Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy

Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce (“the Chamber”) honours the rights of its members, employees and other users’ including website visitors’ right to privacy and data protection. The Chamber is fully committed to complying with the provisions of all applicable UK General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”). This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) describes how the Chamber collects, uses, shares, and retains personally identifiable information. The Policy is effective as of 25^th May 2018. It was amended on 01 January 2021 by regulations under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, to reflect the UK’s status outside the EU. The policy will be continuously assessed against new technologies, business practices, regulatory changes and the evolving needs of the Chamber and the services provided by the Chamber. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s Data Protection Authority.

Data Controller

The data controller for all personal data collected is Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce with its registered office at Severn House, Prescott Drive, Worcester, WR4 9NE. This means that we are responsible for deciding what data we collect and how we hold and use your personal data. We will implement appropriate data security measures for protecting the data from unauthorised access and loss, as laid out in the Security section of this Policy.

Data Collection

The Chamber collects and maintains a variety of personally identifiable information, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, payment information, social media profiles, business addresses, demographic information such as the local authority area or industry sector of the business and details of Chamber services the users may be interested in such as, but not limited to, international trade opportunities, events and training courses. The Chamber collects information directly from individuals or from the businesses employing the individuals. The information could be collected through e-mails, phone calls, online registration forms, event registration forms and face to face meetings and any other processes. The Chamber does not collect personal data about individuals except when there is a legitimate business requirement or when such information is provided on a voluntary basis.

Users should also be aware that non-personal information and data may be automatically collected through the standard operation of the Chamber’s web servers, and by the use of cookies technology and/or Internet Protocol (“IP”) address tracking. Non-personal identification information might include the browser used by you, the type of computer, the operating systems, the Internet service providers, and other similar information. The Chamber’s web server also automatically gathers information about the top viewed and visited pages and links on our website, top entry and exit points, number of form completions, time spent on pages, top downloads, top keywords used offsite to lead customers to our website, your internet protocol (IP) address, information collected via cookies, the areas you visit on the website, the links you may select from within the website to other external websites and device event information such as system activity, crashes, hardware settings, browser type etc. Most browsers are set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent; however, if you disable cookies, the full functionality of the Chamber’s websites may not be available to you. The information thus collected enables us to develop and customise our services better to meet your needs and preferences, and to bring to your attention member services, events, networking opportunities and training courses.

Purpose of Processing

The personal data collected is used by the Chamber to give you information relating to Chamber membership, the Chamber’s website, other Chamber services, customer administration, prospecting new members, account management, to process and respond to queries received from the public or other relevant stakeholders, to contact you to seek your views or comments on emerging political or economic issues and to send marketing communications on the Chamber’s behalf. The Chamber may perform statistical analyses of user behaviour and characteristics to measure interest in and the use of various sections of the website.

The personal data held by the Chamber may also be used on an aggregate basis without any personal identifiers to; provide third parties with information, such as the composition of membership, help us develop new member services and products, improve the features and content of the website or other marketing material, and to provide sponsors and others with aggregate information about our members, website users and their usage patterns in relation to services and/or the website.

We may disclose the member contact details to a third party , but only where it is required by law, where it is otherwise allowed under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) or where we have obtained your consent to do so.

Your personal data may also be shared within the Chamber, with our external service partners (Affinity Service partners) who deliver membership services for and on behalf of the Chamber and with the British Chamber of Commerce in order to inform you, and seek your views in national policy surveys.

They will only have access to your information if it is needed to fulfil your membership and deliver your membership services . These providers are obliged to keep your details securely and use them only to fulfil your request or deliver the service.

If you or your company are a current member of Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, opting out of promotional emails will not stop all communication from us. By becoming a member of the Chamber, your firm is signing you up to receive certain information related to the organisation to provide contractual services to you.

If you are not a member of the Chamber or if your or your company’s membership has lapsed, you can choose to opt in or out of further contact with us. We also receive non-member data through networking (e.g. business cards, event registrations) and add these details, if relevant, onto our CRM or other data management system. We may on occasion purchase ‘opt-in’ data (lists from reputable providers) for promotional campaigns.

The British Chambers of Commerce:

The Chamber is part of a network of Chambers of Commerce across the UK accredited by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). One purpose of the Chamber is to “influence the function of …any governmental body”. We will provide BCC with your company’s email address in order for BCC to conduct research into the impact of policies on your business.

What does the BCC do with your data?

