Introduction
In order to operate, Swindon Choral Society needs to gather, store and use certain forms of information about individuals. These can include members, employees, contractors, suppliers, volunteers, audiences and potential audiences, business contacts and other people the group has a relationship with or regularly needs to contact.This policy explains how we comply with all legal requirements. The associated Data Protection Procedure gives details on how personal data is collected, stored and used in order to
- protect the rights of our members, volunteers and supporters
- comply with data protection law and good practice
- protect the Society, its members and others from the risks of a data breach
Roles and responsibilities
This policy applies to all those handling data on behalf of Swindon Choral Society, including Committee members, members and third parties.It applies to all data that Swindon Choral Society holds relating to individuals, including:
- Names
- Email addresses
- Postal addresses
- Phone numbers
- Any other personal information held (e.g. financial information for example, related to your subscription, or ticket purchases)
Everyone who has access to data as part of Swindon Choral Society has a responsibility to ensure that they adhere to this policy.
Data controller
The Data Controller for Swindon Choral Society is the Society’s committee. It is responsible for why data is collected and how it will be used. Any questions relating to the collection or use of data should be directed to any member of the committee.
Data protection principles
- We fairly and lawfully process personal data
Swindon Choral Society will only collect data where lawful and where it is necessary for the legitimate purposes of the group. This includes data relating to people who may be members, other volunteers, committee members, employees and contractors, audience members and supporters.
- We only collect and use personal data for specified and lawful purposes
When collecting data, Swindon Choral Society will always explain to the subject why the data is required and what it will be used for, e.g.
We will never use data for any purpose other than that stated or that is reasonably related to it. For example, we will never pass on personal data to
3rd parties without the explicit consent of the subject.
- We ensure any data collected is relevant and not excessive
Swindon Choral Society will not collect or store more data that the minimum information required for its intended purpose.
- We ensure data is accurate and up-to-date
Swindon Choral Society will ask members, volunteers and staff to check and update their data on an annual basis. Any individual will be able to update their data at any point by contacting the Data Controller.
- We ensure data is not kept longer than necessary
Swindon Choral Society will keep data on individuals for no longer than 12 months after our involvement with the individual has stopped, unless there is a legal requirement to keep records.
- We process data in accordance with individuals’ rights
People whose data we hold can request a copy, for errors to be corrected, for their name to be removed from communications lists or (where storage or use of their data causes them substantial distress or damage) for their data to be deleted.
- We keep personal data secure
Swindon Choral Society will ensure that data held by us is kept secure.
- Transfer to countries outside the EEA
Swindon Choral Society will not transfer data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), unless the country has adequate protection for the individual (e.g. USA).
Member-to-member contact
We only share members’ data with other members with the subject’s prior consent. As a membership organisation Swindon Choral Society encourages communication between members. To facilitate this members can request the personal contact data of other members in writing via the Data Controller or Membership Secretary. These details will be given, as long as they are for the purposes of contacting the subject (e.g. an email address, not financial or health data) and the subject consents to their data being shared with other members in this way.
Direct Marketing
Swindon Choral Society will regularly collect data from consenting supporters for marketing purposes. This includes contacting them to promote concerts, updating them about group news, fundraising and other group activities. Every marketing communication will contain a method through which a recipient can withdraw their consent (e.g. an ‘unsubscribe’ link in an email). Opt-out requests such as this will be processed within 14 days.
Cookies on Swindon Choral Society’s website
A cookie is a small text file that is downloaded onto ‘terminal equipment’ (e.g. a computer or smartphone) when the user accesses a website. It allows the website to recognise that user’s device and store some information about the user’s preferences or past actions.
Swindon Choral Society uses cookies on our website (www.swindonchoral.org.uk) in order to monitor and record their activity. This allows us to improve users’ experience of our website by, for example, allowing for a ‘logged in’ state, and by giving us useful insight into how users as a whole are engaging with the website.
Where a login is provided, for some committee members, cookies may be used in order to monitor and record their activity. This allows us to improve users’ experience of our website by, for example, allowing for a ‘logged in’ state, and by giving us useful insight into how users as a whole are engaging with the website.
Anonymous analytics cookies
Further, every time someone visits our website, software provided by Google Analytics generates an 'anonymous analytics cookie'. These cookies can tell us whether or not you have visited the site before and what pages you visit. Your browser will tell us if you have these cookies and, if you don't, we generate new ones. This allows us to track how many individual users we have, and how often they visit the site. We use them to gather statistics, for example, the number of visits to a page, to help us identify if visitors would benefit from more information on a particular area.
How do I turn cookies off?
It is usually possible to stop your browser accepting cookies, or to stop it accepting cookies from a particular website.
All modern browsers allow you to change your cookie settings. You can usually find these settings in the 'options' or 'preferences' menu of your browser. To understand these settings, the following links may be helpful, or you can use the 'Help' option in your browser for more details.
- Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
- Cookie settings in Firefox
- Cookie settings in Chrome
- Cookie settings in Safari
