Privacy Policy

In this Privacy Policy, references to “Solid Solutions”, “we” or “us” are to Solid Solutions Management Ltd, a company incorporated in England and Wales (with registered number 3656695). The Policy covers all Solid Solutions companies, brands and websites (listed below). It applies to individuals and companies who visit our websites, customers and prospects of Solid Solutions, those who access our online content, register for our training courses or free events, or who have any other interaction with us (e.g. requesting a quote).

• Solid Solutions (www.solidsolutions.co.uk)
• Solid Solutions in Ireland (www.solidsolutionsireland.ie)
• Solid Solutions Group (www.3dssg.co.uk)
• New Technology CAD-CAM (www.ntcadcam.co.uk)
• Cadtek Systems Ltd (www.cadtek.com)

This privacy notice does not cover the links within these sites to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or if you are seeking to exercise any of your statutory rights.

privacy@solidsolutions.co.uk
+44 (0)1926 333777
UK Head Office: The Data Protection Officer(s), Solid Solutions Management Ltd, Olympus House, Olympus Avenue, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV34 6RJ, UK.

Data Protection Officers

Our data protection officers can be contacted on +44 (0)1926 333777 or by email at privacy@solidsolutions.co.uk.

• Nick Sibly – Operations Director
• Helen Scares – Human Resources Manager
• Jon Butler – IT Manager

We may process your data for a number of different purposes:

• to respond to a sales request or other inbound inquiry.
• to record, track and monitor technical support calls that you report to our support desk.
• to administer any training course, programme or event delegate bookings.
• to allocate training course credits and attendance.
• to keep you up to date with and invite you to any of our latest, relevant events, training programmes or webinars we are producing.
• to manage your online account and access to MySolidSolutions.
• to market our products and services.

We have a contractual obligation to manage and administer our customers’ subscriptions and purchases.

It is in our legitimate interest to keep our customers and prospects informed of our latest content, products and services. In accordance with ICO guidance, we have undertaken a Legitimate Interest Assessment (LIA), for which further information and the LIA can be found below.

We process customer and prospect data and use direct marketing as part of this legitimate interest. It’s necessary for us to use a variety of direct marketing channels and messages to ensure our contacts are kept informed and wherever possible, we make sure the messages we send are targeted and relevant. Any direct marketing we undertake complies with e-privacy rules on consent.

The following LIA has been produced based on guidance set out in the Legitimate Interests section of the ICO website.

What is the ‘legitimate interests’ basis?

Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR gives you a lawful basis for processing where: “processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.”

This can be broken down into a three-part test:

1. Purpose test: are you pursuing a legitimate interest?
2. Necessity test: is the processing necessary for that purpose?
3. Balancing test: do the individual’s interests override the legitimate interest?

Purpose Test

• Why do you want to process the data – what are you trying to achieve?
  • We aim to promote and sell the products and services of SOLIDWORKS and Solid Solutions.
• Who benefits from the processing? In what way?
  • A prospective or existing customer of Solid Solutions could benefit from SOLIDWORKS products and Solid Solutions services in one or more of the following ways, enable them to design better products, get their products to market faster, reduce material usage, improve manufacturing performance, etc.
  • The consequence of these benefits could be one or more of the following, increased product performance, reduction in costs, increased profits, greater market share, etc.
• Are there any wider public benefits to the processing?
  • Many of our customers design products that have social, economic and charitable benefits. Any prospective customers who design and manufacture products within these sectors might therefore be able to deliver results that benefit the wider public.
  • Our products and services help companies to become more competitive which in turn can stimulate competition (between companies) therefore driving down prices and improving product performance.
• How important are those benefits?
  • This is difficult to quantify however The Big Life Fix (a BBC documentary, viewed at 2 minutes 10 seconds) shows how SOLIDWORKS can help designers and engineers to develop life-changing products!
• What would the impact be if you couldn’t go ahead?
  • Organisations may not become aware of the afore-mentioned benefits.
• Would your use of the data be unethical or unlawful in any way?
  • No

Necessity Test

• Does this processing actually help to further that interest?
  • Yes
• Is it a reasonable way to go about it?
  • Yes, providing we are clear and transparent as to the intentions of the electronic communication and give the recipient a clear and accessible method for opting out of future communications.
• Is there another less intrusive way to achieve the same result?
  • We could for example “cold call” the prospective customer however we believe this method is more intrusive than sending electronic communications.
  • We could use traditional “non-electronic” forms of marketing such a magazine adverts however this is not always practical given the diverse range of industries that SOLIDWORKS covers.

Balancing Test

• What is the nature of your relationship with the individual?
  • Business to business.
• Is any of the data particularly sensitive or private?
  • No – we do not ask for any special category data.
• Would people expect you to use their data in this way?
  • Yes – We believe that engineering and design organisations would expect to receive electronic marketing communications promoting products and services from organisations such as Solid Solutions
• Are you happy to explain it to them?
  • Yes
• Are some people likely to object or find it intrusive?
  • Possibly, however disruption will be minimal and people will always have the opportunity to remove themselves from any future electronic communication.
• What is the possible impact on the individual?
  • A loss of time with respect to receiving, opening and reading (and possibly unsubscribing from) the electronic communication.
• How big an impact might it have on them?
  • Very minimal
• Are you processing children’s data?
  • o We do not knowingly collect or store Personal Data from children. We are committed to protecting the privacy of children and if we were to become aware that such information had been collected, we would treat that information as sensitive.
• Are any of the individuals vulnerable in any other way?
  • No
• Can you adopt any safeguards to minimise the impact?
  • N/A
• Can you offer an opt-out?
  • Yes – Individuals can opt-out at any time via our email preferences page. In line with the PECR all electronic communications contain a link to this Privacy Policy.

