Privacy Statement
The Romany & Traveller Family History Society is committed to protecting your privacy
We take your privacy very seriously and will always do our best to protect your personal information. In this Privacy Statement we will tell you in plain English what information we collect and how we use it. If anything is unclear please let us know.
Two important things we’d like to tell you upfront:
- We will NEVER sell or exchange your personal information with other organisations for marketing purposes.
- You are ALWAYS in control of how we hold or use your personal information.
Please see below for more details.
For the purposes of this Privacy Statement “Data Protection Legislation” means EU Directive 95/46/EU, and from 25 May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), and the UK Data Protection Act 1998.
How we collect information
We will collect information about you when you:
- Take out a new membership with the Society.
- Renew an existing membership with the Society.
- Tell us about your research interests.
- Order books or other products and services from us either directly or through a third party such as Genfair.
- Take part in one of our events.
- Contact us through the following channels: online, email, phone, SMS, social media or by post.
- Post on our Facebook site. Depending on your privacy settings or the privacy policies of Facebook, you might give us permission to receive information about you from them.
- Visit our website. As you navigate through our website certain technical information is gathered, using various technologies and means, without you personally providing this to us. This information may include internet protocol addresses, internet tags, navigational data (“log files”, “server logs”, and “clickstream” data), the internet platform you are using and device identifiers. The Society gathers and records some of this information about your website visit and uses cookies and anonymous identifiers in order to provide you with a better, more individual web experience.
The types of information we might hold about you
The types of information we might collect and hold about you includes:
- Your name, address, email addresses and phone numbers
- Your bank details (from cheques – Bank Name, Bank Branch, Account Name, Account Number, Sort Code, Cheque Number).
- Your previous purchase history (so that we can let you know if there are new products that may be of interest to you).
- Your research interests (so that we can put you in touch with other members who share the same interests).
How we use your personal information
We will use the information we collect and hold about you for the following purposes:
- To send out your membership pack.
- To send you your copy of our quarterly journal, Romany Routes. (Please note that this is done by a third party who is also responsible for printing the journals. The third party is only sent your name and address).
- To send you books or other products you order directly from us. (Please note that, if you order our products and services indirectly from a third party such as Genfair, they will have their own Privacy Statement).
- To contact you if another member has requested your details because the share the same research interests. (Please note that we will never pass on your details without your consent).
- To contact you with membership renewal reminders.
- To email you general information (if you have joined our email group).
- To tailor internet and social media advertising according to your interests, preferences and the way you have used our website or Facebook pages.
- To inform our marketing decisions.
Please note that we may use external organisations to collect and/or process your personal information on our behalf. By agreeing to this Privacy Statement you are giving us a general written authorisation to do so in relation to the third parties listed below:
- Joshua Horgan Print & Design, Unit 2, Glenmore Business Centre, Range Road, Witney, Oxfordshire OX29 0AA – print and send out our quarterly Journal, Romany Routes.
This list is current as at the date of this Privacy Statement but may change from time to time as we look to work with partners who provide a great service and a good price. We will ensure that any future changes to this list are reflected in this Privacy Statement.
How long we keep your information for
We will hold your personal information on our systems throughout your membership and for a period of up to 6 months after the expiry of your membership. This enables us to deal with late renewals without requiring you to start the membership application process from scratch. Any personal information that is required to enable the Society to produce its annual accounts will be kept for the statutory retention period for accounts in force at the time.
How do we protect your information?
We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your information and keep it confidential, including SSL technology, encryption and firewalls.
You are in control
- You can request to see the information we hold about you at any time and ask us to correct, delete or restrict it. Please note that removing or restricting the information we hold on you may prevent us from providing the membership benefits you currently enjoy.
- You can ask us to stop using your information for any of the purposes listed above at any time.
Simply email us at membership@rtfhs.org.uk
If you are not happy with the way we have processed your data you can make a complaint to our team at enquiries@rtfhs.org.uk
If you are not happy with our response you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s Data Protection Authority – the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Changes to this Privacy Statement
This statement will be reviewed at least annually. If we make significant changes we will publish them clearly on our website or contact you directly with more information.
Got a question?
If you have any questions about your privacy or this Privacy Statement, please email us at enquiries@RTFHS.org.uk
This page last updated 17 July 2022.
