboutcookies.org for more information). Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually change your browser’s settings to prevent that. You can also choose to delete Cookies on your browser at any time.

All our advertising partners use cookies to provide you with interest-based and behavioural advertising. These are referred to as third-party cookies because they are not generated by the website you visited. We also use identifier technology that is stored as a first-party cookie, meaning that it is generated by the website you visit. All advertising cookies used by our partners are used in accordance with current Cookie Law. These cookies are not integral to the functioning of our partners’ websites, and your use and experience of those websites will not be impaired by refusing to consent to them.

Advertising and identity partners

Our primary partners are listed below, but we will work with other partners on an ad hoc basis. Information in brackets shows how the partner is listed on the WebChoices tool (see Opting Out below).

*Opt out for these advertising partners is available via the Your Online Choices website (http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices).

See Opt Out below for more information.

How is your information stored?

We are conscious of the importance of your data to you and conscientious about protecting that data from loss, theft or misuse. All Personal Information collected is stored using the same security measures that we or our partners use to protect our and their own proprietary corporate data. Only authorised users are able to access the data collected and stored.

We retain information for up to 12 months to ensure that our services are functioning properly and to evaluate ways to improve our services. We retain consent information (see Opting Out below) for 6 months. We retain data on an aggregate basis indefinitely for purposes of reporting and system analytics.

All data collected by CAN is stored in the EU. All data collected by our advertising partners is stored in the EU or in a country that adheres to the Privacy Shield Frameworks agreed with the EU.

Opting Out

If for any reason you do not want us to collect your personal or non-personal data, you can opt out at any time using one of the approaches below.

Consent Management

Some of our website partners are using a Consent Management solution provided by CAN. The solution prevents the placement of any cookies until you provide consent. You can opt out by clicking on the Options button and following the instructions.

WebChoices

For partners not using CAN’s Consent Management solution, you can opt out directly via the WebChoices website at http://optout.aboutads.info/. The WebChoices tool provides a list of over 130 internet advertisers and advertising technology companies. You can choose individual advertisers or can opt of all interest-based or behavioural advertising using the tool.

Opt out for advertising partners indicated with an asterisk (*) in the table above is available via the Your Online Choices website at http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices.

Direct Opt Out Link

For those advertising partners not active in WebChoices, please use the opt out link provided in the table above and follow the instructions provided.

Please note that using the Consent Management solution, WebChoices or a direct opt out link to opt out will not prevent advertising from being displayed on your browser. It will, however, stop advertisers from providing interest-based or behavioural advertising so you will see advertising that is not tailored to your browsing history.

Further information

If you have any questions or comments regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@counciladvertising.net.