Data Protection and Privacy Policy

GDHOTE uses personal data about living individuals for the purpose of general church administration and communication.

GDHOTE recognises the importance of the correct and lawful treatment of personal data. All personal data, whether it is held on paper, on computer or other media, will be subject to the appropriate legal safeguards as specified in the General Data Protection Regulation 2017.

GDHOTE fully endorses and adheres to the eight principles of the GDPR. These principles specify the legal conditions that must be satisfied in relation to obtaining, handling, processing, transportation and storage of personal data. Employees and any others who obtain, handle, process, transport and store personal data for GDHOTE must adhere to these principles.

The Principles
The principles require that personal data shall:

1. Be processed fairly and lawfully and shall not be processed unless certain conditions are met.
2. Be obtained for a specified and lawful purpose and shall not be processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose.
3. Be adequate, relevant and not excessive for those purposes.
4. Be accurate and where necessary, kept up to date.
5. Not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose.
6. Be processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights.
7. Be kept secure from unauthorised or unlawful processing and protected against accidental loss, destruction or damage by using the appropriate technical and organisational measures.
8. Not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area, unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

1. How we collect data and information about you

We collect personal information each time you are in contact with us. For example, when you:

• Visit our website;
• Register your details and your family details, at http://www.gdhote.org or via an embedded form on our website or social media
• Make a donation, by completion of offering envelopes, text, via our website or electronic means;
• Register for a conference or other Church event;
• Provide your contact details, in writing or orally, to Church staff or volunteers;
• Purchase goods or services, including when you provide credit or debit card details;
• When you attend church services or participate in other Church activities;
• Communicate with the Church by means such as email, letter, telephone;
• Face to face meetings with staff and volunteers;
• Access social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram

2. Maintaining Confidentiality
GDHOTE will treat all your personal information as private and confidential and not disclose any data about you to anyone other than the leadership and ministry overseers/co-coordinators of the church in order to facilitate the administration and day-to-day ministry of the church.

All GDHOTE staff and volunteers who have access to Personal Data will be required to agree to sign a Confidentiality Policy and a Data Protection Policy.

There are four exceptional circumstances to the above permitted by law:

1. Where we are legally compelled to do so.
2. Where there is a duty to the public to disclose.
3. Where disclosure is required to protect your interest.
4. Where disclosure is made at your request or with your consent.

3. Use of Personal Information
GDHOTE will use your data for three main purposes:

1. The day-to-day administration of the church; e.g. pastoral care and oversight including calls and visits, preparation of ministry rotas, maintaining financial records of giving for audit and tax purposes.
2. Contacting you to keep you informed of church services, activities, resources and events.
3. Statistical analysis; gaining a better understanding of church demographics.

N.B. although collated church data may be passed to a third party, such as number of small groups or small group’s attendance, no personal data will be disclosed.

The Database
Information contained on the database will not be used for any other purposes than set out in this section. The database is accessed through the cloud and therefore, can be accessed through any computer or smart device with internet access. The server for the database is in the UK and hosted by TBC.

1. Access to the database is strictly controlled through the use of name specific passwords, which are selected by the individual.
2. Those authorised to use the database only have access to their specific area of use within the database. This is controlled by the Data Controller and other specified administrators. These are the only people who can access and set these security parameters. 
3. People who will have secure and authorised access to the database include GDHOTE Trustees, Staff, data in-putters, Dept. heads, Ministry Team Leaders, Life Group Leaders. 
4. All access and activity on the database is logged and can be viewed by the Database Controller.
5. Subject Access – all individuals who are the subject of personal data held by GDHOTE are entitled to: 

• Ask what information the church holds about them and why. 
• Ask how to gain access to it.
• Be informed how to keep it up to date. 
• Be informed what GDHOTE is doing to comply with its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation 2017

6. Personal information will not be passed onto any third parties outside of the church environment. For clarity may pass your details to associated organisations such as Audacious Foundation, Endeavour Worldwide, Live Audacious or Audacious conferencing. We do not sell or pass any of your personal information to any other organisations and/or individuals without your express consent, with the following exceptions: by providing us with your details you are giving the Church your express permission to transfer your data to service providers including mailing houses, such as MailChimp, to enable fulfilment of the purpose for collection.
7. Sensitive Personal Information: The Church may collect and store sensitive personal information such as health information, religious information (church attendance) when you and/or your family attend, register for church events and conferences.
Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential. It is never sold, given away, or otherwise shared with anyone, unless required, by law.

Rights to Access Information
Employees and other subjects of personal data held by GDHOTE have the right to access any personal data that is being held in certain manual filing systems. This right is subject to certain exemptions: Personal Information may be withheld if the information relates to another individual.

Any person who wishes to exercise this right should make the request in writing to the GDHOTE Data Officer, using the standard letter which is available online from www.ico.gov.uk.

Please address all correspondance to:
FAO: The Data Protection Officer
GDHOTE
tbc
or emailing [email protected]

If personal details are inaccurate, they can be amended upon request.

GDHOTE aims to comply with requests for access to personal information as quickly as possible but will ensure that it is provided within 30 days of receipt of a completed form unless there is good reason for delay. In such cases, the reason for delay will be explained in writing to the individual making the request.

Data protection Policy understanding and acceptance

Name:
Position/ role:
Dept:

I function in the roles below (please circle those that are applicable)

Staff member

Data input team member

Trustee

Regional pastor

Dept head

Life group leader

Sunday team leader

Team member

I have read and understood this policy and agree to adhere to its contents.

Signed:

Date: