April letter: The minimal in me

Posted: March 1st, 2013

I yearn to be capsule collection woman. Over the past month, I’ve been throwing/giving away as much stuff as possible in an effort to be streamlined and tidy. As such, I’ve long dreamt of a wardrobe full only of effortlessly chic pieces that I wear year in and out, and to some extent I’d succeeded. But now my wardrobe seems to be full of old favourites that need to be retired. I’ve always wanted a bathroom cabinet stocked with only a single face wash and moisturiser, a signature nail polish and matching lipstick, toothbrush and toothpaste. This is also not quite the case. I appear to have accrued all manner of lotions and potions in an attempt to maintain a youthful radiance and carefree complexion. And I sincerely wanted to not buy another book until I’d read all the ones I already have. Additionally not happened. But worse, my house has a basement. It’s terribly well organised but it is rather full and since I read on Theminimalists.com that organising is often well-planned hoarding, I have come to the horrible conclusion that this is me. So why can’t I get rid of more stuff?

Some of it, I protest, is archive: photos, portfolios, sketchbooks, letters, magazines, books, etc, which arguably I could scan, download, tear sheet or otherwise attempt to amalgamate into a couple of neat albums on the computer. But this might be a lifetime quest, and would make me fantastically poor company for the duration. The CDs and DVDs have already been relieved of their boxes and are neatly filed in Muji wallets (love these!), the books and (coughs slightly) even the magazines are carefully arranged by category. And the rest? Well, there’s general household tool kit things (drill, sander, electric screwdriver, hammers and a seeming surfeit of chisels and files for some unimaginable reason), tins of spare paint, extra tiles and carpet off-cuts.
Then there appears to be a large Chinese bird cage, fake palm tree(!), preserving pan plus empty jam jars, various chairs, stools, vases, oversized dinner party crockery, spare duvets, a mirror in the shape of Italy, a Calder-esque mobile, suitcases, Christmas decorations and several crates of assorted other ‘objets’ collated over the years.

It’s not that it’s all stashed downstairs because I don’t like these things. It’s rather that there’s no place for them upstairs, which has previously not been reason enough to discard any of it. After all, what if we move somewhere with more rooms? Hmmm. Seems like a bad case of just-in-case-ism. Thus, pursuing my mission to change my life in 90 days (see last month’s letter), I have about 30 days left to dispense with as much of the rest of it as possible. Just think what I could do with all the time freed from perpetually re-sorting the basement. Hell, I could turn it into a games room!

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Terms and Conditions

Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Limited: Terms and Conditions of Website Use

Your agreement with Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Limited, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies (“Company” or “Hachette”) is made up of (i) the Terms and Conditions of Website Use, (ii) the Privacy Policy, (iii) any forum or community guidelines, and (iv) any other documents governing your use of the Site, as defined below (“Terms”). These Terms shall govern the Elle Decoration network located at www.elledecoration.co.uk and its related domains (“Site”). By registering, accessing, browsing and/or using the Site you acknowledge and agree to be bound by the Terms, which shall take effect immediately on your first use of the Site. If you do not agree to the Terms please do not register, access, browse or use the Site.

Hachette may change the Terms from time-to-time. Please check the Terms regularly for the posting of any updates or revisions. Your continued use of the Site constitutes acceptance of these updates or revisions. If you do not agree to these changes you should cease using the Site. Hachette’s General Competition Terms and Conditions appear after section 9 of these Terms.

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4. OTHER PARTY’S PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AND LINKS

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4.9 Any dealings with third parties conducted through the Site or linked websites, including the delivery of and the payment for goods and services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and the third party. Hachette shall not be responsible or liable for any part of any such dealings.

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5. INDEMNITY

You hereby agree to indemnify Hachette, its employees, representatives, from any and all claims, liability, damages, costs and expenses (including legal fees) which arise from: (i) your statements, Contribution(s) or any other submissions to or through the Site; (ii) your use or misuse of the Site; (iii) your violation of third party rights; (iv) any other liabilities arising out of your use of the Site; or (v) any breach of the Terms.

