Cookie Policy

1. About this policy

This Cookie Policy explains how Songs Aloud uses cookies and similar technologies when you visit https://www.songsaloud.com.

Songs Aloud is a service supplied by Business Software Group Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 02926171.

Our registered office is: Business Software Group Limited, Nine Hills Road, Cambridge, England, CB2 1GE.

For questions about cookies or privacy, contact support@songsaloud.com.

This policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy.

2. What are cookies?

Cookies are small data files stored on your computer, telephone, tablet or other device when you visit a website.

Cookies may help a website to:

• Function correctly;
• Keep an account secure;
• Remember choices;
• Maintain a session;
• Process an order;
• Understand how visitors use the website;
• Play embedded audio or video; and
• Measure or support advertising.

Some cookies remain only while your browser is open. These are commonly called session cookies.

Other cookies remain for a specified period or until you delete them. These are commonly called persistent cookies.

3. Similar technologies

This policy also applies to technologies that perform similar functions, including:

• Local storage;
• Session storage;
• Tracking pixels;
• Tags;
• Scripts;
• Software development kits;
• Device identifiers;
• Embedded media technologies; and
• Other technologies that store information on, or access information from, your device.

References to “cookies” in this policy include these similar technologies where appropriate.

4. Who sets cookies?

Cookies may be:

First-party cookies

These are set directly by Songs Aloud through the songsaloud.com website.

Third-party cookies

These are set by another organisation whose service is used on the website, such as a payment, analytics, audio, video or security provider.

Third parties may process information according to their own privacy and cookie policies.

5. How we use cookies

We divide cookies into the following categories.

5.1 Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are required for the website or a service requested by you to work correctly. They may be used to:

• Deliver pages securely;
• Protect the website against malicious activity;
• Maintain a customer session;
• Authenticate customer or administrator access;
• Remember the contents of an order;
• Save progress through the Start Your Song questionnaire;
• Process payments;
• Provide secure file uploads;
• Deliver private song previews;
• Remember your cookie choices;
• Balance website traffic; and
• Prevent duplicate or fraudulent form submissions.

Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent where they are used only for purposes essential to providing the requested service.

You may be able to block these cookies through your browser, but doing so may prevent important parts of the website from working.

5.2 Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow the website to remember choices that are not essential to its basic operation. They may remember:

• Display preferences;
• Accessibility settings;
• Language or region;
• Audio-player settings;
• Form preferences; and
• Other optional website choices.

We will request consent before using preference cookies unless a particular preference technology is covered by an applicable legal exception.

5.3 Analytics cookies

Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors use Songs Aloud. They may collect information such as:

• Pages visited;
• Approximate visit duration;
• Navigation between pages;
• General device and browser type;
• Referring website;
• Approximate geographic region;
• Website errors;
• Audio-player interactions;
• Questionnaire starts and completions; and
• Which website features are useful.

We use analytics information to improve website content, diagnose technical problems, understand customer journeys, measure website performance, assess whether visitors can find important information and improve the Songs Aloud service.

Where consent is required, analytics technologies will not be activated until you accept them.

We do not intend to use analytics information to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects about individual visitors.

5.4 Audio and video cookies

Some pages may include audio players, video players or embedded media. These services may store or access information on your device when:

• A media player loads;
• You select play;
• You change playback settings;
• You watch a reaction video; or
• You interact with an embedded service.

Where an embedded provider would set non-essential cookies, we will seek consent before loading the relevant technology. We may display a placeholder until you consent to the media provider’s cookies.

5.5 Payment cookies

When you place an order, our payment provider may use cookies and similar technologies to process payment, authenticate the transaction, prevent fraud, remember the payment session and comply with financial and security requirements.

Some payment technologies may be strictly necessary to complete a transaction you request.

The payment provider may also act as an independent controller for some of the information it processes.

5.6 Marketing cookies

Marketing cookies may be used in the future to measure advertising campaigns, understand whether an advertisement resulted in a visit or order, limit how frequently an advertisement is shown, build advertising audiences or display advertising considered relevant.

Songs Aloud will not activate marketing cookies without the consent required by law.

If marketing technologies are introduced, this policy and the cookie preference centre will be updated to identify them.

6. Cookies currently used

The exact cookies used by the website may change as its features and suppliers develop.

Our cookie preference centre will display the current list of cookies and similar technologies, including, where available: cookie or technology name; provider; purpose; category; whether it is first-party or third-party; and how long it remains active.

The initial website is expected to use cookies for the following functions:

This table will be updated whenever a material new cookie, provider or purpose is introduced.

