As a leading Middle East health club operator, Fitness First Middle East needs a wide range of "personal information" to carry out its business. "Personal information" is essentially information from which you can be identified. This Privacy Policy agreement explains Fitness First's approach to the handling of your personal information and how we comply with our privacy obligations.
If you provide us with information about your health, we also strive to ensure that our handling of that information complies with applicable State and Territory health records legislation.
Fitness First collects personal information from its members and from membership applicants, contractors, employees, and people we do business with.
Fitness First needs your personal information:
a) to provide its members with personalized fitness services (including assessments of physical fitness, health status, and goals); and
b) to conduct our business (e.g., to administer accounts, charge fees, and to communicate with our members and business contacts).
To illustrate, the personal information we collect about our members includes:
a) Identification Information, including each member's name, address, contact details (including telephone numbers and email address), date of birth and an official personal picture ID;
b) Health Information, including information provided on the pre-exercise questionnaire (that members complete upon becoming a member of Fitness First) and information we collect in the course of memberships. Health information is a sensitive form of personal information, so we only collect it with your consent, and we only collect what we need;
c) Financial Information, including bank account details and credit card details, as well as information about payment or non-payment of membership fees.
We need this personal information to provide health and fitness services, and is collected from application forms, and when members attend our clubs and communicate with us through our website.
We Also Collect:
a) Business Contact Information From And About Our Suppliers And Other People We Do Business With (Eg Our Landlords). This Information Is Needed So That We Can Manage Our Business;
b) "Next of Kin" Information, which we collect from our members for use in the case of an emergency. We suggest that our members tell their next of kin that they have been nominated for this purpose, and
c) Employee Information. However, this Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information collected or held by us about our employees. Employees should contact our HR Department if they have privacy questions.
As indicated, we use personal information to provide fitness and health services, to manage and administer club memberships and to operate our business. For example, if you are a member, will use your personal information to process your membership application, charge you membership fees, and administer your account. We will also use your personal information to communicate with you, including answering any enquires you may have.
Unless you tell us otherwise, we may also use members' personal information to mail out special promotions, newsletters, and other marketing material. For instance, Fitness First may mail its members information about its promotions, or those offered by our business partners. If you don't want us to do this, we allow you to "opt-out" from receiving such material on our pre-exercise questionnaire form. However, you can opt-out at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer (see details in section 8 below).
Fitness First will disclose your personal information in a few different ways.
Like most businesses, sometimes we outsource or "contract out" specific support services from time to time, and this may mean that our contractors see your personal information. For instance, sometimes, we may hire IT contractors to maintain our databases. All our contractors are subject to strict confidentiality obligations, which means that they are authorized only to use personal information to provide the services or to perform the functions required by us.
We will disclose personal information if we are under a legal requirement to do so (e.g., under a court order, or if required under legislation) or if an authorized request is made from a law enforcement agency. Otherwise, we will only disclose personal information with the consent of the relevant individuals. For example, if you are a member, with your consent (and only with your permission):
we may provide personal information to Fitness First's personal trainers to assist you in improving your fitness and well being, and so they can advise you which fitness programs are suitable for you. If personal trainers are contractors (rather than Fitness First employees), their contracts with us require them to keep your personal information confidential. Of course, all our employees are required to keep your personal info confidential also; and we may disclose personal information to our business partners so that they can contact you directly with special offers, discounts, or other membership benefits.
The privacy agreement and laws give you the rights to seek access to the personal information we hold about you. You can seek access by completing an access request form at your home club's reception, or by writing to our Privacy Officer (see contact details at section 8 below). Generally, we should be able to provide you with access within a month of your request, although we may need more time if your request is complicated. Ordinarily, Fitness First will not charge you for the cost of providing access to your personal information. However, if we do propose to charge you, we will advise you of the relevant charge before we provide you with access.
We try to ensure that all the personal information that we hold about you is accurate, complete, and up-to-date. However, we rely on you to help us with this. If you wish to update or correct the personal information we hold about you, please complete the access request form at your home club's reception, or by writing to our Privacy Officer. We will contact you if there is any issue about amending the record of personal information we hold about you. If you wish to discuss our method of providing access or correction to personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer with your query.
Fitness First takes reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is stored in a secure environment protected from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. We remind our staff and contractors of the importance of storing personal information securely, and to treat it as confidential information.
Fitness First only offers its health and fitness services to members, and it is not possible to become a member of Fitness First without providing Fitness First with the personal information that is requested in our application form and our pre-exercise questionnaire. We may be able to answer telephone questions without collecting personal information about you, but if you would like to use our clubs, we need your personal information. This is in everyone's interests (e.g., if you fall ill at one of our clubs, we need to know who you are).
