Data Privacy Policy
The Cobham Green Belt Group want to be completely transparent about why we need the personal information we request when you become a supporter, volunteer or express an interest in participating in one of our events. Developing a better understanding of our supporters and volunteers through their personal information allows us to make better decisions, communicate more efficiently and ultimately helps us to meet the Cobham Green Belt Group's aims.
We are totally committed to protecting your information and using it responsibly. Please read our policy carefully to understand how we collect, use and store your information.
The processing of your information is carried out by or on behalf of the Cobham Green Belt Group.
Contacting us:
If you have any questions about this privacy policy and how we use your information you can contact us by writing to us at:
Cobham Green Belt Group
PO Box 335
Cobham
Surrey
KT11 9AY
or
By emailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Policy Contents
1. Why we use your information,
2. How we use your information
3. How we use your information to tell you about our work
4. Keeping your details up to date
5. Sharing your information with other organisations
6. Transferring your information outside the EEA
7. How long we keep your information
8. Your rights
9. Complaints
10. How we keep your information secure
11. Changes to the Privacy Policy
12. Cookies used on our Websites
1. Why we use your information
1.1 We will only use your information where we have a legal basis to do so and will always respect your rights.
1.2 Where we use your information, it may be because you have consented to us doing so or because we consider we have a legitimate interest to do so. Where we do rely on a legitimate interest to use your information, we will always ensure that this is done in a way so as not to be intrusive or cause distress, and that respects your rights. Other reasons may include using information because we have a legal obligation to do so or because we must fulfil contractual obligations.
Some examples can be found below:
- You have given us your consent to use the information for a specified purpose, such as sending you our Newsletter either by post or by email.
- We are using your information in pursuit of a legitimate interest, for example:
- To pursue our groups purpose to deliver our mission and vision
- To raise vital funds for our work
- To manage our ongoing relationship with our supporters and anyone we work with
- To manage our financial transactions and prevent fraud
2. How we use your information
2.1 To respond to or fulfil any requests for information, complaints or queries you make to us. If you contact us directly, we will use the information you give to us to handle your enquiry or request for information. We may also keep a record of conversations we have with you, feedback you provide and any marketing materials we send out to you. This can help us to handle queries more efficiently.
2.2 To process any donations you make, and maintain a record of your past or potential future financial contributions. This includes keeping a record of any pledges, gift agreements or any other indications that you are planning to donate to the group. We keep a record of any donations we receive for audit purposes. We may need to use your information to prevent fraud.
2.3 To provide you with information and support for any events, fundraising and campaigning activities or volunteering opportunities you sign up to. If you have completed a form to register or enquire about an event or activity, or to sign up to one of our campaigns, we will consider this as a request to send you details about the event, activity or campaign. When you take part in one of our events or projects, we will use your details to contact you in relation to your role or activity and to provide you with information on the progress of that event or project.
Where you provide contact details, we will provide information and support by email, post or phone depending on the contact preferences you provided. When you have asked for details of an event, we will send you information including, where relevant, ideas for fundraising and reminders on key information about the activity.
Where appropriate, we will use the information you provide to identify any help we can offer, specific to the activity you have signed up for and to provide necessary information to event organisers.
We may also receive information through event organisers or through third party websites such as JustGiving or VirginMoneyGiving so we know you are fundraising for us.
3. How we use your information to tell you about our work
3.1 To send you marketing communications by email, where you have agreed to receive this. Where you have provided an email and consented to being contacted in this way, we will send you information by email covering ways to give or raise money for us, to campaign for us, to volunteer for us, updates on local planning and Green Belt issues. This may include promoting the work of a partner organisation that we believe will benefit us and the group's cause.
3.2 To contact you by phone and post
Where it is appropriate and relevant, and you have provided us with a telephone number or a postal address, we may occasionally call or write to you to tell you about ways to give or raise money for us, to campaign for us, to volunteer for us, updates on local planning and Green Belt issues. We do this as we consider it is a legitimate interest to promote our cause and communicate with you about ways you can support us.
3.3 To manage your contact preferences
You can tell us to stop contacting you, or change the way in which we do so, by getting in touch with us using the details in the “Contacting us” section. We will keep a record of any requests to stop receiving information from us to ensure that we do not communicate with you in the future, unless you tell us you want to hear from us again.
All email newsletters include an unsubscribe option which allows you to opt-out of receiving any further newsletter emails. Unsubscribing from a newsletter may not result in your email address being removed from our records entirely as we may need to contact you individually via email because of your interest in volunteering or participating in one of our events. To remove your email address entirely please contact us using the details in the “Contacting us” section.
3.4 To make sure we speak to you in a way that is relevant to you, and to understand our supporters more broadly, we try to ensure that our communications are as effective as possible so that we make the best use of the money we spend on them. This means communicating with people in different ways, appropriate to them.
On occasion, we will use information you have given us directly, for example the record of your previous donations to us and the type of activity you have been involved with, to tailor our communications with you about future activities.
