Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Laptop Workshop is operated by Solaris Tech Ltd. We provide computer, Apple device and mobile-device sales, repairs and technical support through our website and our stores in Worthing and Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

2. Information we may collect

Depending on how you deal with us, we may collect:

• Identity and contact information such as your name, address, email address and telephone number.
• Order and transaction information such as products or services purchased, order history, invoices, payments and refunds.
• Device and repair information such as device make/model, serial number, reported fault, repair history and information needed to carry out a repair or provide technical support.
• Account and communication information including enquiries, emails, messages and customer-service correspondence.
• Website and technical information such as IP address, browser/device information and information collected through cookies and similar technologies.
• Marketing preferences where you have chosen to receive marketing from us.

We do not need or intend to access the personal contents of a customer's device unless this is necessary for the service requested, for example troubleshooting, data transfer or data recovery. Where access is necessary, we aim to limit it to what is reasonably required to perform the work.

3. How and why we use your information

Purpose	Typical lawful basis
Processing orders, payments, collections, deliveries and returns	Performance of a contract and, where applicable, legal obligations.
Booking, diagnosing and completing repairs or technical-support work	Performance of a contract and steps taken at your request before entering into a contract.
Responding to enquiries and providing customer service	Contractual necessity and/or our legitimate interests in operating and supporting our business.
Keeping accounting, tax and business records	Compliance with legal obligations and legitimate interests.
Protecting our website, systems, customers and business against fraud, misuse or security threats	Our legitimate interests in operating a secure business and, where relevant, legal obligations.
Improving our services and understanding how our website is used	Our legitimate interests and, where consent is legally required for cookies or similar technologies, your consent.
Sending direct marketing	Consent where required, or another lawful basis permitted by applicable electronic-marketing and data-protection law.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider those interests against your rights and reasonable expectations.

4. Payments

Online payments are processed through payment providers and ecommerce services used by our store. We do not normally receive or store your complete payment-card details ourselves. Payment providers process payment information in accordance with their own privacy and security arrangements.

5. Who we share information with

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information where necessary with organisations that help us operate our business, including ecommerce and website providers, payment processors, delivery and courier companies, IT and communications providers, professional advisers, accounting services, repair or parts suppliers where necessary, and government, regulatory or law-enforcement bodies where required by law.

These organisations may act as our processors or as independent controllers depending on the service they provide. We only disclose information that is reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose.

6. Shopify and our online store

Our ecommerce website is hosted using Shopify. Information submitted through the online store may therefore be processed through Shopify and associated service providers to provide the website, checkout and ecommerce functionality. Shopify maintains its own privacy information explaining how it handles personal data.

7. International transfers

Some technology and service providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, we expect the relevant provider or arrangement to use an approved transfer mechanism or other lawful safeguard.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies for functions such as operating the site and checkout, remembering preferences, security, analytics and, where enabled, marketing. Where consent is required for non-essential cookies, these should not be used until the required consent has been obtained. You can also control cookies through your browser settings.

9. How long we keep information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including providing services, handling warranty or customer-service matters, resolving disputes and meeting legal, accounting and tax requirements.

Some financial and transaction records may need to be retained for up to six years, or longer where the law requires it. Other records are reviewed according to their purpose and are deleted or anonymised when no longer required.

10. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures intended to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. Access is limited to people and service providers who need the information for legitimate business purposes.

No method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take reasonable steps appropriate to the nature of the information we hold.

11. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis being used, UK data-protection law may give you rights to:

• request access to personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to erase personal information in certain circumstances;
• ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
• object to certain processing, including direct marketing;
• request data portability where the legal requirements apply; and
• withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

You have an absolute right to object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.

These rights are not absolute in every situation. We may need to verify your identity before dealing with a request and may retain information where we have a legal reason to do so.

12. Marketing

You can ask us to stop sending marketing communications at any time. Where an email contains an unsubscribe link, you can use that link, or you can contact us directly. Stopping marketing does not prevent us from contacting you about an order, repair, account or other service you have requested.

13. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so that we can investigate it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data-protection regulator.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy when our services, technology or legal obligations change. The latest version will be published on this page with an updated date.

This notice describes Laptop Workshop's general customer and website data-processing activities. Specific services may require additional privacy information where appropriate.