MDSL’s mission is to empower our customers to control and manage their technology expenses through our suite of Internet-based products. Part of this suite includes communication with end-users to streamline procurement, categorise and charge back expenses and delegate authority for invoice payment to appropriate managers.
We share our customers’ paramount concern with protecting the integrity of information gathered on their behalf. Since privacy is of the greatest importance to us, MDSL has created this privacy policy to communicate our practices regarding personal information that can be linked to a specific individual, such as a name, address, phone number or email address.
This version of the MDSL privacy policy is effective from 1 January 2010.
Any access requests, complaints or other issues pertaining to this policy should be addressed to the Office of the CTO, MDSL, 4 Century Place, Lamberts Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3EH, United Kingdom or Tel: +44 (0)1892 545353.
MDSL is subject to the authority in the US of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As such, the FTC has jurisdiction to hear any claims against MDSL regarding possible unfair or deceptive practices and violations of laws or regulations governing privacy.
In the event that any dispute cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the party concerned and MDSL, MDSL is committed to cooperate with the data protection authorities (DPAs) located in the European Union and Switzerland or their authorised representatives in the investigation and resolution of complaints and will comply with any advice given by the DPAs on specific actions and remedial or compensatory measures required to ensure compliance with Safe Harbor Principles. When such action is taken, MDSL will confirm this in writing to the DPAs and update and post a new version of this dispute policy.
MDSL hosts applications, web pages, web applications and databases (“Services”) on behalf of organisations and other entities ("Clients") to control expenses and communicate with their employees, members, suppliers and other visitors ("End-Users"). Our Clients collect information about End-Users and store this information at MDSL-hosted Services. This information, which is then stored for our Clients on MDSL-hosted databases, may include, but is not limited to, an End-User's name, email, other personal contact information, and responses to specific inquiries by a Client. The information is collected and stored purely for the purpose of helping Clients control certain categories of business expense.
We will not sell, share, trade, rent, distribute or otherwise disclose personal information provided by End-Users to any third party other than for the specific business purpose for which it has been collected except as required by law. In cases where we do distribute the information to a third party, MDSL will ensure that the third party has a privacy policy which provides the End-User with at least the same level of protection as MDSL’s own policy.
At times, MDSL may view or access individual records for the purpose of resolving a problem, support issue, or suspected violation of the MDSL Terms and Conditions. Certain information such as Internet addresses may also be used to help diagnose technical problems and to improve the quality of MDSL products. We may also track and analyse aggregate usage and volume statistical information from our Clients and End-Users.
MDSL uses security measures to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of information under our control. We store information in databases located in secured data centres with live personnel monitoring 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Since our business involves hosting application accounts, data security is paramount, and we are constantly re-evaluating and deploying, where appropriate, the latest technologies, including Secure Socket Layer encryption and firewalls, to enhance our security and the confidentiality of personal information.
Also, MDSL requires unique names and passwords that must be entered each time a Client logs on. These safeguards help prevent unauthorised access, maintain data integrity, and ensure appropriate use of data. Each Client will own the information collected about its End-Users, and is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of its MDSL Client administration user name and password.
Like many Internet companies, MDSL uses "cookies" with some of its Web-hosted products and services for its Clients. A cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on an End-User's hard drive but does not itself contain any personal information. Cookies enhance an End-User's experience by saving the End-User the effort of providing specific information each time he or she re-visits a MDSL-hosted Web page and by customising content based on an End-User's preferences. An End-User can configure his or her browser to be alerted when a site is attempting to send a cookie and refuse the cookie.
MDSL may also track End-User click-through behaviour on behalf of a Client to provide an End-User with more personalised email alerts and a more personalised experience while visiting a Client's MDSL-hosted Web pages. MDSL may provide a Client with this information in individual and aggregate form.
MDSL uses IP addresses to analyse trends, administer the site, track user movement and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.
End-Users can update their personal information and ask to unsubscribe (opt-out) from receiving future communications from MDSL Services on behalf of a Client by contacting the Client’s representative in charge of the MDSL-provided Services. MDSL is happy to assist in this process – please send such requests to support@mdsl.com – but is not responsible for decisions taken by Clients, who are the owners of the data.
MDSL strongly encourages our Clients to employ best practices in permission-based communications. Such practices include, but are not limited to, the following: communicating only with End-Users who have expressly shared their information for the purpose of receiving a future communication; communicating with a personalised message that indicates a pre-existing relationship with an End-User; and not selling, sharing, trading, renting, distributing, or otherwise disclosing personal information from individuals to third parties without first receiving an individual's explicit consent. However, while we strongly encourage our Clients to employ best practices; we cannot control our Clients' business practices and cannot be responsible for their practices or the use of information owned by our Clients.
If you have received an unwanted, unsolicited email sent via the MDSL system or purporting to be sent via MDSL, please forward the email with your comments to support@mdsl.com for our review.
Web pages hosted by MDSL for our Clients may contain links to other websites. MDSL is not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of these other websites. Clients and End-Users should review the policy statements of these other websites to understand their policies before disclosing personal information.
We make the same commitment to privacy for visitors to our corporate website located at www.mdsl.com as we do for our Clients and End-Users who use our Web-hosted services. The following also applies to visitors to our corporate website.
Our website's optional information request forms ask for your name, email address, phone number, company name, mailing address and other related information. MDSL uses this information to contact individuals to respond to their inquiries, discuss their interest in our company, its products and services and to send information about our company upon request. Such information will not be sold, shared, traded, rented, distributed or otherwise disclosed to any third party.
Web pages at our corporate website may contain links to other websites. MDSL is not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of these other websites. End-Users should review the policy statements of these other websites to understand their policies before disclosing personal information.
We may disclose personal information when required by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary in order to conform to the edicts of the law or comply with a legal process served on us.
In the event that the all or substantially all of the assets or capital stock of MDSL is acquired by a third party entity, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information we have collected from Clients and End-Users as part of such acquisition, sale, or other change of control.
If at some point in the future there is a change in how MDSL handles personal information, we will notify our Clients of such changes and request that each Client notify its End-Users. Any new policy will be posted on the privacy policy page at least one week prior to its effective date.
The company complies with the US-EU Safe Harbor Framework and the US-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information from European Union member countries and Switzerland. The company has certified that it adheres to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement.
To learn more about the Safe Harbor program, and to view the company’s certification, please visit http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/.