Privacy / Data Protection Policy

Letchworth Garden City Church - Privacy / Data Protection Policy

(Includes Extra Smile Project, CAP Job Club, ROC/COACH Community Mentoring and Uniform Bank)

Letchworth Garden City Church (‘the Church”) has adopted this privacy policy as we recognise the right the right of people to keep their personal information private. This privacy policy cover’s the Church’s use of personally identifiable information that you provide and we collect or hold, including when you continue to browse and use this website www.mylgcc.com.

If you continue to browse and use this website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which, govern the Church’s relationship with you. If you disagree with any part of this policy please do not provide personal information and do not use our website.

DATA PROTECTION

Letchworth Garden City Church (‘the Church”) has adopted this privacy policy as we recognise the right the right of people to keep their personal information private. This privacy policy covers the Church’s use of personally identifiable information that you provide and we collect or hold, including when you continue to browse and use this website www.mylgcc.com.

This policy explains how the Church and its website complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), tailored by the Data Protection Act 2018, as well as the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

By providing your personal details you agree to allow the Church to contact you by mail, email, telephone or SMS text message in connection with its charitable purposes, either on the basis of the consents you have given us or for our legitimate interests in accordance with current data protection regulations.

HOW WE COLLECT 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 using the website or the MyChurchSuite service (via the web of through mobile app)

  • make a donation, by the completion of gift envelopes, via our website or other 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

The Church does not hold any debit or credit card details for donations/payments made via our website or ChurchSuite service. All card payments are handled by service providers who encrypt card information. sent from our website or ChurchSuite service.

HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

The Church will use the personal information we collect for the purpose disclosed at the time of collection, or otherwise as set out in this privacy policy. We will not use your personal information for any other purpose without first seeking your consent, unless authorised or required by law. Generally, we will only use and disclose your personal information as follows:

  • to keep you informed by email and/or text of church services, activities, resources and conferences;

  • to establish and maintain your involvement with the Church, events you have attended, what areas and activities of the Church you have supported, record and acknowledge any donation, and to provide the product(s) you may have requested;

  • to answer an inquiry or request for further information or complaint about the Church, its services, activities and events;

  • to register you for services, other events and conferences;

  • to assist us to make the Church’s websites, services and products more valuable to our community;

  • for promotion of products or services and to keep you informed of new developments we believe may be of interest to you. If we contact you in this way without obtaining your prior consent, we will provide you with the opportunity to decline any further promotional communications;

  • to improve our general ability to assist Church attendees and the wider community;

  • to assist the Church and its leadership with management of issues relating to the Church; and

  • to enable the Pastors of LGCC to occasionally personally and directly communicate with you.

WHO SEES YOUR INFORMATION

The information you provide to us will be held on computers in the UK and the European Union and may be accessed by or given to our staff at LGCC for the purposes set out in this policy or for other purposes approved by you. The Church’s staff and approved volunteers may process information, fulfil and deliver orders, process debit/credit card payments and provide support services on our behalf.

We do not sell or pass any of your personal information to any other organisations and/or individuals without your express consent.

By providing us with your details you are giving the Church your express permission to transfer your data to our service providers including database providers (such as ChurchSuite) and mailing houses (such as Mallchimp), to enable fulfilment of the purpose for collection.

Where such details are shared we have confidentiality agreements in place that restrict the use of your information to the purpose for which it is provided and ensure it is stored securely and kept no longer than necessary.

We do not intend to store or currently store financial details (credit or debit card numbers) obtained through online transactions. We do not store details online nor do we pass any information to third parties, except where we are legally required to do so (e.g. to assist fraud reduction) or to provide a service requested and minimise credit risks.

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.

KEEPING DETAILS UP TO DATE

Please tell us as soon as any of your contact details change so that we can keep our records up to date.  You can update your own record quickly and simply by using the MyChurchSuite service/app - Please let the church Office know if you have any difficulties accessing this system.