6. OUR PROMOTIONS & COMPETITIONS

6.1 From time to time, Hachette may include competitions, free draws, instant wins, promotions or other offers on the Site (“Promotion(s)”). All Promotions shall be subject to Hachette’s General Competition Terms. Further, each Promotion may be subject to its own express terms and entry requirements which shall feature on or around the entry page of the specific promotion.

7. PRIVACY

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7.3 In the event you submit personal information to us through the Site, you represent and warrant that you have the authority and consent to the collection, processing, transmission, use, communication and disclosure of such information by us in accordance with our Privacy Policy www.elleuk.com/Generic-pages/Privacy-Policy.

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9. GENERAL

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9.5 Nothing in these Terms shall restrict or exclude any liability that Hachette has to any party which cannot be excluded by law.

9.6 These Terms shall be governed by English law and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

Hachette General Competition Terms and Conditions

These rules apply to all prize promotions including free draws, promotions, prize competitions, instant wins and other offers run by Hachette or partners on the Site (“Promotions”). Please note some Promotions may also be subject to their own express terms and entry requirements which shall feature on or around the entry page of the specific promotion.

Prize draws and promotions are open to all residents of the UK and Eire, except employees of Hachette and the promoter, the promoter’s advertising agency and sales promotion consultancy, and anyone else connected with the creation and administration of the promotion (and any immediate family of the same).
Prizes are non-transferable, non-negotiable and no cash alternatives will be offered.
Hachette reserves the right to substitute the prize for another prize of equal value.
By entering the competition you accept that Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. may pass your personal information to the promoters and their data processors. However, Hachette shall use reasonable efforts to ensure that those parties adhere to the same security procedures that we follow ourselves (see the Privacy Policy).
It is assumed that by entering competitions, which, if won, could result in time off work, your employer or school/college is in agreement. By entering any date-related competition Hachette or the third party are not liable in any way to any winner who cannot attend, and no cash alternative or equivalent prize will be given.
Winners will be notified by email or by telephone soon after the draw. Winners have five (5) business working days to respond in full to the email or another winner will be drawn.
By entering the promotion, the winner(s) consents to any publicity generated as a result of the promotion, and use at any time on the Elle Decoration website and related magazine.
Hachette’s decision in all matters relating to Elle Decoration competitions and promotions is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Only one entry is allowed per person and spammers will be disqualified.
Hachette will not accept responsibility for any entries not received through technical fault, incomplete, illegible or other damaged entries. Proof of entry is not automatically proof of receipt.
The promotional draws are held by Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd., 64 North Row, London W1K 7LL and any relevant promoter in question.
Details of the winner(s) are available on request.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, and you agree that any legal action must be brought in the courts of England and Wales.
All prizes are non-transferable. Arrangement for the fulfilment of prizes will be made by our 3rd party sponsor. Hachette/they reserve the right in our/their sole discretion to substitute any and all prizes with prizes of a comparable value, but Hachette shall have no obligation to do so. Hachette is not to be held liable for any late delivery, loss or damage to or any problems with any prizes provided by any party sponsor, including any failure by any third party sponsor to provide the prize.
The winner of any competition which includes attending a specific venue is responsible for their own travel arrangements unless stated otherwise. If travel is included in the prize, all booking formalities must be completed directly with the travel sponsor and Hachette shall have no responsibility or liability in respect of any travel arrangements.
Hachette makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the merchantability or fitness for purpose of any prize offered as a result of any Elle Decoration competition or promotion.
Only one entry is allowed per person.

How to contact us:
By telephone: 0207 150 7000
By mail: Hachette Filipacchi, 64 North Row, London, W1K 7LL

Terms & Conditions | www.elleuk.com Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Limited terms and conditions for www.elledecoration.co.uk.

Terms & Conditions | www.elledecoration.co.uk
Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Limited terms and conditions for www.elledecoration.co.uk.