As we also collect personal information through www.fitnessfirst-me.com (our website), this privacy policy also outlines our approach to online privacy issues. In that context, it is to be read as forming part of the terms of use for our website.
Generally, Fitness First will handle personal information collected online consistently with the way that it handles personal information collected offline. Other matters specific to Fitness First's handling of personal information online are set out below.
a) Cookies
When you visit our website, we will not collect any personal information unless you chose to provide it to us (e.g., by sending us emails through our website). However, we may collect specific data that does not identify you (sometimes called "web log information") when you visit certain pages, such as the type of browser and operating system you have. We may also use "cookies," which are small files that are stored on your computer and that manage the security and navigation process of the site. You can choose to block these cookies, but some portions of the site may not function correctly if you do. This type of data is collected for statistical purposes only, and while cookies will identify your computer, they are unlikely to identify you personally.
b) Site security policy
Our website uses up-to-date technology to maximize the security of your personal information.
Booking Policy
- All members are required to use the Fitness First MENA APP to book all classes.
- You can book up to 48 hours in advance before a class starts.
- You can make a class cancellation up to 90 minutes before a class starts.
- You will receive a reminder on the App before your booked class, reminding you of your booking. If you can no longer attend, you must cancel so your space can be allocated to someone on the waiting list.
- Please respect all members and ensure you cancel classes you can no longer attend, at least 90 minutes before the class is due to start.
- Late cancellation will apply to all cancellations that occur less than 90 minutes from the class start time.
- Please ensure to arrive 10 minutes prior to the start of the class to get checked in and avoid being marked as a no-show.
- For personal training bookings, you need to cancel your booked session a minimum of 24 hours in advance; otherwise, the session will be charged.
Child Policy
With a significant increase in the number of children at our clubs, Fitness First has decided to ensure that the highest quality of safety is implemented.
We request you to adhere to the policies on Child Safety and thank you for your cooperation
FAQS - Child Safety
Children under 13 years will not have access to the club without a personal training session in Gym Areas.
Children between 13-15 years will have to be under direct parent supervision or by Fitness First personal Training. Children of 16 years and above will have normal individual access permitted.
Any child under the age of 16 has to have the PARQ form filled in by the parent on behalf of the child. They will also have a gym induction undertaken.
Children under 5 years will not have access to the gym floor.
Children under 16 year will not have access unsupervised, or Adult/ standard group exercise classes
Children of 16 years will have access only permitted via Fitness First Supervised’ Kids Activities or Classes’.
Children under the age of 16 years are not permitted to join standard ‘adult’ GX classes due to physical body development and maturity risk.
For children between 13-15 years, the parent does not need to be present in the club during the class.
For children 12 years and under, the parent must be present inside or directly outside the GX studio at all times during the class.
*Any child under the age of 16 has to have the PARQ form filled in by the parent on behalf of the child.
Spa Pools (Jacuzzis):
Children of 16 years and above will have normal individual access permitted
Children from 13-15 years will have access only under direct parent supervision with a maximum of 15 minutes a session.
Children of 12 years or less will not have access to the Spa Pools (Jacuzzis)
Saunas, Steam Rooms
Children of 16 years and above will have normal individual access permitted
Children from 13-15 years will have access only under direct parent supervision, with a maximum of 15 minutes a session
Children of 12 years or less will not have access to Saunas or Steam Rooms
Children of 12 years or less cannot leave the club at any time without their parents/guardians and will have designated area for parent handover and collection
Children of 13-15 years will have a waiver signed by the parents/guardians to arrive/depart without the parents/guardians or leave the club at lunchtime
Children of 16 years and above will have normal individual access permitted
Parents of children under the age of 4 years old must remain in the club at all times to chaperone their child as/where required
Children of 16 years and above will have normal individual access permitted but MUST BE able to swim competently in pool deep end
Children between 5-15 years will have access to the swimming pool only under direct parent supervision on the pool side or as a participant in a Swim Academy Lesson
Children of 4 years or less will have access to the swimming pool only under direct parent supervision in-pool or as a participant in a Swim Academy Lesson
It is mandatory for all children under 30 months to wear swim nappies at all times whilst in the pool
Child swimmers who require the use of arm bands or buoyancy aids are permitted to swim in a pool whilst under the supervision of a parent in the water to a depth the parent is able to ‘stand’ on the pool floor
The Swim Academy
Children of 16 years and above will have normal independent access and Swim Lesson access permitted
Children aged 13-15 years can attend Swim Lessons without a parent present but must be escorted between facilities at all times by a member of staff
For children aged 8-12 years, the parent must drop and collect the child from the poolside at the start and end of the session, and must be present in the club at an agreed location
For children aged 7 years or less, the parent must remain at the poolside at all times during the Swim Lesson
