Privacy

WLG Privacy Policy

Wild Life Group (“WLG”) is a group of company which includes Yorkshire Wildlife Park Limited (“YWP”), and other subsidiary companies. For a full and up-to-date list please contact us (see our contact details below). This privacy policy applies to all companies within WLG from time to time.

WLG respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with their obligations under data protection legislation.

About this Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information WLG will collect about you, how it will be used and how it will be kept secure by WLG. It applies whenever we collect your personal information (including when you use our website or other digital platforms), so please read it carefully.

WLG is the data controller and is responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as the “Company”, “we”, “us” and “our” in this policy.

References to “you” and “your” are to users of our website and other digital platforms.

Our privacy policy must be read together with the CCTV Policy and any other legal notices or terms and conditions available on other page of our website.

Please note that our website and other digital platforms may contain links to third party websites and other digital platforms which are provided for your convenience. We are only responsible for the privacy practices and security of our own digital platforms. We recommend that you check the privacy and security policies and procedures of each website / digital platform that you visit.

Changes to the privacy and your duty to inform us of changes

We keep our privacy policy under regular review. This version was updated on 3 February 2025.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

What is ‘Personal Information’

“Personal Information” is information about you which can be used alone or combined with other information to identify you personally.

Depending on the products and services that you purchase from us, the Personal Information that you provide to us may include your name, address, delivery address, date of birth (if applicable), email address, telephone number and payment card details.

If you update your Personal Information that we hold, we will notify you of the Personal Information we hold.

In some circumstances, we may also record details of any disability or health needs you may have disclosed at the time of booking a ticket, event or service to ensure your comfort and safety whilst on our premises.

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you. In this case, we may have to cancel a product or services you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

Personal Information we collect and what we use it for

What personal information do we hold?

Your full name and your title or an indication of the gender that you most closely associate with;
Birth date or alternatively a relevant age range;
Postal address;
Telephone number(s);
Email address;
Records of your correspondence with us;
Transaction data which includes records of your purchases from us;
Financial information if you set up a direct debit for your membership;
Information you enter into our websites (more details can be found in our cookie policy here: https://www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com/cookies);
Marketing and communications data which includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences;
Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, device ID and other technology on the devices you use to access our website;
Usage data includes information about how you interact with and use our website, products and services;
Accessibility and mobility information;
Treatment details and medical information if you receive first aid whilst visiting The Hive and/or Yorkshire Wildlife Park; and
CCTV footage of those visiting our premises (for more information please see the CCTV policy).

How is your personal data collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Your interactions with us. You may give us your personal data by filling in online forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:

apply for our products or services;
create an account on our website;
subscribe to our service or publications;
request marketing to be sent to you;
enter a competition, promotion or survey;
give us feedback or contact us; or
apply for a job or register your interest in a vacancy.

Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies. Please see our cookie policy [LINK] for further details.

Third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties as set out below:

Technical Data is collected from the following parties:
analytics providers such as Google based outside the UK;
advertising networks such as Wowcher, Love to Visit, Visit Britain, Kids Pass, Planet Offers based inside the UK. Get Your Guide is based outside UK but within the EU; and
search information providers such as Google based outside the UK.

We will use your personal data to:

provide you with information, products or services you have requested from us, including such things as admission to the park, specific events, responding to your enquiries and requests, attending educational activities and events;
keep a record of our relationship with you;
notify you of changes to our services;
administer and process payment you make for products and services;
comply with applicable laws and regulations and requests from statutory agencies including for such purposes as health and safety; the detection and prevention of crime and safeguarding; and
carry out any obligations or provide you with any other services, functionality or content which you specifically request or agree to.

What lawful bases do WLG rely on to use your Personal data?

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

Where we need to perform the contract, we are about to enter into or have entered into with you. Sometimes it is necessary to process your personal data so that we can enter into contractual relationships with you. For example, if you purchase something from our website, or become an annual pass member, we will require your personal data to enable us to perform our agreement.
Applicable law allows personal data to be collected and used if it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate interests or a third party’s legitimate interests (as long as the processing is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact on an individuals’ rights). We will rely on this ground to process your personal data when it is not practical or appropriate to ask for your consent, and where we are confident that this will not affect your rights. Where you have provided your details to us for marketing purposes, please see below for more information under ‘Direct Marketing’. We will also rely on our legitimate interests for the proper administration of Yorkshire Wildlife Park and the Yorkshire Hive, and to manage our operations (for example, maintaining appropriate records and databases, for the detection and prevention of crime and safeguarding all those who access our premises and facilities). When we process your personal data to achieve such legitimate interests, we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative), and your rights under data protection laws. We will not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you, for example where use would be excessively intrusive (unless, for instance, we are otherwise required or permitted to by law).
Where we need to comply with a legal obligation. This would include where we have to retain certain records, for example, to manage health and safety, for the detection and prevention of crime, and safeguarding obligations.

How we use your personal data

We will only collect, use and otherwise handle your Personal Information when it is necessary to:

fulfil a contract we have with you;
respond to your queries;
carry out direct marketing;
provide you with services, products and/or information to you that you have requested;
administer any competitions/ offers or promotions you may have entered into;
create an individual profile for you so that we can deliver more relevant content to you through targeted communications;
track your activity on our digital platforms;
host and maintaining our website;
provide technical support to you; and
prevent and detect fraud and other criminal offences and ensuring network security.

When you interact with our digital platforms, we may also automatically collect the following information about your visit. This is primarily to help us better understand how you use our digital platforms to enable us to create better content and more relevant communications:

how you have reached our digital platform and the internet protocol (IP) address you have used;
your browser type, versions and plug-ins, and your operating system;
your journey through our digital platform, including which links you click on and any searches you made, how long you stayed on a page, and other page interaction information which videos you have watched and for how long;
what content you like or share;
which adverts you saw and responded to;
which pop up or push messages you might have seen and responded to;
your subscription status; and
information collected in any forms you complete.

We may also infer your country of location from the IP address you have used to access our digital platforms and we may analyse which marketing activity led to your taking specific action on our digital platforms (e.g. downloading the app).

When you visit our site, we may automatically log your IP address. We will not use your IP address to identify you in anyway.

Direct Marketing

Unless we believe there is a legitimate interest to contact you, we will only contact you by email or text message if you have actively consented to us doing so. By consenting to WLG emails and texts or opting into email and text communications, you grant us permission to use your email address and mobile telephone number to send you email marketing communication.

You can unsubscribe from email and text communications by clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’/’update your preferences’ at the footer of any marketing emails you receive from us, or by writing to us at the address below. Please note, if you don’t choose to receive this information, we will be unable to keep you informed of new services, products, events or special offers that may interest you and our ability to inform you of ticketing opportunities may be affected.

We may also participate in Facebook's ‘Custom Audience’ service from time to time. This service enables YWP to display to you personalised advertisements when you visit Facebook’s social media platforms. It works by converting your email address to a unique number that Facebook uses to match to unique numbers that Facebook generates from email addresses of its users. Where we use Facebook Custom Audiences, we will only include you if you have consented to receive marketing from us. If you have given us your consent, you can change your mind at any time by unsubscribing or by adjusting your preferences in the preference centre.

Image Rights

When you’re on a WLG site your photograph may be taken. We will always ask for consent to photograph or video children.

If you consent to having your photo taken and used for marketing or PR purposes we will hold your image (if applicable) on file for future re-use.

Sharing your Personal Information

WLG will not sell or share your Personal Information however, we may share your data with third parties (a) if we are under a legal or regulatory duty to do so, (b) if it is necessary to do so to enforce our terms of use, terms and conditions of sale or other contractual rights, (c) to lawfully assist the police or security services with the prevention and detection of crime or terrorist activity, (d) where such disclosure is necessary to protect the safety or security of any persons, and/or (e) otherwise as permitted under applicable law.

In order to provide our products and services to you and to fulfil our contractual arrangements that we have with you, we may need to appoint other organisations to carry out some of the data processing activities on our behalf. These may include, for example, payment processing organisations, delivery organisations and fraud prevention and screening.

Security of Personal Information

WLG takes the security of your Personal Information seriously and we have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from accidentally being lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your Personal Information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your Personal Information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

When you submit your credit or debit card details to us, we use industry standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology to guard your information. In addition, we have security procedures in place to protect our paper-based systems and computerised databases from loss and misuse, and only allow access to them when it is absolutely necessary to do so, and then under strict guidelines as to what use may be made of the Personal Information contained within them.

