Leigh Estuary u3a Privacy Policy (to be reviewed annually)

Leigh Estuary u3a (hereafter ‘the u3a’) treats your privacy rights seriously. This privacy policy sets out how we will deal with your ‘personal information’, that is, information that could identify, or is related to the identity of, an individual.

What personal information do we collect?

If you send a message via one of our contact pages, our contact form log will record the name, email address, and email subject entered when a contact form is submitted. Records are kept for 90 days, and usage is monitored to protect against spam emails.

When you express an interest in becoming a member of the u3a you will be asked to provide certain information. The legal basis for the u3a to collect, process and retain private data is the consent of members. Information requested includes:

• Name.
• Home address.
• Email address.
• Telephone numbers.
• Gift Aid status

Your agreement with the u3a

At present, for the purposes of your membership, we consider that you have agreed that the u3a can store and process the personal information as stated above. Going forward, you will be required to complete a Privacy Statement at membership renewal.

How do we collect this personal information?

All the information collected is obtained directly from you. This is usually at the point of your initial registration. The information will be collected via membership forms or online contact forms. At the point that you provide your personal information for membership purposes, we will also request that you provide consent for us to store and use your data. Your consent is required in order to ensure our compliance with data protection legislation.

How do we use your personal information?

We use your personal information:

• To provide our u3a activities and services to you.
• For administration, planning and management of our u3a.
• To communicate with you about your group activities.
• To monitor, develop and improve the provision of our u3a activities.

Messages we send to you will generally be by email or other electronic methods.

Who do we share your personal information with?

We may disclose information about you, including your personal information:

• Internally - to committee members and group leaders – as required to facilitate your participation in our u3a activities.
• Externally – where we use an external membership management system (Beacon) and with your consent for products or services such as direct mailing for the Trust magazine (Third Age Matters). Where such systems are used, the committee has considered the Terms and Conditions of each supplier and judged that their digital and physical systems and procedures are secure.
• Externally – where we use external providers for activities such as travel trips, tours, theatre trips and the like and that information is needed for booking purposes.
• If we have a statutory duty to disclose it for other legal and/or regulatory reasons.

How long do we keep your personal information?

We need to keep your information so that we can provide our services to you. In most instances information about your membership will not be stored for longer than 12 months after you leave. The exceptions to this are instances where there may be legal, insurance or statutory circumstances that require information to be held for longer.

If you wish to see the information we hold for you, then you can do so by visiting your members details on Beacon using the link given on the Membership page.  Alternatively, you can contact the Membership Secretary and ask; it is likely that details will only be sent to the email address we have registered on the system.  If that is no longer valid you will need to provide suitable evidence of identity.

There may be certain circumstances where we are not able to comply with this request. This would include where the information may contain references to another individual or for legal, investigative or security reasons. Otherwise, we will usually respond within 14 days of the request being made.

How your information can be updated or corrected

To ensure the information we hold is accurate and up to date, members need to inform the u3a as to any changes to their personal information. You can do this by contacting the membership secretary at any time using the link on the Contact Us page.

Alternatively, you can update your own details as held by the u3a using the link to Beacon on the Membership page. On an annual basis you will have the opportunity to update your information, as required, via the membership renewal form.

How do we store your personal information?

There are in place a range of security safeguards to protect your personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.

Your membership information is held on a Beacon database and can accessed by certain committee members and group leaders – as appropriate.

Availability and changes to this policy

This policy is available on the website or by asking a committee member. This policy may change from time to time.

Contact

If you have any queries about this policy, need it in an alternative format, or have any complaints about our privacy practices, please inform us using the general enquiries link on the Contact Us page.