Data protection privacy notice

Your privacy is important to us. Any personal information we gather from you will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the data protection policy of The Friends of the City Churches.

About us

The Friends of the City Churches (FCC) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), Nº 1155049. The charity is run by a Committee of volunteers who are elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting. We employ one part-­‐time administrator, who is occasionally assisted by volunteers drawn from the membership. Our office comprises a secure room within St Mary Abchurch, and we have exclusive access to a safe in the adjacent vestry. The church, office and neighbouring lanes are covered by CCTV.

GDPR consent

To comply with the implementation of the international General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the UK on 25 May 2018, all members in good standing were asked in writing for their express consent to receive communications from The Friends of the City Churches by post, telephone, mobile phone, e-mail and/or SMS text message. New members are asked for this consent when they join, and lapsed members are asked to complete a GDPR form when they re-join.

Information we hold about our members

We record the information which members provide on joining by completing a membership application. This comprises at most the full name(s) and title(s) of single or joint members, one postal address, landline and mobile numbers, and e-mail addresses as provided on the form; joint members may provide individual contact numbers and e-mail addresses. Any updates subsequent to joining should be advised by the member(s) in person or in writing.

The membership database is held electronically in Filemaker on the office computer by our Administrator, with recent safe copies stored on the Cloud.

When technical support is required, a copy of the database is sometimes held temporarily by a designated Trustee, who only stores a clone (i.e. devoid of personal data) to record the development of the design and functionality of the proprietary database.

How we use information about our members

In order to administer membership subscriptions, we record members’ latest and recent payment dates, subscription category and amount paid; we do not record members’ bank or building society details. This personal data is retained for six financial years in line with HMRC requirements on the retention of financial records.

In order to administer Gift Aid, we record the date on which participating members authorised Gift Aid claims on their subscriptions and donations, and hold Gift Aid data for six years in line with HMRC requirements.

We record specific donations received by post, electronic transfer or in person from members on the database. We do not record incidental donations received by cash or cheque at special services or members’ events.

Our principal outreach activity is our Church Watching scheme, which provides volunteer Church Watchers who help to keep City churches open to visitors. This scheme is administered by a team of volunteer Rota Managers, who have access to these volunteers’ current postal address, phone number(s) and e-mail addresse(s). A list of volunteers’ names, contact numbers and e-mail addresses is circulated three times a year with the Watching rotas so that volunteers can contact one another about shift changes, security and operational issues; the Watchers are requested to dispose of this list securely at the end of each rotation.

We do not normally collect Sensitive Personal Information. We may arrange assisted access if members specifically request support for an external event such as a visit or tour, but we do not permanently record this information.

Information about non-members

Complimentary copies of Skyline, our quarterly magazine, are sent to selected City clergy, libraries and affiliated societies at their work addresses. We also send complementary copies to selected honorary members and associates, by permission to their home addresses. These contact details are held on our main database.

We occasionally sell tickets for events such as lectures to non-members, either through our office or external ticketing services such as Eventbrite and Audience Club. Any personal contact information thus received by our office is retained for six financial years in line with HMRC requirements on the retention of financial records. External services typically only send us attendees’ names, and are responsible for all other booking and payment details, and associated data protection.

Non-members may purchase FCC merchandise. For orders received by post or e-mail, we ask for payment by cheque and record only purchasers’ names and delivery addresses in order to process these orders and to maintain a record of correspondence; this information is held for six years in line with HMRC requirements. We do not record purchasers’ details for merchandise sold at FCC events or in person from the office.

People captured on CCTV

St Mary Abchurch, Abchurch Yard and the adjacent Abchurch and Sherborne Lanes are covered by CCTV cameras which have been installed for the purpose of the prevention and detection of crime. These may collect images of members the general public. The Friends of the City Churches control the footage from the cameras within the church; other cameras are controlled by neighbouring businesses. This footage may be shared with the police when they are investigating an incident. The footage is kept securely and access to the images is strictly limited. The footage is normally retained for one month and then recorded over.

People who have an accident

Should anyone have an accident whilst visiting St Mary Abchurch, we may be required to complete an Accident Form which includes their name, contact details, and the nature of the injury. We will retain this personal information securely in locked facilities for at least three years to comply with relevant health and safety legislation.

Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of ’Subject Rights’. You can:

• access and obtain a copy of your data on request
• ask us to change incorrect or incomplete data
• ask us to delete or stop processing your data (for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing)
• object to the processing of your data where we are relying on our legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing

You can at any time request a copy of personal information held about you, or exercise any of your other Subject Rights by contacting The Data Protection Manager, The Friends of the City Churches, St Mary Abchurch, Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BA, or sending an e-mail to contact_us@london-city-churches.org.uk.

Changes to this privacy notice

Please check back to see any updates or changes to our privacy notice.

Contact Details

Please contact us if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, or the information we hold about you, or to exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints at:

The Data Controller
The Friends of The City Churches
St Mary Abchurch
Abchurch Lane
London
EC4N 7BA
Tel. 020 7626 1555
E-mail contact_us@london-city-churches.org.uk
Web www.london-city-churches.org.uk

Download our Privacy Policy here

Download our Privacy Notice here