Privacy policy

Southern Policy Centre Privacy Policy

Updated 1 July 2021

How we respect privacy when we deal with personal information collected by our organisation.

This Privacy Policy applies to information we (Southern Policy Centre) collect about individuals who interact with our organisation. It explains what personal information we collect and how we use it.

Our contact details

Name: Ruth Eastwood, General Manager

Address: 10 Parchment Street, Winchester, SO23 8AT

Phone Number: 033 3355 0897

E-mail: ruth.eastwood@southernpolicycentre.co.uk

  • We will only ever ask for what we really need to know
  • We will collect and use the personal data that you share with us transparently, honestly and fairly
  • We will always respect your choices around the data that you share with us and the communication channels that you ask us to use
  • We will put appropriate security measures in place to protect the personal data that you share
  • We will never sell your data

SPC is responsible for the data we collect about you and is committed to safeguarding your privacy and to being transparent about how we collect and use your data. This privacy policy sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding how your personal information is used.

We follow the relevant legal requirements and take all reasonable precautions to safeguard personal information. By providing your personal information to us, you acknowledge that we may use it in the ways set out in this privacy policy.

We may update this Policy from time to time. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

The type of personal information we collect

We currently collect and process the following information:

  • Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name and contact details)

How we get the personal information

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you for one of the following reasons:

  • face-to-face (directly from you)
  • by telephone
  • by email
  • via our website
  • via various event registration and attendance forms
  • from survey data collected through third party surveys
  • via an individual at your organisation who is responsible for sharing that information
  • from individuals or colleagues who have registered you for an event
  • from event organisers, exhibitors and any other such third parties who are involved in organising or contributing to SPC events and/or conferences
  • from third parties to verify your identity and the accuracy of the information you have provided
  • from publicly available sources including but not limited to internet search engines, public records and registers and social media (for example, LinkedIn and Twitter)
  • from third parties including but not limited to public affairs agencies and industry databases that maintain information on professional stakeholders ( for example, journalists and politicians)

Purposes for which we process your personal information

We use your personal information for a number of different purposes. Under data protection law, for each purpose we must be able to rely on a lawful basis for processing your personal information.

People who attend or register for events

Purpose: for the administration of events. Lawful basis: to fulfil our contract with you.
Purpose: marketing of future related products and services; policy reach and influence. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests as a think tank.

Electronic communication that constitutes direct marketing is sent on the basis of your consent to receive communications from us. You can opt-out of electronic communications that constitute direct marketing at any time.

People who subscribe for communications

Purpose: marketing of products and services; policy reach and influence. Lawful basis: your consent.

Electronic communication that constitutes direct marketing is sent on the basis of your consent to receive communications from us. You can opt-out of electronic communications that constitute direct marketing at any time.

Professional contacts

Purpose: for marketing of products and services; political education and influence. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests as a think tank.

Electronic communication that constitutes direct marketing is provided to professional contacts as the representatives of businesses and other corporate bodies. This does not require your direct consent but you can opt-out at any time.

Job applicants, employees, former employees
Purpose: employment administration and compliance with employment legislation. Lawful basis: our legitimate interests as a think tank.

Any sensitive data about you is only used for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

You have a choice about whether or not you wish to receive information from us. If you do not want to receive communications from us about the work we do and our services, then you can unsubscribe using the link on all communications.

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes or to be unsubscribed from our email list at any time. You also have the following rights:

  • Right to be informed – you have the right to be told how your personal information will be used. This Policy and other policies and statements used on our website and in our communications are intended to provide you with a clear and transparent description of how your personal information may be used.
  • Right of access – you can write to us to ask for confirmation of what information we hold on you and to request a copy of that information. Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the information requested and we have successfully confirmed your identity, we have 40 days to comply. As from 25 May 2018, we will have 30 days to comply.
  • Right of erasure – as from 25 May 2018, you can ask us for your personal information to be deleted from our records. In many cases we would propose to suppress further communications with you, rather than delete it.
  • Right of rectification – if you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask for those records to be updated.
  • Right to restrict processing – you have the right to ask for processing of your personal data to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.
  • Right to data portability – to the extent required by the General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”) where we are processing your personal information (i) under your consent, (ii) because such processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contact or (iii) by automated means, you may ask us to provide it to you – or another service provider – in a machine-readable format.

Your rights and how consent works

To exercise these rights, please send a description of the personal information in question using the contact details provided. Where we consider that the information with which you have provided us does not enable us to identify the personal information in question, we may ask you for (i) personal identification and/or (ii) further information.

Please note that some of these rights only apply in limited circumstances. For more information, we suggest that you consult ICO guidance – https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr.

You are further entitled to make a complaint about us or the way we have processed your data to the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”). For further information on how to exercise this right, please see the guidance at https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal-information. The contact details of the ICO can be found here: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us.

Data sharing

We do not share data with other organisations but we do use Zoom, a third-party provider to host online seminars, Mailchimp, a third-party provider to deliver our emails and Eventbrite, a third-party provider to manage our event guest list. When you request that we add your details to our mailing list in order to receive event invitations and email communications, MailChimp and/or Eventbrite, will receive your contact details to allow us to fulfil this request.

We use Mailchimp to gather statistics about the number of emails opened and clicks made using industry standard technologies. This helps us monitor and improve our mailings. For more information, please see MailChimp’s privacy notice. We use Eventbrite to register attendees for our live events. Attendee lists including names, emails, and places of work are then both stored on Eventbrite and also transferred over to MailChimp to our mailing list. For more information, please see Eventbrite’s privacy notice.

SPC is committed to keeping your personal information secure. We keep your personal information in secure computer systems and have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities. Personal data is always transmitted using secure means.

Whilst we strive to protect your personal information, due to the nature of the internet we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us. With this in mind, any transmission is at your own risk and we urge you to take every precaution to protect your personal information while you are online.

Data retention

In general, unless still required in connection with the purpose(s) for which it was collected and/or is processed, we remove your personal information from our records five years after the date it was collected. However, if before that date (i) your personal information is no longer required in connection with such purpose(s), (ii) we are no longer lawfully entitled to process it or (iii) you ask us to delete it, we will remove it from our records at the relevant time.

In the event that you ask us to stop sending you direct marketing/fundraising/other electronic communications, we will keep your name on our internal suppression list to ensure that you are not contacted again.

We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations.

Communications and marketing

When you express an interest in our work by requesting to be added to our mailing lists to receive our emails or event invitations, we use your email address to contact you about events, publications, and other news relating to our work.

We also contact professionals who have asked to be kept informed about our work or those who have a specific interest in an area of research or policy development in which we specialise.

Where you have provided us with your physical address, we may contact you by post; and where you have provided appropriate consent, also by e-mail, with targeted communications to let you know about our events and/or activities that we consider may be of particular interest; about the work of SPC; and to ask for support.

Information for Visitors to our Website

We make every effort to ensure the information on our website is accurate and up-to-date. We cannot accept responsibility, however, for any loss or inconvenience caused by reliance on inaccurate material contained on our site. Publications on our website use the most appropriate data available at the time of publication but are not updated to reflect subsequent data releases. Links to other sites are provided for your convenience and do not imply our endorsement of them. We cannot be responsible for any information contained on other websites. If you link to these sites, they may collect information in accordance with their own privacy policies. External sites are not within our control and are not covered by this privacy policy.

Updating information

You can check the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to update it where necessary, by emailing us at ruth.eastwood@southernpolicycentre.co.uk

Contact

Please contact the Data Protection Manager Ruth Eastwood if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed.