Your business type:
Our Privacy Policy enables us to process information we already have about your use of our services (such as the amount of time you spend online) for marketing purposes.
This means we can tell you about BT services, pricing packages and special offers, which we believe may particularly interest you.
We need your consent to give you all the benefits that this processing provides and will assume we have it, unless you tell us otherwise by completing our opt-out form.
Home users can opt-out form here.
Business customers can opt out here.
Please note: if you are currently registering, you will need to complete the registration process first.
If you are accessing the the BT broadband office, the BT Openworld or BT Yahoo! Internet portal, the following Privacy Policy applies:
BT Privacy Policy for business, BT Yahoo! Internet and BT Openworld internet services
Otherwise, please choose from the list below according to which internet access product you are using:
BT Openworld provides mass market internet access.
BT Openworld is part of British Telecommunications plc ('BT'), a subsidiary of BT Group plc. Other businesses within BT have their own privacy policies. Other policies exist for BT Wholesale (BT's wholesale arm providing network services and solutions to communications companies) BT Retail (BT's provider of telephone lines to most people in the UK, as well as a wide range of communications products and services to the residential and business markets) and BT Group, (our head office function).
When we refer to 'we' or 'our' we are referring to BT Openworld. When we refer in this Privacy Policy to 'our web site' we are referring to the broadband web site at www.btbroadbandoffice.com.
British Telecommunications plc is registered in England number 1800000 and its registered address is 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ.
We have developed this Privacy Policy because we want you to feel confident about the privacy and security of your personal information. BT is registered under the data protection laws in the United Kingdom and takes all reasonable care to prevent any unauthorised access to your personal information.
When we refer to 'personal information' in this Privacy Policy, we mean information which identifies you as an individual, or is capable of doing so. Accordingly, we may hold and use data about you in your capacity as a consumer, a business customer, or as an individual acting on behalf of a business customer.
If you are visiting our web site or using our services, by continuing to do so, you indicate your agreement to our use of your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy only applies to our web site and services. It does not apply to any other BT or third party services, or to any other BT or third party sites even if we host them or you access them from our web site. If you disclose your personal information directly to other companies, your personal information will be dealt with according to their privacy practices.
If you register to become a customer of BT Openworld, we may ask you for information such as your name, address, contact telephone numbers, email address, credit card details and other (optional) information. We may also ask you for personal information if you enter one of the competitions or promotions on our web site.
We may receive personal information about you from third parties. Except in the cases where we are merely processing such information for them, we rely on third parties to obtain your consent for us to use this information.
If you're a registered customer we may use your personal information to:
If you enter one of our competitions or promotions, we use the personal information you provide to manage the competition or promotion you've entered.
We may sometimes ask other companies to provide any of the above services on our behalf. If we do this, we share your personal information with them for this purpose. Please see 'Do we share your personal information with anyone else?' for more information on this.
We have information about your use of our services (such as the amount of time you spend online). We mainly use this information to manage our network and for billing purposes. However, we may also use this information for marketing BT's services. We do not disclose this information to anyone other than to our agents who process it on our behalf. Your decision on whether you want to receive details of other BT products and services which is made when you register for or order a service, also applies to this information. Consequently, if you do not wish us to use this information for marketing purposes but during registration elected to receive details on other BT products and services, you need to complete an opt-out form.
As with most (if not all) web site operators, we also collect information from visitors to our web site and registered customers to help us improve our web site and the services we make available. This information tells us, for instance, how many visitors there were to our web site, when they visited, for how long and which areas of our web site they went to. This information helps us to assess which parts of our web site are popular or need improving. We may share this aggregate data with our advertisers and other companies which offer their goods or services on our web site so that they can see how effective our web site is as a sales channel for their products but any information we share in this way is anonymous and you could not be identified from it. We do not use this information to:
We sometimes use other companies to provide some of our services, or to provide services to us, and we share your personal information with these other companies. However, these companies can only process this information according to the instructions we give them, may only do things with your personal information that we are entitled to do, and may only act on our behalf. In addition they are required to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act to keep the information secure.
We also share your personal information with other parts of BT or other companies so that they (or we, on their behalf) can contact you with details of other products or services you may be interested in. We'll only do this with your agreement. During your registration as a BT Openworld customer, or if you enter a promotion or competition on our web site, you can decide whether you would like to receive such information.
If you agree to receive information about other companies' products and services, we'll only share your personal information with those companies if they agree to use your personal information only for that purpose.
If you're a registered customer, you can change your mind at any time about receiving information about other products or services from BT or other companies. You can do this by clicking on 'My BT Openworld', then under the sub-heading 'Account details' select "Change Personal Details" and make the changes you require. Business customers can do this by modifying their directory entry, by clicking on 'Account Options' in your account. However, if you had previously agreed to receive information about products and services from other companies, you will need to contact those companies yourself.
We'll also disclose your personal information when required to do so by law, for example under a Court Order, or in response to properly made demands under powers contained in legislation.
If there is a change (or prospective change) in the ownership of BT or any of its assets, we may have to disclose personal information to the new (or prospective) owner.
The time period for which we keep information varies according to what the information is used for. In some cases there are legal requirements to keep data for a minimum period. Unless there is a specific legal requirement for us to keep the information, we will retain it for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data was collected or for which it is to be further processed.
Countries in the European Economic Area are required to have a similar standard of protection of personal data. This is not always the case outside that area. We do sometimes transfer data outside that area and before doing so take steps to ensure that there is adequate protection, as required by the Data Protection Act.
If you want to know what personal information we hold about you, please write to the following address, enclosing a cheque for the administration fee of £10 made payable to British Telecommunications plc:
Data Subject Access Manager PP LF11, Libra House Sunrise Parkway Linford Wood Milton Keynes MK14 6PH
If you want specific information, please tell us, because this will speed up our reply. Please also give us any relevant details to help us find the information you're looking for. Please also note that in some instances, we may be able to provide the information you want without you having to make a formal request as described above.
If the information we hold about you is inaccurate, please let us know and we will make the necessary amendments and confirm that these have been made.
If you're a registered customer, you have direct control over the personal information BT holds about you. Consumer customers can access and change this information at any time by clicking on 'My BT Openworld', then under the sub-heading 'Account details' select 'Change Personal Details' and make the changes you require. Business customers can do this by modifying their directory entry, by clicking on 'Account Options' in Your account.
If you'd like to stop unsolicited telemarketing calls from BT and other companies, please contact the telephone Preference Service on 0845 0700707 and register your telephone number(s). Direct marketing calls should stop after 28 days.
If you'd like to stop unsolicited direct marketing mailers from BT and other companies, please contact the Mail Preference Service, following the link at http://www.fpsonline.org.uk. Direct marketing mailers should stop after 3 months. (Remember to re-register if you change your address.)
If you'd like only BT not to call or mail you with details of products, services and special offers, please call 0800 800 150 or contact your Account Manager.
We're serious about guarding the security of your personal information and the details of any transactions made. We take appropriate organisational and technical security measures to protect your data against unauthorised disclosure or processing. We use a secure server to store the information you give us when you register or order (including your credit card details and your password). Any personal data you send us is securely encrypted.
Over and above what we do to safeguard your privacy and security, there are a number of things you can do to protect yourself from internet fraud:
We use 'cookies' to collect information from visitors to our web site and from registered customers. A 'cookie' is a text file which is allocated by our server to your PC when you visit our web site. The text file contains a random number which, unless the cookie is deleted, allows us to identify your PC if you visit our web site again.
Our servers use two different types of cookies. The first type is known as a 'session-based' cookie and is allocated to your PC only for the duration of your visit to our web site. It helps you to move around the web site faster and, if you're a registered customer, it allows us to give you information relevant to your selected BT Openworld service. This cookie automatically expires when you close down your browser.
The second type of cookie known as a 'persistent' cookie is allocated to your PC only if you agree by selecting the 'Remember Me' function. This cookie, if chosen, will remain on your PC for a period of time.
This cookie allows us to:
Other companies which advertise or offer their products or services on our web site may also allocate cookies to your PC. The types of cookies they use and how they use the information generated by them will be governed by those companies' Privacy Policies, not ours.
All types of cookies can be removed from your PC. However, if you do this there is likely to be a deterioration of your experience of our web site (e.g. you may end up being shown endless numbers of pop up boxes containing the same advertisements or not being able to see a personalised page). Your browser lets you choose whether to accept, not to accept or to be warned before accepting cookies. These settings can be found in the advanced preferences -
In Internet Explorer select : Tools menu > Internet options > Security > Custom Level
In Netscape 4.x select: Edit menu > Preferences > Advanced
For removing the 'Remember Me' cookie, just untick the box when you sign in.
Third party internet sites that you can link to from this web site are not covered by our Privacy Policy, so we urge you to be careful when you enter any personal information online. BT Openworld accepts no responsibility or liability for these sites.
We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. If you are a registered customer, we will notify you of the changed Policy.
Please also note, that certain of our products and services may have their own separate Privacy Policies. These will be made clear to you when you order the relevant product or service.
View all Forums Posts
View all Help & Support