Where a password is required to access certain areas of our digital platforms, you are responsible for keeping your password secure and confidential. Please do not share or disclose your password to any other person.

How long will you use my personal data for?

We keep your personal data for as long as there is a need to keep it in connection with the purposes for which it was collected. Unless you give consent for us to continue holding your Personal Information, your Personal Information will be deleted from our system. If you wish to submit a request that your data be deleted, please write to us at the address below or click on this link. Please note that your data will only be deleted providing you don’t have an outstanding booking with us. In some cases, we are also obliged to retain your personal data to comply with legal or statutory obligations.

We dispose of all Personal Information in a confidential and secure manner.

Monitoring

We may monitor or record telephone calls for security purposes and to improve the quality of services that we provide to you.

Please note that for the safety and security of our staff, customers and third parties, CCTV is in operation in all of our premises which are open to the public.

In line with our licensing requirements, CCTV footage is kept for 31 days before being deleted and is not shared with third parties unless there is a suspicion of crime, in which case they footage will be passed over to the Police or other government agency or authority.

If you require a copy of our CCTV policy, please contact us at the address provided below.

Group Bookings

The Personal Information of the person making the group booking will be held in accordance with this policy and will be deleted once the visit has taken place.

Aged under 16

If you are under 16, you may only use the restricted areas of our digital platforms if your parent or legal guardian has first told us that you are allowed to do so.

If you are under 16 and wish to register, you must truthfully tell us your name, email address, country and date of birth. Our system will then ask you for the name and email address of your parent or legal guardian. We will send them an email so they are aware of your request and will ask them for their consent and to confirm they have authority to give that consent. We need their consent or refusal within 7 days, or else we will assume consent is not granted. Their consent can be withdrawn at any stage.

Even if your parent or legal guardian gives their consent to your registration, if you are under 16 we still expect you to tell them and get their agreement in advance each time before you:

email us, or ask us to email anything to you;
send any information to us;
enter any competition or game that requires information about you or offers a prize;
purchase an official membership; or
offer or agree to buy anything online.

If you are the parent or legal guardian of a user of our digital platforms who is under 16, they can access and use unrestricted areas, but we will need your direct consent if they wish to gain access to restricted areas. If a user enters a date of birth which indicates they are under 16 when they try to register, our system will request them to provide us with your name and email address so that we can contact you to get your consent. The registration process cannot proceed without this. If we do not hear from you within 7 days, we will assume consent is refused. If you consent, we will complete the registration process. Whether you refuse or provide consent, we will update the child by email.

Cookies

In common with many other website operators, we use standard technology called 'cookies' to enhance your experience on our website. Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer's hard drive and they are used to record how you navigate this website on each visit.

It is possible for you to stop or restrict the cookies set by WLG by changing your browsers setting, however this may affect the functionality of the site.

For further, more detailed information on how we use cookies, please refer to our Cookie Policy found on our website.

More about your information - your rights

You have a right to:

access the Personal Information we hold about you;
correct or update your personal information at any time;
request erasure of your Personal Information;
object to the processing of your Personal Information;
request restriction of processing your Personal Information;
request the transfer of your Personal Information to you or a third party;
withdraw consent where we are relying on consent to process your Personal Information.

You can do any of the above by emailing us at [email protected] or by changing your profile on our website. Please include your name, address, date of birth and email address when you contact us as this helps us to ensure that we accept amendments only from the correct person. We encourage you to promptly update your personal information if it changes.

Please note that you will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights).

You have the right to receive a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. Please write to us at the address above if you wish to exercise this right.

If you have subscribed to receive marketing communications, you can unsubscribe here at any time.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. When we change our Privacy Policy, we will publish the updated policy on our website. Please check this policy regularly. Subject to applicable laws, all changes will take effect as soon as we publish the updated Privacy Policy.

How to contact us about your personal information or this privacy policy

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or about the Personal Information we hold about you, please email us at [email protected] or write to us at the following address:

Data Protection Officer

Wildlife Group Limited

Brockholes Lane

Branton

Doncaster

DN3 3NH

Where to make a complaint

If you have a complaint regarding any aspect of your Personal Information or this privacy policy, please write to us at the above address in the first instance. If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may write to the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

You can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office using their online form: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/