PRIVACY POLICY – HACHETTE FILIPACCHI (UK) LIMITED

Your agreement with Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Limited, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies (“Company” or “Hachette”) is made up of (i) the Terms and Conditions of Website Use, (ii) the Privacy Policy, (iii) any forum or community guidelines, and (iv) any other documents governing your use of the Site, as defined below (“Terms”). These Terms shall govern the Hachette network located at www.elledecoration.co.uk and their associated domains (“Site” or “Sites”).
By registering, accessing, browsing and/or using the Site you acknowledge and agree to be bound by the Terms, which shall take effect immediately on your first use of the Site. If you do not agree to the Terms please do not register, access, browse or use the Site.
Hachette may change the Terms from time-to-time. Please check the Terms regularly for the posting of any updates or revisions. Your continued use of the Site constitutes acceptance of these updates or revisions. If you do not agree to these changes you should not use the Site.

1. PRIVACY POLICY

a. Please read the following Privacy Policy carefully before using our Sites. Please note other areas of our Sites may

b. have specific terms and conditions including privacy statements that relate to their specific content and practices and use of personal information. When visiting areas of our Sites we recommend that you check for any other additional privacy statements available.

c. This Privacy Policy covers any personal information that Hachette obtains from you when you use services or features on the Sites we own and control. We may add additional Sites from time to time as we expand our offerings and this policy will govern those new Sites when added. You may be accessing our Sites from a computer or mobile phone device (through an iPhone application, for example) and this policy governs your use of our Sites regardless of the means of access. We also like to interact with you on third party sites where we post content or invite your feedback, such as www.facebook.com/pages/ELLE-DECORATION/118339547541 and www.twitter.com/ELLEDecoration(“Third Party Sites”). This policy does not cover the privacy practices of those Third Party Sites, or of companies that Hachette does not own or control, or the actions of people that Hachette does not employ or manage. You should check the privacy policies of those third parties when providing personally identifiable information through Third Party Sites.

d. For the purpose of UK law Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Limited is the publisher of our Sites. Hachette is registered as the data controller under the Data Protection Act 1988. Hachette’s principal place of business is: 64 North Row, London W1K 7LL.

2. WHEN AND WHAT INFORMATION IS COLLECTED, AND WHY

a. Hachette will ask you for information, including some personal information, if you use one of several services:

i. Becoming a registered user. In order to register, you need to share some personal information, such as your name and e-mail address. You do not have to be a registered user to visit the Site. But, you may have to register if you want to enter competitions or promotions, receive special discounts, join and engage on discussion forums, otherwise engage with the Sites or make full use of our services. Once you register, you will have an account with Hachette and a password to access that account. You may never use another person’s account without permission and you may not use anyone else’s password. You should keep your registration current and complete. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account and password. Please also let us know if there is any unauthorized use of your account or password. We recommend that you always log out from your account at the end of a session with us to prevent other people from accessing your account without your permission.
ii. Competitions, Promotions and Surveys. If you enter a competition or promotion, or answer a survey, you will usually become a registered user (if you aren’t one already). We may also ask you for some demographic information, such as your age. If you choose not to answer, you may not be able to participate in the competition, promotion or survey.
iii. Information you provide by filling in forms on the Site. This includes the information you provide at the time of registering to use one of our Sites, subscribing to our services, posting material or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information when you enter a competition or promotion and when you report a problem on the Site. If you contact us we may keep a record of that correspondence.
iv. Public Information. Please note that if you choose to share information about yourself in an open format, such as through a Third Party Site like Facebook or Twitter or in the user-generated content elements of our own Sites, we consider that information to be public information – and not personal information.

