Privacy Policy of Minster Abbey

St. Mildred’s Abbey, known as Minster Abbey, Charity Number 232635   is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and any subsequent UK legislation covering data protection the Data Controller is the Charity.

This Policy sets out why we collect personal information about individuals and how we use that information. It explains the legal basis for this and the rights you have over the way your information is used.

This Policy covers the Charity in relation to the collection and use of the information you give us. We may change this Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes we will advertise this on our websites or contact you directly with the information. Please check this page occasionally to make sure you are happy with any changes.

If you have any questions about this Policy or concerning your personal information please contact Mother Nikola Proksch OSB, by letter, to Minster Abbey.

Minster Abbey
Church St.
Minster, Ramsgate, Kent
CT12 4HF

What type of personal information we collect

The type and amount of information we collect depends on why you are providing it.  The information we collect when you make an enquiry or a prayer request will usually include your name, email address and the reason for contacting the Charity.  This information is collected so that we can respond to your enquiry or prayer request. In making an enquiry or prayer request you may include further information that either identifies you or another person.  If you are providing us with information about another person, please ensure that you have got their permission before doing so. You may be providing us with information about your or another’s religious beliefs and state of health which are both special categories of personal data.

If you are coming as a residential guest we will ask for your name and contact details, dietary requirements and mobility needs.  This information is required in order for us to provide for your needs whilst visiting the Abbey.  This information will be kept for a reasonable time, and not be handed to a third party.

If you are a supporter, for example making a donation or volunteering, in addition to asking for your name and contact details we may also ask you for your reasons for supporting the Charity.

If you are a grant or job applicant, the information the Charity asks you to provide, is as set out as necessary for the purpose of our considering the application.

If you supply goods or services to the Charity, we will collect personal information of the individual contact or contacts that the Charity requires in relation to arranging those goods or services.  Usually this will be a name, job role, work email address and work telephone number.

When you sign up for our newsletter, we will collect your full name and email address so that we can send this newsletter to you.

How we collect information

We may collect information from you whenever you contact us or have any involvement with us for example when you:

• visit our websites
• donate to us
• apply to visit our Guest House
• apply to visit the Abbey for a Tour
• volunteer for us
• enquire about our activities or services
• submit a prayer request
• sign up to receive our newsletters
• attend a meeting with us and provide us with information
• take part in our events
• Contact us in any way including online, email, phone, SMS, social media or post.

How we use your information

We will use your personal information in a number of ways which reflect the legal basis applying to processing of your data. These may include:

• providing you with the information, advice or services you have asked for
• organising volunteering activity you have told us you want to be involved in
• sending you communications with your consent that may be of interest including our newsletter about our services and activities,
• when necessary for carrying out your obligations under any contract between us
• seeking your views on the services or activities we carry on so that we can make improvements
• maintaining our organisational records and ensuring we know how you prefer to be contacted
• analysing the operation of our websites and analysing your website behaviour to improve the websites and their usefulness
• publishing material that you have provided on our websites e.g. articles that you have written for our newsletter
• Posting pictures on our website or in our newsletters, with your permission.

Our legal basis for processing your information

The use of your information for the purposes set out above is lawful because one or more of the following applies:

Where you have provided information to us for the purposes of requesting information or requesting that we carry out a service for you, we will proceed on the basis that you have given consent to us using the information for that purpose, based on the way that you provided the information to us. For example, if you sign up to receive our newsletter by email, we will obtain your email address to send you the newsletter. You may withdraw consent at any time by emailing us at minsternuns@gmail.com.  This will not affect the lawfulness of processing of your information prior to your withdrawal of consent.

It is necessary for us to hold and use your information so that we can carry out our obligations under a contract entered into with you.

It is necessary to comply with our legal obligations. For example, we are required to retain records of donations for six years in order to comply with relevant tax legislation.

How we keep your information safe

We understand the importance of security of your personal information and take appropriate steps to safeguard it.

Our websites have security measures in place that protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of the personal information that the Charity handles in operating its website.  We always ensure only authorised persons have access to your information, which means only members of the Minster Abbey community have access who are appropriately trained to manage your information.

Our electronically stored data is password protected from unauthorised access. All computers containing data are protected by reputable security software and a firewall.   When the data is stored on paper: it is kept in a safe place and destroyed when no longer required.

No data transmission over the internet can however be guaranteed to be 100% secure. So while we strive to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you provide online and you do this at your own risk.  For instance, we would urge users of our websites and individuals emailing us to be careful about including sensitive personal data in these communications.

Who has access to your information?

• Third parties who provide services for us, our legal advisers, and our accountants. We select our third party service providers with care. We provide these third parties with the information that is necessary to provide the service.
• Analytics and search engine providers that help us to improve our websites and their use.
• Third parties in connection with restructuring or reorganisation of our operations, for example if we merge with another charity. In such an event we will take steps to ensure your privacy rights will be protected by the third party.

We may also disclose your personal information if we are required to do so under any legal obligation and may use external data for the purposes of fraud prevention.

Other than this, we will not share your information with other organisations without your consent.

Keeping your information up to date

We really appreciate it if you let us know if your contact details change. You can do so by contacting us at minsternuns@gmail.com

If you have subscribed to our newsletter there is a good chance you will receive emails from us. We will only send you emails which you have signed up to receive, or which pertain to the services we provided to you. To send you emails, we use the name and email address you provide us. No identifiable information is otherwise tracked outside this website except for the email address.  To ensure privacy of your email when sending emails to large groups or mailing lists we will use “BCC” mailing system.

Children’s Information

We appreciate that individuals communicating with the Charity may be of all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.  If a situation arises where we do need to obtain consent to collect information about children who are under 16, we will ask for consent from a parent or guardian to collect that information. We remind parents/guardians that they have the primary obligation to ensure that their children’s use of the internet is well supervised.

How long we keep your information for

We will hold your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the relevant activity. By way of example, we hold records of donations you make for at least six years so we can fulfil our statutory obligations for tax purposes.

Where we rely on your consent to contact you for marketing purposes (e.g. by way of sending you our newsletter), we will treat your consent as lasting only for as long as it is reasonable to do so. This will usually be for two years. We may periodically ask you to renew your consent.

If you ask us to stop contacting you with marketing or fundraising materials, we will keep a record of your contact details and limited information needed to ensure we comply with your request.

Your rights

You have the right to request details of the processing activities that we carry out with your personal information through making a Subject Access Request.  Such requests have to be made in writing.  To make a request contact us at minsternuns@gmail.com

You also have the following rights:

• Request a copy of any data held about you.
• Request correction of any inaccurate or out-of-date data
• Request that personal data is erased when it is no longer necessary for the legitimate purposes of the data controller

If you are not happy with the way in which we have processed or dealt with your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Policy may be changed from time to time and we will advertise this on our website. If we make any significant changes we will contact you directly with the information.

Do please check this Policy each time you consider giving your personal information to us.

This Policy was last updated in September 2021.