East Grinstead and District Guild of Church Bell Ringers

Data Protection Policy

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them.  It provides a framework to ensure that personal information is handled properly. The Act works in two ways:

Firstly, it states that anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which make sure that personal information is:

1. Fairly and lawfully processed
2. Processed for limited purposes
3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive
4. Accurate and up to date
5. Not kept for longer than is necessary
6. Processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects
7. Secure
8. Not transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA) without adequate protection (unless prior consent has been obtained)

Secondly, it provides individuals with important rights, including the right to find out what personal information is held on computer and most paper records.  (See principle 6, below)

The East Grinstead and District Guild of Church Bell Ringers (EGDG) applies these principles to all the information it holds, as follows:

1.    Personal data must be fairly and lawfully processed

The Guild uses personal data only for the purposes listed in principle 2 below.

2.    Personal data must be processed for limited purposes

The Guild only processes data in respect of its members for the following purposes:

a.    Maintaining Guild membership records;

b.    Communicating with its members by any means;

c.   Reporting of peals, quarter-peals and other bell-ringing performances that individuals take part in;

d.    Verifying that participants in performances are paid up members of the Guild;

e.    Publishing contact details of Guild Officers.

3.    Personal data must be adequate, relevant and not excessive

The EGDG maintains a central record of the name and contact details of all Guild Officers.  The EGDG also maintains a central record of the name of all members of the Guild together with contact details where these have been supplied.  This data is used only by the Guild for its legitimate purposes which encompass:

a.    Establishing and maintaining membership;

b.    Keeping the membership informed of Guild activities and events;

c.    Providing support and advice to towers on the maintenance and upkeep of bells, their fittings and on the Health & Safety, Safeguarding and other legislation as it affects bell ringers.

4.    Personal data must be accurate and up to date

For Guild Officers, contact details may be published on the website where permission has been given. Corrections can be made in accordance with principle 6 below.

Performance information may also be published on the website.  Performances may also be published elsewhere. Corrections can be made in accordance with principle 6 below.

5.    Personal data must not be kept for longer than is necessary

Membership records will be retained in order to support the custom of recognising long service to the Guild.

Performance data is traditionally retained indefinitely in order to preserve complete performance records for historical purposes.

6.    Personal data must be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects

Data subjects have the right to:

a.     Have inaccurate information corrected or erased.

b.   Be provided with a copy of their information on request.  (The Guild is entitled to charge a statutory fee not exceeding £10.00 for the provision of this information.)

c.     Compensation for any breach of the Act.

7.    Personal data must be kept secure

The data is always dealt with in an appropriate manner.

8.   Personal data must not be transferred to a country outside the EEA without adequate protection

No personal data is maintained other than that already in the public domain as described in principle 4 above.

Last amended March 2015