NROS Privacy Policy

1. Who is responsible for your information

Northants & Rutland Open Studios CIC (also called “NROS”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is the data controller. We are registered in England and Wales as company number 16201807. Our registered office is 39 Larratt Road, Weldon, Corby, Northants, NN17 3HL.

Privacy questions and rights requests can be sent to [email protected] or by post to the registered office above.

2. Information we handle

• Account and contact information: name, email address, telephone number, postal address, postcode, communication preferences and password verifier.
• Content you choose to provide: artist, venue, event and portfolio details; images and files; saved favourites and lists; private collection notes; visit ratings, feedback and support messages. A private app issue report can also include your description, an optional contact email, an optional screenshot you review before sending, and limited technical context such as the app version, screen, operating-system version, device class, locale and time zone.
• App and device information: app version, platform, device or installation identifier, push-notification token and preferences, signed-in session details, IP address, user agent, security activity and service diagnostics.
• Location and visit information: a current location or postcode when you request nearby results or a route; location updates during a user-started active route; optional low-power updates after substantial movement when you turn on nearby-widget refresh; a location reading to confirm an eligible check-in; public destinations, visit place, times, status, rating and feedback. Precise route origins, movement and check-in coordinates are not retained as a location history.
• Programme and transaction records: membership, exhibition or event-entry details and the limited payment or entitlement records needed to fulfil, reconcile and support a transaction made on the NROS website. Payment providers process full card details; NROS does not receive them.
• Information from others: public artist, venue or event information supplied by authorised organisers, and delivery or transaction status returned by providers acting for us.

You can browse public app and website content without creating an account. Where information is required to create an account, secure a session or deliver a feature you request, we cannot provide that part of the service without it.

3. Why we use information and our lawful bases

• Contract: to create and secure your account, provide requested app and website features, manage entries or memberships, and fulfil transactions.
• Legitimate interests: to operate and improve reliable services, keep accounts and systems secure, prevent fraud and misuse, answer support requests, maintain appropriate organisational records and understand aggregate service use. We balance these interests against your rights.
• Consent: for optional website and app analytics, newsletters, push notifications, location permission and other optional choices. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this does not affect earlier lawful processing.
• Legal obligation: to keep records or disclose information where tax, company, safeguarding, law-enforcement or other applicable law requires it.

We do not use solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

4. Location, camera and notifications in the app

Location permission is requested only for a feature you choose. A nearby search uses your current location for that request, with postcode entry available as an alternative. Route planning can use a current location or postcode and returns route information to your device, while server records keep only a broad start label, public destinations and progress.

For route planning and a user-started live route, NROS may request Always location access so it can keep journey estimates and arrival checks current, offer an eligible check-in and finish the route while NROS is behind another navigation app. Active-route tracking stops when the route ends. A check-in sends a location reading for distance and accuracy checks; the stored visit record contains the public place and verification evidence, not your submitted precise coordinate.

Account > Location and nearby widgets includes a separate setting that is off by default. If you turn it on, NROS can request an occasional low-power location update after substantial movement to refresh nearby public art in device widgets. The operating system controls and may delay these updates. Turning the setting off stops them. NROS does not build or retain a journey or location history from active routes or nearby-widget refreshes.

Live group positions, when enabled and actively shared, expire within two minutes.

The QR scanner evaluates camera frames on your device and accepts only NROS links; it does not upload or save camera frames. Notifications are optional. You can separately opt in to occasional NROS news, event announcements and promotional updates about NROS activities on a device without signing in, and turn them off in the app or system settings. NROS stores an encrypted device token and a random installation key verifier for this choice; it does not attach the guest subscription to an account. Apple Push Notification service or Firebase Cloud Messaging receives the token and notification needed for delivery. Signed-in account reminders and security alerts have separate preferences.

5. Who we share information with

We share only what is needed with service providers that host, secure or operate NROS; provide consented Google Analytics for the website and Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics and Performance Monitoring for the app; receive private issue reports; deliver email and optional newsletters; provide mapping and routing; deliver Apple or Google push notifications; process website payments; distribute the app; or provide professional advice. We may also disclose information when required by law, during a properly managed organisational change, or when reasonably necessary to protect people, NROS or the service.

Public artist, venue, event and portfolio information is published only through the relevant content and permission rules. Private favourites, routes, visits, feedback and collection notes are not made public unless a feature clearly asks you to choose otherwise.

6. International transfers

Some providers may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we require an applicable safeguard, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, or another lawful transfer mechanism, together with appropriate technical and contractual protections.

7. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as needed for the purpose collected, including security, dispute, archive and legal requirements. The period depends on the record:

• account, profile, saved and user-created information is normally kept while the account or relevant service remains active;
• nearby, route, check-in and optional nearby-widget location readings are used for the selected feature and are not retained as a location history;
• sessions, verification and reset material expire or are revoked; security and diagnostic records are kept for a bounded operational period;
• support and private issue reports, including an optional screenshot, are kept only for the period needed to investigate the report, respond where requested, secure the service and meet applicable legal duties;
• event, membership and transaction records are kept for the period needed to resolve queries and meet accounting, tax, fraud-prevention or legal duties;
• backups are access-controlled and age out through the backup cycle.

You can request permanent account deletion in the app or at nros.co.uk/delete-account. Your account becomes inaccessible immediately: sign-in is disabled, active sessions are revoked and notifications stop. NROS then completes the manual deletion or anonymisation of associated personal information and user-created content within 30 days, except for information we must retain for legal, tax, fraud-prevention, dispute or safeguarding obligations. We will confirm when the process is complete.

8. Security

We use measures appropriate to the risk, including encrypted transport, access controls, secure password hashing, protected device storage, bounded permissions, logging and service monitoring. No online system can promise absolute security. Please use a unique password and contact us if you believe your account has been misused.

9. Your choices and rights

Depending on the circumstances, UK data-protection law gives you rights to be informed; access personal information; correct inaccurate information; erase information; restrict or object to processing; receive portable information; withdraw consent; and challenge qualifying automated decisions. Some rights are limited where another lawful reason requires us to keep or use information.

You can change available profile, analytics, newsletter, notification, session and offline-storage choices in the website or app. To exercise a legal right, email [email protected]. We may need proportionate information to confirm your identity and will normally respond within one month.

If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concern first.

10. Children

NROS services are designed for a general audience and are not directed at children under 13. A parent or guardian should contact us if they believe a child has provided personal information without appropriate permission.

11. Cookies, external links and changes

The website uses essential cookies and, only after you accept analytics, Google Analytics to measure page visits and broad device information. NROS disables Google advertising signals and does not use this information for advertising or personalisation. Accept and decline choices are remembered for six months and can be changed at any time using Analytics settings in the website footer.

The native app keeps Firebase Analytics, Firebase Crashlytics and Firebase Performance Monitoring off until you actively allow app analytics and diagnostics. If enabled, these services use a random app-instance identifier and receive bounded interaction events, crash and performance diagnostics, technical app and device information, and a general region derived from an IP address. NROS does not send your name, email, artwork, saved items, routes or precise location to Firebase and does not set a Firebase user ID. Advertising identifiers, advertising storage, advertising user data, advertising personalisation, Google Signals and ad-network registration remain disabled. You can withdraw consent at any time under App analytics, which disables optional collection and resets the app’s analytics identifier.

Third-party links are governed by the third party’s own privacy notice. We will update this page when our practices change and provide additional notice where a change materially affects your choices.

12. Contact and support

Email [email protected], use our app-support page, or write to Northants & Rutland Open Studios CIC, 39 Larratt Road, Weldon, Corby, Northants, NN17 3HL.