We will also use information about how you use our website or interact with our emails so we can make them more effective.
3.5 Use of images, videos, or other information you share with us.
If you share information about the fundraising or campaigning activities you have done for us, or your personal experiences, by post, email or over social media, we may want to use this to help us promote our events and activities in the future. We will obtain the necessary permission to use this information.
3.6 To undertake our campaigning activity
We maintain a record of information related to MPs and other holders of public office, to enable us to undertake our campaigning activity to help reach our goals. This will include keeping a record of contact details such as address, telephone number and email address as well as publicly available voting records and committee and group memberships.
4. Keeping your details up to date
4.1 We will always try to ensure the information we hold is accurate and up to date. However, we do rely on you to inform us of any change of details such as postal address, email address or phone numbers.
4.2 You can let us know if you move house or your details change by contacting us using the details in the “Contacting us” section above.
5. Sharing your information with other organisations
5.1 We will never share your information with third parties for their own purposes, unless this is explained to you at the time we collect your information, you give us your permission to, or we are legally required to do so.
5.2 We may also use suppliers known as 'data processors' to process data on our behalf, for example, to send out mailings. When enlisting the services of such suppliers we ensure that they are under a contractual obligation to only use your information in accordance with our instructions and for no other purposes.
6. Transferring your information outside the EEA
6.1 Sometimes organisations who work on our behalf may manage information outside the European Economic Area (EEA). In those circumstances, we will make sure that we have a valid reason for doing so under current Data Protection Legislation.
7. How long we keep your information
7.1 As a general rule, if you have subscribed to our newsletter or have expressed an interest in being a volunteer or participating in one of our events, we will hold your information for a period of up to five years from the end of your relationship with the Cobham Green Belt Group in accordance with our data retention policy. This enables us to contact you if you have been unable to volunteer or participate in one of our events for a significant time.
You have the right to ask us to delete your data at any time from the end of your relationship with the Trust by getting in touch with us using the details in the “Contacting us” section. We will keep a record of any requests to delete your data to ensure that we do not communicate with you in the future, unless you tell us you want to hear from us again.
8. Your rights
8.1 Under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) you have the following rights:
- Information Right – the right to receive the information contained in this policy, our data collection forms and about the way we process your personal data.
- Personal Data Access Right – the right to know that we are processing your personal data and, in most circumstances, to have a copy of the personal data of yours that we hold. You can also ask for certain other details such as what purpose we process your data for and how long we hold it.
- Personal Data Correction Right – You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate data or complete incomplete data that we hold on you.
- Personal Data Erasure Right – Known as the Right to be forgotten. In certain circumstances you may request that we erase your personal data held by us.
- Personal Data Restriction Right – You have the right to restrict the way we process your personal data in certain circumstances, for example: if you contest the accuracy of the data, if our processing is unlawful, to pursue legal claims, where we are relying on legitimate interests to process data.
- Data Processing Objection Right – You have the right to object to us processing your data for (i) direct marketing purposes (ii) scientific or historical research or statistical purposes and (iii) purposes of profiling related to direct marketing or based on our legitimate interests or on the performance of a task in the public interest
- Data Portability Right – you have the right to receive a copy of certain personal data or to have it transferred to another organisation in some circumstances.
8.2 Right to Withdraw Consent at any time
Where we use your personal information based on your prior consent to send you information or marketing communications by email, mobile messaging and by direct message on social media, you can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
9. Complaints
9.1 If you have any complaints about how we handle your personal data, please contact us so we can resolve the issue, where possible. You also have the right to lodge a complaint about any use of your information with the Information Commissioners Office, the UK data protection regulator. Where you have a complaint about the way in which we have used your personal information in our fundraising, you can also complain to the Fundraising Regulator.
10. How we keep your information secure
10.1 We take such measures as are appropriate to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our systems. See the Data Protection Policy for more details.
11. Changes to the Privacy Policy
11.1 We may update this policy to reflect changes in how we use your information. You may wish to check this policy each time you provide the Cobham Green Belt Group with your information. Where appropriate, we will provide you with notice of any significant changes to how we use your information.
12. Cookies used on our Websites
12.1 A "cookie" is a small data file that a web site like cobhamgreenbelt.org.uk can store on your system. The Cobham Green Belt Group uses cookies throughout the site to improve the user experience and to provide information to us on how many visitors and how our visitors use the website. We use this information to improve the users experience and the effectiveness of the website. We do not use cookies for marketing purposes or to target online advertisements. The data stored within these cookies contain no personal information about you. When you first visit out websites on a device (e.g. PC or Tablet) you will be given the option to decline the use of cookies (unless your device itself already blocks cookies) but this may adversely affect your user experience and function of the website.
12.2 How do you know if you have accepted cookies and how do you change my mind?
Near the bottom of the website page is an area which shows you if you have accepted or declined cookies. If you have already declined cookies you will be given the option to reconsider and choose again. If you have already accepted cookies you will have the option to remove cookies and choose again.
Published: 18 July 2019
END OF POLICY