b. We may also collect and process the following data about you:
i. Details of transactions your carry out through our Site and of the fulfilment of your orders.
ii. Details of your visits to the Site (including but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data), whether this is required for our own billing purposes or otherwise and the resources you access.
iii. Some Content Management Systems will track user’s progress through other sites and web pages visited outside of the Site.
c. We also collect user’s internet protocol addresses, which is automatically logged by our web server and are used by us and our partners to analyse activity on the Site at an aggregate level (number of visits and geographic optimisation etc). They are not cross-referenced with any other information such that an individual person could be identified.
d. Hachette websites use cookies. A ‘cookie’ is a piece of information that our websites send to your browser, which then stores this information on your system. If a cookie is used, our website will be able to remember ‘information’ about you and your preferences either until you exit your current browser window (if the cookie is temporary) or until you disable or delete the cookie (see below).

e. We use information from cookies for purposes which may include:
i. identifying returning users, registrants and subscribers and to allow subscribers to be presented with a personalised version of the Site;
ii. enabling you to move more easily around our Site;
iii. Tracking your use of our Sites to better develop our Sites in accordance with your requirements; and
iv. building up a demographic profile.

f. You should be aware that cookies contain no more information than you volunteer, and they are not able to ‘invade’ your hard drive and return to the sender with personal or other information from your computer.

g. Our Sites also makes use of ad-serving cookies. These assure that when you visit a Site, you do not see the same ad over and over again. They are also used to sequence ads in a series, and to measure the number of unique visitors that have viewed a particular ad or visited a particular Web page. Cookies, set or read with clear GIFs, are also used by advertisers for ad reporting functions such as to learn which of their ads are bringing users to their website to purchase or register.

h. We use a third party to deal with advertisements on the Site. Our advertising partners will serve ads that it believes are most likely to be of interest to you, based on information about your visit to this and other websites (this information is anonymous in that it does not include your name, street address, email address or telephone number). In order to do this, our advertising partner may need to place a cookie on your computer.

i. If you are worried in particular about ad-serving cookies, these have to be turned off by going to the third party’s website. The link below is to our ad-server’s website, and gives details of their usage of cookies. They should be contacted in the event you require details of how to disable these ad-serving cookies www.google.com/privacy/ads.

j. You can utilise our Sites without cookies since these can be deleted from your hard drive at any time. However, if you use our Sites without cookies, you will lose your stored username and password (and these will have to be reset). You can also set your internet browser so that it will not allow cookies to be stored on your computer. This may reduce functionality of the site, prevent access to subscriber-only areas of the Site and mean that certain features or content will not be available to you.

k. If you require further information on how to prevent cookies from being stored on your computer we recommend the following website: http://www.allaboutcookies.org under the “manage cookies” section.

3. HACHETTE’S USE OF WEB BEACONS

a. We have included web beacons on some of our web pages. Hachette uses web beacons to transfer data (such as site usage history). Hachette may provide this data to companies that assist Hachette in data research and analysis; these companies are prohibited from using this data for any other purpose. The analysis and research helps Hachette to determine customer preferences and improve Hachette’s offerings. Hachette may also rely upon third parties to assist with the use and implementation of the web beacons.

b. Definition of web beacon: A web beacon, sometimes called a pixel, is a graphic image or small string of code, that is included on web pages or in an email to enable the transfer of data. Web beacons can be used by companies for several purposes such as reporting web site traffic, customer preferences, advertising effectiveness, and general auditing.

4. USES WE MAKE OF YOUR DATA

a. Hachette may share your personal information with companies that perform services for us, such as sending postal mail and e-mails, analysing and researching customer data, providing marketing assistance, processing, investigating fraudulent activity, serving ads, conducting customer surveys, and providing customer service. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not disclose your personally identifiable information for other purposes.

b. Some personal information is stored on servers owned by other companies. Only Hachette has the right to access this information.

c. We use information held about you in the following ways:

i. To ensure content from Site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.

ii. To provide you with information, products or services where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes.

iii. For basic profiling purposes.

iv. To carry out our obligations arising from any contract entered into between you and us, (including the provision of any goods, services or information that you have requested).
v. We may disclose you personal information to any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.

