Privacy & Data Protection Policy

Image009

Short version

  • We may collect anonymous statistics about your visit, like which of our pages you viewed.
  • If you give us information about yourself we take great care to keep it safe and we'll never share it with others without your express permission.
  • We never share your data with 3rd parties except to help us deliver our own services.

These are just the key points. If you need detail, read it below:

Measuring our visitors

We may analyse visits to our website using Google Analytics. This records what pages you view within our site, how you arrived at our site and some basic information about your computer. All of that information is anonymous – we don't know who you are; just that somebody visited our site.

The information we collect from analytics helps us understand what parts of our sites are doing well, how people arrive at our site and so on. Like most websites, we use this information to make our website better.

You can learn more about Google Analytics or opt out if you wish.

Use of Cookies

A cookie is a small text file stored on your computer or device so that our website can remember who you are. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the "lifetime" of the cookie, and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number. Cookies cannot be used by themselves to identify you and are not computer programs, and can't cause any damage to your computer.

What we use Cookies for

All our cookies are first party cookies that are issued by our website and can only be used by our website. They are used to store information about your, such as the time that the current visit occurred. The cookies do not collect personal information and no personal information is sent to third parties.

We use two types of cookies within our website:

Image006

Persistent Cookies

These retain your preference if you select the 'Remember Me' option when you sign into our website and are not deleted when the browser is closed. They stay on your device until expiry or you decide to remove them. The cookie we issue contains a uniquely generated random number and expiry date. It does not contain any personal information.

Session Cookies

These are temporary cookies used within our online services that remain on your computer or device until you close your web browser. Session Cookies allow us to carry information across pages of our site and avoid you having to re-enter information.

Consent

By using our website, you're consenting to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time in your web browser.

By modifying the settings of your browser, you may opt to accept cookies, to be informed when one is about to be placed on your computer, or to automatically reject all cookies. However, if cookies are disabled, it may mean that our website does not work as expected.

More information on cookies and how to manage them can be found at About Cookies.

Use of Web Beacons

Web beacons (sometimes known as clear or transparent gifs) are used to identify whether a recipient has opened an HTML email. When the email is opened the web beacon generates a record showing that the email has been viewed. Web Beacons may also recognise when the email was opened, how many times it was forwarded and which URLs (links within the email) were clicked.

These beacons do not carry any personally identifiable information and are only used to track the effectiveness of our email communications.

Disabling Web Beacons within Emails.

If you do not wish to receive Web Beacons you will need to disable HTML images or refuse HTML (select Text only) emails via your email software.

If you have a church website login, you may also select a preference for text only emails in the Admin section.

Data Protection

We endeavour to take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information but cannot guarantee the security of any data you disclose online. You accept the inherent security risks of providing information and dealing online over the Internet and will not hold us responsible for any breach of security unless this is due to our negligence or wilful default.

Please be aware that our site may link to other websites which may be accessed through our site. We are not responsible for the use of any personal information that you give directly to or are collected via such third party sites. You should read the respective data policies or procedures of these linked websites to find out how they use your information. We will make links to other website obvious when you follow them.

In the course of undertaking the activities specified in this privacy policy it may be necessary to transfer data to third parties who provide services to us from outside the European Economic Area to countries which do not have data protection laws or to countries where your privacy and other fundamental rights will not be protected as extensively as in the UK. If we do this, we will ensure that anyone to whom we transfer your information agrees to treat your information with the same level of protection as provide in the UK.

Image003

As part of its services, we may occasionally inform you by email about events and services which we consider may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive such details you can opt out of receiving further email by using the unsubscribe link included in each email.

This document covers the use of our website and email services. It is in addition to our general Data Protection policy which gives details of data collected for our other activities.

Use of Your Personal Information

We do not pass information on to other companies for their own research, analysis and marketing purposes. We may use external suppliers to process data for us, for example to manage events, to carry out email campaigns, or to conduct research for us. We only use reputable companies and ensure they meet our privacy standards.

We are always looking to improve our systems to provide a more efficient service. As part of this process, it may be necessary to use information you provide for the purpose of system testing. We will ensure that any testing is carried out in a secure and controlled environment.

The information we hold about you is confidential. We will only disclose it outside the church when:

  • You give us your consent
  • The law, or other regulatory body, requires it.

Updates to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time-to-time, particularly as technology changes. You can always check this page for the latest version. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or your personal data, please contact us.

Last update: June 2016