7. Our lawful basis

The rules governing cookies and similar technologies are principally contained in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Where consent is required, we rely on your consent before storing information on, or accessing information from, your device.

Where cookies process personal information, our lawful basis under UK data-protection law will normally be:

• Consent for optional analytics, preference, embedded-media and marketing technologies; or
• Legitimate interests, contract or legal obligation, where appropriate, for subsequent processing connected with strictly necessary technologies.

We do not use legitimate interests as a substitute where cookie consent is legally required.

8. Your cookie choices

When you first visit Songs Aloud, you may be shown a cookie banner or preference tool. The available choices may include:

• Accept optional cookies;
• Reject optional cookies;
• Choose individual categories; and
• Continue using only strictly necessary cookies.

Rejecting optional cookies will not prevent you from accessing ordinary website content.

Certain optional features, such as an embedded third-party video, may remain unavailable unless you accept the cookies required by that provider.

Your consent must be freely given. We will not treat silence, continued browsing, a pre-ticked box, or failure to change a setting as consent to optional cookies.

9. Changing or withdrawing consent

You can review or change your cookie choices at any time by selecting the Cookie Settings link displayed in the website footer or cookie interface.

Withdrawing consent will not affect processing that occurred lawfully before withdrawal.

When you withdraw consent:

• We will stop activating the relevant optional technologies on future page views;
• Existing cookies may be removed where the preference tool supports removal; and
• You may also need to delete existing cookies through your browser or device settings.

We may ask you to review your choices periodically or when our use of cookies changes materially.

10. Browser controls

Most browsers allow you to view cookies, delete cookies, block all cookies, block third-party cookies, clear site data, restrict tracking, and receive a warning before a cookie is stored.

The method varies between browsers and devices. Consult your browser’s help or privacy settings for current instructions.

Blocking all cookies may affect:

• Account access;
• Questionnaire saving;
• Shopping or payment functions;
• Private previews;
• File uploads; and
• Other parts of the Songs Aloud service.

Browser “do not track” signals are not implemented consistently across all websites and services. Where recognised technical standards or legal requirements apply, we will assess and implement them appropriately.

11. Third-party services

The website may use services supplied by third parties, including hosting and content-delivery providers, security providers, payment processors, email and customer-support providers, analytics providers, audio and video providers, appointment-booking services and advertising services.

A third party may receive information such as:

• IP address;
• Browser and device details;
• Page being visited;
• Transaction or session identifiers;
• Media interactions; and
• Cookie choices.

We assess providers before using them and seek to limit their access to information reasonably required for the service.

Where a third party controls its own cookies or processing purposes, its privacy and cookie terms also apply.

12. International processing

Some cookie and technology providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, the safeguards described in our Privacy Policy will apply. These may include:

• UK adequacy regulations;
• Contractual transfer safeguards;
• The UK International Data Transfer Agreement;
• The UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses; or
• Another transfer mechanism permitted by law.

13. Retention

Cookies are kept only for the period appropriate to their purpose. The period may range from:

• The duration of a browser session;
• A short security or payment period;
• The period needed to save a form or account session; or
• A fixed period for remembering preferences or measuring website use.

We aim to keep optional cookie durations proportionate and will display the relevant duration in the cookie preference centre or cookie register.

Cookie-consent records may be retained for a reasonable period to demonstrate the choice made, the date and time, the version of the cookie information shown, and any later change or withdrawal.

14. Changes to this Cookie Policy

We may update this policy when website features change, a new provider is introduced, the purposes of cookies change, the law or regulatory guidance changes, or we improve our privacy practices.

The latest version will be published on this page with its updated date.

Where a change materially affects optional cookies, we may ask you to make a new choice.

15. Questions and complaints

Questions or concerns about our use of cookies should be sent to support@songsaloud.com, or by post to: Cookie and Privacy Support, Songs Aloud, Business Software Group Limited, Nine Hills Road, Cambridge, England, CB2 1GE.

Please include:

• The website page concerned;
• The date of your visit;
• The device or browser used;
• A description of the concern; and
• Any relevant screenshot or cookie name.

You may also raise concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the United Kingdom’s independent data-protection regulator.

Contacting Songs Aloud first does not affect your right to approach the regulator.

16. Contact details

Songs Aloud, Business Software Group Limited, Nine Hills Road, Cambridge, England, CB2 1GE.

Sales enquiries: sales@songsaloud.com

Support, privacy and cookie enquiries: support@songsaloud.com