West Birmingham Christadelphian Ecclesia
Christadelphian Hall, 43 Ridgacre Road, Quinton, Birmingham, B32 2TL
Introduction
West Birmingham Christadelphian Ecclesia (“The Ecclesia”) is a religious body (Registered Charity No. 1163450) based in Quinton, Birmingham. It uses personally identifiable information to further its charitable aim of promoting the Christadelphian faith.
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which came into force on 25th May 2018, require organisations such as ours to ensure that you are told how we store and use any information we hold about you. You have a number of rights under the GDPR, in particular to be informed what your data is being used for; to access, rectify errors in, and/or in some circumstances erase your data; to request copies of your data to move to other organisations; to restrict your data being processed in certain ways, and to object to how your data is being used. You also have the right to know whether your data is being used in any automated decision making and profiling.
The ecclesia respects your privacy and limits the amount of information it collects about you to a minimum. The information collected about you varies depending on your connection with the ecclesia. It never uses automated decision making or profiling.
The ecclesia collects data from two main groups of people:
- Baptised members and their children (this group may include former members)
- Visitors and other contacts
Personal information is held in a variety of written, printed and electronic records. A list of these with information on how each is stored and on our data security measures is available on request.
Members and their children
The ecclesia collects and stores personal data for its records and to enable it to operate effectively. This may include but is not limited to:
- Name and date of birth
- Date and place of baptism or transfer of membership
- Gender, marital status and date of any marriage
- Postal address and other contact details
- Relationship (if any) to other members
- Record of attendance
- Record of communications
- Bank details (if the ecclesia transfers money to you or receives money from you by bank transfer or standing order)
- Next of kin/emergency contact details
The trustees of the ecclesia consider our lawful basis for holding and processing this data is legitimate interest; to operate effectively as a group of believers we need to undertake activities such as:
- Providing pastoral care
- Record keeping
- Producing a schedule of activities
- Contacting members about activities and news
- Providing members with a means to contact one another
As a faith-based organisation, the ecclesia also inherently holds data on the religious beliefs of members. This is classified as Special Category Data. We consider our lawful basis for holding and processing this is acceptable under Article 9(2)(d) of the GDPR. Any other data we hold (such as health) which falls into this classification will also be covered by this Article.
The ecclesia will hold these details indefinitely in case they are needed in the future for any of the following reasons:
- To support a claim for conscientious objection to military service (if re-introduced) or similar duties
- In connection with a marriage
- To determine eligibility for any benefit from the ecclesia or another Christadelphian organisation
- In connection with the provision of short-term or long-term care, funerals etc.
If necessary we may share your data with other organisations in the Christadelphian community. We will not share it with anyone else without your express consent unless to fulfil a legal obligation or to facilitate the provision of emergency help or longer-term care.
Visitors and Contacts
If you visit one of our services or other events we may ask your name (which you are not obliged to give) but we will not request any other personal details unless you ask us to keep in touch with you (e.g. to send you leaflets, magazines or details of our religious services etc.). If you respond to an electronic, press or postal advertisement then we will retain that information as described below.
Data we may collect from you may include your name, postal address and other contact details. These details will be stored only with your consent in order to advise you of events or relevant information we believe may be of interest to you.
We may share your details with other Christadelphian organisations in order to fulfil any initial request. If we want to share your details beyond this (other than to fulfil a legal obligation) then we will contact you to request your consent.
Our lawful basis for holding and processing your data is your consent. Your details will be kept for as long as you maintain an active interest in our activities. If we haven’t heard from you for a period of two years, we may contact you to see if you wish us to continue holding your data. If we then haven’t heard back from you within thirty days, your personal data will be deleted.
If you are a visiting member of the Christadelphian community then we will ask for your name and ecclesia and will note these in our Visitors’ Book. We will also inherently hold data on your religious beliefs which are classified as Special Category Data. We consider our lawful basis for holding and processing this is acceptable under Article 9(2)(d) of the GDPR.
For those regularly attending our children’s activities we securely hold consent forms which contain the child’s personal and health details as well as contact details for their parents or carers. Our lawful basis for holding and processing this data is legal obligation.
Marriage Register
The ecclesial hall is a registered venue for the marriage of Christadelphians; the law governing these locations requires that two permanent copies are kept of a register of all marriages that take place there. Each quarter, details of any marriages that have not previously been passed on are sent to Birmingham Register Office. Our lawful basis for holding and processing this data is legal obligation.
Your Rights
You can contact us at any time and ask to review, update or delete the data we hold about you. If you are unhappy with our response you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office via their website at https://www.ico.org.uk.
This policy was reviewed in March 2020.