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Privacy Policy

Smawthorne Community Church (SCC), part of the Apostolic Church UK (charity number 284789), is committed to protecting your privacy and security. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our users while providing a personalised and valuable service. This Privacy Policy covers SCC's use of personal information which is provided by you, what we collect or hold, whether that is in person, over the phone, written information or electronically (via use of our website, third-party sites such as ChurchSuite, Eventbrite or online communication such as by email).

Website Use

By continuing to browse and use this website, you are agreeing to comply and be bound with the terms and conditions set out in this policy. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please do not provide any personal information and do not use our website.

This policy is in place to explain how SCC and its website comply with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations which came into effect from 25th May 2018. It also complies with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. We reserve the right to amend this policy should there be any changes to the laws which would require us to do so. By providing any personal information, you give permission for SCC to contact you by mail, email, telephone or SMS text message in connection with its charitable purposes. This is based upon the methods of communication that you have given SCC consent for or by means of legitimate interest in accordance with current data protection regulations.

How We Collect Your Information

Personal information is collected each time you are in contact with us. This can be done so by the following examples:

  • Forms, whether filled out manually or electronically
  • Signing up to events, activities via online or in person
  • By registering your personal details with us and using Church-suite's related functions, such as MyChurchSuite and Connect (either through by the web of mobile app)
  • Social media platforms
  • Email communications
  • Making donations, by completing giving envelopes, card payments, gift aid declarations, online and electronically
  • Payments and donations made by credit or debit cards*
  • Visiting our website
  • CCTV
  • Face to face conversations and meetings (Including Pastoral Care Meetings)
  • Communication including but not limited to in person, email, telephone, letters
  • Interactions in church services, events, conferences, classes and other church activities.

*The Church does not hold any credit or debit card details for donations/payments. Any donation or payment made through an online means such as through our website or our third-party sites such as ChurchSuite or Eventbrite are handled by the service providers and encrypt card information.

In addition, personal information may be collected if you voluntarily complete one of our surveys.

How We Use Your Information

Information that we collect is used for the purposes that is stated at the time of collection or as stated in this policy. We will not use your information for any other purpose than what is set out in this policy without first seeking your consent, unless authorised or required by law. Your information may be used generally in the following ways:

  • Informing of church services, events & activities, resources, conferences.
  • Event, conferences, and activities sign up and in the management of these, including communication regarding further information about these events, conferences and activities.
  • Communication with you regarding any queries or complaints made regarding the church, its services, activities and events.
  • To help make our church website, services and products more suitable to our community.
  • Promotion of products/services, keeping you informed of developments that we believe would be of interest to you. If we contact you in this way without gaining prior consent, there will be an opportunity to decline further promotional communications.
  • Improve our general ability to assist church attendees and the wider community.
  • To enable the church leadership with the management of issues relating to the church.
  • Enable our leaders to occasionally, personally and directly, communicate with you.

The legal basis for processing sensitive data is similar to that for data more generally; explicit consent and legitimate interest.

ChurchSuite App

If you have consented (opted-in) to being on our SCC database app (provided currently by ChurchSuite) you may have been given login details so that you can update your details and preferences for how much data is visible to the rest of the church family. Alternatively you can contact us at any time to have your details removed from our contact list, or to update your information or to otherwise tell us how you would like to receive information about our products and services – the choice is yours. (Please note that if you do ask to be removed then it will prevent you from receiving key information such as events, urgent information relating to church services and potential last minute changes etc)

To update your preferences or request login access to your data please email and quote your name in the body of the email and tell us what you want us to do (i.e. ‘unsubscribe newsletter’ and we will action this request).

N.B: WE NEVER SHARE PERSONAL DATA AND CONTACT DETAILS WITH THIRD PARTIES

Disclosure of Information

We will never sell your personal information with other organisations.

We will not share your personal information with other organisations for marketing purposes unless you give your explicit consent on a case by case basis.

