How we handle personal information.

1. Who we are

Parkgrove Funeral Directors is a funeral director based at Douglasmuir, Friockheim, DD11 4UN. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” means Parkgrove Funeral Directors.

We are responsible for deciding how personal information is used when families contact us, arrange funeral services with us, submit information through our website, or ask us to publish a funeral notice.

2. Information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you use our website and services. It may include:

• Your name, address, email address and telephone number.
• Details you provide when making an enquiry or arranging a funeral.
• Information about the person who has died, including name, date of birth, date of death and funeral wishes.
• Information about family members, next of kin, executors, clergy, celebrants, doctors, care homes, hospitals, registrars or other people involved in funeral arrangements.
• Payment information, invoice details and records needed for accounting.
• Photographs, obituary text, service details, donation information and other content you ask us to publish.
• Website information such as your IP address, device type, browser type, pages visited and how you use the site.

Special category information

Some funeral arrangements may involve sensitive information. This might include religious beliefs, health information, family circumstances, personal wishes, or details needed to arrange a specific type of funeral. We only use this information where it is necessary and appropriate for the funeral arrangements, legal requirements, or the wishes of the family.

3. How we use information

We use personal information to provide funeral services, respond to enquiries and support families before, during and after a funeral.

• To respond when you contact us.
• To bring a loved one into our care.
• To arrange cremation, burial, transport, viewings, services and related funeral arrangements.
• To liaise with crematoria, cemeteries, registrars, hospitals, care homes, doctors, officiants, florists, printers, newspapers, charities and other service providers where needed.
• To prepare estimates, invoices, receipts and accounting records.
• To publish funeral notices, obituaries, service details and donation information where instructed by the family.
• To manage complaints, feedback, reviews and service improvement.
• To protect our business, website, staff, premises and records.
• To comply with legal, regulatory, tax and accounting obligations.

4. Our lawful bases for using personal information

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using personal information. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

5. Who we share information with

We do not sell personal information. We only share information where it is necessary, appropriate, or legally required.

• Crematoria, cemeteries and burial authorities.
• Hospitals, care homes, hospices, doctors, registrars and coroners where relevant.
• Clergy, celebrants, humanists or other officiants.
• Printers, florists, newspapers, charities, caterers, transport providers and other suppliers involved in the funeral arrangements.
• Payment processors, accountants, banks and bookkeeping providers.
• Website, email, IT, cloud storage and security providers.
• Professional advisers, insurers, legal advisers, regulators or public authorities where needed.

Where suppliers process information on our behalf, we expect them to handle that information securely and only for the purposes we have instructed.

6. Funeral notices, obituaries and public information

If a family asks us to publish a funeral notice, obituary, photograph, service details, donation link or other announcement, that information may be visible to the public on our website, social media, printed materials, newspapers, livestream pages, charity pages or other places agreed with the family.

Please make sure you have authority from the family or relevant person before providing information, photographs or wording for publication. Once information has been published online, it may be copied, shared or indexed by search engines outside our control.

If you believe a notice contains incorrect information, or you want to discuss removing or changing a notice, please contact us as soon as possible.

7. Website, cookies and analytics

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to help it work properly, improve performance, understand how visitors use the site and keep the site secure.

• Essential cookies help the website function.
• Analytics cookies may help us understand visitor numbers, popular pages and general website performance.
• Third party services, such as embedded maps, videos, forms, social media links or payment tools, may set their own cookies.

You can usually control cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of the website may not work properly if essential cookies are blocked.

8. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected, including funeral arrangements, aftercare, accounting, legal, regulatory, insurance and record keeping requirements.

Funeral records may need to be kept for a longer period because families may contact us years later for information about arrangements, ashes, memorials, invoices, family history or related matters.

Where information is no longer needed, we will delete it, anonymise it, or keep it securely until it can be safely destroyed.

9. Keeping information safe

We take appropriate steps to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure. This includes using suitable systems, limiting access where appropriate and keeping records secure.

No website, email system or online service can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please take care when sending sensitive information by email or online form.

10. International transfers

Some website, email, cloud storage, analytics or software providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we expect appropriate safeguards to be in place so personal information remains protected.

11. Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights under UK data protection law. These can include:

• The right to ask for a copy of personal information we hold about you.
• The right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• The right to ask us to delete information in certain circumstances.
• The right to ask us to restrict how information is used.
• The right to object to certain uses of information.
• The right to withdraw consent where we rely on consent.
• The right to data portability in certain circumstances.

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the reason we hold the information. For example, we may need to keep certain records for legal, accounting, regulatory or legitimate business reasons.

12. Complaints

Please contact us first if you have a concern about how we handle personal information. We will try to resolve the matter appropriately.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The latest version will be published on this page with the updated date shown at the top.