Privacy

Settle District U3A Privacy Policy 

 Settle District 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?

When you express an interest in becoming a member of Settle District U3A you will be asked to provide certain information. This includes:

  • your name
  • home address
  • email address
  • telephone numbers
  • your subscription preferences for Third Age Matters
  • your Gift Aid eligibility

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. The lawful basis for collecting and storing your information is due to the legitimate interest that Settle District U3A has in communicating with you as a member have with the U3A. In order to inform you about the groups, activities and events that you can access as a member we need to store and process a certain amount of personal data.

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 activity
  • For delivery of the Trust publication – Third Age Matters
  • For applying for Gift Aid from HMRC

We’ll send you messages by email, post, other digital methods and telephone to advise you of U3A activities. 

With whom do we share your personal information ?

We may disclose information about you, including your personal information

  • internally – to committee members and group convenors – as required to facilitate your participation in our U3A activities;
  • externally – for products or services such as direct mailing for the Trust magazine – Third Age Matters. The magazine is distributed by a third party processor and your information is shared with the distribution company via a secure online portal.  Should you not wish to receive the magazine please contact the Membership Secretary.
  • externally – to share with the Third Age Trust (charity number 288007) and Third Age Trust Trading Limited (company no. 11899419) (TATTL) to manage, develop and make improvements to the membership data system known as ‘Beacon’ which is operated by TATTL.
  • if we have a statutory duty to disclose it for legal and/or regulatory reasons. In this instance we will seek to obtain your consent.  Information would be shared without consent where there were serious safety concerns and it was felt to be in your or the U3A’s best interests to disclose information.
  • for the purposes of claiming Gift Aid from HMRC

How long do we keep your personal information?

We need to keep your information so that we can provide our services to you. As a Charity and a Gift Aid claimant we are required to keep your information for up to seven years. The exceptions to this are instances where there may be financial, legal or insurance circumstances that require information to be held for longer whilst the issues are investigated or resolved. Where this is the case member/s will be informed as to how long the information will be held for and when it is deleted. 

How your information can be updated or corrected

Settle District U3A has to ensure the personal information it holds is accurate and up to date.

Members can access and modify their personal information through Settle District U3A’s website via the ‘Membership’ tab and then the Beacon for existing members’ tab.  For members who do not wish to, or cannot access their data in this way, they must contact the Membership Secretary in writing with the required modifications. On an annual basis, you will have the opportunity to update your information, as required, via the membership renewal process. Should you wish to view the information that the U3A holds on you, you can make this request by contacting the membership secretary. 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 other individuals or for legal, investigative or security reasons. Otherwise we will usually respond within one month of the request being made.

How do we store your personal information?

Settle District U3A has 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. Security measures include the use of a management database system (Beacon). Your membership information is held securely and accessed by Committee Members and Group Leaders – as appropriate.

Availability and changes to this policy

This policy is available on our website or by contacting a committee member. This policy may change from time to time. Members will be informed via the newsletter and/or the monthly meetings when any material changes are made to Settle District U3A’s policies and procedures. 

Contact

If you have any queries about this policy, need it in an alternative format, or have any complaints about our privacy practices, please contact the Chairperson or Secretary of Settle District U3A.

This policy was adopted by Settle District U3A committee on: 06/05/2019 and amended July 2020

Policy review date: April 2023