We may share your personal information with certain third parties including:

  • Other churches – ONLY if you give us explicit consent for us to pass on your information either to them or from them (if you move)
  • Support services and benefits providers (e.g. local authorities, your doctor)
  • Our software providers who need to see your information in order to keep our website up and running and to process any gift aid contributions
  • Analytics and search engine providers who analyse information about your use of our website and help us to tailor the product and offers that we offer to you and other users
Storage and Security of Personal Information

SCC will take reasonable steps to keep any personal information held, secure, accurate and up to date as possible. Personal information that is held electronically, is stored in a secure server or secure files.

The internet is not a secure method of transmitting information. Accordingly, SCC cannot accept responsibility for the security of information you send to or receive from us over the internet or for any unauthorised access or use of that information. We take security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage. Your information will be held for a reasonable period or as long as the law requires or permits.

Churchsuite security information is found here.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that we store on your computer when browsing our website for the first time, this helps to recognise your computer or device the next time you visit. Unless you changed your internet browser settings accordingly, our system will issue cookies to your computer when you view the website. Cookies make it easier for you to view and use the website. They also help us to monitor our website traffic, identify and fix any issues that may occur and review our website to see which pages are more popular and to personalise the content of the site for you but will not store, save or collect personal information. You may set up your computer to reject cookies, although in that case, you may not be able to use certain features on our site. 

Links

This website may also contain links to other websites. Links provided by SCC are for our convenience to provide further information. We may use websites such as YouTube and Vimeo to embed videos on our website; we also use service providers such as ChurchSuite and MailChimp, who may also send you Cookies via our site. Please refer to the Cookie and Privacy Policies on these third-party sites if you would like more information regarding this. Our website may also contain sponsored links and adverts. These may typically be through partner ministries or service providers, who may have their own detailed privacy policies. Unless it is material supplied or posted by SCC or the Apostolic Church, we do not endorse the website(s) and have no responsibility for the content of the linked website(s) nor for any damages or implications caused by visiting any external links.

Social Media

SCC uses social media such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube. Users must verify authenticity of sites before posting or providing personal information on such sites.

Our website may provide social media buttons, permitting sharing our website content directly to a social media platform. Use of such buttons is at your own risk. Unless it is material supplied or officially posted by SCC, we do not endorse social media website(s) and have no responsibility for the content nor for the cookies they contain.

SCC does not ask for passwords or personal details on social media (though you are invited to link your social media account to your ChurchSuite records of your own choice).

Downloads

Any document, file or podcast made available to download from our website or social media platforms is at the user’s own risk.

CCTV

We use CCTV on our premises for security purposes. This data collected is stored in a secure area and is only available to be seen by authorised members of the Leadership Team. You can make a request to view the CCTV of your personal information. We may refuse your request to access your personal information in certain circumstances. If your access request is refused, we will provide you with a reason for our decision which will be recorded as a note on your personal information.

Controlling Your Personal Information and you legal rights

You have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
  • Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
  • Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms

Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:

(a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy;

(b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it;

(c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;

(d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

  • Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
  • Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.
  • If you no longer wish to remain on any of our databases / lists, you can ask for your data to be removed at any time by making a request to our Data Protection Officer (Contact Details Below). It may take up to 30 days to process your request, but we aim to deal with requests as soon as possible.
Changes to this policy

SCC have the right to amend this privacy policy from time to time to ensure compliance with changes or amendments to the law of the UK. Any amended version will be made available on our website.

We would suggest that you visit our website regularly to keep up to date with any changes.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about this privacy policy or about the way your data is being used, please contact us by filling out an online form or sending a letter to: 51-53 Beancroft Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 5BP

If you think we have processed your personal data unlawfully or that we have not complied with GDPR, you can also report your concerns to the supervisory authority in your jurisdiction. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”). You can call the ICO on 0303 123 1113 or get in touch via other means, as set out on the ICO website.

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