BCC will not contact your business for any other purpose other than to notify you of an opportunity to respond to a national policy survey. Each year, BCC conducts around five surveys which directly help us develop and shape Government policy across a range of areas, including business taxation, international trade, and employment. The data from these surveys are completely anonymised and aggregated so that individual responses cannot be identified. The anonymised data are then presented in closed briefings with stakeholders across UK Government, and shared publicly through BCC’s press team.

The purpose of carrying out the surveys is to produce reports, which BCC and the Chambers can then use in their activities in promoting and protecting the interests of UK businesses; in other words, they are part and parcel of the function and purpose of BCC and the Chamber.  There is never any marketing or commercial purpose to the surveys, and BCC does not carry out surveys on behalf of any third party.

You can contact us if you do not wish to be contacted by BCC, and you will have the opportunity to unsubscribe from BCC’s research mailing list at any point.

Data retention

The personal data collected is stored in the Chamber’s CRM system and other appropriate data management systems, both paper based and electronic. Personally identifiable information will only be disclosed to third parties where contractual non-disclosure agreements are in place or if permission has first been obtained from the user. The data will not be transferred to any agency located outside the EU. At regular intervals, we will:

• review the length of time we keep your personal data for
• consider the purpose or purposes for which we hold your personal data for in deciding whether (and for how long) to retain it
• securely delete information that is no longer needed for that purpose or those purposes
• update, archive or securely delete information if it goes out of date.

Security

The Chamber uses reasonable measures to safeguard personally identifiable information. The implemented measures will be appropriate to the type of information maintained and compliance with all relevant legislation governing protection of personal information. Measures are implemented to preserve the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the personal information. We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to employees, contractors or agents who have a legitimate business need to have access to that data. The employees, contractors or agents will process your personal data in accordance with our instructions.

They will be subject to a duty of confidentiality and due care with respect to handling the personal data. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so. The Chamber’s employees are trained in data security and information protection. Relevant areas of the Chamber’s website will employ Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) or Transport Layer Security (“TLS”) encryption technology to enhance data privacy and help prevent loss, misuse, or alteration of the information collected and retained by the Chamber.

Links to Third-Party Sites

Where appropriate and only for its legitimate business needs, the Chamber may provide links to third-party web sites or advertisements which contain links to third-party sites. These links are provided as a service to website users. The linked third-party websites are operated by independent entities that have their own privacy policies. This Privacy Policy does not apply to such other websites or to the use that such entities make of your information. The Chamber has no control over the content displayed on such sites, nor over the measures, if any, that are taken by such sites to protect the privacy of your information. The Chamber’s website may also contain third party advertisements, or other content that contains advertisers’ own cookies or tracking technologies. The Chamber does not control the use of those technologies.

Opt-Out

The Chamber is a membership organisation and maintains contact information on its members for contractual and legitimate business interests, to communicate information on membership, events, training courses, policy and research, international trade and any other Chamber products or services. The Chamber also sends promotional material promoting its events, training courses, membership services, business support services, policy and research work and other relevant offerings. From time to time, the Chamber collaborates with other relevant organisations and companies to promote other programmes that may be of interest to members and the wider business community. In such cases, the Chamber does not provide these organisations with any personally identifiable information but may distribute the member organisation’s information on their behalf to those who may legitimately benefit from receiving such information or have elected to receive such information. If you do not wish to receive such marketing material, you may opt out. Every marketing e-mail will include an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom. You may also notify the Chamber in writing as set out below.

Social media

We may use third party provided tools to manage our social media interactions. If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message may be stored by these third party tools. Like other personal data, these direct messages will not be shared with any other organisations.

Access, Review and Correction

The General Data Protection Regulations gives you the right to access your personal data held by us (“subject access request”). If you have an established business relationship with the Chamber, you may request from us a list of the categories of personal information held about you. Subject access requests must be made in writing to the details below. We will endeavour to respond to the request within a reasonable period and in any event within one month as required by the relevant provisions in the GDPR.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. We will take all reasonable measures to ensure that the personal data we hold about you is accurate. We have also implemented procedures to enable you to review and correct your personal information, should there be any changes to your circumstances or errors in the gathered data. When you make a request to access or review the personal data we hold about you, we will request you to verify your identity before the request can be fulfilled.

Privacy Rights

In addition to your rights of access, review and correction, you have the right to object to your personal data being processed for any particular purpose, or to request that we stop using your information. If you wish to exercise these rights, please e-mail [email protected] or send a letter marked “Data Protection” to the Chamber’s offices at Severn House, Prescott Drive, Worcester, WR4 9NE. If you have further concerns about how we use your personal data, you also have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the data protection authority for the UK. Please visit https://ico.org.uk/ for more details on your data protection rights and how to contact them.

This privacy policy was last updated on 16th December 2021.