Privacy Statement

Last Updated: October 2008

The United Kingdom Data Protection Act 1998 puts obligations on users of personal information and lays down principles for its use. This policy is designed to describe to you the ways we use your personal information and to set out your rights.

We, Wave, are a member of the Merrill Lynch group of companies (the "Group"). This group consists of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., and its subsidiary companies. We are committed to protecting your privacy. We will only use the information that we collect about you lawfully (in accordance with the Data Protection Act).

What personal information do we collect on you?
We collect information about you to provide you with the best possible service. We will never collect sensitive information about you without your explicit consent.

We may record or monitor telephone calls to improve our standards of service, for staff training purposes and to prevent fraud.

How do we use your personal information?
Our main use of your personal information is to provide any specific service you require.

We may use 'cookies' to monitor visits to areas of our website - for further details see: What are 'cookies' and how are they used?

Occasionally we may contact you in writing to inform you about other products or services, which may interest you. We will not e-mail you in the future unless you have given us your prior consent. If you do not wish to receive these details, please see: What are your rights under the Data Protection Act?

The information you provide will not be kept for longer than is necessary in line with the purposes for which it was provided.

We're committed to keeping your personal information safe and secure at all times - for further details see: How do we ensure customer confidentiality?

Credit reference agencies
We will make searches with credit reference agencies as well as information from the Electoral Register. The agencies will keep a record of the search. Credit searches and other information which is provided to us and / or the credit reference agencies, about you and those with whom you are linked financially may be used by us and other companies if credit decisions are made about you, or other methods of your household. This information may also be used for debt tracing and the prevention of money laundering as well as the management of your account. To prevent or detect fraud, or to assist in verifying your identity, we may make searches of the records of companies in the Group and at fraud prevention agencies who will supply us with information. We may also pass information to financial and other organisations involved in fraud prevention to protect ourselves and our customers from theft and fraud. If you give us false or inaccurate information and we suspect fraud, we will record this.

We, members of the Group and other companies may use this information if decisions are made about you or others at your address(es) on credit or credit-related services or motor, household, life or any other insurance facilities. It may also be used for tracing and claims assessment.

'Associations' linking your financial records may be created on credit reference agency records when you apply for a product in joint names. Your financial records, and those of anyone financially associated with you, may be considered in any future applications you make. This association will continue until one of you successfully files a 'disassociation' at the credit reference agencies.

Please contact Wave on 0800 358 3758 or at Spectrum Building, 4th Floor, 55 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 7AT if you require details of the credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies from whom we obtain and to whom we pass information about you. You have a legal right to these details.

Who do we share your personal information with?
Where you provide us with personal information on this website we may share this with:

  • any licensed credit reference agency where the information will be stored and used by other lenders for making credit decisions about you and other members of your household and occasionally for fraud prevention
  • other members of the Group
  • any insurer or prospective insurer under the Mortgage to help them decide whether to offer cover and for processing claims
  • our regulators, government and enforcement agencies
  • third party service providers
  • market research organisations for use for research by companies in the Group
  • our lawyers, auditors and external advisers
  • any agent acting on our behalf for the purposes described in: How do we use your personal information?

It is also possible that your personal information will be shared with a third party as part of a proposed business transfer or acquisition of our business.

How do we ensure customer confidentiality?
All our employees are personally responsible for maintaining customer confidentiality. We provide training and education to all our staff to remind them about their obligations. Our policies and procedures are regularly reviewed.

We have in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised or lawful processing and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, your personal data.

Please do not email us any confidential information, as we cannot guarantee the security of your information.

What countries will your data be passed to?
Countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) are required to have a similar standard of protection of personal data. We may share your personal information with other members of the Group who are based within the EEA. We may also pass your data to parties (including Group companies and third party service providers) based in the USA, a country outside the EEA. The USA is not a country that is deemed to provide the same standard of protection as countries within the EEA, such as the UK. Before we transfer your data, we will however take appropriate measures to ensure that there is adequate protection as required by European data protection legislation.

What are your rights under the Data Protection Act?
You have a right, on written request and payment of a fee of £10, to receive a copy of the information held about you. Please write to us at Spectrum Building, 4th Floor, 55 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 7AT. If anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know and we will correct it. You can help us ensure your information is accurate by informing us whenever your circumstances change.

Occasionally we may contact you, in writing, to inform you about other products or services, which may interest you. You have the right to ask us not to process your information for marketing purposes. If you do not wish to receive these details, please contact us on 0800 358 3758 or write to us at Spectrum Building, 4th Floor, 55 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 7AT.

You are entitled to request in writing that no decision taken by us, which significantly affects you, is based solely on the processing by automatic means, for example, your creditworthiness. You have the right to require us to reconsider the decision or to take a new decision otherwise than on that basis.

Can we change this Privacy Statement?
There may be developments in how we use your personal information. We will make changes to this Privacy Statement on our website to reflect any such developments.

Who should you contact if you have any questions on our privacy policy?
If you have any questions or require further information on our Privacy Statement, please contact the Compliance Team on 0800 358 3758, or write to us at Compliance Team, Spectrum Building, 4th Floor, 55 Blythswood Street, Glasgow G2 7AT.

Is Wave notified with the Information Commissioner?
Wave is notified to the Information Commissioner under notification number Z8269377. To view these details please visit the Information Commissioner's website below.
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk The Information Commissioner's contact details are:
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510

What are 'cookies' and how are they used?
A cookie is a small file that can be saved onto your computer when you visit a website. It cannot be read by any site other than that which placed the cookie. We use cookies for several reasons. For example, we use them to monitor visits to areas of our website. We don't link cookies to personal information provided by you. As we use temporary cookies, when you close your browser down they are deleted from your computer. Your web browser lets you turn off cookies. However, if you do disable cookies you might not be able to use some of the services on websites.

If you want to turn off cookies on your browser, follow the instructions below and select the 'disable/reject' options at the end.

If you've turned off cookies on your browser but want to turn them back on again follow these simple steps (specific to your browser version) and then choose 'accept'.

Microsoft Internet Explorer v5
To enable cookies using Internet Explorer v5:

  • Click on the 'Tools' menu.
  • Select 'Internet Options'.
  • Click on the 'Security' tab. and choose the 'Custom Level' button.
  • Find the 'Cookies' option and enable both types, 'stored...' (Permanent cookies) and 'per session...' (Temporary cookies).

Microsoft Internet Explorer v6
To enable 'cookies' using Internet Explorer v6:

  • Click on the 'Tools' menu.
  • Select 'Internet Options'.
  • Click on the 'Privacy' tab and choose the 'Advanced options' button.
  • Check the 'Override automatic cookie handling' tick-box.
  • Enable the 'First party' cookies by choosing the 'Accept' or 'Prompt' option.
  • Enable the 'Third party' cookies by choosing the 'Accept' or 'Prompt' option.

Netscape Navigator v4 and above
To enable cookies using Netscape v4 and above:

  • Click on 'Edit' on the menu bar and select 'Preferences',
  • Choose the 'Advanced' category.
  • Choose the 'Accept all cookies' option and click OK to confirm.

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