Lawful basis interactive guide

In addition to this LIA we have completed the Lawful basis interactive guidance tool on the ICO website.

Our answers indicate that legitimate interests is likely to be an appropriate lawful basis…

• Webcast Wednesday & MySolidSolutions: Monthly emails to inform you of upcoming webcasts or specific content from MySolidSolutions that we think will benefit your organisation.
• Special Offers: From time to time we may send you promotional offers with regards to SOLIDWORKS products, services, training and hardware.
• SOLIDWORKS Upgrades: You will receive SOLIDWORKS Upgrade and Service Pack notifications inviting your company to update SOLIDWORKS to the next major version or service pack.
• Training Updates: We send quarterly training updates via email to inform you of local upcoming training events, availability and training offers.
• Product Information: Occasionally we may send you video links, white papers and information relating to new products and the use of SOLIDWORKS. Where possible we try to ensure relevance to your industry sector.
• Event Invites: Occasionally we may invite you to attend a regional Seminar, Free Training, Hand -on session or similar event.
• You can manage your preferences and unsubscribe from any or all of these different types of email at any time. • Account Management: Occasional account management calls to check in on how you are getting on with any of our products or services you use.
• Telemarketing: Occasional calls about forthcoming training, content, offers or events.

• Your name
• Your job title/role
• Your email address and contact number
• Your postal address
• A password – for website access
• The name of the organisation you work for
• The type of industry you work in
• Your dietary requirements – if you’re attending one of our events
• And for customers we’ll collect and store data on the transactions and purchases you make with us.

We will keep your data safely and securely for as long as necessary or according to your instructions, and we review the data we hold at least once every two years. If you would like more information about how we store your data, please contact us directly.

Solid Solutions uses cookies and other third-party tracking technologies across our websites that help us collect other information about our customers’ and users’ preferences. You can choose to permit or restrict the use of these technologies through your personal browser settings – see below. Solid Solutions cookies do not contain any personally identifying information.

How do I change my cookie settings?

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Edge
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Opera
• Apple Safari

To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer's website. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, please visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

We may monitor, record, store and use any telephone, email or other communication with you in order to check any instructions given to us, for training purposes, for crime prevention and to improve the quality of our customer service.

Solid Solutions may receive data about organisations, industries, website visitors, marketing campaigns and other matters related to our business from our partners, affiliates or others, that we use to make our own information better or more useful.

This data may be combined with other information we collect and might include aggregate level data, such as which IP addresses correspond to post codes or countries. It might also be more specific, for example how well an online marketing or email campaign performed.

We may receive and store other information, for example if you participate in a live chat on our website, attend an event, apply for a job, request support, interact with our social media accounts or otherwise communicate with Solid Solutions.

Any personal data we share with our content partners is shared only on the basis that the data will be used by the partner under a lawful basis of legitimate interest and according to the requirements of the GDPR. We specify this in contracts with all of our content partners.

Data processing partners

Solid Solutions may provide your personal information to a subsidiary of Solid Solutions, any affiliated companies or other trusted businesses or persons, acting under a confidentiality agreement, for the purpose of processing personal information on behalf of Solid Solutions.

These parties are required to process such information based on instructions from Solid Solutions and in accordance with this Policy. They do not have any independent right to share this information.

Solid Solutions may transfer Your Data if Solid Solutions is acquired by or merged with another company. Solid Solutions will provide notice before this occurs and will post a new Policy if necessary.

Credit checking

Solid Solutions may share your personal information with a credit checking company or with a credit card processing company to bill users for Solid Solutions products or services. These third parties do not retain, share, or store any personally identifiable information except to provide these services and are bound by strict confidentiality agreements which limit their use of such information.

You can reasonably request access to the personal data we hold on you, at any time, and we will provide that information free of charge within one month of your request at the latest.

You can request inaccurate or incomplete personal data held on you to be rectified or completed or for your personal data to be suppressed or erased, and we will respond within one month of your request at the latest. We will supply any data you request in a CSV file.

You have the right to opt out of our direct marketing at any point, and we will deal with your request right away. You can unsubscribe from our emails automatically from our email preferences web page. To opt out of our direct mail or telephone marketing please call our privacy team on +44 (0)1926 333777 or email privacy@solidsolutions.co.uk.

Data Protection Authority

You have the right to raise a concern or lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

To secure your personal information, access to your data is password protected. It is your responsibility to keep your password confidential and not to share this information with anyone.

To protect data stored on Solid Solutions servers, we regularly audit our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks. Whilst Solid Solutions will implement the security measures detailed above, transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and therefore transmission via the internet is at your own risk.

We review our data protection and privacy procedures and policies regularly and post any changes to our Privacy Policy on this page.

Solid Solutions may vary the Privacy Policy at its sole discretion at any time.