Gospel Standard Trust Privacy Policy

1. Information about us

     The Gospel Standard Trust (‘GST’) is a registered charity and our registration number is 249781. Our web site is https://www.gospelstandard.org.uk/. We are a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under company number 00884708. Our main trading address is 12(b) Roundwood Lane, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 3BZ. Telephone: 01582 765448.
     GST is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are responsible for protecting your personal information as a “data controller” under applicable data protection legislation. If you have any queries about this policy or how we use your personal information, please contact us using the details at Contact Us.
     This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us.  Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. By visiting our website you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.
     Our nominated person for data protection is Mr J.A. Kingham who can be contacted at the address above.

2. What information do we collect?

     We collect personal data as defined by applicable data protection legislation (‘personal information’).
We collect information about:
  • • Trustees
  • • employees
  • • members
  • • directors
  • • chapel correspondents and ministers
  • • service providers
  • • magazine subscribers
  • • recipients of publications
     The personal information we collect might include name, date of birth, email address, postal address and telephone number.  
     We may collect special categories of personal information, such as your nationality.
     If you are an employee, we will collect information in line with your contract of employment.
     If you have purchased books or subscriptions from us, we will collect information about your purchase history.
     If we provide services to you, or require services from you, we will collect such information as is necessary to fulfil those obligations.

3. How do we collect information?

     We obtain personal information from you when you use our website, call us, enquire about our activities, subscribe to become a member, send or receive an email, ask a question or otherwise provide us with personal information.  Apart from any information you provide us with directly, when you access the web site we also use ‘cookies’ to help analyse the way users are accessing the site and what pages they visit.  We do not use cookies to store personally identifiable information.  For more details see the cookies page.
     We may also receive information about you from the Gospel Standard Aid and Poor Relief Society so that we can distribute the magazines you have subscribed to. We also act as a service provider to churches, who would share your information with us if you are a chapel trustee.

4. Why do we collect this information?

     We collect this information for the purposes described in paragraph 5. The lawful basis for which we process your information is:
  • • your consent;
  • • processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party;
  • • processing is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations; and
  • • processing is necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interest pursued by us or a third party, except where your rights as a data subject override our legitimate interest. The legitimate interest we rely on is the fulfilment of our charitable purposes.

5. How do we use this information?

     We will use your personal information:
  • • to promote the aims of GST;
  • • to provide you with products, services or information you have requested; and
  • • for administration purposes such as processing your orders.

6. Do we share your information with anyone else?

     We may need to provide your information to our contractors and suppliers who provide services on our behalf, to the extent necessary to enable you to receive those services.
     We may share your information with our advisers, the Charity Commission and government departments such as HMRC, the Land Registry and Companies House if we are required to do so. We may also need to disclose your information if required to do so by law or as expressly permitted under applicable data protection legislation.
     If you make a payment or donation to us we will need to share your information with our payment processor. By paying via our payment processor you agree to accept their terms and conditions for the use of their services, including their privacy policy. We suggest that you read their privacy policy when using their service as we are not responsible for data you share with them.

7. How long do we keep your information for?

     We keep your information for no longer than is necessary, which will vary according to the type of data. For example, contact details for lapsed [magazine] subscribers can be expected to be deleted as soon as is reasonably possible.  Contact details for trustees of a place of worship need to be kept as long as the place of worship, or a trust relating to the proceeds of any sale, is in existence. We will retain your information for any period required by law, for example for compliance with HMRC requirements. Where we are not under a legal obligation to retain your information, we will determine what is necessary by reference to the lawful basis for processing set out above and our legitimate interests.
     If you have any questions about how long we keep your information, please write to us at the trading address above, or to write to the Secretary – see the Contact Us page.

8. How do we protect personal information?

     We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure that the information disclosed to us is kept secure, accurate and up to date and kept only for so long as is necessary for the purposes for which it is used. We protect your information in accordance with our IT Security Policy.
     We use a secure service when you make a payment, via a virtual gateway operated by Paypal. [Our online payment system is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliant.]
     You should be aware that the use of the Internet is not entirely secure and although we will do our best to protect your personal data we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal information which is transferred from you or to you via the Internet. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features such as encryption to try to prevent unauthorised access.

9. Your Rights

     You have a right to ask us to confirm whether we are processing information about you, and to request access to this information (‘right of access’).
     You may ask us, or we may ask you, to rectify information you or we think is inaccurate, and you may also ask us to remove information which is inaccurate or complete information which is incomplete (‘right to rectification’). If you inform us that your personal data is inaccurate, we will inform relevant third parties with whom we have shared your data so they may update their own records.
     We want to ensure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. If any of the information that you have provided us with changes, for example if you change your email address, name, payment details, or if you wish to cancel your registration or a subscription, please let us know using the contact details on the Contact Us web page.
     You have a right to obtain your personal data from us and reuse it for your own purposes, perhaps for another service, without hindering the usability of the data (‘right of portability’). This right does not apply where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us.
     You have a right to seek the erasure of your data (often referred to as the ‘right to be forgotten’). You may wish to exercise this right for any reason, for example where it is no longer necessary for us to continue holding or processing your personal data you may withdraw your consent. You should note that we are entitled to and reserve the right to retain your data for statistical purposes. This right is not absolute, as we may need to continue processing this information, for example, to comply with our legal obligations, or for reasons of public interest.
     You have a right to ask us to restrict our processing of your information (‘right to restriction’) if:
  • • you contest its accuracy and we need to verify whether it is accurate
  • • the processing is unlawful and you ask us to restrict use of it instead of erasing it
  • • we no longer need the information for the purpose of processing, but you need it to establish or defend legal claims
  • • you have objected to processing of your information being necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or for the purposes of our legitimate interests. The restriction would apply while we carry out a balancing act between your rights and our legitimate interests.
  • • you exercise your right to restrict processing. We would still need to process your information for the purpose of exercising or defending legal claims, protecting the rights of another person or for public interest reasons.
     You have a right to prevent us from processing your data for the purposes of marketing.
     If you would like to exercise any of your rights above, please let us know using the contact details at the end of this policy. We will act in accordance with your instructions as soon as reasonably possible and there will be no charge.
     You have a right to report any of your concerns about our use of your data to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You may do so by calling their helpline at 0303 123 1113.

10. Changes to this policy

     Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy. By continuing to use our website you will be deemed to have accepted such changes.
     This Privacy Policy was last amended in April 2018.