d. We may disclose your personal information to third parties, as follows:

i. We may employ external companies to act on our behalf as processors. Data processors will not disclose personal details to any other organisations or use data other than for purposes required by us. This use is stipulated under contract with us.

ii. In the event that we sell or buy any business assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets.

iii. To administer services provided to you by us now or in the future.

iv. If Hachette or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its customers will be one of the transferred assets.
v. If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our Terms and other agreements, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Hachette, our customers or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

e. We may also collect your personal information for marketing purposes. If you do not want us to use your data for marketing purposes or to pass you details to third parties for such purpose, please tick or untick the relevant box situated on the form on which we collect your data (for example, a registration or order form). By allowing us to use your data, you agree to allow Hachette or one of our selected partners to contact you about promotional offers, products and/or services by email or SMS. When you give us information about another person, you confirm that they have appointed you to act for them, and as such, that you consent to the processing of their personal data, including personal data, to the transfer of their information abroad and to the receipt on their behalf, of any relevant data protection notices.

f. You may also exercise your right to opt out of the use of your information for marketing purposes by Hachette, or by a selected third party company at any time by contacting us.

5. WHERE WE STORE YOUR DATA

a. By using this website you consent to:

i. our processing of your personal data for the above purposes; and
ii. our transferring of your information to countries which do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK if necessary for the above purposes. If we do make such a transfer we will put a contract in place to ensure your information is protected.

6. SOCIAL MEDIA/SOCIAL COMMERCE AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES

a. We work with trusted third parties, including social network sites like Facebook, and with application developers who specialise in social media so we can connect to your social networks. Other social networks we use include Twitter, MySpace and You Tube. All of these companies operate Third Party Sites. We provide access to our Sites by third parties and business partners so we can generate interest in our products and services among members of your social networks and to allow you to share product and service interests with friends in your network.

b. The use of any features made available to you on the Site by a third party may result in information being collected or shared about you by us or by the third party. Information collected or shared through any such third party features is considered “public information” by us because the Third Party Sites made it publicly available. If you do not want us to be able to access information about you from Third Party Sites, you must instruct Third Party Sites not to share the information. We cannot control how your data is collected, stored, used or shared by Third Party Sites or to whom it is disclosed. Please be sure to review the privacy policies and privacy settings on your social networking sites to make sure you understand the information they are sharing. If you do not want a Third Party Site to share information about you, you must contact that site and determine whether it gives you the opportunity to opt out of sharing such information. Hachette is not responsible for how these third parties may use information collected from or about you. However, we do identify any areas on the Site where third parties share information about you.

i Facebook’s “Like” feature is a good example. (Other third parties have or may have similar ways for you to express positive opinions about products and services – now or in the future.) We have agreed to allow Facebook’s “Like” feature to run alongside images of our products so you can “like” products and to see how many other Facebook users “like” products featured on our Sites. You should know that Facebook may collect or register the fact that you “like” a product and may post that information to your “News Feed” on Facebook and to your Facebook profile’s “Wall” and “Info” pages. So, the fact that you “like” one or more products may be made known to members of your Facebook network. This would be true for your friends too. If they “like” one of our products, you will see it on his or her News Feed, Wall or Info pages.
Ii Finally, by “liking” products featured on our Sites, you consent to the display of that information by us. If you do not wish this to happen, you should not click that you “like” a product and you should review your privacy settings on Facebook (or similar Third Party Site). Note that we are not obligated to display someone’s name, profile photo or other “public” Facebook profile information on our website even if that Facebook user “likes” a product featured one of our Sites. We reserve the right to remove the information of any person which we deem to be inconsistent with our ideals or otherwise inappropriate for public association with our company. We may remove from the Site, in our sole discretion, any product or service offering or any photo or product description relating thereto.

7. ACCESS TO INFORMATION

a. The Act gives you the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the Act. Any access request may be subject to a fee of £10 to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you.

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April letter: The minimal in me

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