You can change the way we contact you by updating your communication settings.  You can do this anytime in MyChurchSuite, or by clicking the 'manage communication' link at the bottom of our emails.  Alternatively simply contact us direct by email, telephone (or post) using the contact details below.

You can unsubscribe from our regular emails or texts at any time by updating your communication preferences or by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of our emails.

ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION

You can request access to the personal information that the Church holds about you by contacting the Church’s Operations Manager as set out below. We will provide you with access to your personal information unless we are legally authorised to refuse your request.

If you wish to change personal information that is out of date or inaccurate then you can update your records yourself (as described above) or contact the Church Office direct and we will take all reasonable steps to correct the information we hold on you. If you wish to have your personal information deleted please let us know and we will delete that information wherever practicable.

We may refuse your request to access, amend or delete your personal information in certain circumstances. If we do refuse your request, we will provide you with a reason for our decision and, in the case of amendment, we will note with your personal information that you have disputed its accuracy.

SECURITY

The Church will take reasonable steps to keep secure any personal information, which we hold and to keep this information accurate and up to date. Personal information, held electronically, is stored in a secure server or secure files.

The Internet is not a secure method of transmitting information. Accordingly, the Church cannot accept responsibility for the security of information you send to or receive from us over the Internet or for any unauthorised access or use of that information. We take security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage. Your information will be held for a reasonable period or as long as the law requires or permits.

COOKIES POLICY

Cookies are small amounts of information that we store on your computer when browsing our website. Unless you chosen otherwise in your internet browser settings, our system will issue cookies to your computer when you view our website. Cookies make it easier for you to view and use the site during future visits. They also help to monitor website traffic and to personalise the content of the site for you but will not store save or collect personal information. You may set up your computer to reject cookies although, in that case, you may not be able to use certain features on our site.

LINKS

Our website may also include external links to other websites. Links provided by the Church are for your convenience to provide further information.

We use websites such as Vimeo and YouTube to embed videos on our website, service providers such as ChurchSuite, MailChimp and Google Analytics and you may be sent cookies from them via our site. Please look at the cookie and privacy policies on these third-party sites if you want more information about this.

Our website may also contain sponsored links and adverts. These may typically be through partner ministries or service providers, who may have their own detailed privacy policies. Unless it is material supplied or posted by the Church we do not endorse the website(s) and have no responsibility for the content of the linked website(s) nor for the cookies they may contain.

Users should therefore note they click on external links at their own risk and we cannot be held liable for any damages or implications caused by visiting any external links.

SOCIAL MEDIA

The Church uses social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as services such as WhatsApp and YouTube. Users must verify authenticity of sites before posting or providing personal information on such sites.

Our website may provide social media buttons, permitting sharing our web content directly to a social media, platform. Use of such buttons is at your own risk.

Unless it is material supplied or officially posted by the Church we do not endorse social media website(s) and have no responsibility for the content nor for the cookies they may contain.

The Church does not ask for passwords nor personal details on social media (though you are invited to link your social media account to your ChurchSuite records).

DOWNLOADS

Any documents or files made available to download from our website are provided at user’s own risk.

CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

The Church may amend this privacy policy from time to time to ensure compliance with changes or amendments to the law of the UK. Any amended version will be available on our website at www.mylgcc.com. We suggest that you visit our website regularly to keep up to date with any changes.

CONTACT DETAILS

If you would like any further information, or have any queries, problems or complaints relating to the Church’s privacy policy or our information handling practices in general, please contact our Operations Manager by:
Emailing: info@mylgcc.co.uk, or
Writing to the Operations Manager, Letchworth Garden City Church, The Icknield Centre, Icknield Way, Letchworth Garden City, Herts. SG6 1EF, or
Telephoning +44 (0)1462 480126

ORGANISATION DETAILS

Letchworth Garden City Church is part of Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance, Registered charity 251549 (England & Wales) and SC037754 (Scotland).
Registered Office: Elim International Office, De Walden Road, Malvern, WR14 4DF,

May 2021