EcoLocal understands that privacy and the security of your personal information are extremely important. This policy explains what we do with your information, how we keep it secure, where and how we collect it, and the rights you have over the personal information we hold.
1. What information do we collect from you?
We may collect personal information about you when you contact us regarding any aspect of our work—for example, projects, volunteering, courses, events, meetings, bookings, enquiries or surveys. We ensure we only collect information necessary to provide an appropriate service and only what is reasonable and fair. The legal basis for processing your personal information is usually your consent.
The information we collect may include:
• Information you provide to us that is relevant to the service you are accessing, such as your name, address, date of birth, telephone number, email address, bank account details and any feedback you give us by phone, email, post or via social media.
• Information about the services we provide to you (including, for example, what we have provided, when and where, what you paid, and how you use our services).
• Information about how you use our website through the use of cookies.
• Your contact details and details of the emails or electronic communications you receive from us, including regular bulletins via Mailchimp/email.
• Details of your attendance at events or participation in projects.
• Details of transactions and fulfilment of your orders, including products, invoices and payment receipts.
• Records of correspondence if you contact us.
If you do not wish to provide personal information, please let us know. In some cases, we may not be able to process your request, and we will explain this at the time.
2. How we use your information
Personal information you supply may be used in a number of ways, including to:
• help us understand more about you and your needs and improve our services;
• provide you with the services you requested;
• ensure efficient and accurate administration;
• process payments or requests;
• prevent fraud and ensure that volunteers and partner organisations are genuine;
• conduct market research (ourselves or via reputable agencies);
• carry out statistical analysis, including:
o providing services to the wider community using anonymised information;
o supporting grant funding applications and monitoring using anonymised information;
• help answer your questions and resolve issues.
We keep your personal information only for as long as necessary and destroy it securely after a set period. For those subscribed to our online mailing system, we retain your details until you unsubscribe. For projects, we keep your details for as long as you participate and up to three years after you stop.
3. How we keep your information safe
We take a range of security measures to protect your information, including:
• limiting access to our building and project sites to authorised individuals (e.g., identity passes, key/door controls);
• implementing access controls on our IT systems, including firewalls, ID verification and logical or physical separation of systems and information;
• never requesting that you share passwords;
• restricting access to paper-based information to those who need it.
4. How we share your information
We will not disclose your personal information to any organisation or individual outside EcoLocal without your consent, except:
• to help prevent fraud; or
• if required to do so by law.
5. Your Rights
a) Access, correction and withdrawal
You have the right to:
• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• request corrections if the information is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to remove your data from our records.
To do this, please contact EcoLocal on 020 8404 1522. We will respond within one month.
b) Subject Access Requests (Your Right of Access)
You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you. This is known as a Subject Access Request (SAR).
To make a SAR, please contact us using the details below. We may ask you to confirm your identity to ensure the request is from the correct person. We will provide the information within one month unless the request is unusually large or complex, in which case we may extend this by up to two further months. If an extension is necessary, we will notify you within the initial one-month period.
SARs are always free of charge unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive, in which case we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse the request in accordance with data protection regulations.
c) Freedom of Information
EcoLocal is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. We are not a public authority and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This means we are not required to respond to FOI requests.
However, you may still request access to your personal data through a Subject Access Request as detailed above.
6. Changes to our privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review and place any updates on this webpage.
7. Further information
If you would like further details on:
• how your information is used,
• how we maintain security,
• your rights over the information we hold, or
• how long we store your information,
please contact us at info@ecolocal.org.uk
